The question we most frequently received upon telling people we were going to Slovenia was, “Slovenia? Why Slovenia?” We were excited to experience what this small country has to offer and found it intriguing that it hasn’t yet been caught by the mainstream tourism bug. While Dubrovnik in neighboring Croatia has become so overrun that city tourist limits are under consideration, Slovenia is still relatively unknown. We loved our time in Slovenia in late May 2019 and wanted to share our 5 day itinerary. We found it to be a good mix of mountain adventure, seeing the pretty countryside from a rental car, relaxing in the coastal town of Piran, and exploring the capital city, Ljubljana.
Lake Bled
Thanks to cheap flights on EasyJet, we flew from London straight into Ljubljana airport, where we picked up a rental car. Rather than driving into Ljubljana for the first night, we went straight to Bled which is only 30 minutes away from the airport. Staying the first night in Bled allowed us to start the next day with a bike ride around scenic Lake Bled. The town of Bled is situated at the base of the Kamnik-Saninja Alps and is surrounded by lush, green forest. There is a church on the lake’s island and a medieval castle on a steep cliff, making for a picturesque blend of nature and history. The circumference of the path around the lake is just under four miles, so an easy bike ride or walk. On the west side of the lake, we were able to fit in a quick, steep hike to Ojstrica overlook, clambering up a muddy slope from the rain, that took us to a stunning view above the lake. After finishing our ride around the lake, we grabbed the rental car, struggled for the better part of an hour to get cash for the parking lot, and then took a stroll up a hill to the St. Martin Cathedral overlooking the lake.
After a quick lunch, we drove to nearby Vintgar Gorge, an area in which the Radovna River has eroded a deep canyon into the limestone rock. The water was a beautiful turquoise-blue, and the gorge bore a resemblance to New Zealand’s South Island. The wooden path along the river was about a mile in each direction, ending at a large waterfall, and made for a nice afternoon hike.
Kranjska Gora
The Slovenian mountain regions are centered around Triglav National Park. Bled was on the Eastern side of the park, and then we drove about 45 minutes to Kranjska Gora on the park’s northern boundary. We stayed at a boutique Alpine-style hotel called Vandot that had modern stylings and was very comfortable. It was quiet but very close to the city center and offered an incredible breakfast spread of local products, loose leaf tea, fresh smoothies and made-to-order eggs.
We initially wanted to hike to one of the peaks in Slovenia’s Julian Alps from there. Unfortunately the weather forecast called for rain and low hanging clouds for the duration of our stay, so we were recommended a shorter hike up the Tamar valley from Planica. We parked our car at the Nordic center, where several athletes (Slovene Olympians?) were flying off the ski jumps and landing on artificial grass. The first hour on the hike took us on a gravel trail with a gentle slope up the valley; most of the mountain peaks were hidden behind the fog. We arrived at a mountain hut situated on a wide-open green meadow. Slovenia, and the Europen Alps in general, frequently have mountain huts in which visitors can grab a bite to eat or a drink along their mountain adventure. It’s a great way to make the outdoors more accessible to the general public.
Before lunch, we wanted to gain a bit more vertical so we hiked up the steep trail to Slap (waterfall) Nadiza. At this point, the clouds had started to dissipate and we were treated to awesome views of the steep and snow-covered walls on the opposite side of the valley. We had the entire view to ourselves for the 20 minutes we hung out at the top.
After the rewarding waterfall climb, we stopped back by the hut with hopes of trying out the cuisine. Unfortunately the kitchen was under construction and sausage with bread was the only available option. We opted for two local beers instead. We were the only visitors but there were many picnic tables and folded lounge chairs, and the hut’s owner told us that it’s standing room only in the middle of the high season.
Per recommendation from our hotel, we dined at Restaurant and Hotel Milka in nearby Jasna, an upscale establishment, but reasonably priced when compared with similar restaurants in LA. We were told that the chef, Miha, previously worked at several Michelin star rated restaurants across Europe. He explained the options and recommended a six course meal accommodating our pescetarian diet. We both started with an aperitif – Nico a G&T and Brittany had a vodka tonic. They were crisp and refreshing, made with fresh herbs and craftsman tonic.
The house starter was a homemade spelt roll with hummus and smoked butter. Based on this simple dish, dinner was off to a good start and we were eager to try the remaining courses. Brittany’s favorite was a dish with smoked trout, light mustard-flavored cream, deconstructed sourdough crumbling, crispy quinoa puffs and caviar. Another highlight was a dumpling with fresh asparagus and locally foraged Morrel mushrooms in a rich cream sauce. We also had flavorful bean soup and trout with a thin layer of crispy potatoes on top. All of this was accompanied by a spectacular dry Reisling from the Maribor (Northeast) region of Slovenia.
Smoked Trout 
Dumpling
Kranjska Gora offers a number of summertime activities. We came during an unseasonably cold second half of May and there were very few tourists. The website www.kranjska-gora.si has a map showing all the hiking trails in the region. To find out which huts are open, either check out the tourist info center or a map showing hut status, both in central Kranjska Gora.
