Add Slovenia to your next Schengen trip

I have been to about 32 countries while writing this post and undoubtedly, Ljubljana has been the most beautiful capital city I have seen in any country, European or otherwise. I had spent 3 lovely days there and this is a short account of it.

Little about Slovenia:

Slovenia is a small country east of Italy, south of Austria, west of Hungary and north of Croatia, with only about 2 million people living within the 20271 sqkm of the country’s landmass (To compare, the city of Bangalore is 741 sqkm with 13 million people).

Key Points –

• The official language is Slovenian which, even though, has latin looking characters but no English or Romance language speaker can read or understand any of it. Nevertheless, English is widely spoken and I didn’t meet anyone who couldn’t communicate in English.
• Euro is the currency and a wireless Mastercard or Visa could just be used anywhere. ( Diners has low acceptability). There is absolutely no need to carry cash.
• The country’s national carrier had shut operations during Covid and since then, Slovenia has no airlines of its own making travel to and from the country dependent on national carriers of other other countries like Germany (Lufthansa) or Switzerland (Swiss Air) etc. Hence, travel to smaller countries from Slovenia is usually not direct but via one of these bigger countries. Not many Indians visit the country, so there are no direct flights from India either.
• My itinerary looked like this: 17th April- Ljbuljana city | 18th April- Postojna Caves, Predjama Castle & Lake Bled | 19th April- Skocjan Caves & Piran | 20th April- Ljbuljana City
• Mobile Network- I chose Hotmobil, which worked across all EU countries (i.e. not in Monaco, Switzerland etc) (12 Euros). Their helpline is very active & english-friendly and their network was strong across EU. There are some networks that work only within Slovenia, so beware to ask these questions before buying any SIM.
• Bus Transport in the city is synced with Google maps so any delays are reflected in real time, you can tap your NFC enabled mastercard/ visa Indian debit/credit cards on all buses (1.3 Euros/ trip)
• Vegan/ Vegetarian food is available easily with an easy search on Google Maps. There a 2-3 Indian restaurants as well, though I didn’t go there.
• Ljubljana city appeared to be largely safe, even at night, to take a stroll.
• April in 2024 was quite cold, it even snowed around the 14th of April which is very unusual. Sun used to rise at around 6am and set at around 8pm, so days were quite long.
• Taking buses to other cities within the country or in the neighbouring countries was also quite easy. I recommend Flixbus as well.
• Self-driving is also a great option as the roads were terrific wherever I went. But read more about it before booking.

My Itinerary-

I was solo-travelling there for 3 days from 17th April 2024 to 20th April 2024. I am a lacto-vegetarian, non-smoker and an alco-bev consumer.

17th April- Ljubljana City

Landed in Ljbuljana from Frankfurt around noon. Took an airport bus (3.7 Euros) to the main bus station (40 mins) and then headed to my Hostel (Sax Pub Hostel) on foot. Checked in, showered and headed for a stroll around the city and had a nice meal.

Ljubljana (Pronounced: ~Lubliana)

The sun would set around 8pm. I was quite tired after a long journey from Bangalore to Frankfurt to Ljubljana. I strolled around till 8pm post which I crashed in my 5-sharing hostel bed. I had to get up early the next day as well, so sleeping early really helped.

On a scale of -5 to +5, I score it a ‘+3’: very aesthetically designed city, affordable as per Western European standards, good public transport, lovely cafes, English-friendly, but not very internationally accessible and has no globally acclaimed landmarks or viewpoints.

18th April- Postojna Caves, Predjama Castle & Lake Bled Tour

Got up really early as I had to bathe, have a protein shake (I carried my whey as protein from food in Europe is all meat), eat a light breakfast and walk & reach the meeting point by 8am. I had left the hostel at ~7:15 am, had reached a cute cafe opposite to the meeting point and eaten a small panini.

I had booked the tour on Getyourguide.com for 154 Euros. It included pick and drop from Ljubljana in a 12-pax van & the entry tickets to Postojna Caves, Predjama Castle and the Bled Castle.

Postojna Caves-

The country is small, with Ljubljana (my base) located around the center of the country and with terrific highways one can reach any point in the country from the capital in a maximum of 2 hours. The travel time to the Postojna cave was about 45 mins.

