Slovenia ideas and advise

[runlift]

I've been looking into our summer holiday and have landed on Slovenia. We have two children-6 and 4 and would like a mix of active type holiday (young children friendly) -walking, boat trips, cable cars, climbing, go ape style stuff, horse riding etc, and a beach, warm style holiday.

I was thinking of flying to Ljubljana and transferring straight to one of the lake destinations -bled or bohinj and staying for a week there. Hiring a car so we can travel around and go on day trips. I am torn between a more expensive hotel/eco resort, something more basic in a beautiful remote setting and a farm stay. Any recommendations welcome! Will we have enough to do?

Then for the second week going down to the coast to Piran for a lovely hotel break. Is there much to do there, is it warm enough? Or are there other nearby beach resorts that we should look at eg. Italy.

Thank you!

Forgot to say then maybe flying home from a different airport like Trieste

Hi, I don’t have much advice but I wanted to bump this for you (partly because I’m interested too!)

We have been to lake bled and it was beautiful, lots of activities to do. We stayed at the big campsite, swam in the lake and cycled round the lake. It was baking hot though, and we had an epic thunderstorm while we were there which flooded the campsite!

I’m interested to hear more about Piran.

Thank you! Would you recommend the campsite? Did you stay in tents?

Piran is very different to the north of the country, much more Italian in culture and food. The town itself is pretty medieval Venetian town and a few ks away there is the little italianate seaside town of izola. Going the other way is the bigger resort of Portorož. You can hire bikes in Piran and explore.
Travelling down from the lakes you can visit the Postojna Cave Park and a castle built into the rock at Predjama.

Thanks midsommer. Do you think you'd have a whole week in Piran? Is it warm enough to swim in the sea in August for little kids?

I think it will be warm enough to swim in August. You're on the Adriatic. I think about 4 days would do it. You can also do a day trip up to Venice from Piran but only once a week and it takes almost 3 hours so not much time there. It's only about 30 mins to Trieste and they go daily I think.

We liked Ljubljana and Bohinj, but weren’t so keen on Bled. We stayed at the Bohinj Eco Hotel, which has a great pool complex. Our room was huge - with a separate room off it for the DC.

Ooh did you like the eco hotel? I was looking at that. Is there enough to do for a week would you say?

We took a day trip to Minimundus, which is just across the border in Austria. Has scale models of famous buildings etc and is surprisingly interesting.

We stayed in Ljubljana and only did a day at Lake Bled so can't advise on that but it's beautiful around there!

Bovec has loads of outdoor activities! But I went when I was single & without kids so can't speak to how family friendly it might be. Gorgeous stream & rivers tho

Following this with interest.

We had a few hours in Ljubljana last year and were very sorry not to have more time. It's a beautiful city and the cable car to the castle is worth doing.

We LOVE Slovenia so much we go at least once a year.
The country is quite small so you can base yourself in one area with a car and travel around.

Bled is gorgeous, we love it there but make time to visit Bohinj and the surrounding area, especially the waterfall. Also consider Velika Plaina for a day trip. Skofja Loka and and Kranj are both really nice towns nearby for a day trip and the former has a terrific castle.

Don't under estimate how nice Ljubljana is though, there is a lot for children to do and it's very kid friendly. The museum of illusions is a must see and we love tea and cake at the art nouveau skyscraper Neboticnik. Ljubljana castle is a little bit of a let down as there are much better ones in Slovenia.

Piran is beautiful but you need to factor in around 20 euros a day in parking charges. There is no way during the peak season to avoid this if you stay in the town (off peak, there are plenty of free places to park). From Piran you can swim in the sea , visit Portoroz (bit too glitzy for us but nice), Koper and Izola. Go just north of Piran and find the nature reserve for lovely walks away from crowds. There's no good beaches in Slovenia that we've found but if you cross the border into Crotia and head for a tiny resort called Kanegra, you will find a very nice beach within view of Slovenia. They only take Croatian kuna though so you need to change money or bring everything you need.

