Hi All! My husband and I are taking a trip to Europe in July and there is one leg of the trip that we could use some suggestions on. We are going to stay in Verona for 2 days, then drive (we will have a rental car) to Ljubljana, Slovenia and we want to stay somewhere along the way for a day or two. We would prefer "off the beaten path", which is why we are going to pass up Venice on this trip. I would appreciate any suggestion that you might have!

Whoops! The title should have been "need somewhere in between"!!! I guess that's why should always proofread before you post.

How about Trieste, It? You drive right by it and few tourists. Another suggestion is Piran, Slovenia. Both are on the water.

Since you are driving, make sure you have a vignette for Slovenia to drive on the highways. Significant fine to be paid without it.

Piran is the answer---quite charming.

Read about the Soca River valley--a unique historical place.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...-Slovenia.html

Piran is a beautiful town, but in July expect it to be mobbed with tourists, even if few of them are speaking English. I enjoyed a warm September weekend in Piran a few years ago and even in September it was pretty busy. So Piran is only "off the beaten path" if you mean "fewer Americans."

Western Slovenia is in general very beautiful - one of my favorite places that I've visited so far in Europe - yet not crawling with American tourists like Italy is. Triglav National Park and the Soca River Valley are really nice, and there are lots of neat little towns. Lake Bled is an obvious tourist attraction near Ljubljana, but check out the little town of Škofja Loka nearby as well. The drive between Škofja Loka and Bled is really scenic.

I read your title to mean that you wanted to know of a place between Verona and the BORDER of Slovenia. You might want to re-post with a title that specifically refers to Verona and Ljubljana.

Face it! VERONA is going to be full of people attending the opera festival in July, including ME, so don't let the fact that a bunch of other people might be somewhere stop you. After all, there is a reason people go certain places including this place in Slovenia that all the posters who are recommending it have already BEEN to.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to go off the beaten path. You certainly are not doomed to face mobs of tourists everywhere.

With a car I think I would go someplace other than Trieste. I highly recommend the area around Gorizia. If you would like a small town stay in Civedale dei Fruili. If you would like the countryside and vinyards then the entire area around Cormons is scenic that way and has beautiful places to stay with outstanding restaurants. It is interesting to pay a visit to Udine or to stay there if you prefer vest-pocket sized Italian art cities with great markets and food. (Ditto Gorizia itself.)

Even if you end up driving from Verona to spend your first night somewhere across the border I recommend making a lunch stop in Aquilieia. There you will encounter groups of tourists to see the mosaics but they are remarkable and you won't mind sharing.

But in these other places I have mentioned you will find plenty of elbow room and a lot of bliss and charm. Here is another thread about staying in the area and a link to some pictures

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-or-b-bs-.cfm

http://www.bunkycooks.com/2012/08/tr...eens-fritatta/

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions!

Piran looks beautiful, but it is just a little out of the way for where we are headed.

Our destination is Ljubljana and from there we are going to take day trips to Lake Bled and the Vintgar Gorge.

Dukey1 - The opera festival is on my "bucket list", which is why we will be able to stand the crowds in Verona =)

Sandralist - I LOVED your suggestions of the area around Gorizia. It is right along the route we are going to be taking and Cormons looks like the quaint and charming "little town" that we were looking for.

Like huggy I liked Trieste a whole lot - a very unique city with an Austrian flare - has changed hands between Austria and Italy a lot - immaculately restored old town, lively port area - great stop en route to Slovenia.

There is some Palladian architecture in Udine, a sort of half-Italian, half- eastern Europe feeling place, but I agree with Sandralist that Aquileia is not to be missed, both for the wonderful mosiacs and the museum. And Grado closeby on the coast sounds interesting too, although I've not been there yet.

I second sandralist's suggestion, the area around Gorizia is wonderful with Aquileia, Palmanova, the Collio hills to the north and the Carso (Karst plateau) to the south, but don't be afraid to venture on the Slovenian side of the border as well. For example the Goriska Brda hills, are actually the Slovenian part of the Collio and many winemakers have vineyards on both sides of the border, it's a similar story in the Karst, where there are many gems on both sides of the border. The border there is actually very recent, it was only set up after WW2, so many family and cultural connections remain.

If staying there, also try to go north into the Soca Valley, which Andrew suggested. Parts of the Narnia movies where shot there, which says a lot about the scenery there! Not to be missed are also Trieste and the Miramare Castle.

I highly recommend Cormons!! We stayed at Relais Russiz Superiore just out of town and would return in a heartbeat. We enjoyed Cormons and driving around the countryside.

I know the restaurant La Subida (where we had a wonderful dinner) just outside of town has rooms, as does the trattoria Terre & Vini in Cormons.

It is so close to the border that one night we drove 15 minutes and had dinner in Slovenia!