All tours there were guided tours with multiple language options available. I don’t think there were any tours in Indian languages. Also, all guides had to be Postojna Guides only and no outside tour guides could accompany you to visit these caves. The tour takes about 2 hours.

(Side note: Predjama Castle is very close to Postojna and was managed by the same entity, do visit both together whenever you do. They sell a combined ticket at the counter which is cheaper than buying two individual tickets at the two places.)

The country has a huge network of the caves with several still unexplored or undiscovered. Postojna is a huge cave with a train network inside, laid for several kilometers deep reaching its inner chambers. Once the train stops, the guide accompanies a group of about 50-60 tourists and guides them throughout the cave architecture. We walk-listen-walk with the guide for about 60-75 mins.

Caves have an ecosystem of their own. The few species of flora & fauna that grow in a cave environment grow in the absence of sunlight. They are usually tiny, pale and highly reliant on the water networks that flow within them for their survival. Among such species, is a ‘Baby Dragon’- commonly called ‘Olm’; it is one of the largest pure cave species to have been ever discovered and it is endemic to Slovenia. On top of that, it is believed that they are about to go extinct in just the next 30 to 40 years. The last few ones are preserved in Slovenia in caves like the Postojna caves. They are a few centimeters long, pale with a snake-like appearance. You can see them in front of you in an aquarium sort of a setup towards the end of the tour but photography is not allowed.

On a scale of -5 to +5, I score it a ‘+2.5’, Excellent infrastructure in terms of the train, path, lights etc, well-spoken guides, optimum length of the cave has been open for the visit and witnessing the last of the soon-to-be-extinct species was exciting. On the other hand, though there was an extensive presence of cave architecture; one would still feel it to be like any other cave that they had visited in the world- like Werfen caves in Austria or the many caves of Vietnam.

Predjama Castle-

Most castles are made on top of a hill but this castle was constructed inside a hill. It doesn’t have the other side of the wall built, the wall of the hill acts as the other wall of this edifice. The castle-hill also has a route from within the hill that leads to an opening to a deserted faraway land. On several occasions, when the castle has been taken hostage by enemies, its inhabitants have used this route located within the hill to procure food and war supplies.

The castle is not very big, which is great, else the visit becomes boring. It has an excellent audio guide system, again in multiple non-Indian languages. There are 10s of locations in the castle where you can tap the audio guide and play the history of that room while being in the room to relate with the audio. Its excellent. It takes about 45 mins to self-complete the tour.

I had a quick lunch of some creamy cheesy spaghetti at one of the restaurants outside the Predjama Castle.

On a scale of -5 to +5, I score it a ‘+2’: The castle is quite simple from within, with even the tiny master-bedroom not looking royal at all. The experience is enriched purely because of the highest quality of the audio guide and the views from the different points within this uniquely built castle.

Lake Bled & Bled Castle-

Lake Bled is the most famous tourist spot on any Google search of the country. It has a very beautiful blue colour, lots of ducks and a few swans, people can be seen rowing, kayaking, SUPing, paddle-boating etc. It took us a little more than an hour to reach Bled from Predjama.

There is a Bled Castle right next to the lake, there is also a tiny island in the middle of the lake with a church built on that island. Access to the lake is free but entry to the Castle, a boat journey to the island and then entry to the church on that island are all charged with a fee of about 15-20 euros each. I had entry to the castle purchased in my package which I did enter but I chose not to visit the island and instead decided to take a roundabout stroll around the whole Lake Bled. It took about 90 mins (6 kms).

On my 6 km journey along the periphery of the lake, I spotted a few very beautiful houses. Have put up a few images, in case you are interested. I am sure some of these must have turned into hotels or might be running as BnBs. I made Ljubljana as my base, else would have loved to stay in them.

On a scale of -5 to +5, I score it a ‘+3.5’: The place is extremely beautiful, not just the water in the lake but also because of the trail around it. It was not at all crowded and was extremely clean and green. The views from the Bled Castle were very calming but I felt the castle in itself didn’t have much to offer. Also, the fact that the church on the island, which already needed a paid ferry to reach, also had an entrance fee was annoying.

