The Soča is one of the most beautiful rivers in Europe. Its water runs a vivid turquoise-green, almost impossibly clear, fed by limestone springs and Alpine snowmelt. The river flows south through the Julian Alps from its source near the Vršič Pass, gathering force through the Bovec basin and into the increasingly dramatic gorge below town.
For white-water, the stretch around Bovec is graded from II to IV and offers some of the best river kayaking and rafting in the Alps. Numerous operators in the town run half-day and full-day rafting trips from April to October; the most exciting section is the Boka canyon below the Boka waterfall. Even without getting in the water, the riverside path and the pools below the Virje and Kozjak waterfalls are worth the walk. The National Park trail along the upper Soča — marked from the Lepena valley — passes through sections where the river runs through polished marble gorges barely wide enough to squeeze through.