This summer I decided last minute to go away for over just two weeks on a trip around central Europe. Along the way, I visited 5 countries including, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. I flew from BHX for around £70 to Prague and back from Milan at around the same price. The country that surprised me the most came to be Slovenia, this happened as soon as we had entered the country by our not so glamorous coach. The second thing that surprised me was that between all of these countries our passports or identity were never once checked at the borders, we were free to float around as we pleased.
There were hills and mountains, vast with countryside and wildlife, and most definitely was an underrated country. We came to realise that wolves and bears still lived in this magnificent country. The journey to the city Ljubljana was mesmerizing and quite possibly makes you want to buy a house surrounded by forest in the middle of nowhere. The city centre was quiet but bustling with a rustic castle on top of a hill overlooking the city, it was free to climb and take a look around. The 360 views are awesome.
Ljubljana is a great base point for day trips to other cities and places such as Lake Bled which is a very popular destination. They have the famous Bled cake which is very filling but delicious. If you are feeling adventurous there is a hike, however, it isn’t the safest of things to do I must admit, but the views were like nothing you will have ever seen before. We sat up there for a long time taking in the view (view in featured image), but also because we didn’t want to go back down the trail! There are a few hikes around but after doing my resesarch I felt that the Ojstrica hike would be the best, you can carry onto along this trail to another viewpoint afterwards. To find the viewpoint you need to walk past tennis courts and the Camping Bled site, luckily it is signposted so you can’t miss it. The walk around the lake takes around an hour depending on how fast you walk and the bus from the city was around £12 for a return which only took around 50 minutes to arrive.
After spending the day there we went back to our room which was in a house next to Tivoli park, this is a beautiful place especially when the sun is shining, bikes are a big part of their day to day lives and we wished we could have hired some, but you need a card to be able to. It was nice to see people sat out on the grass scattered all around Tivoli park, there is a pond, a play area and a mansion.
We stayed 4 nights in the city, mostly because it was near the end of our trip and we were pretty exhausted. Another day trip we would have liked to have done was to Kranjska Gora, this is where you can go skiing, but I think just going for the views if you are on a budget is well worth it. This would take around a couple of hours to get there but I can imagine the bus journey itself would be spectacular.
Other day trips include:
- Piran a coastal town and classed as a hidden gem.
- Lake Bohinj, located in the Julian Alps
- Trieste, which we drove through on the way to Milan (It’s beautiful)
- Zagreb, Croatia
- Venice, Italy. If you fancy a 4-hour journey
Slovenia is one of the most visually diverse countries I have seen and I would definitely recommend going and exploring by car if at all possible. I only saw a fraction of what the country has to offer and am eager to one day return to see more.
By Abi Trünk
Feature image by Abi Trünk