Our storiesACCESSIBLE TOURISM – TOURISM FOR ALL
Date: 26 September 2024
Accessible tourism is tourism that pays special attention to making tourism offers and experiences more accessible and welcoming for people with physical and sensory disabilities (blind and visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing), people with intellectual and psychological disabilities, those travelling with children in prams, the elderly and people who find tourism difficult to enjoy for other health reasons.
The Green Karst destination is accessible to vulnerable people, people with reduced mobility and people with other disabilities, and the providers strive to make their attractions and experiences as accessible as possible, with easy access and tailored content. The following are accessible experiences, and we are also highlighting attractions and museums with a particular eye for tailor-made guided tours and experiences.
ARS VIVA Institute in Podcerkev in the Loška dolina valley was founded by a tetraplegic Benjamin Žnidaršič.
Youth Hostel Ars Viva offers the following accommodation with a total of 40 beds in rooms and apartments:
3 double rooms with private bathroom
4 double rooms with shared bathroom
1 quadruple room with shared bathroom
1 dorm (mixed dormitory) with 8 beds and shared bathroom
1 apartment with 4 rooms (with a total of 12 beds + 2 extra beds)
All beds in the hostel, except 8 dorm beds, and 4 shared bathrooms are adapted for disabled guests. The apartment downstairs is also adapted for disabled guests, but the 6 dorm beds on the 1st floor are not.
Guests can prepare their own meals in the hostel's fully equipped communal kitchen, or opt for a rich breakfast buffet. If guests want to spend a quiet day, there are 2 terraces with free sun loungers, and 2 fully equipped libraries for guests who want to read a good book. Free internet and parking are available, as well as a charging station so guests with electric cars can charge their cars for free.
There is also a multi-purpose hall next to the hostel, which can accommodate up to 70 people. It is equipped with multimedia facilities, making it suitable for trainings, social gatherings, meetings and conferences.
They also encourage exercising in nature, so guests can rent: trekking bikes, electric bikes, electric scooters, adapted bicycles and tricycles for disabled people, and electric plugs for disabled people. The well-stocked information corner offers maps so you can make your own tour with our useful guidance. There are several different packages for couples, people with reduced mobility and their companions, families and the elderly. Discovering the Green Karst is either through the cycling web app or accompanied by an experienced local tourist guide who, in addition to the sporting activities, enriches the offer with a presentation of local cultural and natural sights.
We also have a van for transporting people with reduced mobility with a driver included. We are happy to offer guests the possibility of van transfers to explore the surrounding area – Križna jama cave, Babno polje, the mysterious Lake Cerknica, Slivnica, Rakov Škocjan and Lake Bloke, or to observe brown bears in their natural habitat.
Instead of the hustle and bustle of the city, it reflects the Notranjska countryside, which invites guests to hiking, cycling, photography, forest exploration, education and, above all, genuine socialising. For added excitement, guests can choose from culinary, clay, painting, yoga, photography or art workshops.
At the location ŽAGA (Vrhnika pri Ložu 39), which was once a sawmill, there is a meeting room with a kitchen for events (celebrations, weddings, workshops, trainings, team building), as well as a shared dormitory upstairs. Additionally, a picnic place with a canopy counter can be rented.
DINA CENTRE OF LARGE CARNIVORES – PIVKA
Dina Pivka – Big Beast Centre is located in Krpan's home. There are two marked disabled parking spaces and a few (standard) parallel parking spaces. Access to the building itself is either by stairs with a hand rail or via a ramp. Moving around the DINA Centre is adapted for people with reduced mobility, as the pathways are wide for easy manoeuvring, barrier-free and with automatic doors. There are accessible toilets in the basement accessed by lift.
The tactile floor plan of the exhibition centre has been adapted for people with blindness and visual impairment, making it easier for visitors to find their way around the space. The tactile map of Slovenia provides information on areas where large carnivores are present in Slovenia. The content of the interactive “beastbook” stations is transferred into a Flipbook format, which allows you to learn about each of the large carnivores, their habitat and what they eat. The What to do if you meet a she-bear? station provides different responses through a tactile presentation and the Braille writing system. The content of the VR headset is in audio description, which offers a special experience. Through detailed descriptions of the environment, the senses and the perception of the surroundings, visitors immerse themselves in the forest and experience it on a whole new level through audio descriptions. The Large Carnivores Know No Boundaries film also includes captions, and the videos in the centre do not include sound. All accessories are available free of charge at the reception.
THE ECOMUSEUM OF THE SEASONAL LAKES OF PIVKA
There is one disabled parking space in front of the Ecomuseum building, and also enough room for parallel parking if this space is occupied. The passageways in the museum itself are wide enough and barrier-free, but as the Ecomuseum is on two floors, there is a lift for people with disabilities. Accessible toilets are also available.
Wheelchair users can access the ground floor of the Cerknica Lake Visitor Centre via a stair lift with a platform, where they can watch a short 15-minute film about Lake Cerknica, listen to stories about the formation of the lake, learn about the geology and hydrology, and take a quiz about Lake Cerknica. The Visitor Centre is free for people with disabilities on presentation of a valid disability identification card.
