Rafting in Slovenia: Our incredible experience rafting in the Soča River
The Soča Valley is one of the most beautiful regions in Slovenia. But besides the natural beauty, this area is also known for the wide offer of adrenaline sports, including white water rafting.
We have lived and traveled through Slovenia for more than 5 years and we finally got to experience rafting in the Soča River. We can now say, with total conviction, that this is one of the best things to do in Slovenia!
The Soča River provides the perfect combination of incredible landscapes and a lot of fun for rafting because the river can get quite wild. In this article, we’ll share our experience rafting here in Slovenia and give you some tips to organize a similar trip.
Read also: Exploring the Soča Valley
Don’t have time to read it all?
This was the exact tour we booked for rafting in the Soča River. We 100% recommend it as we had the best experience.
Rafting in the Soča River
The Soča River is not the only location you can go rafting in Slovenia. In fact, there are a few other rivers in Slovenia where you can also try out this activity.
That being said, the Soča River is definitely the most famous place for rafting here in Slovenia. It is the river with the best rapids, which makes for the perfect conditions for rafting.
Since the Soča River is very long, it has sections with different levels of difficulty for rafting, which is a great advantage. This means the tour company is able to select which section to go with the group depending on their experience and wishes.
The Soča River is part of the Triglav National Park. It has an incredible emerald color and is surrounded by mountains, creating a scenic valley. This region is filled with a lot of options for adrenaline sports, such as canyoning, ziplining, kayaking, etc…
Our experience rafting in Slovenia
There are a few places along the Soča Valley where you can book a rafting tour, the main ones being Bovec and Kobarid.
We recommend going to Bovec because this is the most important hub in the Soča Valley when it comes to adventure sports. Most activities start only a short drive away from Bovec and this town is where you will find most of the agencies and tour operators.
Bovec is a small town but it is super cozy. It lives and breathes adventure sports, you will see outdoor sports shops and agencies everywhere. But, we recommend doing your research beforehand.
Booking a rafting tour
We have done several tours in the Soča Valley and one of the most important things to make sure your experience will be good is the guide. If you have a good guide, you are almost guaranteed a good time.
So, after quite a lot of research on which company to go for, we ended up booking this rafting tour and we had the absolute best time! We were really picky when it came to selecting a tour option with great reviews, and this one really stood out.
But, as I said, there are a lot of companies offering similar tours, so make sure you pick something that suits your wishes.
Pro tip: If you will be visiting the Soča Valley in July or August, I do recommend booking the rafting tour a couple of days in advance because this is the busiest period of the year. Keep in mind that the tour availability will always depend on the weather.
How the tour works
Let me share how was our experience rafting in the Soča River in Slovenia. I’d say the tour is divided into 3 phases.
First, you meet the guide at the agency and get all the equipment for the ride. They will give you wetsuits, life jackets, helmets, etc. You will then drive to the starting location and get geared up.
Step two is the learning phase. The guide takes the time to give a briefing. Rafting is a group activity so everyone on the boat needs to paddle and navigate together for it to work.
At this step, he taught us a few commands and what to do in case there was an accident or someone went swimming (spoiler alert: nothing happened!). But it’s super important that everyone knows what to do.
Then, we were off to step 3: getting in the water! We did a short practice of the commands and then we were off to the river. We spent 1h30 on the rafting itself and went down around 9km of the river.
We did this tour in mid-June and it was the perfect time of the year. We were lucky because there were some rains on the days before the trip, so the river was full of water, creating a lot of fun rapids for us to play on.
We were a group of 5 people so we had the boat all to ourselves, which was also a big plus!
Highlights of the rafting tour
Rafting in the Soča River was sooo much fun!
The water is crystal clear and you can see some of the most incredible views along the way. During the ride, we passed under bridges, by a waterfall, in a small canyon… it was incredible!
Pro tip: Don’t let the views fool you – the Soča River is always very cold! The water temperature was 9oC when we were there, and even on the peak of summer, it typically doesn’t go above 12oC. Wearing the wetsuit is a must!
My favorite parts of the rafting were:
1. Bridge jumping
Our guide made a quick stop at one of the bridges where we could jump from it. I’ve seen people jump from the bridges in Soča before and I’ve always thought they were crazy – but here I was, being one of those crazy people.
It’s super important to only jump if you have a guide or know the right spots because the Soča River is very shallow in most areas. So, you can only jump in really specific places that are deep enough.
2. Passing the canyon
This was such a fun part!
We passed by a very narrow canyon which is not reachable by car. The only other way of getting to it (besides the water) is through the Soča Hike.
The canyon was so narrow that the rafting barely fit, which created some really cool rapids. We were not allowed to paddle on this section so we walked the trail on foot while our guide took the boat, but we watched him from the bridge.