If you want a third destination, consider Ptuj or Podcetrek. Both are spa towns and the spas are great for families with lots going on. The Amon Olimje resort has just the best food we've ever eaten.

Hope that helps and you love it as much as we do! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions

PS, the Slovenian tourist board have a good app with their top 100 places to visit. Highly recommended.

Thank you so much Gin! Now frantically googling!

Runlift we stayed in our camper van at the big campsite on Lake Bled. I can’t remember much about the accommodation that you can stay in there but it was a big campsite and the facilities were good when we were there, about 5 years ago.

We went last year. I loved Bohinji - we went up the mountain there (Vogel?) and that was great but it’s expensive. The lake looked beautiful; we only had a day there, sadly. I also loved the combined trip to Postonja Caves and Predjama Castle. Latter was fun and really worth seeing, like it was growing out of the rock. The caves I found stunningly beautiful and it’s easy with little ones as you take a train and there’s easy paths when you get out and walk for a bit. I think it’s there but wouldn’t bother with the zoo add-on, featuring the special cave fish - you get to see them on exit from the caves anyway. I think it’s a ticket option - single cave, combined castle + cave and then all three attractions.

Skocjan caves are less pretty but more awe inspiring in a way. Trickier paths with little ones; quite scary for anyone with vertigo! Personally I don’t think you’d be kicking yourself if you didn’t go to them, but you’d still probably have fun if you did. If I was there with children that wouldn’t stay near me, or who went to the edge a lot, it would probably make me really nervous. But then I’m not great with heights.

Bled was fine - we enjoyed cycling round. I’m told great views from the terrace of the posh hotel there (forget name; ex-retreat of Tito) that you can access if you go for a coffee; anything else fairly pricey. We didn’t have time but cycled past the back of it.

Didn’t really go to beaches there but was advised the costal villages around Lipica are beautiful.

Slovenia is stunning but once you have had your summer holiday for gawd sake go back to Bled in winter when there’s snow on the ground and the lake is frozen over, it should be the law! Like Frozen/Cinderella’s Castle but obviously infinitely better.

Yes yes yes to visiting Slovenia in the winter! Totally agree with @Judashascomeintosomemoney
We went for Christmas one year and stayed near Bled.
If you have time, visit castle Sneznik with a frozen moat and wonderful tour.

Following! What a lot of brilliant suggestions! We're also going to Slovenia this summer for a week, following a week in Croatia.
@ginswinger, can you recommend any accommodation in the Bled / Bohinj area please?
We're thinking of staying in 2 different places - one near Bled / Bohinj to do the Alps and Kranjska Gora etc and then possibly Ljubljana but not sure yet. We have friends in Celtje so that's a possibility though I love the idea of a spa!!!! I went to some fabulous spas in Poland, so unpretentious and cheap. Absolutely great.

Try the Hotel Rikli Balance at Bled. It;s a great location and family friendly

We were recommended Vintgar Gorge, just north of Bled. Sadly it was closed, but google it because it looks stunning!

Following! We’re spending a week at Camping Bled this summer so these tips are very welcome! Would those who have been before say that Ljubljana and Bohinj are easy day trips from
Bled? Any other suggestions?

I should say, the campsite looks really nice and has a beach. They have family glamping (which is what we’re doing) if you don’t want to stay in a tent: www.sava-camping.com/en/bled-camping/family-glamping

We were in Ljubljana and a day trip by coach to Bled took about 1hr20 on a slow route there, and less than an hour on a motorway trip back, so easily done in a day.

If you fancy some good food then Restaurant Sova in Bled is wonderful, but not necessarily good for little kids.

In Ljubljana restaurants Julija and Figovec are amazing! And cake and Ice cream at coffee shop Cacao.

We have found Slovenia to be gastronomically spectacular.

What's the language situation like there? When we went to Croatia everyone spoke English with very very few exceptions. Can you get by with German or Italian in Slovenia if they don't speak English? I would love to go there.