see_the_world7

We (me, DH, and 2 children - ages 7 and 9 at the time) are planning to visit Slovenia for 7-8 days at the end of October. Probably flying on 23 October and returning either 30 or 31 October. We plan to hike, see the natural beauty, visit some caves, and relax. My husband is an avid landscape photographer and will be up early every morning and out at sunset every night for photos during the golden hour.

I've read through our Slovenia guidebook and our very rough plan at the moment is to fly into Ljubljana, rent a car, and drive to accommodations. We are thinking of staying the entire week near Lake Bohinj and using that as our base. We prefer to rent an apartment or cottage in one location and then do day trips (unless it is too far and makes sense to move base).

Our day trips are very roughly
Arrival Day - won't get in til late afternoon/evening - just get to accommodation
1 day visiting Ljubljana
1 day at lake bled
1 day at Lake Bohinj
1 day in surrounding areas of Lake Bled or Lake Bohinj (Vintgar Gorge, waterfalls, etc)
1 day at Pradjama Castle, Postojna Caves, Skocjan Caves (should we do both cave areas? is one much better than the other?)
1 day driving the circular route through the alps, stopping where we want along the way, Soca Valley
Departure Day - just get to airport

Does the above sound reasonable? Anything people would suggest we move around? If we had one more day, what extra should we add? Some people on the forums have mentioned Logarska Dolina? Googlemaps shows that as 2 hours one way from Bohinj. Is it worth 4 hours in the car to see this? Something else we should add/change?

Denise

I've only been to Ljubljana and Lake Bled, my daughter to the Postojna Caves as well and really loved the experience. If your husband is a photographer Lake Bled is amazing, I would guess at anytime of the year and while I spent one day there it did appear child friendly (not like Disney just good old Mother Nature). We met travelers who raved about Lake Bohinj and the Skocjan Caves but they were not on our itinerary during that trip. As for your agenda it seems fine but I really enjoyed Ljubljana so we stayed two days, great walks, good food, well preserved old town - Slovenia is truly a best kept secret - I loved it. Enjoy

Lynnea11

I would recommend you that after bled/bohinj and
surroundings just continue your way to kranjska gora and over vrsic mountain pass and visit bovec on the other side. there you're already in soca valley, where you can do some water sports like rafting (i'm not sure if it is still possible in october).
and you can continue your way to postojna. or seaside - nice to see it's little town piran.

sapramiska

you can use bohinj as a base. it's actually a good idea, since Kranjska gora and Bovec are cca. half an hour away. plus, there are many things you can do there - hiking, cycling, nordic walking, etc. you really should take time and see Soca valley.
you don't need to worry about distances since the farthest place anywhere in Slovenia is about 3 hours away from Bohinj. you can find some helpful information here:

http://www.bohinj.si/en

http://www.dolina-soce.com/

http://www.tnp.si/national_park/

see_the_world7

Thanks for the input so far. Any opinions on whether we should try to plan an extra day near Logarska Dolina? Is that worth the drive from the Lake Bohinj area?

We had thought about visiting Piran one day, but if we use one base location at Lake Bohinj we thought that might be a bit too far to drive for a day trip. Opinions?

suffrock

We were just in Slovenia. We did Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Vrsic Pass, Kobarid area (the Dreznica valley is beautiful), Goriska Brda wine region, then south into Croatia. Maybe we were there on a bad day, but I didn't love Lake Bled. I don't know about Logarska Dolina, but the wine region is really pretty. Plus, it's right on the Italian border--we had dinner in Italy one night by simply making a wrong turn. Not far at all from the Soca valley. I think Piran may be stretching it a little for a day trip. There are so many great places to see that are closer to where you'll be--my two cents.

sapramiska

From Bohinj to Piran, it takes about an hour and a half or two hours at most. Piran's worth it and you can take the road through the wine region.
Logarska dolina is beautiful also but maybe it would be better to go there from Ljubljana, because it's nearer and more easily reached. However, considering Bohinj as a base, I would recomend you to rather spend an extra day exploring Kras and wine regions.

see_the_world7

Thanks for the input. We'll keep looking around, but for now will not worry about including Logarska Dolina. It looks like there is plenty nearby. I'll look more at some of the specific areas mentioned above that I hadn't noted before.

aspir4more

We were in Slovenia for 4 days - and could have spent a week. There are many many caves - so you can enjoy the more popular ones, or venture further and find small and equally amazing. The pass was closed off in April - so we did a drive around the Nat'l park - constantly stopping and taking photos. The people were welcoming - yet somewhat reserved. Although this is a very small and beautiful country - having the flexibility to have time in the different quadrants would be preferable to having to drive 2hrs+ to get back to an apartment. It is truly a beautiful part of the universe.

see_the_world7

I wasn't even thinking of the pass being closed off! We'll be there in late October so I don't know whether to expect it to be open or not. Is there a way to find out before we set off for the trip?

cinzara

We just returned from a week in Slovenia (followed by a week in Croatia) with our kids, 3 and 5. We used Ljublana as a base and went to Bohinj and Bled, but also did a day trip to Piran which was one of the highlights. It is a great little coastal village. It is at most just over an hour from Bled. Everything in Slovenia is easy to get to and the roads are great, so I don't think Piran is too far for a day trip. We have family in Slovenia, so they took us on the trip to Piran and we stopped on the way at Socerb castle (Grad Strmec), from which you can see Trieste to the north and croatia to the south. A spectacular view - and something we never would have done or known about without our local relatives taking us there. We also loved Ljublana, just walking around, going to the castle, having ice cream,etc, and you could definitely do more than 1 day there if you wanted. (there is Tivoli park which has a zoo which the kids might like?) Unfortunately we didn't do some of the other things you are planning (the caves, etc,) partly because I thought our kids were too young, but also because visiting family took up quite a bit of our time. You will have a great trip!