Plave - Sveta Gora (via Prižnica and Vodice)

Access to starting point:
A) First, we drive to Nova Gorica, then continue driving towards Bovec and Tolmin. We then drive along the Soča Valley on the main road to the settlement of Plave, where at the crossroads, where the road to Paljevo branches off to the right, the described path begins. Since there are no arranged parking spots at the starting point, we have to park somewhere else, preferably at some suitable place beside the road before or after the settlement, or on the other side of the Soča River near the little church or somewhere on the edge of the village.
B) We drive to the settlement of Most na Soči, from there towards Nova Gorica. When we arrive at the settlement of Plave, or at the crossroads where the road to the settlement of Paljevo branches off to the left, we are at the start of the described path. Since there are no arranged parking spots at the starting point, we have to park somewhere else, preferably at some suitable place beside the road before or after the settlement, or on the other side of the Soča River near the little church or somewhere on the edge of the village.

Path description:
From the settlement Plave we continue on the asphalt road towards Paljevo. The path first leads past a few houses, then quickly brings us to the left serpentine, where on a smaller building there is a NOB monument. We continue on the quite panoramic road, which past a bench brings us to the right serpentine, where straight ahead the footpath to Prižnica (elevation 383) continues.
We continue straight on the cart track (still on the Paljevo road), which for a short time continues without major changes in elevation, then shortly after crossing the power line route, the path turns slightly to the right and begins to ascend transversely. During the transverse ascent we arrive at a small junction, where we leave the cart track and continue right onto the forest path. The path continues through the forest and occasionally ascends quite steeply. During the ascent through the forest, numerous remnants of the First World War (ruins, caverns, trenches...) accompany us, now equipped with information boards (at the time of description under preparation). Higher up, the path levels out and brings us to the vegetated summit of Prižnica, where beside the information board stands a pleasant bench for resting.
From the summit of Prižnica the path begins to descend, occasionally more steeply, still leading past several caverns. Somewhat lower, at a small junction we continue straight, then the path levels out and brings us to a gentle ridge. Along the mentioned forested ridge, then in a few minutes of gentle ascent, we arrive at the church of St. Kvirin.
At the church we step onto the road, along which we begin to descend gradually. First, the path from the settlement Deskle joins from the left, a bit further an asphalt road branches off to the left towards the hunting lodge LD Anhovo on Paljevo.
Here too we continue straight, then at the first crossroads near the small hamlet we continue left towards Sveta Gora. The asphalt road, which after a few metres turns right, turns into macadam, which after a few minutes of transverse ascent brings us to the junction with the described path from Plave via Paljevo.
Immediately after the roads merge, they split again at the information board. We continue on the right road, which then mostly gently to moderately ascends the northwestern slopes of Kuk. A little higher, at the small crossroads we continue straight, then along a slightly steeper road continue to the marked crossroads located south of Kuk.
From the junction a road branches sharply right, by which we can reach the settlements Zagora and Zagomila, sharply right branches the path to Kuk, we continue straight past the monument erected in June 1916 to the commandant of the 1st Mountain Brigade FML Guido Novak von Arienti. Behind the monument the road turns slightly left, then after a few minutes brings us to the hamlet Vodice. Behind Vodice we leave the road and continue right towards the monument (sign on the board). The path ahead turns even more to the right and brings us from the forest to a grassy hayfield, where it continues along the outer edge of the pasture fence. With nice views of the surrounding hills and Julian Alps, we return to the forest in a few minutes. The path continues through the forest, mostly only gently ascending, then levels out further and brings us to the forest road, which we reach near the information boards.
At the information boards the forest road continues left towards the pass Preški vrh, a little further and then right leads the path to the nearby monument at the eagles, along the worse road ahead the path continues towards the summit of Vodice and the mausoleum on top. From the information boards to the summit of Vodice it is only about 2 minutes' walk.
From Vodice we continue on the marked path, which begins to descend towards the southeast. The path, which descends moderately, only occasionally more steeply, brings us after about 15 minutes of descent to a poorer forest road, which we follow right, and in a few steps arrive at the marked junction at the pass Preški vrh.
At the pass there is a marked junction of several roads, we continue straight towards Sveta Gora (left Grgar, right Zagora). There follows about another 20 minutes of ascent with occasional fine views, and the path brings us to the large parking lot below Sveta Gora. From the parking lot we continue on stone steps and ascend them to the summit of Sveta Gora.
Plave - Prižnica 50 minutes, Prižnica - St. Kvirin 15 minutes, St. Kvirin - Vodice 1:25, Vodice - Sveta Gora 45 minutes.

On the way: Prižnica (383m), Sveti Kvirin na Paljevem (321m), Vodice (555m), Vodice (651m), Preški vrh (504m)