Anyone been to Slovenia?

[ciderhouserules]

I fancy Slovenia this year - anyone been? Is it easy to get from Ljubjana to Lake Bled? We are thinking 3 days in Ljubjana and a couple at Lake Bled, then back.
How's the language barrier? Is there much English spoken?

Interested to hear replies as it looks amazing! My friend goes there for holidays with her children and the photos look amazing. She is Hungarian and I believe speaks a bit of Slovenian.

I agree it looks stunning! And I want a 'new' experience this year, not Spain or Portugal again!
(any other advice or recommendations welcome!)

Following as I’ve been looking into this too.

I’ve been! It was amazing. I’ve been to Ljubjana and stayed in a nice hotel and to Lake Bled in a chalet type thing. Was fab. Can’t remember any details other than how pretty it all was. Have fun!

OMG yes, it’s amazing. I spent time working in Ljubljana about 20 years ago and I also holidayed at Lake Bled during the winter when the lake was frozen, it’s like a fairytale. There wasn’t a language barrier but then that may have been the demographic I was mostly mixing with - professional workers from a city, couldn’t honestly say if it’s the same in the more rural areas. But yes, do go, it’s amazing.

DH and I went to Lake Bled in 2019 and I'd love to take the DC. The scenery was gorgeous and there was more to do than we had time to fit in. The roads between the airport and Bled were wide, uncrowded and in good nick - easy driving.

Everyone spoke great English. Really reasonable prices. Public transport to bled was super easy and cheap think <€5 each way but can't remember exactly. I went last July and it wasn't super busy given it was peak tourist season. We loved it!

Lake Bled is fabulous. Its almost all motorway between Bled and Ljubliana, all very easy to navigate. There are amazing walks in the area and different activities too. As in Croatia, English is pretty widely spoken, I don't remember language really being a problem.

Absolutely fabulous. English spoken everywhere, friendly, clean, pretty, tons of activities. You don’t even need a car, you can get around by public transport. Bled itself is quite lively as well as scenic.

Realised I spelt Ljubljana wrong!

Marginally liked bohinj over lake bled, though lake bled is amazing. There’s great hiking in both. We got the train from Ljubljana to bled, very easy and interesting journey.

Ljubljana we both really liked.

Ljubljana and Bled are both amazing places, I'd return in a heartbeat.

yes, absolutely gorgeous place. We hired a car to travel around and it’s small so no long drives. We did those two plus Bohinj and the coast which felt very Italian. It’s very European, so no different to holidays in Spain or France, pretty straightforward, lots of English speakers. We found driving easier than Spain actually as it was quiet on the roads!

We also went in 2019. If you can go to Piran on the coast. It's a lot like Italy or Croatia but much much quieter.

Quite different to the rest of the country, which is lovely, but the food isn't as good in Bled or Bohinj.

We went on a hiking trip to Slovenia, pre-kids, and absolutely loved it. It’s so beautiful, people are friendly, it’s pretty easy to get around.

Agree with PP who slightly preferred Lake Bohinj to Bled.

If my kids were a bit older, we’d give this a go www.i-escape.com/pristava-lepena

Busting out my Slovenia holiday photos! This was up very high in the Julian Alps

It’s a lovely country, small with very good and quiet roads. Bled you could do in a day trip from the capital which is pretty but worth only 1 day, I’d say. The small bit of Adriatic coast around Piran is lovely too, quite a Venetian feel and you could visit Venice in a long, day trip. I don’t recall any language problems. It’s well worth a visit.

I went for a day trip to Ljubljana from Italy last summer and loved it. A nice city if you like Prague, Bratislava etc. We took the funicular up to the Castle and could have spent the full day there. Didn't make it to the Lake but I really enjoyed what I did see of it

It's a beautiful country! Most everyone under 40 speaks English, so we never struggled with the language barrier. Lake Bled is fantastic! Definitely give it a go!

i agree Lake Bohinj rather than Bled, quieter, much less developed/commercial. Guest houses, rooms to rent (Soba) as well as some hotels available in the area.

Driving is quiet easy, parking is difficult in Bled, at lake Bohinj there is a park and ride as well as a bus that goes to and from surrounding villages to the lake.
Been a few times ( a friend has a house about 3 km from the lake) and already booked flights for this summer

Best family holiday we've had. Toured all over with a car from coast, caves, rivers, mountains and city. Found the lonely planet guide very helpful for planning.

I went in 2019.
I’ll say that Ljubljana was the cheapest capital city I’ve been to. Food and drinks prices very reasonable. Obviously that was pre pandemic so unsure if things have changed and if so how much.
we went on a day trip to bled and it was beautiful. Unfortunately it was raining so the toboggan wasn’t running but that looks fun.
the locals were friendly and spoke good English. Ljubljana felt very safe.

Just come back, been many times as have connections over there.

It's got everything, lakes, coast, mountains, caves, castles, city life and very delicious food!!

We went years ago it was amazing so beautiful. Fab for adventure sports. Everyone I encountered spoke English yes. Only thing was the hotel was bleak atmosphere compared to West Europe, it had a very ‘communist bloc’ / prison vibe but that may be better now.

I did a similar holiday using public transport and staying in self catering accommodation in both. Had a really great trip.

I don't think you'd want more than three nights in Ljubljana as it's pretty small - and Bled town isn't big or particularly pretty but the lake is stunning. Make sure you do the walk around it and take tea at Tito's summer palace on the shore.

We didn't have a car for day trips but managed to get about a bit - to Bohinj on a bus from Bled (although it was sublime, it wasn't as picturesque as Bled - and the water is much warmer at the latter) and to Vintgar Gorge.

if I was going again I would add three nights by the beach at Piran to my itinerary.