Road Trip in Slovenia: A 5-Day Itinerary

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to do a road trip in Slovenia? No? Us neither!

Truth is, Slovenia is one of these countries that people tend to forget when thinking of travelling through Europe.

And it's a shame because Slovenia really is a hidden gem: changing landscapes from North to South, quirky rock-castles, Austrian-tinted cities and Mediterranean towns and beautiful lakes.

While driving through Western Austria, our initial goal was to head straight for Croatia. But in order to get there, we needed to cross Slovenia. And it was an amazing surprise we did not anticipate.

Here's our 5-day itinerary for an epic road trip in Slovenia with ancient history, nature at its best and cosy mediterranean flair.

Why Slovenia?

I'm almost ashamed to admit this but, before we looked into that country while preparing our Euro road trip, I would not have been capable to point Slovenia on a map. I would have guessed the approximate location but I don't think I would have picked the exact right spot right away.

It's not that we were never interested. We were. But not for a trip in the immediate future. As we are still young and (more or less) healthy (except for all my chronic things - haha), we are usually more focused on farther destinations.

You know, the kind of adventures you won't do when you're older or have kids like my trip through Patagonia last year with a visit to the Easter island.  Or climbing on dunes in Namibia, doing a quick hop from New-Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga, hiking at high altitude in the Colca Valley or backpacking in Jordan.

Our vacation on Malta and Gozo are probably more the same kind of travel style. Same goes for Santorini or Crete.

What and where is Slovenia?

But anyways, Slovenia wasn't that high on our bucket list. And at first, it was supposed to just be a quick drive-through on our way to Croatia. It still was in the end. But we saw so many different things in just 5 days, we'll probably get back someday for another road trip through whole Slovenia!

Our road trip started in Western Austria (which is where we lived during quarantine, Sebi's home region) as it shares borders with Slovenia in the Kärnten-province. From here, we actually drove through the Western part of Slovenia from North to South. Meaning there is a whole lot we haven't even visited.

But as you'll see, the most popular must-visits are actually located in that part of the country.

Slovenia in a nutshell

Language

Slovenian is the main language. As I like to learn new languages, I always try to memorise at least the main words you'll use the most, like 'hello' (dober dan), 'thank you' (hvala - pronounced 'vala') and 'excuse me' (oprostite). 

But don't worry: we haven't met one person who didn't speak English. And they did so really well!

Also, as the majority of tourists coming here are Germans and Austrians, German is spoken by a lot of Slovenians as well. At least at the tourist hot spots.

Did you know that Slovenia used to be Austrian as the Habsbourger had their nose in this business too? This lasted until 1919 when the Austrian-Hungarian Empire went down and they lost lots of their territories. But more on that below.

How to get there

Coming from Austria, Baldramsdorf, driving over the Wurzenpass is cheaper and there should be no border controls with waiting queues.

The drive on itself is faster using the highway but with the current situation you might end up waiting several hours at the border for passport checks.

Flying to Ljubljana is also an option, renting a car. You can easily pick it up in Ljubjana and drop it off down in the South in Portoroz for example.

Budget

We either rented a room with breakfast included or an entire apartment as we are working on the road as well. We spent an average of 49 € for two per night, breakfast included (read on for more details).

In the means of food, we cooked a lot ourselves as we are travelling on a budget. But other than that, we had some very good meals at the local restaurants. In total, we spent about 25 €/day for food.  

Culture in Slovenia ain't cheap when it comes to tourist hotspots like Predjama Castle or the Postojna Cave. But walking around cities like Bled, Ljubljana is totally free - it's up to you how much you want to spend on food and shopping. 

Best time to visit Slovenia

We visited Slovenia the first week of July, which is already peak season. Obviously, the situation is a bit different than usual as a lot of Covid19-restrictions are still in place. So all the hotspots are far less crowded than they are in non-Covid-times.

