Sin 'n' Joy: Slovenia

Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro : List of Blog posts

In September/October 2019 we had a trip to Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro.

I took lots of photos and notes along the way and have compiled a small subset of them into a number of blog posts as a reminder of our fantastic trip and to provide information that may be of use to others in planning trips to this area of the world.

The many blog posts are as follows:

Wandering around Ljubljana

Ljubljana is a great city albeit quite busy with tourists. Having spent a few days based here we decided to spend a day wandering around parts of the city we hadn't seen.

We started by wandering around the river, into a church (which I only saw afterwards I was not supposed to takes photos) and across some of the bridges we hadn't yet ventured over.

The markets had a wide variety of produce.

Ljubljana also has some interesting (and macabre) art.

We then went across town to Tivoli Park, a very large park, where I walked to the highest point (which had no view, but some lovely tracks anyway).

To commiserate the lack of view we went to the Pivnica Union Brewery and had, according to the bartender, the most commonly purchased beer which was in my view a very basic lager. We ended up spending a couple of hours chilling out there before doing some more wandering through the park and then via some ruins back to our accommodation.

We later headed out for some magnificent gelato and sorbets, Jane had an Aperol Spritz and I went for another walk up to the castle and explored the Šance landmark which offered some lovely views of the city.

In the morning we did a little more exploring of the city before changing countries again and heading to the Istria region of Croatia.

Next... Arriving in Istria, Croatia

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Lake Bohinj, Mount Vogel, Lake Bled, and a wander up to the castle in Ljubljana

We decided to head North from Ljubljana for a road trip and our first destination was the beautiful Lake Bohinj.

In order to better appreciate the landscape we took a gondola up Mount Vogel (with lots of others crammed in).

The view from the top was very majestic looking down to Lake Bohinj and across the lovely mountains.

Up the ski slopes (there was definitely no snow) but I did get a selfie with a goat.

Lake Bled is very touristy and we couldn't get a park in town so headed slightly out of the centre and got a great table at a restaurant on the waterfront.

After lunch we went for a small wander along the waterfront here we got some lovely views of the castle on the hill. We were initially going to do a long drive in this area through the Vršič Pass, which is apparently very scenic, but decided it would be a bit rushed so we headed back into Ljubljana.

Late afternoon I walked up to the castle in Ljubljana and Jane took the cable car up. The majority of the castle is free to access. It is a great place to wander around and enjoy the vista over the city.

Next... Postojna Caves, Lipica Stud Farm and a Wine Tasting

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Postojna Caves, Lipica Stud Farm and a Wine Tasting

There are a variety of excellent caves in Slovenia and we decided to go to the most popular one, the Postojna Caves. When we arrived, we bought tickets and apparently had 50 minutes to wait until the next hourly tour, however found that they started to let people in about 10 minutes prior.

Once you are in you then get into a train. Despite how gimmicky this may sound, it actually does work well since the train actually does go at a decent pace and gets you to some excellent caverns deep in the caves.

Despite how busy these caves are, the train limits the number of people in the cave at any one time and the guide walks you through the caves with minimal overlap with groups in front or behind. The walking surface in the caves seemed quite slip-resistant and whilst there were some ups and downs it was accessible to a wide variety of fitness levels, albeit a couple of the hills took a bit longer for some. We both thoroughly enjoyed the caves although I took far too many photos.

Just down the road from the caves we went via Predjama Castle which is built into a cliff. We opted not to go in.

As if the caves weren't enough for one day, we went to the Lipica Stud Farm, which is the home of the Lippizaner horses. We arrived just in time for a tour with a guide that was speaking in English, German, Slovakian and Slovenian. Jane was in her element here.

Back in Ljubljana we headed down to the waterfront and came across Wine bar Šuklje that had a tasting selection of four Slovenian wines; they were all good.

Next... Wandering around Ljubljana

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Arriving in Slovenia

Before crossing the border into Slovenia we went to a petrol station in Croatia and bought a week long Vignette sticker for the windscreen which is required for driving on toll roads in Slovenia. Driving through the border was a simple and quick process.

We found our accommodation (Hotel Mrak) easily in Ljubljana and had a car park reserved right in front of the hotel which was very convenient. In terms of a hotel, we had wonderful breakfasts at the hotel, found the rooms to be perfectly adequate and clean, and the location of the hotel was in easy walking distance to the key sites and eateries.

On our first evening we went for a walk from our hotel to the waterfront area and beautiful old town.

We then continued on to a restaurant (Slovenska Hiša - Figovec) a bit out of the city centre, but still in easy walking distance, recommended by the person on the desk at the hotel for some good Slovenian cuisine. Jane particularly enjoyed the mixed lard.

On the walk home we got to see a lovely view of the castle.

Next... Lake Bohinj, Mount Vogel, Lake Bled, and a wander up to the castle in Ljubljana