Tra i l m arker on a rocky outcrop near the s um m it.

Hiking Mt. Matajur: Slovenia to Italymonkeysandmountains.com /hiking-matajur

Can’t decide whether to hike in Slovenia or Italy? Hike in both, on Mt. Matajur a cross-bordermountain.

Despite having lived in Germany for over 3 1/2 years, the Canadian in me gets excited about cross-border hikes andMt. Matajur is an especially fine one.

It’s not the tallest in the area, and certainly not the hardest, but with largely open views over the Julian Alps and on aclear day stretching to the Adriatic Sea, your efforts will be rewarded. I hiked it in fall and LOVED the colors:

Fal l i s an es pecia l ly beauti fu l tim e to h ike Mt Mata jur .

Although admittedly it also looks rather nice in summer as well.

I hiked it from the Slovenian side with Hedonistic Hiking. After a few easier hikes in Triglav National Park, a tour to thehistoric Franja Partisan Secret WWII Hospital and a day of hiking the Kobarid Historic Trail, our group was warmed up. We were ready for what would be the hardest day of hiking on our Slovenia and Friuli tour.

Tra i l m arkers lead ing you towards Ita ly or S loven ia .

There are various options for hiking to the summit of Matajur, but we choose one of the more difficult ways, hiking up~800m from a village south of Kobarid, to Mt Matajur. Our efforts were rewarded along the way with a delicious picnicprepared by Dina:

Picn ic lunch prepared by Hedonis tic Hiking

Bellies full, we then headed south into Italy to the Rifigugo Pelizzo (mountain hut) where Hedonistic Hiking had pick-upvehicles waiting for us. Two countries, a peak and a total of 9.5 km? That’s what I call a fantastic day!

Hiker on a rocky outcrop wi th the J u l ian Alps in the background.

If our route is a little too much for you, or you weren’t able to arrange transportation, you could drive up to the RifiugioPelizzo and hike up from there, which is only ~300m of elevation or try this alternative by Summit Post which alsodescribes a route ascending from the Italian side. I personally recommend going with Hedonistic Hiking though since food, wine and vehicles just seem to magically appear on the mountain!

Sm al l chape l a t top o f Mt. Mata jur

Next up it was time to explore the nearby Italian villages of Cividale di Gorz ia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site andGoriz ia. Fortunately the magic continued…stay tuned…

Disclaimer: Thank you to Hedonistic Hiking for taking me to Mt. Matajur. As always all opinions expressed are my own.