Europe's greenest little capital, an island church on an emerald alpine lake, a vast underground cavern and a Venetian jewel on the Adriatic, Slovenia, the size of a postage stamp and the variety of a continent.
Into Ljubljana, perhaps the most charming small capital in Europe, car free along its willow lined river, a castle on the hill, dragons on the bridges. After the flight we keep it easy, a riverside dinner, an early night.
The funicular up to the hilltop castle, the Old Town squares and the elegant work of the architect Joze Plecnik, the buzzing central market and the cafe lined embankments. A small city that rewards a slow, unhurried wander.
Up to Lake Bled, the image on every Slovenian postcard, a tiny island crowned with a church on an emerald alpine lake, a clifftop castle, the Julian Alps behind. A traditional pletna boat to the island, the bell rung for a wish, and a slice of Bled cream cake.
The wilder, quieter Lake Bohinj in the Triglav national park, the boardwalk through the Vintgar Gorge over rushing turquoise water, and a drive over the hairpins of the Vrsic Pass, or into the impossibly green Soca valley. Big alpine country.
A rowboat or a swim, the climb to the Ojstrica viewpoint for the classic shot of the lake, a Slovenian wine or a visit to a beekeeper (the country is mad about its bees). The lake mirror still and golden at dawn.
South to the Karst, the vast Postojna Cave explored by an underground electric train, or the breathtaking UNESCO canyon cavern of the Skocjan Caves; the white Lipizzaner horses at the Lipica stud farm, a Karst prosciutto and Teran lunch, and on to the Adriatic.
Piran, a jewel of Venetian Gothic stone on a slim peninsula, a tangle of lanes around a marble square, the bell tower over a blue sea. The Secovlje salt pans, fresh Adriatic seafood, and a swim off the rocks in the short, lovely Slovenian coast.
A boat or a cycle into the Istrian hinterland, olive groves, truffle woods and small wineries on the Italian border, or simply the squares and the seafront of Piran, an aperitivo as the sun drops into the Adriatic. A last slow day.
A last coffee by the water before the transfer back to Ljubljana for your flight (about ninety minutes). Slovenia packs alps, caves, vines and sea into a country you can cross in an afternoon, and it stays with you far longer.
Three ways to do the same route: Comfort, Premium or Luxe. Breakfasts in. Mix tiers city by city if you like, it is your trip.
Priced to your dates, your hotel tier and how the two of you like to travel. Ask, the first answer usually lands within minutes.
Plan this trip on WhatsApp → Send to the group chat
