RebeccahS

Hello everyone,

This spring I spent 13 nights in Slovenia, which was part of a long trip that was 60 Nights in 6 Countries starting in Vienna and ending in Berlin.

This forum was an invaluable resource to helping me put together the itinerary so I'd like to pay back with a couple of tips and, an important thing always to me - how many nights I gave for each place and how that worked out. I've condensed the TR that's on my website into this trip report, but if you want to look at pictures too, it's under the Slovenia topics: http://rebeccasnyder.com/travel/cate...rope/slovenia/

So here goes!

Slovenia Itinerary:

Arriving in Slovenia: Fly Vienna to Ljubljana

7 nights in Ljubljana
--- 8 day car rental starts the 4th day in Ljubljana ---
3 nights in Lake Bled
3 nights in Piran
--- 8 day car rental ends in Portoroz on the 2nd day in Piran

Leaving Slovenia: Taxi To Koper, bus to Rovinj

RebeccahS

7 Nights in Lovely Ljubljana – City Sights, Castles, Caves, and Magical Nights

Most people give Ljubljana just a couple of nights and then move on to their next destination. While it’s true that you can do the popular tourist activities in 1 super speedy or 2 leisurely days, Ljubljana makes a terrific base for day trips to castles, caves, and medieval towns all within an hour’s drive from the city.

Arriving in Ljubljana

I looked into taking the train, but not only was the journey about 6 hours, there was track maintenance the end of April that might not have been completed, requiring a bus for a section of the trip. I opted for the no-hassle plane ride and we flew from Vienna to Ljubjlana - 50 minutes on Adria Airways.

Tip: It’s easy and cheap to get to the central bus station on public Bus #28, which pulls up promptly at 11:00 in the bus parking right in front of the terminal. Walk past the taxi cabs who want your business and over to the bus lanes, which may be closed off by yellow tape so people don’t park there. Buy your ticket from the driver for €4.40 per person, plus an extra €1 per bag that he’ll put under the bus. Easy peasy.


Top Ljubljana City Experiences
- Open Kitchen
- Ljubljana Free Walking Tour
- Ljubljana Castle
- Plečnik House

Top Day Trip Experiences
- Skocjan Caves
- Postojna Cave
- Predjama Castle

Sampling the Chef’s Offerings at Open Kitchen

Every Friday the Central Market is buzzing with all types of food stalls in Ljubljana’s Open Kitchen. You’ll find plenty of opportunities for a meal or a bite here and there, with many of the stalls manned by the chefs and staff of some of Ljubljana’s restaurants. A terrific way to sample a restaurant’s finger friendly offerings at a fraction of the cost. Wine, beer, music and lots of happy people make a lively scene, a great way to start a stay in Ljubljana!

Fascinating Facts, Myths, and History on a Walking Tour

My favorite way to learn about a city and get to know my way around is a “free” walking tour (you know it’s for tips, right?). On our first full day in city the Ljubljana Free Tour fit the bill perfectly, delivering a lot of fascinating facts, myths and history in an interesting and fun 2+ hour tour up and down the riverside, across bridges, to Congress square, the National Library, and finishing in the courtyard of the former Monastery of the Holy Cross.


Up, Down, and In and Out of the Ljubljana Castle

The Ljubljana Free Tour was finished by 1:30, leaving plenty of time to visit the Ljubljana Castle. The big draw of the castle is the outstanding view over Ljubljana, but the castle itself has some interesting features that can keep you busy for hours. You can just get a ticket and wander around but there are other tour options – an audioguide for a do-it-yourself tour, or for the same price, a regular guided tour or a tour called Time Machine which is a guided tour featuring a variety of costumed staff members playing the part of historical figures. Time Machine it is! An entertaining 90 minutes at various stops around and in the castle as the characters describe their periods in the history of the castle.

If you’re expecting a picturesque crumbling old castle, you’ll be disappointed. The castle has been renovated from 2000 to 2015 to be used for community and private events, complete with a fantastic underground service area. An interesting pictoral exhibit of the history of the renovation and stabilization work is on one of the modern levels underneath the castle. The sublevels have some beautiful spaces used for photography exhibits and art galleries.

