‘Welcome to Bloke, where for six months of the year the weather is cold, and then for six months of the year it is winter’. Needless to say, Bloke is nothing if not different. The smallest municipality covered in this guide, the Slovenian Tibet is as close to a walk on the wild side as you can find in Slovenia, with legitimately unspoilt nature as far as the eye can see. Some 45 settlements make up Bloke, with Nova Vas acting as its administrative centre.
Taking its name from the Bloke Plateau, the municipality sits between 720 and 800 metres up into the sky and is most famous for being the cradle of Central European skiing. First described by that man Janez Valvasor in 1689, the history of Bloke skiing is wonderfully detailed at the Bloke Skiier Museum, where it becomes apparent that the development was more for survival than fun and games. Skis are so important here that they even find a place on the official municipality emblem. Lake Bloke is also here, with some of the finest glamping in the country to boot. Bloke is also home to Martin Krpan, who you’ll hear more of throughout this guide. Not bad for a municipality of 1600 people.