Luxury of freedom

From BIG BERRY Kolpa to Wies and back

The advantage of traveling by car is the freedom of choosing which road to take, where and when to stop and how much time to spend in every place you visit along the way. When we found out that we have to go on one great mission in BIG BERRY Wies, Austria, our first started to plan a road trip from BIG BERRY Kolpa River to Austria and back. We had only one rule: We had to stop whatever a team member wanted to, to take pictures or just to take in the scenery. So, the three of us, Javier from Spain, Ivan from Croatia and me (Mariliza) from Brazil, headed off to an adventure! 

Road Trip BIG BERRY Kolpa River Wies

The main intention of this blog post is to show people how easy it was to reach the south of Austria from the south of Slovenia by car, so it will also be a little bit more informative than our posts usually are, but with a good purpose: To encourage you to take the same route.

Let’s get started:

So, to make it easier to understand, on our way to Austria we have included the following stops:

1- Otočec Castle – Otočec (Novo Mesto)
2- Beer fountain - Žalec
3- Oldest Vine – Maribor
4- Spičnik, Brezovica heart-shaped road

Located about 30 km from BIG BERRY, Otočec Castle in Otočec near Novo Mesto was a mandatory stop along the way. The first registers about its wall date back to 1252, and nowadays, Otočec Castle hosts a five stars hotel and restaurant, and is situated on an island formed by the river Krka. Excellent place for appreciation, relaxation and why not some good food?!

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Even though there is no museum in the castle, we were able to enter the courtyard and indoor area where a bar, a fancy restaurant and the hotel reception desk are. The castle surroundings, formed by the river and a huge green area, is breathtaking, and there is a golf course for all the golf enthusiasts located close to the castle.

 

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After we had spent some time around the castle taking pictures and exploring, we headed towards Žalec, the city where the famous beer fountain is located. It was very easy to spot the fountain, since it lays the middle of the main square. One can try six different Slovenian beer for a fee of eight euros. What a great invention, Slovenians! At least for those who enjoy beer tastings… as for me, I couldn’t wait to arrive in Maribor and try some good wine sorts!

Beer fountain Zalec 2

Beer fountain Zalec

Maribor is one of the main Slovenian towns and has the oldest vine in the whole world, which, according to the Guinness book, is 400 years old and is located in the heart of the old town of Maribor. A great place to try different types of wine and to admire the beautiful and old tree what we did before heading to Spičnik, Brezovica, to visit the heart-shaped road.

Oldest Vine Maribor 1

Oldest Vine Maribor

 

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Oldest VineMaribor 3

The heart-shaped road has been the main tourist spot of the area, despite all the vineyard fields that can be spotted from the hills. Also, from the main spot where you can see the heart, there is a small restaurant where you can try locally produced salami, cheese and bread, in combination with some drinks, and spend some great time with friends.

Spicnik Brezovica Heart Shaped Road 2

Spicnik Brezovica Heart Shaped Road

As you can see, this was so far our trip from BIG BERRY Kolpa to Wies. Our second post will be about our trip back to Kolpa. Curious? Then come back to our page to enjoy more of this trip with us!

 

Written by Mariliza Bonesso