The Julian Alps

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View books by Justi Carey, Roy Clark.

Highly Recommended - Rated
This book is an excellent companion for walkers of all standards who are visiting NW Sloveinia. It describes over sixty routes in the Julian Alps, their length and difficulty varying from flat lakeside and valley walks of a couple of hours' duration to two-day assaults on Mount Triglav. All the walks are helpfully graded according to difficulty from 1 (easy) to 4 (only for the fit, experienced and well-equipped); the authors also state the distance covered, the height difference between the start and end points (though disregarding the ups and downs in between) and a useful estimate of the time the walk will take.

A lot of walking has clearly gone into the production of this book, and its greatest strength is its accuracy. Its newness (2005) and detail mean that the directions it gives for the route match up exactly to the signs and landmarks on the way, and the estimates of time ("after 10 minutes you will reach...") are accurate. On the five walks that we undertook we never got lost following the instructions and very rarely had to stop to work out where we were meant to go next. There are also good diagrammatic maps which give an overview of each walk. Nonetheless the authors also strongly advise taking a map of one's own (they suggest a map, or maps, for each walk), and anyone who wanted to know more than basic detail of the topography, or to make their own additions to the suggested routes, would struggle with just the book.

The walks in the book are organised around five centres: Krajnska Gora, Bovec, Kobarid, Bled and Bohinj. This facilitates planning -- likewise the task of finding a Plan B should the cloud descend. The starting point for each walk is clearly described, as are interesting features along the way. The authors have taken care to find interesting paths for their readers to follow, directing the walks away from over-beaten and featureless tracks such as roads and ski slopes and trying, where possible, to provide a return leg different from the outward route.

The book's layout is clear and it is beautifully illustrated: not for nothing do the authors say that photographs of the Julian Alps can be bought from their website! There is an introductory section on Slovenia and the Alps in general and on walking there in particular, which is a good complement to a more general guidebook. It is practically presented in a plastic cover and -- given its extensive contents -- it is of a size and weight which make it easy to carry.

Congratulations and thanks to the authors: this book is highly recommended for anyone who plans to walk in the Julian Alps!