Description
Velika Planina, meaning Big Mountain, is one of Europe's largest herdsmen's settlements, a wide alpine plateau above Kamniška Bistrica still grazed by cattle every summer. A cable car lifts riders and their bikes from the valley floor to the plateau in five minutes, opening up a short gravel and forest road network across the pastures to the Zeleni rob inn and beyond, plus a well known technical singletrack descent, Dolski Graben, for those who want to ride all the way back down. The same gravel roads also link into longer point to point rides through the wider Kamnik Savinja Alps, including a route down into Tuhinjska dolina at Terme Snovik.
The Trails
Most riders start at the lower cable car station in Kamniška Bistrica, where bikes travel up with you for a small additional charge (the chairlift does not take bikes). From the upper station it is a short, steady climb of around fifteen minutes and 250 metres of ascent up to the summit area, or you can ride the gravel road roughly 2.5km across to the Zeleni rob inn and on through the herdsmen's settlement to the Mačkin kot car park. All of this riding is on established farm and forest roads rather than purpose built trail, so stick to the marked routes, ride within your ability and give way to the cattle that graze the plateau through summer.
For a full loop rather than an out and back on the lift, Dolski Graben is the classic way down: a long, technical singletrack descent dropping from the plateau back to the valley floor, well known among local riders but not part of the operator's own marked cycling route, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.
A cable car ticket is needed to reach the plateau, with an extra charge for taking a bike; see Admission and Prices below for current costs. E-bike hire is also available at the bottom station.
Gravel Riding
Velika Planina is really a gravel destination as much as a mountain bike one. The marked network of forest and cart tracks across the plateau suits a hardtail or gravel bike as well as an MTB, and stronger riders use the same roads to link much longer point to point routes: one popular tour climbs from Kamnik over the Črnivec pass and Kranjski Rak, another runs from Terme Snovik in Tuhinjska dolina, both covering around 50km with well over 1000 metres of climbing on quiet gravel and forest roads through the wider Kamnik Savinja Alps.
Admission and Prices
Riding on the plateau itself costs nothing once you are up there; the cost is the cable car. The operator's own price list, current from 1 January 2026, prices a return cable car ticket at EUR 25 to 28 for an adult depending on the season (1 July to 31 August is the pricier period), or EUR 27 to 30 if you add the chairlift. Taking a bike up costs a flat EUR 6 on top of a standard ticket, or riders planning several laps can buy a day bike ticket with unlimited rides, from EUR 31. Family, senior and student discounts are available.
Prices are correct as of September 2026 but subject to change, so check the current price list on the operator's website before you travel.
Guides, Shuttles and Hire
The cable car is the uplift here, with a bike surcharge or a dedicated day ticket rather than a van shuttle. E-bike hire is available at the valley station and in Kamnik town, and a Ljubljana based operator runs a guided day trip up to the plateau; there is no dedicated mountain bike guide based at Velika Planina itself.
- Greenhills: a guided electric mountain bike day trip to Velika Planina with an English and German speaking guide, e-bike, helmet and support included, with pickup from Ljubljana and its base in Škofja Loka.
- TIC Kamnik: the Kamnik tourist information centre hires standard and electric bikes by the half day or full day, from EUR 14 for a standard bike up to EUR 40 for a full day on an e-bike, based in the town centre at Glavni trg.
- Velika planina, d.o.o.: the cable car operator's own e-bike hire at the valley station in Kamniška Bistrica, with new e-bikes in several sizes from EUR 35 for up to four hours to EUR 50 for a full day, free charging points, and a guided option for groups of up to ten.
Prices are correct as of September 2026 but subject to change, so check current rates with the operator.
Getting There from the UK
Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport is the realistic option, around 50km and under an hour's drive from the Kamniška Bistrica car park at the foot of the cable car. There is no useful public transport link straight from the airport to Kamnik, so a hire car, transfer or taxi is the practical way in.
By rail it is a long overland trip: Eurostar to Brussels or Paris, then onward trains via Munich, Salzburg and Villach, or an overnight sleeper from Munich or Zurich, reach Ljubljana the following day at best. Bikes need planning on the high-speed legs, since Eurostar and many long-distance European trains carry few bikes or require the bike to be bagged, so check each operator's current bike policy before you book. From Ljubljana it is around 25km to Kamnik and a further 10km up the valley to Kamniška Bistrica, by bus, taxi or hire car.
Driving from Calais or the Channel Tunnel is around 1,390km, roughly 14 hours on motorways through Germany and Austria via Munich and Villach into Slovenia. Austria and Slovenia both require a motorway vignette (Slovenia's is an e-vignette, bought online or at the border), so sort this before you join either country's motorway network.
Once you reach Kamnik, follow the signs for Kamniška Bistrica through Stahovica; the car park beside the lower cable car station is around 4km further on and is the best base for riders. Alternative parking closer to the plateau exists at Rakove Ravni (open year round, 1.5 to 2 hours' walk from the top), and at Ušivec and Mačkin kot (summer only, since the access roads are not cleared in winter).
When to Go
The cable car runs year round, weather permitting, so a trip up to the plateau is possible outside the main season. But the wider gravel network beyond the Zeleni rob inn, and the bike hire and cafe at the valley station, run roughly April to October, so plan a riding trip for that window rather than midwinter. Cattle graze the plateau from around June to September, so expect to share the tracks with them in the busiest months.
July and August are the busiest, both for cable car queues and for the wider Slovenian summer holiday season, so an early start helps. The plateau sits at around 1,500m, so it is noticeably cooler and windier than the valley even on a warm day, and afternoon thunderstorms build quickly in summer, so carry a waterproof layer and check the forecast before you set off.
Where to Stay
Velika Planina suits a day trip rather than a dedicated holiday base: most riders stay in Ljubljana, around 45 minutes away by road, and treat the plateau as one day out among several, or stay in Kamnik itself, a smaller and quieter town about 15 minutes from the cable car with its own old town and castle hill. Both offer hotels, guesthouses and apartments, with no need to book anything specifically for cycling.
If you are building a longer Slovenian riding trip, our Kranjska Gora Bike Park and Maribor Bike Park Pohorje listings cover lift served bike parks elsewhere in the country that pair well with a day at Velika Planina.
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