Base yourself in Ljubljana and drive out from there. Bled and the Julian Alps sit an hour northwest, the Postojna and Škocjan caves an hour southwest, and Piran holds the short strip of Adriatic beyond them. With a week, add Maribor and the Styrian wine hills, or the Soča valley. The clear windows are May to June and September: warm, fully open, and well short of the July queues at Bled and Postojna.
1 Slovenia city guide
Fun fact
Forest covers about 58 percent of Slovenia, which makes it the third most forested country in the European Union after Sweden and Finland. Brown bears live within an hour of the capital.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityAlps, karst caves and a coastline sit inside a country you can cross in three hours. Treating it as a corridor between Venice and Zagreb is how people see one lake and leave.
The realityDifferent countries, different languages, with Austria and Hungary in between. Slovenia borders Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, and this is the one mix-up locals will correct you on.
The realityPrices sit closer to Austria than to the Balkans, and the currency has been the euro since 2007. Food, transport and museums are good value. Lakefront hotels in August are not.
The realityBled is the postcard and it earns it at first light. Bohinj an hour on, the Soča valley over the pass and the Karst plateau give you the same landscapes without the coach park.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Say dober dan when you walk into a shop or a bar, and nasvidenje on the way out.
- Take your shoes off inside a Slovenian home. Slippers are usually waiting by the door.
- Sunday is quiet. Most shops close and the hills and lakeside paths fill with locals instead.
- Tipping is light. Round the bill up, or leave about ten percent when the meal was good.
- Hiking is close to a national habit. Trails are well marked and mountain huts serve full meals.
- Slovenian is the language, but English is widely spoken, Italian works on the coast and German in the northeast.
Famous Slovenians
Luka Dončić
Tadej Pogačar
Janja Garnbret
Primož Roglič
Anže Kopitar
Tina Maze
Peter Prevc
Edvard Ravnikar
Jože Plečnik
France Prešeren
Ana Roš
Herman Potočnik Noordung
Ivana Kobilca
Ivan Cankar
Jurij Vega
Must-try Slovenian food
Kranjska klobasa
The Carniolan sausage: pork, bacon, salt, pepper and garlic, served with mustard.
Štruklji
Rolled dumplings, boiled or baked, filled with curd cheese, walnut or tarragon.
Ričet
Barley and bean pot cooked down with smoked pork.
Žganci
Buckwheat spoonbread, the old farm carbohydrate and still a menu fixture.
Potica
Rolled nut cake. Walnut in most households, tarragon in Carniola.
Prekmurska gibanica
Layered poppy seed, walnut, apple and curd cake, protected across the EU.
Cviček
Dolenjska’s light red, unusual for being blended from both red and white grapes.
Jota
Bean and sauerkraut stew, the Primorska winter staple.
Goveja juha
Clear beef broth with hand-cut noodles, the standard Sunday starter.
Kraški pršut
Karst prosciutto, air-dried on the windy limestone plateau for at least a year.
Bograč
Prekmurje’s paprika-heavy meat stew, cooked in a pot over an open fire.
Obara
Thick stew of chicken or veal with root vegetables.
Idrijski žlikrofi
Hat-shaped dumplings from the Idrija mining valley, filled with potato, onion and bacon.
Belokranjska pogača
Flatbread from Bela krajina, scored into squares and topped with salt and caraway.
Bujta repa
Prekmurje pork with sour turnip, the dish that follows a winter pig slaughter.
Blejska kremna rezina
The Bled cream slice: puff pastry, custard and cream, created at the Hotel Park in 1953.
Teran
The Karst’s dark red, drunk alongside the pršut cured on the same plateau.
Rebula
The flagship white of Brda, grown along the Italian border.