Slovenia used to be Austrian and a lot of that Habsbourg-heritage is still very present!

On the other hand, once you get to the coast, the scenery is totally different as coastal cities like Piran and Izola were under Venetian rule for 500 years.

Where to stay in Slovenia

Plenty of guesthouses, apartments and rooms rented by locals!

In every little town you come to, the signs for 'rooms' appear on several houses. And we really would recommend to stay at one of these private houses.

Slovenian hospitality really baffled us - again, we did not know that much about their culture, so this was surprising. 

Literaly every single place we stayed at had to most friendly and attentive hosts. 

And every single one respected the current Covid-measures.

As the medication I need for my Ulcerative Colitis is of the immunosuppressive kind, I have to be super careful with that virus (and other virusses for that matter).

But in Slovenia, they all take this very seriously and we felt very comfortable. The hosts had desinfectants at the entrance of each place, they all greeted us from afar and with masks on. Nothing to worry about.

Read on to get the exact places we stayed at during our road trip.

Food

As Slovenia borders different countries and cultural groups, you find a lot of diversity in their cuisine too! Apparently they have been classified by some cook who noted 23 (!) different cooking-styles for Slovenia - that's a lot, don't you think?

But road tripping in Slovenia means that we are travelling on a budget, though. Which means that we don't eat at restaurants every day (even though I would love to - I LOVE trying different foods) but rather cook ourselves.

Plus: Slovenian cuisine can be quite oily which is obviously not so good for my guts so I tend to prefer lighter home-cooked meals. 

Culture

Slovenia shares borders with Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. And this is quite obvious in the cultural mix the country displays.

Depending on where you are, the influences are more germanic or, on the contrary, quite mediterranean. 

The country has been part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire during several centuries, until said empire got dissolved in 1918.

Slovenia then became part of Yugoslavia until their declaration of independency in 1991.

Meaning that most of the larger cities and especially the capital Ljubljana, still look like parts of Vienna have been planted here and adapted to the local style.

A quirky mix of Habsbourgian architecture and Slavonic elements if you will.

Exept for the part that lies on the Istrian peninsula - this is Venice all the way! But read on to find out more!

Road trip through Slovenia: general itinerary

Our itinerary of 5 days looked like this: 

We started in the Kärnten region in Austria (Baldramsdorf to be exact) and drove to Bled first, via the Wurzenpass. 

From here, we drove through the countryside to the capital Ljubljana, followed by Postojna. But instead of taking the direct route, we saw a sign indicating Idrija, a Unesco protected mining town. So we did a detour on our way to Postojna.

Next, we drove from Postojna to Piran and from here we continued to Croatia.

In total we drove around 350 km (which isn't that much - we took our time).

As we wanted to see more of the landscape and discover lesser known gems (which we did) AND we are road tripping on a budget, we didn't do any toll- or highways.

Countryside roads and mountain passes all the way.

If you don't have the same starting point and are traveling by plane, get to Ljubljana first and rent a car at the airport. Car-rental in Slovenia is not very expensive and you are far more flexible to discover the landscape and tiny villages than by traveling by bus - which is also possible.

I found this very useful blogpost specifically about how to rent a car in Slovenia, I guess there's no need for me to get more detailed as we were travelling with our own car. 

From here, you can still drive up to Bled as it only takes an hour (54 km) to get there and you won't need more than a day to visit.

The 5-day itinerary and the highlights

Day 1 - Crossing the Austrian-Slovenian border and exploring Bled

Border controls: the Wurzenpass

Like I said, we decided to drive via the Wurzenpass to get into the country from the Austrian side.

Not only are the views much more interesting than a boring highway, we also drove around the main border-crossing with heavy Covid-related controls on Slovenian side. 

Every day, the radio signalised one to three hours (!) waiting time for passport checking.

Plus: while Sebi does have an Austrian passport and we had been living in his home-region for the last three months, I wasn't sure wether they would let me pass.

