Slovenia

Slovenia is a small country geographically, only about 20,000 sq km. (Canada by comparison is almost 10 million sq km). For its small size, it has a surprising number and variety of sights and activities, including outdoor adrenaline sports, unspoiled nature, historic towns and cities, and arts and cultural events.

We based ourselves in the capital, Ljubljana. We had an amazing apartment in the former servants’ quarters of Tivoli Castle, right in the middle of Tivoli Park (Ljubljana’s equivalent of NYC’s Central Park). At night we had the park to ourselves. No one else is allowed to build or live there.

Ljubljana’s downtown incorporates most of the ancient city. The whole area has been closed to cars so we were able wander the streets freely. The city is bisected by the Ljubljanica River, with sidewalk bars and restaurants lining the banks. If you visit, be sure to take a boat ride along the river. Ljubljana Castle dominates the city from a large rock promontory overtop the old city and makes an impressive sight, especially when lit up at night. One quirky, but interesting sight is Metelkova, an abandoned military barracks that has been turned into a psychedelic squatters village.

We were told that everything in Slovenia could be seen in easy daytrips from Ljubljana. We found out the hard way that is an exaggeration. Still, most areas of the country can be reached in an hour or so by car.

We rented a car and toured the countryside for two days. In that time we were able to cover roughly the northwest quarter of the country, including popular tourist sites and some off-the-beaten track places.

Bled is a spa resort in the foothills of the Julian Alps. It is known for its beautiful glacier lake of turquoise waters which has a small island and church on it, and castle which sits on top of a steep cliff. It is probably the number one attraction in Slovenia. We sat in a 2 km traffic jam for half an hour just to get to the town to find out there was no parking. We returned early the next morning to beat the crowds.

Nearby Vintgar Gorge has a 1.6 km walk along the ravine with waterfalls and beautiful pools of crystal clear water. Being summer it was also very crowded with tourists. The walkway is very narrow in spots so the progress is slow. Enroute to Bled we took a scenic detour up a windy, one-lane mountain road to the isolated mountaintop Church of St. Primoz outside the village of Jamnik.

In the opposite direction from Ljubljana is Postojna Cave, another “must-see”. The cave is massive, with 24 km of passages and halls. Visitors are put on miniature rail cars that take you 3.5 km into the caves. A guide then leads you through a 1.6 km walk through some of the spectacular chambers. A short drive away is Predjama Castle, a renaissance castle and cave dug into the side of a mountain.

After visiting Vintgar Gorge on our first day we sat on a wall to decide our next step. We must have looked lost and bedraggled. A woman came over to offer help. We explained we were deciding where to go next. In a mix of Slovenian, English, German (no idea why she thought we understood German) and animated hand gestures, she insisted we should drive to the nearby town of Kranjska Gora in the Julian (Slovenian) Alps then drive over the mountain pass to Bovec near the Italian border.

It was spectacular. Kranjska Gora is a beautiful mountain village (along the lines of Banff for Canadian readers). The mountain pass was breathtaking, both in scenery and the drive. Some sadist decided to number the switchbacks up and down the pass. There are 25 going up and 27 going down (not counting the sharp, blind corners). The pass took us to the far northwest of Slovenia. Of course driving over a mountain pass meant going back over or around the same mountains to get home. We did not get back into Ljubljana until late that night. If you visit Slovenia it is a drive you should absolutely not miss, but leave early in the day.

Next stop: Bosnia and Herzegovina

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