Slovenia
Two and a half years ago, I convinced my parents to spend their summer vacation with me in Slovenia. I frankly can’t remember what ignited the initial spark, but I quickly descended down a not-unfamiliar travel-research rabbit hole and became convinced that the tiny country was something I, and as a result we, needed to see. The more I read, the more it seemed that little Slovenia, sandwiched between Italy, Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia, and with just the ittiest bit of coastline, held the key to a summertime adventure we’d remember fondly for years to come. And I was absolutely right.
Before I get into all the things Slovenia does best, know that one of the best parts of visiting is that there aren’t any tourists. None. There are a few European backpackers hanging out in Ljubljana, I guess, and some foodies who’ve come a long way to eat at Hisa Franko (more on that later), but the country’s little coastline is going to be filled with Slovenians and Italians, and the interior of the country is filled with…people who live there. It’s truly refreshing to visit a place where you feel like you’re getting the experience of what it’s actually like, not the experience put on for visitors.
As if being virtually untouristed isn’t enough of a draw, Slovenia manages to hit the vacation trifecta: food & wine, scenery and history.
Wine. Slovenian wine has been up-and-coming in the United States for a couple of years now, and I always snatch it up when I find it. Malvasia, pinot grigio, ribolla, cabernet sauvignon and even pinot noir are all grown there with great success. Slovenia has two main wine regions: one just across the border with the Fruilia region of Italy, and home to Movia, one of the best-known winemakers in the country, and one in the northeastern corner near the Hungarian border, where we found some noteworthy whites. If you are into off-piste wine regions, Slovenia has a lot to offer at really affordable prices.
Food. By virtue of its Central European positioning and being surrounded by five different countries, Slovenian food is incredibly diverse – and spectacularly delicious. The southwest near Italy is full of Mediterranean flavors and the freshest seafood. The eastern part of the country features pork products galore and desserts stuffed with poppy seeds- very Hungarian and eastern European. And Hisa Franko– the restaurant in the Julian Alps that was featured on Chef’s Table and whose chef Ana Ros has begun to collect the accolades she so deserves- is reason enough to visit Slovenia. We had the opportunity to eat there before it had begun to get such international recognition, but I have no doubt that the place is still underrated.
Scenery. I spent several months living in Switzerland about 15 years ago, and everyone knows it brings the wow factor in terms of natural beauty. Well…sorry, Switzerland, but Slovenia is nipping at your heels. There’s no Matterhorn, but Slovenia is home to the gorgeous Julian Alps in the northwest, picturesque medieval villages in the interior, rolling hills covered in cornfields and vineyards in the northeast and the Adriatic Sea in the southwest. We did a number of excellent hikes and generally spent a lot of time outside, which is apparently a very Slovenian thing to do- when we drove through the northwestern Alpine pass on a Sunday, the parking lot was filled to capacity with the cars of hikers getting ready to casually scale a mountain (also, a herd of about 20 sheep). I can’t think of many other places I’ve been that have really overwhelmed me with their beauty the way Slovenia did.
History. I’m not sure if most people have a favorite war (in my defense, I studied International Relations in college and took a number of courses on war), but mine is the endlessly fascinating World War I. So when I found out that western Slovenia, formerly part of Italy, was a key front in that war, it really sealed the deal for me in terms of a visit. The town of Kobarid, where Hisa Franko is located, is home to some fascinating history from the period, including a fort that’s become a small museum and several trails where you can still see the trenches dug a hundred years ago. If that is not enough history, it’s also the town where Ernest Hemingway convalesced after his own participation in the war on behalf of the Italian Army, and it’s rumored that he was staying at what is today Hisa Franko while he penned the book (truly one of my favorite novels ever) A Farewell to Arms.
In a nutshell, if you are a literature nerd or a history nerd, go here. If you love wine, or even just appreciate drinking it, go here. If you enjoy eating interesting food that’s diverse and delicious, go here. If the sight of a piercing blue river or an Alpine peak take your breath away even a little, go here. Read the Hemingway book before you do.
