Is Slovenia GREAT or not?
 

We are planning a trip through France, Italy and Austria, and are considering looping through Slovenia for 9-10 days. I know a few of you have posted on Slovenia, but it seems like very few comments are ever mentioned. I am really interested in why so few seem to mention or visit the area? Is it worthwhile to spend that much time there, or would you recommend cutting back?

The two places I visited, Ljubljana and Bled were lovely. I wouldn't go out of my way just to visit them, but certainly worth a trip if you are in the vicinity.

Ljubljana is pretty, with cafes/bars/restaurants lining the river. At night, I thought the reflection of the bridge over the river was magical. However, I don't think there is a ton to see, in terms of traditional sightseeing, in Ljubljana. We visited the castle, watched a 3D video which nearly put me to sleep, and just hung out in town. Since I was already 3 months into backpacking trip, all I wanted to do was hang out and soak up ambience. Ljubljana was a vibrant town and perfect for that.

Bled was neat for its natural beauty. There's hiking to do around the area if you like that, as well as other outdoor activities (therefore warmer weather is recommended). There is only one ATM in town (that we could find) and we could not get it to accept anything with a VISA logo (seems it only liked mastercard!) so bring cash beforehand. It is a very easy busride from Ljubljana.

I would say you could probably do both in a week, no problem. I was in Ljubljana for 3 days and Bled for 3 days, and felt it was fine.

We spent 7 days in Slovenia in May. 3 were in Ljubljana, which I loved. The outdoor cafes along the river, wonderful buildings, a daily market,
etc. We enjoyed the walk up to the castle, and other walks around the town. It reminded me of a small Amsterdam in some ways, a touch of Vienna too.

We daytripped to Lesce Bled from Ljubljana and spent about 4 or 5 hours there, again a nice hike up to the castle (there was a wedding there), great views from up there. There is a pretty walk around the lake and you can take a boat to the island in the middle or row yourself out there. While we were there, there was a bike race that went through.

We also stayed in Piran for 4 nights. This is another lovely town on the water. You can climb the bell tower, hike up to the castle, or just wander around the small streets and the marina(no car access to non residents and even then, there is really only 1 or 2 roads that they can drive on, the others are all pedestrian only).

We walked over to Portoroz from there, we were not overly impressed with that town. We also took used Venezia Lines for a day trip to Venice. There are sail boats and other boats that have daily excursions around the Istrian coast.

We wanted to go daytrip from Piran into Rovinj, Croatia, however in May they were not offering boat trips there, but that would be a nice day trip for you as well if you were in the area.

All in all, I would definitely return to Slovenia.

We spent 5 days there last Oct. We stayed in Ljublajna for 3 nites and day tripped to Bled and the caves at Postjonya[sp] from there. We also enjoyed Piran for 2 days, but actually stayed at a nice 4 star in Portorosz. You will like Slovenia, but I feel that may be too much time--5 or 6 days is adequate. Good luck !

Thanks everybody for your comments. I was thinking of staying in Piran/Portoroz, then Ljulijana, then Lake Bled. If you were to cut one, which would you cut?

I wrote a trip report last fall about our 5 days in Lake Bled/ Lake Bohinj. We particularly enjoyed the area around Lake Bohinj. You can bring up the report by typing "linawood" in the search box and scrolling down to the Slovenia trip report.

Would you recommend staying in the Lake Bled area or the Lake Bohinj area?

Would you recommend staying in the Lake Bled area or the Lake Bohinj area?

Bled has many more activities and sights and restaurants and is a good sized town. Lake Bohinj has several very tiny villages near one end, but not right on the lake. It is very pastoral and we would love to go back and spend a few days, but it would be a very quiet vacation. We were there in October and I think that it is a center for active sports in summer and winter.

To bussrsf: I don't know how long your total trip is, but I do think that Slovenia is quite a distant fourth after France, Italy, and Austria. There are hundreds of places to visit in the first three countries. If you are going through Slovenia to get somewhere, I would stop at Lake Bled and maybe Ljubljiana (sp?), but I wouldn't give the area 9-10 days. JMHO.

I spent two weeks in Slovenia a few years ago and must say that it is a very beautiful country. Bled is definitely worth a visit. I went white water rafting in the mountains to the north west near the Italian border. It is very nice there and I actually had my best pizza ever there. Portoroz and Piran are also nice. So are the Postojna caves. I was not impressed with Lubljana. The architecture seemed too socialist except for the old town. But this was seven years ago. I think things have since changed. If you are going through Austria, stop at Klagenfurt, near the Slovenian border and take a quick trip to the Worthersee (lake). The viewing tower is at over 1200 feet and provides a marvelous view of the surrounding area.