Slovenia and Croatia with young children?

[Hidingplace]

Hi,

Partner mooted doing Slovenia and Istria, Croatia this summer. Idea of flying to Slovenia, travelling around for a week and then some time in a beach place in Istria. I can see from Mumsnet searches that this is quite popular!

My question is, has anyone done this with young children? 6 year old and nearly 2 year old. Everything I read about Slovenia is outdoorsy stuff which I feel they might be too young for? Then in Istria it looks like lots or ‘beaches’ are rocky places so not so good for paddling?

Would appreciate any thoughts on this! Didn’t know whether to go for it or wait a few years until kids can access more.

Thanks!

We went to Istria a couple years ago and my dc were teens. I did feel it would not have been very suitable for little ones. They enjoyed the rocky beaches for swimming and playing on the inflatable wibits. But they were quite nervous about the sea urchins and we wore water shoes always in the water. There may be some areas with sandy beaches but not where we were. I think possibly there is a hotel at lone beach in Rovinj maybe their beach looks a bit more suitable for small children. There is also an island at Porec which has a very family friendly hotel, but I think the sea urchins would still be there.

I did see some smaller children there but not many and they looked more like locals.

It was a nice holiday though.

Yes lovely but not in height of summer.

Dubrovnik and then down into montenegro is just lovely.

It was almost 40C when we were there in summer, which is another factor to consider

Thanks. I don’t mind the heat too much - we went to Turkey last year, earlier in the year but then there was a freak heatwave. Sea urchins don’t sound so great though and I was worried about lack of beach to play on, hmmm.

Anyone have any thoughts on Slovenia!?

We went to Istria when my daughter was about 3-4. We loved it. The beaches are rocky, but the water is clear, it's great for swimming. It was hot but we like heat so didn't bother us.

@Grockle thanks, where abouts did you go in Istria and did you self cater or hotel? I don’t mind the heat at all

Slovenia is amazing but there are lots of outdoor adventure activities which have minimum ages. We waited until our youngest was 7 for that reason. But it is a great place - we had a fab holiday.

We have also been to istria. Stayed at Lone beach in Rovinj actually. I would say that is more suitable for young kids. Also gorgeous.

I’ve only been without family, but I would say Slovenia isn’t worth it until DC are older. Mine is 11 and he’d enjoy it now.

We haven’t been to Slovenia. I was wondering if I could hyjack thread to ask, what the food is like in Slovenia? My teens like nice food.

We were not expecting great things and were generally pleasantly surprised. The food in Ljubljana was amazing - a real foodie paradise. Outside, around the lakes it was not as good, but perfectly fine. Like Croatia there is a lot of Italian influence (and lots of truffles) but it was more meat based and a bit heavier generally. We found the best food was the simpler stuff. So appetisers of local cheese and cured hams, mains of grilled meats (though they invariably had pasta).I missed fish though as most of the fish dishes were lake fish which I am not keen on. The wine was fantastic though - we drank local all holiday and didn't have a bad bottle. Wish it was easier to find in the UK.

Thanks everyone. It seems Slovenia might not be for us right now but Croatia might be a possibility. Back to the drawing board!