Bovec sits at the head of the Soča valley, in a wide bowl of green meadows ringed by limestone walls that look as if they were stacked there deliberately. Kanin rises to the south, the high Julian Alps close in to the east, and the river that gave the valley its name runs cold and unbelievably turquoise just down the road. It is a small town of around sixteen hundred people, but in summer its population of kayakers, rafters, paragliders and riders makes it feel much larger.
The Soča is the star. Its colour comes from glacial minerals and the clean limestone it flows through, and it is cold enough in all but the hottest weeks to make you gasp. The upper valley is one of the best whitewater areas in Europe, and the little town is a base for rafting, canyoning and kayaking. Even if you do none of this, the viewpoints along the road are worth the pauses.
History hangs over the place. During the First World War the Isonzo front, as the Italians called it, ran through here, and twelve battles were fought along the valley between 1915 and 1917. At nearby Kobarid, ten kilometres down the road, a good museum tells the story, and Ernest Hemingway used the retreat from Caporetto in A Farewell to Arms. Bunkers, tunnels and chapels still scatter the hillsides. It is sobering to ride through such calm beauty and then remember how much happened here.
The roads from Bovec are among the best in Slovenia. To the north, the Vršič Pass climbs to 1,611 metres through about fifty hairpins, many of them cobbled on the northern side, so it needs care in the wet. It is usually closed in winter. To the west the Predel pass crosses to Italy and Tarvisio, an easier road with long bends and mountain views.
Fuel is found in the valley, with larger supplies in Tolmin down the road, and it is wise to top up before the passes. Food is generous: look for the local Bovec cheese, a hard sheep cheese, the thick bean soup called jota, and fresh trout from the river. Afternoon thunderstorms can roll in quickly during summer, so start the passes early.