Slovenia - Getting Up Close with Brown Bears 06/2026
Preface:
Slovenia lies at the border with Italy and Austria and is known for its beautiful landscapes and the roughly 1,000 brown bears that live there. It is regarded as the most forested country in Europe. Forest covers over 60% of the national territory.
The brown bear is the largest land mammal in Europe and, due to its size and strength, potentially dangerous to humans. However, it is rather unlikely to encounter a hostile bear. This majestic animal is less of a danger to humans than often assumed. The chance of meeting a wild brown bear while hiking or foraging for mushrooms is high. No need to worry, we will lie in wait in a "Hide," a shelter/hut.
Even though I don't particularly enjoy guided group tours and waiting in a hide, I decided to take this trip with "Nature & Wildlife Phototours." Because another dream is to encounter, observe, and of course photograph these impressive forest creatures. I met Andi, one of the co-founders of "Nature & Wildlife Phototours," during the Corona period at a tawny owl spot in Munich. Since then, we have repeatedly photographed or hiked together. I saw how he and Günther built the business. The curiosity to accompany them, to look over their shoulder, and to be a part of it was already there.
Tanja, from Frankfurt, I met through a travel group on Facebook. After a meeting in Wertheim, it was clear: the two of us must go to the brown bears together. So we booked two spots and hope to hear and photograph the breath of the brown bears and other forest dwellers. OM Systems provides me with the latest camera and lens equipment for this purpose.
Stay tuned to what we will discover in the forests of Slovenia.
I'm definitely looking forward to a new adventure.
Arrival
As early as 6 a.m., I took the tram to Munich-Laim. There I met up with Andi. We waited together for Harald, who was coming from Fürth and kindly gave us both a lift. After loading our luggage, we left Munich heading south. To avoid driving straight onto the A8 toward Austria, we made a short detour to Iffeldorf to pick up more photo equipment from the office of "nature & wildlife phototours." Once everything was loaded, we entered our destination in Slovenia into the navigation system. The drive was supposed to take five and a half hours. We passed Chiemsee and Salzburg. Then we stopped for fuel and coffee.
Then we left Austria and crossed the border into Slovenia. During the drive, the three of us chatted about photo trips, new destinations, and private matters. The navigation system was right, and we reached our accommodation near the small village of Stari Trg pri Ložu. Claude from Switzerland and Thomas were already waiting for us there. We greeted each other, took a quick look around, and when Miha, our host, came over, the rooms were assigned.
Tanja, who would be joining us the next day, and I were given a room on site, as was Harald. All the others were accommodated elsewhere. After that, Claude and I tested the first birding hide pool right in front of the house until Miha arrived with two bottles of schnapps and some glasses. He briefly explained the plan for the next few days, and we toasted to the days ahead. Afterward, Harald, Claude, and I headed into the birding hide, and I tried out the OM-1 with the OM SYSTEM 50–200 mm f/2.8 lens. At some point, Thomas joined us as well. Since he had previously photographed with OM SYSTEM himself, he was able to show me quite a bit about the OM-1. I tried to take some photos of squirrels as well as great spotted woodpeckers, blackbirds, hawfinches, and other bird species.
In the afternoon, Miha told us that on the way to dinner, which was a fifteen-minute drive away, we might spot young foxes. But we weren't lucky and didn't see even a single fox tail. However, shortly after we had finished dinner, Andi spotted a bear at the edge of the forest. We all jumped up. I was the only one with a camera, but the bear was too far away. Still, I managed to get a small proof shot. Then Claude and I jumped into Harald's car, and we drove down to try to photograph the bear from closer up. But when we got there, it was already gone.
Back at the restaurant, we finished our drinks and then all drove back together to the main accommodation. There, I said my goodbyes and headed to my room, because I wanted to be fit for tomorrow.