Wheelchair users can also see the first part of the Drvošec trail, which runs on a flat gravel road (if the wheelchairs are adapted for such a surface) and from here, you can see part of Lake Cerknica (or the sinkholes if the lake is dry) and read some information about the largest Slovenian lake and its surroundings at the individual points.
At the Cerknica Lake Visitor Centre, all content is accessible to the blind and visually impaired via Braille writing or audio, as it is also possible to listen to the content.
The blind and visually impaired can also use the didactic points at the “Kuharca” observatory (the first observatory on the Drvošec trail) – the descriptions are printed in Braille, and they can try out interesting tasks (identifying bark by touch, listening to the sounds of the lake, etc.)
LAKE CERKNICA MUSEUM is wheelchair accessible.
CERKNICA CULTURAL CENTRE provides access for guests with reduced mobility, as it allows access to the auditorium without stairs, thus enabling all performances and the cinema programme to be viewed.
With the project Cinema without barriers, there will be a film screening on the last Tuesday of every month, which will also be adapted for the sensory impaired (deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired).
Screenings for guests with sensory disabilities will be labelled “Cinema without barriers” in the programme and will be accompanied by talks and discussions.
Admission for all screenings within the Cinema without Barriers project is €1. These films will be subtitled and interpreted into Slovene sign language for the deaf and hard of hearing. For the blind and visually impaired, the films will be accompanied by audio descriptions, which visitors will be able to listen to on specially prepared headphones.
From October 2024, the Cerknica Cultural Centre will also be equipped with an inductive/hearing loop for guests with hearing aids.
Wheelchair access to the museum is available from the car park to the left side entrance, where there is a lifting platform. All showrooms are accessible by lift. Toilets are on the ground floor of the museum.
The museum is also equipped with a tactile path and various tactile replicas. For visitors with blindness and visual impairment, some of the museum's spaces are equipped with elements to help them find their way around – there is a floor-mounted tactile guidance system that safely guides white cane users to the reception and toilets, as well as to the educational part of the Junior Cave Scientist exhibition. Stairways, handrails, door edges, door handles and other potential obstacles are also marked with contrasting stripes. The toilets are particularly adapted for people with blindness and visual impairment, as all the equipment, which is predominantly white, is marked with contrasting markings.
In the educational part of the exhibition, called Junior Cave Scientist, visitors can use an interactive pen which, when touched on a marked point, starts playing an audio guide that guides the user through the content of the information boards in the exhibition itself. In this way, visitors with blindness and visual impairment, as well as younger visitors who cannot yet read, can get information. Some of the key information signs have also been equipped with Braille writing, which makes it easier for visitors with blindness to find their way around.
All of these adjustments are essential for people with physical and sensory disabilities, and they also enrich and facilitate the museum experience for older visitors, while helping to raise awareness and educate all visitors and adding a new piece to the mosaic of inclusive design.
PARK OF MILITARY HISTORY IN PIVKA
There is a ramp leading to the museum and accessible and adapted entrances to the exhibition pavilions. The paths are asphalted and marked, and the pavilions and the Command Post are accessible by lift. For people with reduced mobility, there is a virtual tour of the interior of the submarine, the interior of the police boat and the fortress on Primož hill above Pivka. By the end of the year, a virtual tour of the interior of two armoured vehicles will be available.
For the blind and visually impaired, miniature versions of the larger “supporting” exhibits have been created, which visitors can hold and touch to learn about the details of the vehicles on display. Most of the miniatures are in 1:14 scale. The Enigma exhibition and the Path to Independence exhibition are additionally highlighted.
With the help of Mr. Samo Dolanec, the guided tour of the museum collections was adapted for deaf and hard of hearing visitors and translated into Slovenian Sign Language (SZJ). At eight locations in the Park of Military History, visitors can scan a QR code with their mobile phone and get themselves a video guide in sign language. A video guide in international sign has also been produced and will be available to foreign visitors in the same way by the end of the year.
Postojna Cave Park attractions are also accessible for people in wheelchairs or with other mobility limitations. For visitors with reduced mobility, parking spaces have been arranged near the entrance to the Postojna Cave Park, and the Park has provided adapted access and toilets.
Postojna Cave
The route through the cave is made of non-slip concrete, without steps, but with a higher ramp of about 200m, climbing about 40 metres, followed by a descent of about the same length (20% gradient). We recommend that people with reduced mobility, who need a wheelchair and/or the assistance of a companion, visit the part of Postojna Cave that is accessible by train. Of course, you can also opt for the full tour, but only with the help of a guide who can help you over the ramp in the cave. The cave walkway is 1.2 kilometres long. All disabled persons and their companions can buy tickets at a 50% discount (only at the ticket office) with the appropriate disability certificate.
For wheelchair users with reduced mobility, a minimum of 2 days' notice is required.
EXPO Cave Karst
The exhibition is housed in a new building fully accessible to wheelchair users.
Vivarium
The Cave Animal Zoo is located near the entrance to the Postojna Cave and is wheelchair accessible.
Predjama Castle
Unfortunately, the medieval architects did not adapt the rooms for people with reduced mobility. Due to the many steps, the tour is not suitable for people with severe mobility problems and wheelchair users.