Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
Getting to Kranjska Gora by Air
Flights from the UK to Ljubljana depart from Stanstead with Easyjet around noon and from Luton with Wizz Air early morning.
Car Hire
There are several hire companies based at Ljubljana airport to choose from and Kransjka Gora is an easy 1 hour away, with the Nordic Centre a little further. The route is mostly motorway and main roads, with the exit from the airport directly accessing the motorway.
Train connections
You can also pick up a taxi right outside the terminal building which will cost you around €30 per person. Or pre-book through www.taxi-pt.si by emailing info@taxi-pt.si for a larger group.
Kranjska Gora
Has lots of accommodation, restaurants and shops and is a 10 minute drive to Planica, or about 2 kilometers, so you can roller ski along the cycle way if you are using the facilities out of season.
The cross country skiing is limited here, but when there is sufficient natural snow, cross-country trails are available behind Hotel Compass in Kransjka Gora which are flood lit, and cross country trails which join together between Kransjka Gora, Planica and Rateče.
Where to Stay?
Penzion Livada
This is a very pleasant hotel, the first that you see from the main road into town. It has 9 rooms sleeping 22 people including one apartment. Their email is info@penzion-livada.si to book directly or you can do this online.
Planica Nordic Centre (pronounced Planitsa)
Planica is on the north western edge of the Triglav national park, bordering Italy. The Planica Nordic Centre covers 100,000 square metres of sports terrain, where seven ski jumping hills and the flying hill take centre stage. The cross-country complex includes a stadium, sports area and various cross-country tracks. There is also an artificial snow-making system together with cableways, athletics and football stadium, wind tunnel, zipline, cycling and walking paths, and cultural heritage park and information area with catering facilities. The 566-metre long zipline with a 202-metre drop in altitude and 38.8 per cent gradient – makes it the steepest zipline in the world where speeds of up to 90 km/h can be achieved.
This link will show you more photos of the Planica Nordic Centre – ski hall / hotel / gym.
The Nordic Centre opened in November 2016 and the indoor cross country ski facility is 800 metres split over 3 levels in a car park layout. The snow temperature is 1°C with under floor cooling only, and no air cooling, making the air more humid and not too dry. Snow is stored from the previous winter and used. This could be a mixture of man made and natural but didn’t feel coarse or sugary.
It is groomed every morning and one classic track is cut, with the rest left for skating. There is space for drills as well as circuits and some hill work. Generally the inclines are not too steep but the corners are fairly tight so useful to practice short down hills with cornering at the bottom and for less able skiers on hill work. The whole course took an intermediate skier at an average pace about 3.5 minutes to classic and 2.25 minutes to skate and you can see a video of the layout taken from YouTube above.
You can pre-book sessions on bookings@nc-planica.si. It is open from around April to November from 9am to 6pm. Once the snow comes in November they make a trail using the nearby rollerski track and the ski hall closes as there is enough snow to ski outside. The roller ski track formed part of the World Cup cross country course in January 2016 so is rather challenging and not suitable for beginners.
Accommodation
Planica Nordic Centre Hotel
Hotel bookings can be made by emailing hotel@nc-planica.si
Gym in the Planica Hotel free for guest use
The purpose built hotel is around 200 metres from the ski hall and has its own team facilities which include a gym, fitness area, sauna and restaurant. Situated at 946m altitude, the hotel also has 10 hypoxia rooms which can produce an altitude of up to 7000m, with the average being used between 2600 – 3000m. 5 days adaption would be normal, with the improvement being best used straight away. The hotel restaurant has its own nutritionist and provides substantial meals. Lunch can also be taken if not staying at the hotel, but would need to be booked on the day as priority is given to residents.
Ski map
Planica Cross Country Ski Routes
There are several routes in the area that you can see on the map above. More details are available here.