I have the Belgian and Luxembourgish nationality (and both passports) and neither of these countries were on the green list to enter Slovenia yet.

We were not doing anything 'illegal' as I had not been to my home countries in months and therefore did not enter Slovenia from a 'high risk zone' but we still felt uneasy when crossing the border.

Any sensible agent would have just let us pass but you never know.. 

But we chose the right border and didn't have any control whatsoever. We did come across a police car when we had already entered Slovenia, driving up the hill where the border is - don't know if we just passed at the right time or not.

Anyways, we made it! Was a bit stressy but alright. 

Picturesque lake Bled and its island Blejski Otok

First stop was the very known lake Bled. 

Bled has been known for being a health resort since the 19th century due a Swiss naturopath recognizing its climate as being super good for the body and the mind and developping different therapies in and around the turquoise glacial lake.

Nowadays it's more famous for its Insta-worthy tiny island right in the middle, which is actually the only island in whole Slovenia: Blejski Otok. And even more famous: the church with its grand staircase built on said island. 

You can get to the island on a tiny wooden boat which we didn't do as it's quite expensive. And it's really more beautiful when you see the whole lake with that spot in the middle.

Being surrounded by mountains, the Julian Alps, Bled is protected against the cold borealis and has therefore a long bathing season and it's also very popular in winter to due to several ski resorts.

Castle Bled with incredible views

With an entrance fee of 13 €, you can visit the Castle Bled overlooking the lake and the island.

It is supposed to be the oldest castle in Slovenia, dating back to the 11th century. The majority of the castle that you can see today is from the Renaissance era, the old one having suffered from earthquakes in the 16th century. 

It's not very big so you won't probably need more than 1 hour to visit.

As for most tourist sites in Slovenia, they have their own wifi and you can download an app they created as a guide.

It's all free and you just have to photograph the QR-code displayed with a number to get the historical info on the spot you're looking at, be it as an audio-guide or text.

The part of the castel that used to be the residence-area is now a museum about Slovenian history and archaeology. It's fairly new and very interesting.

The chapel from the 16th century is also accessible, displaying beautiful frescoes from the 17th century.

And if you really want to enjoy the incredible views from up there, have lunch or dinner at the restaurant on the platform.

We didn't, as it was not very budget-friendly. But it's supposed to be very tasty.

Instead, we walked down to the lake from the castle to have a late lunch at Grajska Plaža, right by the lake. We had chicken wings and ćevapčići, which are little grilled sausages of minced meat, served with ajvar-sauce (made of grilled red bell peppers and eggplant).

We had this beautiful view on the lake until it started to rain. No, not rain. It poured!!

We didn't even have the chance to taste THE dessert Bled is famous for: the kremšnita (from the German 'Cremeschnitte'), a vanilla custard and chantilly slice, invented during the Austrian-Hungarian rule.

Oh well, another reason to get back to Slovenia for another road trip someday 🙂

Day 2 - Ljubljana and Slovenian 'tapas'

Austro-Hungarian influences: the old town

Slovenia's capital city Ljubljana really suprised us as we actually had no idea what it looked like. Sure, we could have imagined it, having been a very important city for the Habsbourg-family and all that, but still. 

The Austro-Hungarian architecture is pretty striking when entering the old town.

But before getting there, we walked through the serene Tivoli-park with lots of trees and green patches, popular amongst the locals for jogging and inline-skating.

Once in the historic district, you get to the main square with one of the town's landmark: Tromostovje, the three bridges.

There had been a bridge since the early Middle Ages but it was Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik who transformed it into three separate ones in the 1930s, the middle lanes being for vehicles, the two side-lanes for pedestrians.

You really have the impression of being in an Austrian city like Vienna or Salzburg, but with a kind of mediterranean flair to it thanks to the river and the warm climate.

What also sparked me (as I didn't know) is that the German name of the city, Laibach, is still more used than Ljubljana - this was also the very first name of the city, already appearing in the 12th city.