Day 1 – The Waiting Begins
The night was good and breakfast was more than sufficient. After that, we all met in front of the house. There we got to know Chris Kaula, a very well-known and excellent wildlife photographer from Germany. After a bit of small talk with him, we drove together with Miha a few minutes to an owl spot. It didn't take long before the tawny owl appeared. We had a total of about 10 minutes to photograph it.
Back at the accommodation, we split up into the bird hides. We—Claude, Harald, and I—were visited by a green woodpecker, several great spotted woodpeckers, thrushes, jays, and finches. After I took a few photos, I sat down with Thomas at the table, pulled my pictures up on my MacBook, and checked them for settings and quality.
Then Tanja called to say she was already there but couldn't find us. Thomas and I first drove in the wrong direction until we realized she was only a house away. We picked her up, welcomed her into our group, and I showed her our room. After a short break, we received Miha's briefing. Instead of the two hides he had mentioned the day before, we were assigned different ones—together, but spread across several hides. We packed our equipment and drove to lunch with Anna. There was a simple buffet, but it was enough to fill us up.
Another quick stop for the bathroom—and then we followed the ranger. Instead of the announced 15 minutes, we drove through the forest for about 40 minutes until we reached a place where we had to park. From there, we walked 700 meters into the woods with our gear until we stood in front of the huts. We got a short briefing, and then we split up. Tanja and I had Thomas with us so he could help us with the settings.
Then the waiting began. Hour after hour passed. In the meantime it rained and thundered, and apart from a few birds, we didn't see any other animals. The brown giants of the forest stayed hidden.
Then something moved. It wasn't as dark and big as a bear. No—it was a curious and hungry fox. It stayed for about 20 minutes, and then, unfortunately, the show was over and so was the evening.
On the way back, Tanja spotted a mother bear with her cub. I could only take another evidence photo from the car. The others didn't see it anymore—except Andi and Thomas, but they were already far away by then.
We ate dinner together. Then we went our separate ways and returned to our accommodations.
Other groups had more luck than we did today. Hopefully luck will be on our side tomorrow.
Day 2 – The Bears Are Out
We spent the morning again in the bird hides and on the lodge grounds. This gave us plenty of time to try out different things with our cameras, photograph birds and squirrels, recharge the batteries, and rest.
At lunchtime, we drove another quarter of an hour to "Anna" and then headed back to our lodging.
From there, we set off toward the mountains around 2:30 p.m. It was a three-quarter-hour drive up to 1,200 meters. Then we stopped, got out, and waited for the ranger. Two Swiss guys were with us today as well. When the ranger arrived, we walked about 100 meters through the thicket uphill until we reached the hides. One six-person hide and one three-person hide. Andi, Tanja, and I were in the three-person hide. Claude, Harald, and Thomas were in the six-person hide next door with the two Swiss tourists. The ranger was standing in front of the hides, as it had happened quite often here that the bears came very close to the hides.
As soon as we opened the doors to the hides, I spotted the first brown bear! FINALLY, they were right in front of us. He wasn't bothered by us at all (we were setting up our gear, placing our lenses in the openings, and adjusting our chairs). He ate calmly and kept looking up every now and then. You have to be quick to capture a moment like that with the camera. I'd imagined the bears to be bigger, but that was probably just an illusion since the bear was about 300 meters away from us. The light streaming into the clearing was really beautiful in some spots. That gave me a chance to play around with the camera a bit and try out different settings. Eventually, the "Knudell Bear" (Tanja, Andi, and I called him that because he looked really cute and chubby) had had enough and disappeared. Shortly afterward, a new bear arrived. He looked completely different—darker, with a longer snout, and thinner. He, too, wasn't bothered by us and ate in peace. And that's how it went the whole time—as soon as one bear had had enough, he'd disappear into the thicket and the next bear would arrive. Sometimes we even saw two or three bears at the same time. But it always became clear very quickly who was in charge, and the other bears would keep their distance from the "boss" and treat him with more respect. We also saw them chase each other away two or three times. But they always came back. So we weren't bored this time. Toward evening, just before we were about to leave, a mother bear with her cubs—about a year old—also showed up. Unfortunately, the light wasn't great anymore, and the ranger knocked on the door at that very moment—the signal to leave! The three of us, however, seized the opportunity and quickly snapped a few more photos until the ranger knocked a second time. Then we had to hurry back to the car.
