Kranj

Kranj is the largest town in Gorenjska and the one most travellers drive past. The old town stands on a narrow terrace of conglomerate rock where the Kokra meets the Sava, and the canyon runs directly below the houses — there is a path along the bottom of it, which is the thing nobody expects. Beneath the streets are 1.3 km of shelter tunnels dug during the Second World War, now walkable. France Prešeren, Slovenia’s national poet, spent his last years here and is buried in the grove that carries his name; Jože Plečnik left staircases, an arcade and a set of terraces around the parish church. For a visitor the practical argument is strong: Ljubljana airport is ten minutes away, Bled twenty, Kranjska Gora forty, and a room costs appreciably less than at the lake.