A Weekend in Slovenia

October 2017

My weekend trip to Slovenia was to bring different dynamics to my travels. This time I was traveling with a friend, a girl I've known for years.

I've got to say that before we set off I was anxious whether we would get along. It is safe to say we have different travel styles which first played out when looking for accommodation. I suggested Hostel Celica, a converted prison, she was fancying 5* hotels.

We agreed on getting a two bedroom apartment (we are only mates) and I left her to sort this and fair play she choose a beer themed apartment, bang in the middle of town for under £30 each per night.

When I say the apartment had a beer theme, the main bedroom bed (hers) was in the shape of a large wooden beer barrel. The tables, light fittings, mirrors, all started life as a metal beer barrel.

We had two days and had the rough itinerary of one day Ljubljana, one day Lake Bled. Whilst in the planning, 1 day I got a message, "how we getting to Lake Bled?" Which in return I quoted train times, plus connecting buses, plus bus all the way. Both of these were incorrect answers. What she was looking for was, "we will hire a car". I'm not sure I'd have even thought of this as an option, as I like public transport travel abroad, I get a buzz from negotiating my travels and meeting locals.

I caved in, and asked her sort a car (on the condition I played no part in the driving). Unless we took the car option, she had a strong preference for taxi to and from the airport (€50 each way) rather than a admittedly slightly infrequent bus service (€4.40).

Anyhow, all this is the pre-trip ramblings, and I'm guessing your reading this to find out a little about Slovenia. We arrived just before darkness on the Friday, to my glee, we chucked our bags in our respective rooms and went straight out to see the city. I think I might of influenced the change of heart and this plan soon transformed into having a beer in a bar by the river.

We followed this up with a meal in a decent place, a traditional Slovenian restaurant, not really that touristy, which showed with the price of the drinks been half that of the Riverside bar. Very nice it was too. I had Slovenian sausages with sauerkraut and potatoes, delicious, although way too heavy.

An early night followed as I was feeling under the weather. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken much encouragement to stay out a lot later, with it been a) the first night and b) a Friday night.

The early to bed, meant an early start on day one of tourism ticking. First up she drove the car all the way up to Triglav National Park. The lake was looking beautiful, creating a full reflection of the mountains, where the low laying mist allowed.

Back in the car we (I say we) drove beyond the lake to Savica waterfall. A decent 20 minute hike up a mountain, offered great views and the freshest of fresh air. It was mid October and the leaves on the trees gave of a great Kaleidescope of colours.  The waterfall itself was probably a bit of a disappointment, but overall was worth the €3 entrance fee.

Next we took the cable car up to a ski resort for even fresher air and even better views. €15 a return ticket might have been a bit too steep in my opinion. 

The nice clean air, made my beer all the more tasty.

Back down at lake level, we hopped back in the car and we drove back to Bled, stopping in a village for more sausages.

I had planned to walk the circumference of the iconic lake which has a church perched on an island, surrounded by mountains. Having the car we decided to drive up to the castle high up over looking the lake. Not paying to go in we had a limited view of the lake, so the photo in this blog is from my time here in 2007.

I had 'done' both Bled and Ljubljana extensively on my previous visit, so was accomodating to my travel partners request to abandon the lake walk, in favour of heading back to Ljubljana to tick that place before it got dark. This was fair enough, as the weather forecast for the next day was horrendous, and this would probably be our only chance to see the capital city.

A nice walk, taking in dragon bridge, the three bridges, some cobbled streets and the cathedral, lead us to the entrance to the walk up to the castle. We took the pleasant stroll and needn't pay for entrance into the castle for great views of the city.

A few beers were then sunk in town and we decided we were out for the night. We stumbled upon the Chocolate festival, which was handily placed near a locals bar so I could get on the Lasko beer and she could enjoy the festival.

Our apartment was a 15 minute walk back from the centre so we decided to not go back to get changed etc, so we grabbed a meal at a local restaurant.  Thankfully the food was better than it looked!

After dinner we had a few beers by the river, my travel partner was tired, so I did the gentlemenly thing of walking her back to the apartment, taking the key and going back out on my own for additional Lasko's.

The next morning I woke a little 'fuzzy' one thing to sort out a hangover in the Balkans is Burek and Cedevita.  Burek is the Balkan equivalent to a Greggs pasty, and Cedevita is similar to Berroca. Munching down on these did the trick and I was soon back to my brilliant best.


As the weather forecast hand predicted the heavens had opens and the last day (Sunday) was a wash out. However this was where having a car came in handy. We planned a route to the coast via a massive cave.

By the time we arrived at Postojna Cave it was lashing it down, we paid the eye watering entrance fee (oh how commercialised Slovenia had become in the 10 years since my last visit).  The cave itself was decent.

In the torrential rain we drove to Izola, a pleasant little town on the coast, where we had had lunch. I'd found them, Cevapi sausages served with crusty bread.  Cevapi are sausages/kebab from the Balkans, these are just what the doctor (well Phil) had ordered.  Delicious.

After lunch it was a drive further round the coast to Piran.  The weather was mixed but in between the thunderstorms i again was a very pretty coastal town, with a tower to climb.

So to weigh up the debate to hire a care or not to hire

Pro's

We saved on taxi transfers from the airport (however a cheap bus is available)
We certainly saw more of the country
We were able to create our own tour

Con's

The weekend was action packed, sometimes doing more you see less
The car kept us away from local interaction
Parking was often an issue
Having the car made us lazy, driving when walking was an option

With the weather as it was, the car was invaluable on the last day, so overall having the car for this 2 day break was probably beneficial, however I wasn't the one driving and future trips I will be doing as much as possible using public transport.

I really enjoyed my weekend in Slovenia and we got along very well and had lots of fun. Plenty to see in Slovenia, I think I will definitely be back for a third visit.

I will leave you with a few other pics from the weekend.