Ljubljana castle: view goals

Get up to Ljubljana Castle which you can either pay for to see from inside, or just walk around for free.

We did the latter as the weather was too beautiful to hide inside museums. The whole thing has been heavily renovated but without 'faking' anything - loved that!

Others might not find this so interesting as you don't get the 'medieval flair' when inside but in my eyes, this is way better than some Disney-fairy-tale-renovation. 

I won't give you any more history lessons, you'll just have to explore this charming city for yourself.

The views from up there are totally worth the climb! 

Be sure to have dinner at one of the cute restaurants along the river Ljubljanica when the sun starts to go down - so romantic! 

We had some Slovenian 'tapas' (if you can call it that - sorry Spain!) with local ham, sausage, spreads and cheeses at the Ala Pršuterija. All accompanied by a Slovenian pivo (= beer), the Union.

Day 3 - From Ljubljana to Postojna, discovering Idrija

A litte detour: UNESCO sign distracting us

If you look at the map below, you'll see that we did quite the detour from Ljubljana to Postojna. That's because we randomly saw a sign with the Unesco-symbol on it, indicating Idrija. 

Not knowing what to expect, we followed the sign as we still had some time - our Slovenian itinerary wasn't that fixed anyways. The original drive would have been around 53 km, which isn't far at all.

Mercury, the liquid metal

Named 'Alpine Town of the Year' 2011, this small town of less than 6000 inhabitants has a very interesting history.

Ever since it was first found in the area in the 15th century, mercury has been mined at a very large scale. For more than 500 years, it had the second biggest mercury mine in the world. 

The mine has been listed UNESCO world heritage site, together with Almadén in Spain. 

As you probably know, mercury mining has stopped at some point as it turned out that it is actually a very poisonous element.

And this was no different for Idrija's mercury: the town had its own psychiatric hospital as the majority of the miners suffered from nervous system diseases caused by the liquid metal. 

Of course, the Habsburg family was pretty happy with that town, using the mines as an economic  advantage and therefore pretty much destroying the tree population surrounding it..

Idrija is also known for a specific technique of lacemaking.

You can read all about it in the Municipal Museum located in the Gewerkenegg Castle, a castle dating back to the beginnings of the mining activity, serving as a storage and for administrational purposes before it later became state owned. In here, you'll also learn more about the lacemaking-art.

Visiting the inside of a mercury mine

Too bad we didn't plan this visit and did not have the time because you can actually visit one of the mines by entering the Anthony mine shaft.

With coats and helmets, visitors can explore around 1200 m of the mine where day-to-day situations of miners are displayed.

We only walked around for a bit and got to another abandoned site, Joseph's shaft.This was the deepest mine shaft (382 m) built in 1786.

It now pretty much all falls into pieces and is used as a depot by the municipality... such a shame. There is also a pumping device named 'kamšti' which was used to pump pit water from the mine.

Was worth the detour, though, as we had never visited a mining town like this before.

Staying at Postojna

We arrived at Postojna at night and stayed at Apartment Mira G - this was fabulous (go ahead and book it! And yes, this is an affiliate link)!

Not because the room was incredible, no! But there it was again: that Slovenian hospitality!

The host greeted us with all the necessary precautions (from afar, a mask on and desinfectant by the hand) and showed us the room: bright and big enough for two nights, super clean.

They had this tiny breakfast room for just two tables. That breakfast, though! Wow! Just wow!! Beautifully prepared with homemade jams, freshly baked cake made with their own sour cherries (the hostess was picking them the evening we arrived) and unlimited coffee. 

Anyways, if you plan on visiting Predjama castle and the Postojna cave, this is where you should stay: Apartment Mira G. 

Day 4 - Postojna: Predjama castle and fascinating caves

Built into the rock: Predjama Castle

This is one of the very few preserved cave castles in the world. Meaning that they built it into and around the rock, using natural caves at their advantage.