This was our 11-day Slovenia vacation:
Primorska
Prekmurje
Ljubljana
Piran
Primorska
You could begin your Slovenia vacation in Ljubljana (via train or a short flight from another European city) but we flew into Venice, where we spent three and a half days at the beginning of our trip. If you haven’t seen Venice, I’d definitely encourage you to do the same (you can see our itinerary here), and just pick up a rental car when you’re done and head northeast into Slovenia. Make Kobarid your base in the Primorska region- two days is a good amount of time to spend in the area if you’re an active person who likes history.
Where We Stayed:
Hisa Franko. Not only should you eat at Hisa Franko, you should stay there, too. The location is just stunning, nestled in a valley with an Alpine view out the window, about a 5 minute drive outside the little town of Kobarid. The rooms are small but stylish and comfortable, and ours had a gorgeous little patio out back where we spent time reading with a view of the huge garden. In the evening, we watched the chefs come out to snip the edible flowers we later found on our dinner plates. And the breakfast is obviously fantastic.
What We Ate:
Hisa Franko, obviously. A few things to note on this. You probably want to do one evening here and one in town (I think Ana and Viktor also have a bar/restaurant there now which I’m sure is great). We did two here because the first night there was a visiting chef (part of the Gelinaz shuffle) which was an incredible experience but I wanted the chance to taste the Hisa Franko menu also. It is a tasting menu, and it is expensive. You should also do the wine pairing for the full experience, because Viktor is an incredible sommelier. The food is a little out there, but it is also delicious and perfectly encapsulates what that region of Slovenia is all about: vegetables from the garden, wild herbs, venison from the fields, trout from the Sonca River, cheese aged in the cellar. It’s also stunning on the plate. The best part is that it’s not stuffy- it’s incredibly professional and the waiter wears a white glove, but it feels a little like you’re eating in your own home and the staff is extremely friendly and helpful. This was honestly one of the most memorable food experiences I’ve had in my life.
What We Did:
Kobarid Museum. To really get a feel for the region’s history, you can’t miss the Kobarid Museum. It’s a small, two-story building right in the center of town and contains several interesting exhibits on the area’s role in World War I. There’s tons of war memorabilia, photos and a film that detail the battles that took place at the Isonzo Front between the Italians and the Austro-Hungarians. Given the region’s extremely mountainous terrain, you can probably guess that the strategy did not go according to plan.
Kluže Fortress. A few miles outside of town, Kluže Fortress is a fort constructed in the 1400s to defend the region against the Turks, but was used over the years in various battles – from those against Napoleon to World War I. A fun place to poke around if you are into history.
Kobarid Historical Walk. This is a great hike that’s not challenging and perfect for families. It begins at the Kobarid Museum and then takes you into the surrounding woods, connecting various historical sites. The trail is extremely well marked and you can pick up maps in town. You’ll see an Italian church opened by Mussolini that holds the remains over more than 5,000 Italian soldiers, World War I trenches, the gorgeously blue Soča River and Kozjak waterfall and the Napoleon Bridge. It’s a very peaceful walk that’s about 5km long, and much of it is in the shade. This is a must-do in the area.
Drinking wine. About an hour south of Kobarid, literally sitting on the Italian border (a perfect stop if you’re driving up from Venice) is the Goriška Brda wine region. There are some excellent white wines (ribolla is the primary white grape) as well as noteworthy reds (Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir, among others) made by top-quality producers such as Movia. A lot of the winemakers are clustered fairly close together in the beautiful rolling hills, so you will easily be able to visit a handful in a day, and be treated to a great Slovenian lunch in the process.
Vršič Pass. Depending on your next destination, if you can swing a car journey through the Vršič Pass through Triglav National Park, you should try your best to make it happen. It’s a high mountain pass through the Julian Alps in the northwestern part of Slovenia and it is, in a word, stunning. Certainly not for the faint of heart and definitely for a confident driver, the scenery is spectacular- the kind that makes you gasp as you round each turn (of which there are many).
