cheweyd

Hello all,

I had used this forum quite a bit when I planned my last trip to Europe and it was very helpful..

I was looking for some more of that great first hand experience.

We are planning a Croatia/Slovenia trip next June. We will be spending 3 days in Slovenia driving in from Split and driving to Rovinj. My first thought was to base ourselves near Bohinj and spend one day in lake bled, one day in lake Bohinj, and on our way back to the coast do some whitewater rafting. I have 2 questions.

!. Is being based in one place the way to go to see this area, or would 2 places make more sense?

2. Originally I was leaving Ljubljana off of our itinerary, but the more I read, the more I want to include it. If I did decide to include it, would basing ourselves there make sense? Keeping in mind we will be spending a lot of time hiking/biking etc.

I'm looking for responses from people with experience touring the area.

Thanks in advance for your time.

Dan

Andrew

Some of what you are asking is personal preferences, which may not match yours. Some people hate to change hotels every night and would prefer one base so they can stay in the same place for a few nights and do a little extra driving to see things. I tend to prefer the opposite and don't mind changing hotels every night if it saves me a few hours of driving.

Also, I'm still not 100% clear about the things you like when traveling though I see you like outdoorsy activities perhaps more than cities. Ljubljana is a lovely city - one of my favorites in Europe - but it's not very big, and there isn't necessarily a lot to see there. The best part about Ljubljana in my opinion is strolling and exploring, especially at night. There is beautiful architecture, tiny little bridges, neat churches - feels a little like a fairy tale town.

So Ljubljana in a way is a great base for day trips, because it's a great place to come back to in the evenings. It's a place with a choice of restaurants and lovely options for an evening stroll. The town of Bled doesn't really have much to offer - some restaurants, but it's a bit touristy, and town isn't anything special. Lake Bled is a beautiful lake and great to see in the daytime, but, after spending a few nights there, I didn't enjoy the town itself.

Bohinj is more "back to nature" - less developed than the resort area of Lake Bled. If you're going to spend your entire day doing active outdoorsy stuff and don't really care where you eat in the evening - just grab some food and relax after a long day - then it might be fine for you. Others would prefer the urban atmosphere of Ljubljana or at least having the town of Bled to give them something to do in the evenings. Bohinj is very tiny as a town.

kja

As Andrew says, whether to use a base or relocate is a personal preference. I absolutely abhor losing time to backtracking, and I like to see places in different lights, so I'm decidedly in the relocate camp! But I travel solo, don't ever unpack more than I need, etc. And I certainly understand that some people hate changing hotels and want a base. Only you can decide what works for you!

If you do decide to base, look at a map of Slovenia: Major roads spoke out of Ljubljana, so for most purposes, that would be the most logical place to use as a base. And I thought it enchanting. It had more than enough to keep me busy for about 1.5 days -- and I didn't run out of things that I would have enjoyed in that time, although I was able to see all of my highest priorities. Depends on what YOU want to see and experience! (The Rough Guide provided information about more options in Ljubljana and elsewhere in Slovenia than any of the other guidebooks I used when planning my time in the area.)

I was glad that I spent a night in Bled -- the things I did while there would not have fit easily into a day trip from Ljubljana, or at least they wouldn't have fit for my interests and preferred pace. BTW, if you do spend a night in Bled, you might consider staying in -- and having dinner at -- Penzion Mayer.
http://www.mayer-sp.si

I spent only a couple of hours in Lake Bohinj, and that worked well for me. YMMV.

Sounds like you plan to take a rental car into and back out of Slovenia? Make sure thats OK with your rental company and make sure you have the vignette you need while in Slovenia.

Hope that helps!

northie

We used Ljubilijana as our base and did all those things but then again we didn't have a car!

cheweyd

Thanks for your replies. Andrew, I just read your trip report about your 2011 trip in Slovenia and it was very nice.

I am leaning towards splitting up my lodging and staying in multiple places in Slovenia (maybe Ljubljana will be one of those)

I have a feeling my stops on this trip; Dubrovnik, Hvar, Split, Rovinj, and Venice will be very touristy and Ljubljana would be a nice break.

pariswat

We based ourselves in Lju, with a car.

So we rented an appartment (via booing.com, with a CC and got an invoice) and from there visited south and west.

We loved it, we did one day trips and ate in Lju aboutevery evening. This is a very charming city.

So we'd do it again, but it is your trip.