The Plečnik House

If you’re interested in architecture and the architectural heritage bestowed on Ljubljana by Jože Plečnik, make time to visit the Plečnik House. The excellent hour long guided tour through the house that he lived in until his death gives you a great insight to this interesting man. There’s a short film and other exhibits in the house. It’s a little out of the way but a great walk along the river to see some more of lovely Ljubljana.

RebeccahS

Excursions from Ljubljana

Ljubljana makes a great base for driving excursions out of the city to see some famous caves, castles and medieval towns. We took 3 days of our week long stay to see Predjama Castle, Postojna Cave, Škocjan Cave and the medieval town of Škofja Loka – all about an hour’s drive from the city. If you have to pick one excursion, make it Skocjan Cave! If you want to see both Skocjan and Postojna Cave, see Postojna first and save the best for last.

Tip: Lake Bled is only about a 40 minute drive from Ljubljana and it’s tempting to do a day trip from the city to walk around the lake and walk Vintgar Gorge. But to really enjoy this beautiful area give it 3 nights and visit Lake Bohinj, medieval Radovljica and the weather permitting, a drive over the Vršič Pass.

Leaving Ljubljana

Spending a week with Ljubljana as a base gave us time to eat in some great restaurants and walk the delightful pedestrian streets along the river in the evenings, enjoying the sights of lovely Ljubljana. But you'll want to be sure to have your own parking place with your holiday apartment! Parking is limited in pedestrianized Ljubljana.


Drive from Ljubljana to Lake Bled – 40 minutes.

Nonconformist

I was very disappointed in Ljubljana Castle.

RebeccahS

3 Nights in Beautiful Lake Bled – The Lake, Gorge, Drives and Medieval Towns

Top Experiences
- Never ending views from the walk circling Lake Bled
- Hiking up path #6 for spectacular views high above Lake Bled
- Walking through beautiful Vintgar Gorge

Strolling Around Beautiful Lake Bled

Fortune was smiling on us with the beautiful day, just two days earlier a snowstorm had blown through Slovenia covering the peaks of the Julian Alps in a blanket of picture perfect snow. We checked in to our lovely apartment and set off for the top activity of Lake Bled – the 6 kilometer (3.73 miles) walk around the lake.

Our apartment was just a 10 minute stroll to Bled and the lakeside walk, where we started a clockwise stroll so we could finish at the Sava Restaurant for some of the famous Kremšnita cream cake.

Our host gave us the tip on seeing Lake Bled from a perch high above the lake – look for marker 6 Osojnica, a loop road and path to this terrific vantage point. It’s easy to spot from the walk at the opposite end of the lake from the town of Bled.

Timing for your walk around Lake Bled:

We spent about 3 hours including the hike up to the panoramic vantage point, lingering at a lakeside bench, and a ridiculous amount of photo stops along the way. If you just want to walk around the lake it should take anywhere between 60 or 90 minutes.

RebeccahS

@Nonconformist - The castle disappoints quite a few people from TR's and reviews I've read! Because I'd read a bunch about it, I wasn't expecting much so I enjoyed it for what it was...and the seeing the infrastructure was fascinating to me!

RebeccahS

Vertical Vintgar Gorge

Our second day in the area was another gorgeous day, perfect for a walk through Vintgar Gorge. The beautiful gorge is one of the top attractions in the area, with wooden bridges and walkways clinging to the sides of the gorge, it’s an easy nature walk through the gorge and back that takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.

But remember - it's a TOP attraction and gets busy, so like every popular Thing To Do, go early!

RebeccahS

Country Drive Up To Vršič Pass – Almost!

I wasn't sure we'd have time to drive the Vršič Pass, even if it were open, but our apartment host assured us we would have time. So after taking our time at Vintgar Gorge, we drove over to Kranjska Gora to see how far we could get up the Vršič Pass. Not very far! The snowstorm had the road closed before the Russian Chapel, a chapel built by Russion POW’s in World War I who were forced into labor to build the road between the Sava and Soca Valleys.

Despite not being able to go up the Vršič Pass the drive was very scenic with the spectacular backdrop of the snow capped Julian Alps from the valley and Jasna Lake. On the way to Kranjska Gora, the valley is known for its many hayracks, a typical Slovenian sight in the fields. In the spring the racks are empty, but in the harvest they’ll be filled to overflowing with drying hay.