Driving Through the Soča Valley
Since the clouds had started to clear on the next morning, we took the scenic route from Kranjska Gora to Piran via Vrsic pass. It was about 3.5 hours in total, around 1.5 hours longer than the freeway via Ljubljana, but well worth it since we made a number of short stops along the way. The road over the 1,600 meter high pass had around 50 sharp hairpin turns. Along it were several mountain huts, the occasional church or chapel, and trailheads for hiking and climbing paths. There were steep mountain walls on all sides with the peaks starting to protrude past the clouds.
We descended into a beautiful valley with rolling green hills on the western side of national park. The road followed the turquoise-blue Soca River, which has carved out deep gorges on its way to the Adriatic Sea. We passed through the town of Bovec, Slovenia’s base for adventure sports such as kayaking, rafting and canyoning.
As the hills started to flatten out, we stopped in Nova Gorica for lunch, where a food market was set up in the town square. While ordering some trofie with pesto (the town is split between Italy and Slovenia so there are strong Italian influences) and Zimbabwean curry (no joke), we were congratulated by one of the vendors on making it all the way from the US to this small town of 20,000 inhabitants. We also tried some of the wine from the region, which is known as Slovenia’s Tuscany due to the similar climate and rolling hills.
Piran
After another hour of driving from Nova Gorica, we passed through some tunnels and got our first glimpse of the Adriatic Sea. We first drove by Trieste, part of Italy, and then Slovenia’s largest port Koper. Slovenia has less than 30 miles of coastline nestled between Italy and Croatia. We descended a winding road into Piran, a densely built town of around 4,000, situated along the peninsula’s waterfront in medieval architecture similar to that of Venice. This region of Slovenia has a close relationship with neighboring Italy, as the territory has swapped governance multiple times, most recently after the Second World War.
After checking into our modern, minimalistic hotel on the Tartini Square, we strolled through the narrow streets and along the waterfront. We watched kids playing soccer in the plaza, along with a little girl learning how to ride a bike, all while sipping on an Aperol Spritz. We also inquired about the local marine life in a dive shop (spoiler alert: there isn’t much). The hill above town had great views of the city. We paid 2 Euros to climb to the top of the Church of Saint George’s tower and had it to ourselves for 30 minutes. That allowed for some great pictures in all directions (panoramas, selfies, and the regular variety) – the deep blue of the ocean provided great contrast versus the colorful architecture. Since it was finally sunny, we were able to see both Croatia and Italy in the distance. Interestingly, as we found out, Piran is one of the largest producers of salt in traditional methods in the Adriatic, so we picked up a few bottles as gifts.
We enjoyed dinner along the waterfront – the squid ink risotto was exceptional – while watching the sun set over the Adriatic.
Ljubljana
We left one full day for Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana and were pleasantly surprised! We discovered a walkable city with lots of character: there were many waterfront cafes and bars, most filled with patrons enjoying being outside, and well-preserved, colorful architecture. The city center is closed to all motorized traffic with the exception of little golf carts that offer free transportation and an electric train that shuttles tourists around. There were also a number of bikers that made their way through the crowded walkways without dismounting. We hiked up to the castle and saw that the city was surrounded by lush green hills and, a bit further out, were the snow-capped peaks of the Julian Alps and Kamnik-Savinja Alps.
We joined a food tour in the afternoon in which we learned lots of interesting history about Slovenia. We learned that the Slavic people moved to Balkan region, which includes Croatia, Serbia and other neighboring countries, towards the end of the first millennium. These countries were united into Yugoslavia after the First World War. In 1991, Slovenia was the first to get its independence, so it’s therefore a relatively young country. That’s reflected in the food as there were no prominent national dishes, but rather the cuisine was adapted from neighboring countries. The Catholic church has also re-established itself after the secular Communist period, and we saw an interesting bronze-sculptured door on the Cathedral of St. Nicholas which commemorated Pope John Paul II’s first visit in 1996.
We only discovered Slovenia produces wine after sharing a small bottle in our first hotel room. We learned about Slovenia’s different wine regions and sampled several varietals on the tour. Our favorite was a dry Riesling. On a future trip, we will most likely spend some time in one of the wine regions.
We ended the tour at a rooftop bar on the Nebotičnik, or Skyscraper building, as it was the tallest building in Yugoslavia for quite a while. We enjoyed some Hungarian-inspired dessert, more wine, and watched the sun set over the city.
So how did Slovenia measure up? It’s a beautiful country that has something for everyone between city, quaint towns, mountains, coast, countryside and rivers. The cuisine, other than the food at Milka, was a little bland and underwhelming for us. Like most European cities, we loved the vibe and feeling of community we got in the cities with the abundance of outdoor cafes and the leisurely pace of life. It was an easy country to navigate by car and offered plenty of opportunities for exploration. We would like to return one day to explore more of the hiking trails and mountain huts as well as the wine regions.