Soča 2026: a single €15 permit to paddle from Bovec to Tolmin

The upper Soča valley is changing the rules from 1 June 2026. Meeting in extraordinary session, the Kobarid municipal council adopted a sporazum (inter-municipal agreement) that creates a single €15 day permit valid on the entire river, from Bovec to Tolmin. A long-overdue simplification for rafters, kayakers and whitewater operators — though one that was pushed through against fierce political opposition.

What changes on 1 June 2026

The agreement signed between Bovec, Kobarid and Tolmin puts an end to the patchwork of local permits that previously forced paddlers to buy different authorisations depending on which stretch they were running. The headline changes:

• €15 per day for a single dovolilnica (permit) valid from Bovec to Tolmin.
• - 50% in pre- and post-season to spread visitor numbers beyond the July–August peak.
• Unified opening hours across the whole river (no more different time slots from one municipality to the next).
• Extended high season: the high season now runs until 15 September instead of 1 September — so a softer late-summer paddle becomes much more attractive.
• Common operator for put-in and take-out points: Komunala Tolmin, with an inter-municipal warden for the navigable area.
• Revenue split: 45% to Bovec, 45% to Kobarid and 10% to Tolmin.

Subsidies: who pays less, and how much

The agreement introduces a single subsidy grid identical across all three municipalities — something local stakeholders had long been asking for. In practice:

• 90% discount for residents of Bovec, Kobarid and Tolmin.
• 80% discount for registered athletes (federation licence) and organised school groups.
• 50% discount for under-15s.

At €15 full price, the Soča remains an outright bargain compared with what comparable rivers in Western Europe charge — particularly given the quality of the whitewater on offer.

A bumpy ride through the Kobarid council

The road to the vote was anything but smooth. Kobarid mayor Marko Matajurc, who opposes the text, refused to call the session — councillors had to convene it themselves. He then refused to sign the agreement after it was passed, and in the end councillor Branko Velišček, a member of the working group that had drafted the document, signed on behalf of the municipality.

The mayor argues that Kobarid loses out: he puts the annual shortfall at €543,000 at equivalent permit volume. The agreement's backers contest the maths: it uses gross figures (before deducting the cost of running the access points), and conflates the combined revenue of all three municipalities with what actually accrues to Kobarid alone. Matajurc is now considering convening a zbor občanov — the citizens' assembly, the highest body of the municipality — to reopen the file.

The big unknown: how many people actually paddle the Soča?

Tolmin mayor Alen Červ said it openly: nobody knows precisely how many people descend the Soča each year. Bovec only switched to a named-permit system in 2026, so consolidated figures across the whole river will not be available until the end of the season. That's an important data point for assessing both the financial impact of the new pricing and the broader question of visitor pressure on the valley — a sensitive topic locally.

What this means for English-speaking travellers

If you're planning to paddle the Soča in summer 2026, three things to remember:

• One permit covers everything: no need to stack multiple authorisations depending on whether you put in at Bovec, Trnovo, Kobarid or Tolmin.
• The season stretches into autumn: with the high season now running to 15 September, late September becomes an excellent compromise — water still warm enough, golden light, fewer crowds.
• Off-season = half price: €7.50 a day in May or October is hard to beat for paddling turquoise water at the foot of the Julian Alps.

Practical details (where to buy the permit, put-in points, mandatory equipment) will be published by the three municipalities and Komunala Tolmin before 1 June. We'll update this article as soon as the official links are live.

Going further

If the Soča valley is new to you, start with our Soča Valley overview, and see our piece on activity holidays in Slovenia: hiking, cycling, rafting, kayaking for the bigger picture on whitewater and outdoor sports in the region.

Source: original article on 24ur.com (Slovenian), STA news agency, 8 May 2026.