Prekmurje
Slovenia’s northeast corner could not be more different from the alpine scenery of the northwest. It’s largely flat and agricultural, with small rolling hills covered in grape vines and cornfields. Little medieval towns dot the landscape and will remind you of tiny versions of Prague and Budapest. The food here also reflects its Central European placement. It’s a quietly beautiful area and a lovely place to spend a couple of days to get the full picture of what Slovenia has to offer.
Where We Stayed:
Sončna Hiša. This gorgeous boutique hotel is located exactly in the middle of nowhere, in the tiny town of Banovci. The accommodations are very contemporary, with beautiful bathrooms and comfortable beds, and a fabulous breakfast spread you won’t soon forget. It also offers wellness services – we had great massages here – and a sauna. The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful, and nearby are the Jeruzalem-Ormož wine routes.
What We Ate:
Gostilna Rajh. This restaurant is serious, and seriously delicious. The menu features creative takes on Central European
dishes (think lots of rich meat, but with good vegetarian and seafood representation as well) and the restaurant is a gorgeous setting. We ate our dinner on the front porch but the indoor dining room is also beautiful and homey. This is a must-get reservation if you are in northeast Slovenia- don’t miss the Prekmurska gibanica- a traditional dessert.
What We Did:
Drinking wine. The region is home to some great white wines, and you can drink them all by following the well-marked route. The scenery is also excellent- think rolling hills, vines as far as the eye can see and patchwork plots of land. We had a really memorable lunch (with wine, of course) at Vinski Hram, where we sat outside at a picnic table eating antipasti platters, throwing back chilled ribolla and admiring the scenery from our perch on a hill. Definitely recommend as a stop on the route on a nice afternoon.
Bicycling. Given the relatively flat terrain, the northeast is perfect for cycling. Our hotel had bikes we were able to borrow, and we often found ourselves going on a little pre-dinner bike ride through the cornfields and picturesque towns. If you’re a real athlete, there are a lot of good, longer bike routes, and if you aren’t there in the high of summer, I think cycling around the wine route would be a fabulous idea.
Day trip to Ptuj. Ptuj is the oldest city in Slovenia, and is an adorable way to spend half a day. Sitting on the edge of a lake and featuring the distinctive Central European red roofs you’ll come to know and love, it is a quaint town filled with medieval architecture and cute lunch spots where you can enjoy an al fresco meal. It also features a pretty fantastic castle with excellent views of the surrounding area. Think lots of cobblestones and winding alleyways- perfect for wandering and getting a little lost on a sunny summer day.
Ljubljana
The capital of Slovenia was described in one of my books as a “jewel box” of a city, and I think that moniker is so apt. It’s a tiny little city with a compact Old Town that will steal your heart and give you plenty of gorgeous architecture to gawk at. In the summer it’s also chock full of opportunities to sit outside next to the river, eat delicious food and drink memorable Slovenian wines. With a hilltop castle, gorgeous Baroque churches and plenty of cultural events on offer (we caught a performance of Romeo & Juliet by the visiting St. Petersburg Ballet and Mariinsky Orchestra), Ljubljana is a fabulous place to base yourself for 2-3 days. It’s also very easy to stay here and do a day trip to touristy but stunning Lake Bled.
Where We Stayed:
Hotel Cubo. Located just on the outskirts of Old Town (about a 1 minute walk), Hotel Cubo is a new, modern hotel with beautiful interiors and a helpful staff. I thought long and hard about whether or not to stay in Old Town itself, but I’m glad we chose Cubo- I felt the options in the historical area were expensive and a little tired, while Cubo offered more bang for your buck and was still extremely convenient. It also allowed us to park the car right next to the hotel (Old Town is pedestrian only), which was helpful for unloading luggage and accessing it for our day trip. Cubo is about a 3 minute walk from the main shopping area (H&M, Zara, etc.) as well, in case you’ve had your fill of “quaint.”
What We Did:
Old Town. You can see the sights of Old Town in a day, as it largely consists of beautiful statues, a meandering river and countless churches. It’s also closed to cars which makes it feel a bit like a summertime block party. Make sure you take a peek inside the pastel pink Franciscan Church of the Annunciation, located in Prešeren Square (this is probably the most iconic of Ljubljana’s buildings) and the ornate, Baroque Ljubljana Cathedral.
