Slovenia is a lovely country to travel. It has wonderful mountains, lakes and countryside but unfortunately for us very little coastline. This is due to its transition from a region within Yugoslavia to an independent country. The details of which are confusing to me, as with all politics, but I believe that it actually could have been worse and at least they did manage to hold on to 45 km of coast that the region always had before the break-up.
That said we don’t go to the Slovenian coast as we just don’t like it so much. Too compact, too many people and quite frankly, too loud. Not to mention the lack of campsites there. But Slovenia has many wonderful locations to choose from inland. The countryside reminds me a lot of Wales and the campsites also. Lush green fields and rivers with traditional Welsh grassed campsites in the mountains or at riversides. Still giving the feeling of when tents ruled the camp grounds and not luxurious motorhomes.
There is also a distinct lack of FKK campsites in Slovenia which we find remarkable as the FKK Camps in Croatia are literally drowning in Slovenian people. But in their own country there are only two part FKK part textile camps which do not interest us as much as we don’t like in the segregation and only one dedicated FKK camp in the whole country. Which is where we would like to talk about.
Mali Raj is located in the Novo Mesto area of Slovenia deep in the countryside and not all that far from the border with Croatia. It is a very small and basic site run by a father and daughter and lies quite beautifully along the banks of the River Krka. It is wonderfully maintained and can accommodate around 50 guests at full capacity although the owner informed us that she never overloads the site so that it keeps its space and freedom.
We arrived on Friday evening a lot later than we had planned and we were very surprised entering the site. Firstly to see its incredible beauty and secondly to see that there was not another single person there. Driving down the entrance road you immediately are overtaken by the location and as we were surveying all of the parking options a very cheerful lady appeared at the side of the van.
Katja is the daughter of the partnership and her helpfulness and enthusiasm not only for the camp but also for the area really is apparent. She advised which plots are better for our type of camper but as there was nobody there we just took the first one but any of the riverside plots are amazing. She left us to sort ourselves out and after a walk around to get our bearings in the setting sun, we headed back to the van for a glass of wine whilst looking out on to the majestic flowing river sweeping by directly in front of our door.
The night was so peaceful and we woke to the morning sun lighting up patches of green all around. We were so overcome by our surroundings and complete peace and quiet, something that is not possible to experience at home, that we decided to skip our morning run and just enjoy this gift we had been given.
The day passed with short walks along the river, reading, painting, sunbathing, a cold beer and a very cold dip in the river. And best of all was that you could be naked the whole day as the warm sun shone down until late in the afternoon. It was really incredible that not one single other person, anywhere, thought that it would be a good idea to visit this particular camp on a weekend where it was only sunny and 25 degrees?! In fact the only person we saw that day was Katja who came to make sure that we were ok and to give us some maps and tour advice which we shall use on our next visit.
After such a wonderful day we once again had a peaceful night with only the river as company and woke to another beautiful day. This time we did venture out on our morning run through some idyllic forest before spending much of the day as the one before.
Talking to both Katja and her father during the day we were already making plans for a return visit but next time for longer and with the bikes. There is so much to explore in the surrounding countryside by foot or by bike as well as some local tennis courts to play. And if the weather turns bad then there is always the option of the nearby Terme which we visited last year (diary entry) and can also easily be reached by foot or bike directly from the campsite.
The camp has basic facilities but is immaculately clean and well kept. It can accommodate a moderately large camper with good driving as well as many tent pitches. There is electric if you need it, hot water, and a camper service at the entrance. And with its unique location there is nothing more you need if you are a true nature lover.
We were both really taken by this natural paradise, its peacefulness, its beauty, and the relaxed manner of its naturist owners. We were of course phenomenally fortunate to have this paradise completely to ourselves for a whole weekend and in perfect weather but there is no doubt that we will return as soon as we have an opportunity to this real Slovenian hidden gem.
Leave a Reply