3. The waterfall
Another highlight of the rafting day at Soča was that we stopped at a little waterfall by the river. Again, this spot can only be reached by the water, which makes it super special!
The waterfall has such clear water that you can actually drink it. There was also a rock by the side where we could jump from.
4. Playing in the rapids and rafting
Last but not least, playing along in the rapids was so much fun!
As I mentioned before, it had rained just before our trip so the river was full, which made it much more fun. We didn’t really have any big section with flat waters, it was pretty much rapid after rapid.
This really depends on the tour company – many operators start the tour a bit down the river so they have longer sections of flat rafting. Our guide decided to start a bit more upstream, so we could have more time to play in the rapids, which let’s be honest, is the most fun part!
I absolutely loved it.
What to bring for rafting in Slovenia
The tour company will give you all the equipment you need for rafting in the Soča River. Here is what you need to have:
- Swimsuit
- Towel
- Dry clothes for changing after rafting
- Travel insurance that includes protection for such sports
Pro tip: If you want to bring your camera, I recommend something like a GoPro or Insta 360. Make sure you have a grip to attach it to the helmet or the lifejacket because holding a pole is not exactly doable. The guide was able to take a camera in his bag, but it’s not the most practical. I don’t really recommend going with the phone unless you are really used to having it in such conditions.
If you want to have photos of this experience, you can book the same tour we did because it had pictures included!
There was a photographer that followed us along the river to take pictures of us rafting and we got the pictures afterwards (which are most of the pictures you see in this post). Honestly, this is the best option if you want pictures of this experience but don’t own an action camera.
Other places you can go rafting in Slovenia
The Soča River is not the only place where you can go rafting in Slovenia. Here are other options you can pick:
FAQ – Questions about rafting in the Soča River
When we shared this experience on our Instagram, we got a bunch of questions about rafting in Slovenia so let me address the most popular ones here.
What is the best time of the year to go rafting in Slovenia?
The rafting season here in Slovenia normally starts at the end of April and can go until September/October, but it really depends on the weather. Every year the season is a bit different.
Since this is an outdoor sport, it may be that the season starts a bit later or ends a bit sooner depending on how the conditions are.
The best time of the year to go rafting in the Soča River is the end of May and June. This is the time when the river is normally the most full, creating the best experience.
July and August are the busiest months because it is the peak season here in Slovenia. By the end of August, the river normally has a very low level of water, so the experience can be quite different.
Read also: The best time of the year to visit Slovenia
What level of rafting is the Soča River?
The Soča River has sections with different levels of difficulty, from A to E.
Most tours are held in the easy and intermediary levels, depending on the groups. The parts considered hard are more for people who have previous rafting experience.
That being said, some tours might stick only to easy-level sections. It will really depend on your tour agency, the guide, and the group.
How many people can go in a boat?
The rafting boats can hold between 2 to 8 people, but the best number for the group trips is 6 people.
When the boat is at maximum capacity, it gets quite busy in my opinion. We saw some boats like that on the way and it felt like people were a bit crammed together.
We had 5 people + the guide on our boat and it was amazing.
How can I go rafting if I am traveling solo?
You can just book a tour using this link like anyone else. The tour company will put together the groups based on interest, so you will be allocated with another group.
They normally have a minimum number of participants for the tour to happen, but they will get in contact with you if there is any issue with the date you selected.
Is rafting a good activity for kids as well?
Yes, you can bring kids as long as they are at least 7 years old.
In fact, I think this is a great activity for kids. We passed by one big family on another boat and the kids were having a blast!
Rafting is not allowed for kids smaller than 7 and for pregnant women. I also wouldn’t recommend it for people who can’t swim because the river is quite unpredictable.
Have any other questions about rafting in the Soča River or in Slovenia in general? Let us know below!
Continue reading about more things to do in the Soča Valley.
Other guides about traveling to Slovenia
Organizing your trip
To help you plan your trip to Slovenia, we have put together our favorite planning resources:
- Check out our page with curated Slovenia experiences
- Travel insurance: Make sure you are protected during your trip. We use SafetyWing whenever we are traveling abroad.
- Renting a car: We always use Discover Cars to get the best car deals.
- Accommodation: Find the best hotels and apartments on Booking.com.
- Activities: Get fun ideas of what to do and buy unique activities with Get Your Guide.
- SIM Card: Stay connected during your trip with Airalo.
- Slovenia Map: Check out our custom-made Map with 290+ must-see spots!
- Slovenia itineraries: Check out our pre-made Slovenian itineraries!
- Recommended hiking gear: Check our recommendations on Amazon if you will be hiking in Slovenia!
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