Mura River at Izakovci

The Mura once carried dozens of floating mills, boats moored in the current with a waterwheel between two hulls grinding grain for the villages along the bank, and the last of them stopped working in the 1970s. A reconstruction at Izakovci is moored and turning again, with the millstones running and the mechanism open to look at, and beside it a brod, a flat ferry pulled across the river on a cable, still operates. The riverside meadows and gallery forest are part of a biosphere reserve.

What you actually see

• The floating mill - a reconstructed boat mill with its wheel and stones working.
• The brod ferry - a flat ferry hauled across the river on a cable.
• The gallery forest - willow and poplar woodland along the banks.
• The biosphere reserve - the Mura corridor protected as part of a five-country reserve.

When to go

May to September when the mill and ferry operate; both stop outside the season and in high water. Summer weekends are busiest. Spring floods can close the site.

Honest expectations

The mill and ferry run only in season and in suitable water, and turning up out of season means finding nothing operating. Facilities are minimal and explanation is mostly in Slovene. A car is needed to get here.

Nearby

Velika Polana is southeast, and Murska Sobota is north.