There is a whole cave system underneath that castle of 14 km (!) long, spreading on four different floors. Can you even imagine?

Unfortunately, due to Covid19-restrictions, this cave was closed. But we think that it must be pretty cool to visit. And very adventurous as there is no electric lighting and the access to the different levels can be quite challenging.

Legends and facts

That castle and its caves sparked the imagination of the locals and beyond. There are numerous legends and tales around it, the most famous one being about their very own 'Robin Hood', Erasmus of Lueg. 

He was this famous robber baron who fled the vengeance of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III and hid in the castle.

He was apparently able to survive the siege for more than a year as he could leave and enter the castle unseen to get food from villagers through the cave system behind the castle.

And it ended with him being struck by a canon ball while on the loo, the unsafest spot of the castle... 

Be that as it may, the castle was destroyed after the siege but was then rebuilt in the Renaissance-style it has today.

The entrance fee is around 30 € per person if you combine it with the Postojna Caves and the audio-guide is free.

That latter contains some huge historical errors but I guess other than an archaeologist like me or an historian, nobody will be bothered - haha.

Also, if you don't like 'fake' things in castle, be warned. The interior is a bit Disney-like. 

But still very cool to see how it was literally built into the rock.

Postojna Cave: artistic nature in a giant grotto

Postojna Cave actually came before Predjama on our Slovenian itinerary as we stayed in Postojna (Apartment Mira G, remember?) but they are actually only a 15 min drive from each other.

The river Pivka formed this karst cave-system of more than 24 km long over millions of years. It has actually been a tourist attraction since 1819 when Archeduke Ferdinand visited them!

You get into the deep of the cave by a little electric train, riding on rails that have actually been there since the 19th century - pretty cool, huh!

I had visited many of these kind of caves as a kid in the South of France. But I must admit, this one was really impressive. Giant rooms and beautiful artistic forms, all created by nature.

Unfortunately, all you get to see of the 24 km are about ... 5,3 km.

As I previously said: tickets are about 30 € per person if you buy a combined one with the Predjama Castle. Which we did.

If you want a budget-friendly but still very good dinner in the area, we can recommend the small restaurant called Okrepčevalnica Prepih, somewhere along the road between Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle.

They only serve burgers, grilled cheese and ćevapčići but it all tasted very good and was good for our wallet - haha.

Day 5 - Venetian flair in Piran

Piran lies at the southwestern tip of Slovenia, on the Istrian peninsula. This part of Istria is actually called the 'Slovenian Riviera' and the difference in architecture, fauna, food and general flair is pretty obvious.

Before that, it was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Then came the Italians. Then Napoleon in the 19th century (his Illyrian Province), before going back to the Austrians.

Finally, in 1954, it went to Yugoslavia, which doesn't exist anymore. And now it's Slovenian.

It's pretty touristy but it wasn't really crowded when we were there - Covid and all that probably helped.

We thought it was very charming and it was so nice to stroll through the narrow streets, admiring the architecture of the houses but also the numerous little chapels and cloisters.

Be sure to get on the very top of the city, on the old medieval city walls and towers. The view is magnificent (2 € per person entrance fee)

If you can, try and visit Izola as well. This little coastal town used to be on an island before a bridge connected it to the continent.

We drove past the Secovlje Saltworks as we were expecting something like we had seen on Gozo. Unfortunately, they were far from beautiful, nothing like Gozo - haha. Still pretty cool to see how salt is extracted, though.

And this beautiful view on Piran concludes our 5-day-itinerary for a road trip in Slovenia! We hope you had fun reading and that it inspired you to visit this lesser known European destination!

After Slovenia, we crossed over to Croatia from where I'm actually typing this post. So stay tuned for a road-trip-travel-guide on Croatia somewhere in the next few weeks 🙂

Don't forget to comment if we missed some highlights! And pin and share this post, if you like!

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