Emerald water
Over white pebbles.
Johann Jaritz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mundo Resink from Amsterdam, Netherlands — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Johann Jaritz — CC BY-SA 3.0 at · Herzi Pinki — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Johann Jaritz — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Soča is a mountain river running 138 km through western Slovenia and northeastern Italy, 96 km of it in Slovenia. Its best-known stretch is the upper valley between Trenta and Bovec, where the Great Soča Gorge lies about 7 km east of Bovec in a straight line. The river rises in the Trenta Valley in the Julian Alps at 876 metres, then passes Bovec, Kobarid, Tolmin, Kanal and Nova Gorica before entering the Adriatic near Monfalcone in Italy. In Italian it is the Isonzo, and in antiquity it was recorded as the Aesontius. The river is famous for its clear turquoise and emerald water, running over white pebbles and cutting narrow gorges and deep pools into white limestone. Pine and beech forests and grey Alpine peaks surround it, and several wooden suspension bridges cross it. Visitors walk the Soča Trail along the river, stand on bridges above the gorges, and many go rafting and kayaking from Bovec. The water is very cold even in summer and the currents are dangerous for swimming, so it is best to walk and look.
Over white pebbles.
Limestone.
Over the river.
Trenta Valley near Bovec, western Slovenia
The water is cold and the currents dangerous.
Walking, rafting and kayaking.