It was a long and fulfilling day and we returned to Ljubljana city. It took little less than an hour. I had a lovely vegan bowl near my hostel. Post this dinner, I again slept early, at around 8:30 pm for another long day. Our guide on the tour was excellent. Tips are accepted but my Indian upbringing (charge me a tip equivalent amount upfront as a part of the cost but don’t ask me to pay anything later) told me not to pay anything to the guide but you may go ahead and make them happier.

19th April- Skocjan Caves & Piran

I booked this whole tour through Viator for about 105 Euros + 18 Euros for Skocjan entry. Again, got up early to bathe, had my protein shake, some breakfast on the way and walked towards the meeting point. I had a super tasty smoothie bowl for breakfast.

It was again a 12 pax van. We had a female guide cum driver this time, which we usually don’t see in India. She was super cool, knowledgeable, an excellent driver and guide. Again, I wanted to tip her but didn’t. It took us about an hour to reach Skocjan.

Skocjan Caves-

It is a huge cave. Unlike Postojna, which is known for its numerous stalactites and stalagmites, the train network and the baby dragon; the Skocjan cave is known for its grandeur & scale. Photography has been banned in the cave so I wasn’t able to click any. The experience inside was super thrilling. We walked along secured edgy paths, stooping over which you can see a river flowing hundreds of metres below. There is a bridge that you cross to reach to the other end of the chamber. The cave is so huge that anything else in the outside world looks minuscule in front of it. The tour took about 90 mins.

On a scale of -5 to +5, I score it a ‘+2.5’: Again an appropriately long tour, the cave has huge chambers that just make you fall in awe of the place. The lighting in the main chamber looks stunning. I felt that they should have allowed photography inside the cave. Also, the cave seemed to have many explored routes, the management could have opened different trails for people with different expectations.

Piran

Piran is a coastal town at a stone’s throw from Italy. It is a beautiful town with red roofs reminding one of King’s Landing or Dubrovnik. It took about 45 mins from Skocjan to reach Piran. It is a small town that one can explore on foot in about an hour. There isn’t anything in particular in the town that people visit it for but rather the beauty of the red roofs against the beautiful blue sea.

After strolling through the streets and clicking a few pictures, I headed to a excellent family-run vegan restaurant. Later, I had some gelato as well. Piran is less about activities and more about the vibe of the place.

On a scale of -5 to +5, I score it a ‘+1.5’: The city is beautiful but I have already been to Dubrovnik. Plus, I am an activity oriented person. and the place could have been more commercial in terms of to-dos and sights to offer and hence the positive but still relatively lower score. However, the place can be easily explored on foot with the sea bordering it on two sides with numerous picturesque sites.

It took about 100 mins to return to the Ljubljana. I had my dinner at a Subway outlet (9.9 Euro for a veg footlong). I had a soya-kebab option which I didn’t like much. Then I went to sleep again after a long-fulfilling day.

20th April- Ljubljana City and Airport

I had kept the day to exploring the capital city itself. I had been doing full day tours on the previous two days and had a flight to catch this afternoon, so touring the city was the best option.

Being a Saturday, the bazaars were bustling with both locals and tourists alike. There was a big square hosting a flea market which was selling everything from clothes to accessories to farm produce & fragrances to tourist goods and much more.

I started the day with a famous Slovenian pastry – Gabanica and then brunched at most famous restaurant in the entire country- Gostlina Sokol.

Post this, I took a bus from the main center to the airport. It took about about 40 mins to reach the airport. There are two terminals but both are right next to each other.

Things I could have done better

• Taken a SIM near the main bus station itself. Since, Slovenia was my first destination in Europe, I had initially no mobile network (without a Wifi around) when I left the airport bus. There weren’t any SIM card shops around and I had to somehow reach my hostel, lost with directions, from the main bus station on foot (25 mins walk with 3 units of luggage).
• Spent another day and visited the part of Slovenia east of Ljubljana- The Maribor region which is also the wine producing region of the country.
• From 20th April onwards, the Vintgar Gorge would have opened till the winters and I unfortunately missed it by just 1 day (as I had an outward flight at noon on the 20th of April).