The day wasn’t over yet! We drove back the way we came and then over to Lake Bohinj for a look. At the far end of the lake the ski lift was running and the huge parking lot was full of skiers. A little too cold for us, we headed back to Bohinjska Bistrica and checked out the Car Train as possible alternative to driving the highway when we were heading to Piran in a couple of days.

We’d been ready for a café break for quite awhile, but we didn’t find any places by the lake in snowy Bohinj. How about the café with a view of the Lake Bled? We’d walked up to the Belvedere of Vila Bled the day before on our walk around Lake Bled and the idyllic spot was a perfect place for a break with a view. Plus you can drive to it.

RebeccahS

Medieval Radovljica and Kropa

Our last day in the area and our luck with good weather vanished and the rain stayed with us all day. A perfect day for the Bee Museum (Apicultural Museum) in medieval Radovljica, which fortunately was open on this Labor Day holiday. This interesting museum occupied us for about an hour as we learned all about the world of the local Carniolan honey bee and the tradition of Slovenia beekeeping. Being a holiday and pouring rain we gave the rest of the tiny pretty town a quick visit, stopping for a cappuccino at a little café on the main square.

Despite the rain we drove to the nearby interesting village of Kropa. In this famous ironworking town the rushing river was diverted into channels on the sides to feed the 15th century waterwheels that powered the forges, a fascinating glimpse of industry pre-industrial age. Signs describing the features of the town are in English, but unfortunately the pouring rain made for a short visit. There’s an Iron Forging Museum in the village but our timing was bad and it was closed.

We finished our last day with a delicious meal at Gostilna Union Restaurant and a last look at beautiful Lake Bled with the castle dramatically floodlit at night.

Leaving Lake Bled

Lake Bled to Piran – this would have been a 1.5 – 2 hour drive, but we made a big detour to take the 12pm tour of the interesting 13th century Sneznik Castle, an hour and a half drive from Piran.

RebeccahS

3 Nights in Pretty petite pastel Piran

Piran is a wonderful place to do…relaxing. The sights don’t take that long – you can wander the picturesque streets, climb the bell tower, walk the town walls and still have plenty of time for idling by the sea.

Top Experiences

- Town Walls
- St. George’s Bell Tower
- Relaxing by the Adriatic Sea

With 3 nights to spend in petite Piran and our rental car still at our disposal until the next morning, we decided to drive over to Koper after dropping off the luggage at our Piran apartment. We didn’t spend much time on the visit to Koper, we wandered by the harbor, up to the historic main square and down some tiny pedestrian lanes, stopped for a coffee…and came back to settle in to Piran.

Tip: A bonus! Parking in Koper is free on weekends and holidays.

Piran with a Car

Driving into and parking in Piran is an expensive and restrictive affair. If you have a car, the easiest means on your pocketbook is staying in a hotel that offers discounted parking which will be at the huge parking structure called Parking Fornače, a reasonable walk or free shuttle ride away from Piran’s main square. Driving into Piran is by permit only, however your hotel can give you a 15 minute voucher to drive in and drop off your luggage, after which you can go back and park in the garage.

Piran

Piran is every bit as picturesque and charming as you can imagine a medieval town on the Adriatic to be. Once a part of the Venetian empire, the old buildings and Bell Tower will remind you of a little piece of Italy, as will the language! You’ll hear a cheery Buon Giorno more often than the Slovenian Dober Dan in pretty, tidy little Piran.

Returning the Rental Car in Portoroz

The next day we hopped on the free parking lot shuttle to go get our car and drive to Portoroz to drop it off. The Europcar agent wasn’t there so this wasn’t the smoothest return but it all ended well, just like everyone said “No Problem.” We gave up waiting and just left the car and the keys at the Grand Hotel Portorozo and sure enough, it wasn’t a problem.

There’s a city bus that can take you from Portoroz to Piran, but we had nothing on the agenda but walking around anyway and opted for a pleasant 40 minute walk along the waterfront back to Piran.

