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Slovenia

From Ljubljana to the Adriatic · Slovenia

A country slightly smaller than Wales where in four days you go from a pedestrian capital to the Alps, from the Alps to a turquoise river that was once a war front, and from the river to the Venetian Adriatic. Distances are short and the roads are good, so the route is done without spending the trip inside the car. And in between, the karst: a limestone underground riddled with some of the largest caves in Europe.

4 days3 nights395 km9 stopsBest season: Late May to September, when the Vršič pass is usually open and the whole route is possible. June and September are the best: the same access and far fewer people than in August, when Bled and the coast fill up.

Day 1The city of dragons Day 2The two lakes of Triglav Day 3Fifty hairpins and a turquoise river Day 4Underground and out to sea

Day 1 · The city of dragons

Ljubljana · no car

Sieglinde Hankele — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Ljubljana

culture

A capital of three hundred thousand with a traffic-free centre and the river Ljubljanica running through it, spanned by bridges such as the Triple Bridge and the Cobblers' Bridge, designed by Jože Plečnik in the 1930s, and the Art Nouveau Dragon Bridge of 1901. The castle dominates from its hill and is reached by funicular.

Tip

The dragon is the city's emblem and it is everywhere. And the centre is almost entirely pedestrian: leave the car in a car park on the edge and forget about it until tomorrow.

Day 2 · The two lakes of Triglav

Bled and Bohinj · 115 km

Carsten Steger — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Lake Bled

viewpoints

A glacial lake with an island in the middle, and on the island a church with a wishing bell. On the cliff above, some hundred and thirty metres up, stands Slovenia's oldest castle, documented in the year 1011. You reach the island by pletna, traditional rowing boats handled by families who inherit the trade.

Tip

Climb to the Ojstrica viewpoint: twenty minutes of steep path from the shore, and it is the view you have seen a thousand times. Go at dawn, because by mid-morning there is a queue at the lookout itself.

30 min to the next stop · 27 km

Carsten Steger — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Lake Bohinj

nature

Slovenia's largest permanent lake, more than twice the size of Bled with a tenth of the people. It lies inside Triglav National Park, ringed by mountains, and on its shore stands the church of St John the Baptist, with 15th-century Gothic frescoes. From the western end a short path leads to the Savica waterfall.

Tip

Warning: do NOT park on the verge of the road around the lake even if you see cars doing it. It is penalised and they fine you. Use the marked car parks at Ribčev Laz or Ukanc.

Day 3 · Fifty hairpins and a turquoise river

Kranjska Gora, Vršič and the Soča · 110 km

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Kranjska Gora

nature

The last village before the pass, in the corner where Slovenia meets both Italy and Austria. A ski resort in winter and a hiking base in summer. A few kilometres away lie Lake Jasna, on the way to the pass, and the Zelenci nature reserve, a short detour towards Italy.

Tip

Fill the tank here: between the pass and Bovec there is no petrol station, and the climb uses more than you would think.

20 min to the next stop · 10 km

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The Vršič pass

history

Slovenia's highest mountain pass, at one thousand six hundred and eleven metres, with fifty numbered hairpins. The road was built in 1915 by Russian prisoners of the First World War to supply the front, and in March 1916 an avalanche buried more than a hundred of them. On the climb stands the wooden Orthodox chapel the survivors raised in their memory.

Tip

The pass closes for snow in winter and sometimes for roadworks: check it is open before setting off. The bends on the northern side are cobbled: you take them slowly and the car feels it.

80 min to the next stop · 57 km

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The Soča valley and Kobarid

history

The river runs a turquoise that looks retouched and is real, from the limestone rock flour it carries. But this valley was the Isonzo front: between 1915 and 1917 twelve battles were fought here with hundreds of thousands of dead, and Hemingway, who drove ambulances on the Italian front, set part of 'A Farewell to Arms' here, with the retreat from Caporetto, which is Kobarid. The Kobarid museum tells it without heroics.

Tip

The Kobarid museum is among the finest war museums in Europe and takes an hour and a half. And twenty minutes away are the Tolmin gorges, the lowest point in the park, with walkways.

Day 4 · Underground and out to sea

Postojna, Predjama and Piran · 170 km

Original uploader was Boštjan Burger (Lander) at sl.wikipedia — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Postojna caves

nature

Twenty-four kilometres of galleries carved by the river Pivka, of which five are visited. The first three and a half are covered on an underground train, electric today, whose tracks were laid in 1872: the world's first railway inside a cave. Inside lives the olm, a blind, unpigmented amphibian that can go years without eating and which they call the human fish.

Tip

The visit is guided, with an assigned time and very busy: buy your ticket online. It is ten degrees inside all year, so take a jacket even if it is August outside.

15 min to the next stop · 10 km

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Predjama castle

history

A castle wedged into the mouth of a cave, halfway up a hundred-and-twenty-three-metre cliff. Behind it runs a system of galleries that allowed people to slip out unseen, hence the legend of Erasmus of Lueg, the baron who withstood a year-long siege here by resupplying through the cave.

Tip

It is ten minutes from Postojna and there is a combined ticket with the caves, which works out cheaper. The visit inside is short but the view from outside justifies it on its own.

65 min to the next stop · 75 km

Isiwal — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Piran

culture

A Venetian peninsula pushed into the Adriatic, with narrow streets that open onto Tartini Square, named after the violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, born here in 1692. Slovenia has only forty-six kilometres of coast, and this is the best of them.

Tip

Park at the Fornace car park by the entrance and take the shuttle: you cannot drive inside the old town. And climb the walls at dusk, because from there you see Croatia and Italy at the same time.

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