In total, we counted six adults and two juveniles that afternoon. From the hide, we drove straight to the restaurant "Anna." We arrived there around 9 p.m. We had a quick bite to eat, said goodbye to the others, and then Claude drove Harald, Tanja, and me back.
Exhausted, tired, but happy, we fell into bed.
Day 3 – Not as Planned
The alarm clock woke us up at 5:30 a.m. Around 6 a.m., Claude picked us up as agreed, and we drove to a fox habitat. At least foxes with their young had been spotted there in the past few days. We also met Thomas and Andi there. We looked around briefly, then decided to drive up and down the road, just as Miha had explained to us the days before. We turned onto forest trails at times, but apart from a shy deer, we didn't see any other animals. We got out at a clearing and enjoyed the view. Afterward, we drove back for breakfast.
I decided to head back to my room to get some more sleep and look over yesterday's photos again. Some members of the group also went back to their accommodations, while others tried to get a few more shots at the bird hide. Around 11:30 a.m., we got together and drove to "Anna." Andi still didn't know much from Miha about today's location, and we were hoping for a hide where we might spot some bears. I know it's wildlife, but there are hides that offer a better guarantee of seeing bears—like yesterday—and others where it's more of a possibility, based on bears being spotted on wildlife cameras the day before.
Due to an incident yesterday—which I won't go into detail about—I suspect we were assigned a hide with no real guarantee, but rather one based on probability. Only two bears had been spotted there on the wildlife camera yesterday. The site consisted of two four-person hides and one two-person hide. In my opinion, that wasn't a very good chance, but we couldn't switch because Miha wasn't there and all the other hides were already occupied.
So, around 1:15 p.m., we drove with the guide to the hide in question. We parked the cars about 500 meters away and walked back through the forest, up a steep incline to the hides. We spread out and set everything up. Tanja and I had a four-person hide to ourselves, so we were each able to slide two cameras through the openings.
Then it was time to wait again.
After three hours, there was still no sign of anything. In the meantime, it had started raining again, and the fears I'd expressed at the beginning seemed to be coming true.
Then it started raining, too, and the wait became unbearable, because no animals showed up—except for pigeons. At one point, we both heard a door. We suspect—though we can't say for sure—that a hide was opened. Tanja seized the opportunity to take a nap, while I stayed awake and kept watching. For an hour, it even stopped raining and the sun came out, but no bear or cubs emerged from the thicket. To our "luck," it then started pouring again and there was a thunderstorm. But we were persistent and hung in there for quite a while. Just before we left, at least there was a faint rainbow. How much we wished for a bear at that moment. But once again, it wasn't meant to be today.
We headed back, deeply disappointed. We really hadn't expected two blank outings during "high season."
We had dinner, toasted to the end of the trip, and then drove back to watch the Germany game. But no luck there either—the TV couldn't pick up ZDF or any other channel showing the game, so we said goodbye to everyone and went up to our room. We packed our things, because tomorrow it's time to say goodbye again.
Departure
After breakfast together, we checked out. Claude had already left for Switzerland at four o'clock, so unfortunately he wasn't in the group photo. We said our goodbyes and split up into two cars. Harald was kind enough to give Tanja and me a ride.
The car ride was relaxed and fun. With two short stops along the way and some slow-moving traffic, we reached Munich after a little over five and a half hours. Tanja and I continued on by train; she got off at the main station, and I rode a little further to get home.
A big THANK YOU goes to Andi for organizing everything on site. Thanks also to Claude and Harald for giving me rides.
I'd also like to thank OMSYSTEM for lending me the equipment! I was able to take some great shots with this setup and can definitely recommend it.
And, of course, a THANK YOU to nature & wildlife phototours.
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