Piran Walks, Bell Tower, and City Walls

Piran is small. A walk around the charming streets to find all the little churches and squares, then a climb up the Bell Tower, followed by a climb up the city walls and you’ve essentially seen it… even with time left over for hanging out at the shore at little Fiesa Lake.

We had 3 nights in Piran, which worked well for us to give us a day of doing nothing much. For most tourists 2 nights will be plenty for pretty Piran.

RebeccahS

Leaving Piran

Next destination: Rovinj, Croatia.

If you were to drive from Piran to Rovinj, the trip would take you a little over an hour. But renting a car in one country and dropping it in another is a huge extra expense, and we weren’t coming back to Slovenia. Dropping our Slovenian car rental off in Slovenia and getting a rental in Croatia for the rest of our driving trip made the most sense (and cents!).

Taxi to Koper – 20-30 minutes, €30. CRNJ Tours Bus #2336 to Rovinj – 2 hours 16 minutes, arriving 11:50 at the Rovinj bus station.

The Piran to Rovinj bus route doesn’t start until July – we took a taxi from Piran to the bus station at Koper, about a 20-30 minute drive and €30. Are there less expensive options to get to Koper? Nothing that made sense for us to catch the 9:34 am CRNJ bus from Koper to Rovinj.

There are other bus lines that leave in the afternoon, which you can find on the GetByBus website.

RebeccahS

I had a hard time trying to decide how many nights in each location in Slovenia. We love to hike, but because we were visiting in the spring the weather wasn't likely to be conducive to hiking (and boy I was right in a big way - it hailed and we had snow the end of April!). But staying in a lovely city like Ljubljana for a week was wonderful and gave us time for fantastic excursions without having to change locations too often. 3 nights in Lake Bled was great to see the sights and some of the countryside. We were in Piran for 3 nights, and the last day was mostly just blissful idleness. But sometimes you need that.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions on driving, the car rental, bus to Rovinj, or our Slovenia itinerary, just let me know and I'll try to help.

cobbie2

Great report. Thanks.

rtt0921

Great report, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Regarding Ljubljana Castle, obviously it's an important landmark that defines the cityscape, but it's not a traditional castle in the sense that there aren't any historical buildings within its ramparts, so I understand why many visitors may feel underwhelmed. It had been utilized for other purposes after its utility as a castle diminished, so after centuries of remodeling little of the original historical buildings remain. That said, it is a wonderful viewpoint and it's much better value now that the permanent exhibitions have been expanded as part of on-going revitalisation efforts.

There are regular cheap buses between Piran and Koper, running about once every hour.

I am curious - what did you think of Sneznik Castle? Very few foreign tourists make their way there and I'd be interested to hear a non-Slovene's perspective on it.

rialtogrl

Great report! You are lucky you got to go to the Open Kitchen.. I was in Ljubljana at the end of April when it snowed, and so.. no Open Kitchen.

"blissful idleness" Love this! Thanks for posting your experience.

Adelaidean

Saving for future reference, definitely my sort of trip. Thanks for the report and photos.

Nonconformist

Vintgar Gorge is really, really pretty - we really loved it.

RebeccahS

@rtt0921 Ljubljana Castle: I knew what to expect from reading other TR's and reviews and enjoyed everything in the castle from top to bottom – the Virtual Castle film, Slovenian History museum, Penitentiary, Chapel, Tower, galleries and – the fascinating and fun Puppetry Museum.

Bus Piran to Koper: Thanks for pointing out the options for other readers. I was aware of the bus Piran to Koper, but for me easy wins in certain circumstances and a taxi definitely was easiest and quickest way for us to get the 9:34 am bus in Koper.

Sneznik Castle: An interesting tour of the castle/hunting residence, complete with a romantic love story! The castle is very well preserved and presented and I enjoyed seeing all the furniture and stories of the owners - a real slice of life from 19th century Slovenia. A terrific detour on the way to Piran!

Thanks everyone for reading and your comments!

RebeccahS

@rialtogrl Oh, too bad you missed Open Kitchen! We were in Ljubljana when the snowstorm came through - so magical seeing Ljubljana covered with snow!

CollK

Thanks for the great trip report. We were in Slovenia last year and loved it there, your report brings back lovely memories. Just want to say, you have an awesome web site with gorgeous pictures and so much helpful information. I am in awe of you!