Vipava Valley Wine Train

The 2025 season of the Vipava Valley Wine Train has drawn to a close — and what a season it was. Running as part of the GO! 2025 European Capital of Culture programme in Nova Gorica–Gorizia, Slovenia's only wine train carried close to 1,900 guests aboard roughly twenty departures this year, its green vintage carriages rattling along an Austro-Hungarian-era railway through one of Europe's most quietly spectacular wine regions.

The idea was born back in 2021, when Matjaž Zgonik and the Winestronaut team — local wine guides running boutique tastings under the Burjatik agency — looked at the abandoned passenger line between Nova Gorica and Ajdovščina and saw potential where others saw rust. With Slovenian Railways as an enthusiastic partner, the first official departure rolled out in October 2021. Four years later, the little train has become a flagship of the valley: in November 2025 it picked up a European award for innovative and sustainable wine and gastronomy tourism at an international cultural tourism conference.

The Wine Train threading through the vineyards of the Vipava Valley · Photo: vinskivlak.si

Season Departures · 13:30 – 19:00

Each departure follows the same five-hour programme: check-in and a welcome glass at Nova Gorica railway station from 13:30, the 14:05 departure, the Ajdovščina stop, and the evening tasting with dinner at a Vipava Valley wine estate. Tickets and availability at vinskivlak.si.

• Saturday, 21 March 2026 — spring opening ride
• Saturday, 18 April 2026
• Saturday, 9 May 2026
• Saturday, 23 May 2026
• Saturday, 19 September 2026
• Saturday, 26 September 2026
• Saturday, 3 October 2026
• Saturday, 10 October 2026
• Saturday, 17 October 2026
• Saturday, 24 October 2026
• Saturday, 14 November 2026
• Saturday, 5 December 2026 — festive closing ride

The 2025 season ran from March to December with two final departures on 29 November and 6 December 2025, carrying close to 1,900 guests in total.

Golden Hour on Rails

Each departure followed the same unhurried choreography. Guests checked in at Nova Gorica railway station just after half past one, boarded the private vintage train — reserved exclusively for wine passengers — and were welcomed with a glass of local sparkling wine before the 14:05 departure. A local winemaker rode along, pouring five samples of indigenous wines and telling the stories behind them while the vineyards slid past in warm afternoon light.

The privately reserved vintage railcars, liveried for "Rajska dolina" — the Paradise Valley · Photo: Slovenske železnice – Potniški promet

Ajdovščina: Roman Stones and Golden Light

The first pause came in Ajdovščina, the valley's main town, where passengers stretched their legs on a guided stroll to the old centre — a place layered with history, from its Roman predecessor Castra to the medieval towers above the Hubelj river. Most of the route between the towns runs through vineyards, and with departures timed for the afternoon, the valley was reliably bathed in what locals call the golden hour — with the occasional spectacular sunset thrown in for free.

Ajdovščina from the air, cradled between vineyards and the Trnovo Forest plateau · Photo: vipavskadolina.si

Dornberk: Ten Wines In, and Dinner with the Winemaker

The heart of the evening beat in Dornberk, a small village in the upper valley. From the modest station, a guided walk led guests to a local wine estate — members of the Vipava Valley Winemakers' Consortium — where the tables were already laid. Here came five to six more pours of premium local wines, this time with proper rustic fare: baked prosciutto wrapped in dough, jota (the hearty sauerkraut-and-bean stew) with sausage, and other homemade dishes. Every guest also took home a Vipava Valley wine glass as a souvenir.

Pouring local wine above the valley · Photo: winedering.com

The vineyard-stitched hills of the upper Vipava Valley near Dornberk · Photo: saxida.com

The wines themselves are the valley's calling card. Vines have thrived here for some two thousand years, and alongside international varieties the region guards its old indigenous grapes — the crisp, herbal Zelen and the delicate Pinela — which featured prominently in the tastings, poured by the very people who make them.

A Borderless Year of Culture

The Wine Train's 2025 season unfolded within something much larger: Nova Gorica and Gorizia's joint year as European Capital of Culture — the first time the title has been shared by two cities across a national border. Under the motto GO! BORDERLESS, the twin towns staged more than 600 cultural events and 60 projects across the Vipava Valley, the Soča Valley, Goriška Brda and the Karst. The Wine Train, listed in the official GO! 2025 programme with departures from March through December, embodied the year's spirit perfectly: slow, sustainable, cross-pollinating — and delicious.

Europe Square (Trg Evrope), where Slovenia and Italy meet without a fence — the symbolic heart of GO! 2025 · Photo: vipavskadolina.si

Voices from the Carriages

The GO! 2025 curtain has fallen, but the Wine Train keeps rolling. What began as an improbable idea — wine tasting on a forgotten railway — has become the valley's most charming ambassador: proof that in this corner of Europe, the best way to understand a landscape is to ride slowly through it, glass in hand, while the people who made the wine tell you how.

Golden hour in the valley — the Wine Train's signature light · Photo: getexperience.com