Ljubjana Castle. Ljubljana’s castle is located on top of a hill towering above Old Town, and you can reach it on foot (probably takes about 10 minutes or so to climb up there) or via funicular. The views from on top of the hill are breathtaking, and it’s a great castle, too- it offers guided tours, but you can also enter the grounds for free and have a coffee in the courtyard and enjoy the view. In the summer, on many nights they also show movies on the castle lawn.
Museums. Ljubljana is full of museums, all of which are conveniently located on the same street, side by side. They are all “bite-sized” and we managed to fit in three on a single morning without getting museum fatigue. Our choices were the small, well-curated National Gallery, the National Museum of Slovenia, which gave us a good dose of local history, and the Museum of Modern Art, which had some pretty out-there video installations. Given how small and affordable all of Ljubljana’s museums are, it makes it easy to just pop in and have a look around without committing to a full day on your feet reading plaques.
Day Trip to Lake Bled. Bled is far and away the most touristy part of the country, and it’s easy to see why. Located in the forested middle of the country, the town sits on a crystal blue lake with a small island in the middle (featuring a church and a museum), and a castle towers over the whole scene. It looks like something ripped straight from the pages of a fairy tale, and is easily Slovenia’s most recognizable sight. For that reason alone, I decided that I’d prefer to see Bled as a day trip only, and I’m glad we planned it this way. We set off early in the morning, parked near the info center, and set off on a hike to Vintgar Gorge, a beautiful waterfall that you get to via a wooden platform walkway over the river. To hike there from Bled and back, it takes about 3 hours, but the scenery is spectacular (those mountains again) and I found this to be one of my favorite hikes ever. You can also drive to the gorge entrance and skip most of the hike. Afterwards, we briefly checked out the town, toured the castle (which looks every bit the fortress you’d imagine) and then drove halfway around the lake to a small beach where we went for a refreshing swim before heading back to Ljubljana. Totally doable in a day.
Where We Ate:
Gastilna na Gradu. If there is one restaurant to make sure you visit, it’s this one. Partially owned by the proprietors of Hisa Franko, Gastilna na Gradu’s concept is modern interpretations of classic Slovenian dishes. The food is, in a word, excellent. But its location is just as special, as it’s set within the castle walls (you don’t need to pay an entry fee to eat there). With ample outdoor seating in the courtyard, it’s a gorgeous way to spend a lovely summer evening. Reservations are a must.
Julija. Located on a touristy strip of Old Town, Julija is a winner among its neighbors. The menu is Slovenian, with a bend towards the Italian- it’s large enough for there to be something for everyone, and not intimidating. Our dinners were very good, and while there was a short wait for a table, we were able to sit outside in the hustle and bustle of the city.
Vinoteka Movia. The premier winemakers of Slovenia have this little city outpost for those of us who were unable to visit them in wine country. It’s a cozy little wine bar off one of the main plazas, and you can set up shop at one of the rustic tables and sample any of the wines in the place (mostly Movia but others as well). It’s also got some great snacks, and you can buy any of the glasses you like for retail.
Dvorni Bar. If you still haven’t had enough of Slovenian wine – and if you’re anything like me, you haven’t – you should definitely spend some time snacking and sampling at Dvorni Bar. Located on a little street that juts onto the river, it’s a cozy little spot with indoor and outdoor tables with an impressive wine list and food to share.
Piran
Don’t come to Slovenia without carving out some time on the coast, a short little 47km stretch nestled between Italy and current hot-spot, Croatia. Base yourself in Piran, a former Venetian port town and current pocket-sized Venice (think winding allies and stairs and arched doorways), where you can soak up all the sunshine, eat incredible seafood for a song and easily arrange jaunts into the surrounding countryside. Piran was just included on Forbes’ 33 Cheapest Places to Travel in 2018- a bit of an odd list but it’s on there for all the right reasons.
Where We Stayed:
Hotel Piran. Location, location, location. Hotel Piran sits right in the center of town, just off the main square, and directly on the water. It’s a mid-sized hotel, fairly newly renovated, with helpful staff and comfortable rooms. Its front door is in a pedestrian-only area, but you can drive up to unload luggage before parking up the hill just out of town. Its back faces the sea, where you can sit on the porch and sip cocktails or jump off the rocky pier into the bath-temperature water. For a small fee, you can also reserve beach chairs and towels for the following day- this is important because there isn’t really a nice “public beach” in the area. It’s truly Piran paradise.
Where We Ate:
Pri Mari. The must-get reservation in town is at Pri Mari, a top-notch seafood restaurant just a few minutes’ walk outside of town along the water. The place is cozy and homy – it’s family owned – and the food is real grandma cooking, if your grandma was Italian-Slovenian. The focus here is on seafood, and you can tell it’s fresh and of excellent quality, but there are also a number of great meat dishes on offer, as well as fabulous Slovenian wines, of course. This is a really special spot that shouldn’t be missed.
Sarajevo 84. Located on the same road as Pri Mari, but a bit closer to town, is this fabulous Bosnian restaurant where we happily stuffed ourselves with delicious grilled meats for an almost unbelievably reasonable price. New to Bosnian food, I was eager to give it a try, and Sarajevo 84 has a little “tasting menu” which allows you to sample a bunch of different dishes. It’s a ton of food, and it’s not light, but it’s excellently prepared and you can enjoy it on their porch on a warm, breezy evening.
Restaurant Neptun. Located in Old Town, Neptun is a family-run joint serving up incredible platters of the freshest seafood you’ve ever laid eyes on- and in many cases, their eyes are looking right back at you. Picture shrimp the size of your hands and heaping pots of mussels. While a lot of the restaurants close to the water are clearly catered to tourists, Neptun is definitely popular with the local crowd. There are a few small tables outside, which makes for great people watching, and you should just plan to settle in here for a couple of hours, a few seafood platters and a glass of very chilled white wine. There’s nothing better.
What We Did:
Wandering Old Town. Piran is HOT in the summer, so when you’ve had enough of splashing around and/or baking in the sun, put on a hat and slink around the shady alleys of Old Town. The architecture of the city is gorgeous- it will remind you of Venice, with the arched doors and windows- and there are lots of winding staircases to churches on hills and laundry flapping in the sea breeze. If you climb high enough, you’ll reach the walls of the city, which you can walk on for a gorgeous view of Piran laid out before you, with its distinctive red roofs sparkling next to the clear blue water. This is especially picturesque in the early evening just before sunset.
Postojna Cave. About halfway between Piran and Ljubljana is an area filled with caves. Skopjan and Prostojna are both enormous cave systems that are worth a visit, but we chose Prostojna because it’s in the same town as Prejama Castle and we we were able to combine a visit to both. This would be a great trip for kids (a train takes you deep into the cave, where you disembark and then tour the rest on foot) but as three adults we also had a fascinating time here. It’s certainly the largest cave I’ve ever visited and the interior is absolutely breathtaking. The tour contained a lot of great information and was very well put together.
Predjama Castle. Almost across the street from the entrance to Postojna Cave is Prejama Castle, which takes the cake as my favorite castle ever visited (and I’ve visited a lot of castles). Predjama is a huge fortress that actually backs into the entrance of a cave, and you can see that entrance from within the castle during the tour. There’s a great audio guide that gives you a ton of history on the castle, including a siege throughout which the inhabitants were able to stay alive by receiving supplies from the town through the cave tunnels. This is a must-see in Slovenia. If you are there mid-day, the restaurant near the entrance (Gostilna Požar) is a pretty solid choice, with lots of grilled meats and vegetables on offer.
Lipica Stud Farm. If you have a horse lover in your midst, you should not miss a trip to the Lipica Stud Farm. It’s a beautiful property that’s home to gorgeous Lipizzaner horses, and you can explore it all. There’s a thorough tour of the grounds and barns, a museum on site and a ring at the riding school where you’ll see a dressage show that will take your breath away. It’s a very peaceful place to spend an afternoon and just a short 45 minute drive from Piran, towards Trieste.
