88
0
A week of travelling in Slovenia – no masks, no entry
Slovenia, a country with beautiful mountainous terrain and crystal blue water, was our pick for our first trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We travelled there during the last week of July by car and stayed in apartments which we had to ourselves (tips below)! It was super strange to be travelling during a pandemic, even though it was 4 months since the start of it in Europe.
Masks were compulsory in all indoor spaces including public transport. Only outdoor seating areas of restaurants were open, which we didn’t mind at all in the 30 degree weather that we had all week. Signs “no masks, no entry” were everywhere! What a year this has been!
This guide will give you a step by step break down of what we did over our 7 days in this picturesque location. This is a bit different from our previous posts, which are more catered to you, while still following the route that we took personally. I will be adding extra things that we didn’t manage but I recommend doing, at the end of this post (along with restuarant tips, typical food and accommodation tips, so keep reading!).
A week is definitely the minimum to see the sights in Slovenia and to get the feel for the country, but you could definitely spend 2 or even 3 weeks travelling in Slovenia!
Day 1 – Travelling in Slovenia begins
We arrived by car via Austria. Our first proper Slovenian city since we entered the borders was Krajnská Gora, unfortunately we did not sleep there since we had a packed schedule for the 6 nights that we would be travelling in Slovenia.
We drove down from Krajská Gora down to Bovec along a windy mountain. This picturesque road is a must see, the stops along the road are easy hop on / hop off stops as well. Our first stop was the Zelenci Nature Reserve, its a picturesque small lake which had the bluest water (due to the sandstone deposits at the bottom). Then we drove on further with a stop at Jezero Jasna (a nice cheap option for paddleboarding – much cheaper than in Bled, stopped at the Russian Chapel, and reached the Vrsic Pass. Here, we enjoyed the amazing views all around and the friendly sheep who were nearby. Further down near Bovec, you will find the Small Soca Gorge (see map at the end of our post for the exact location). Then we reached Bovec, passed by the Boca Waterfall and got to our accommodation
Day 2
The day began with a serpentine drive getting up to the Mangart view point. It’s on the North – Western tip of Slovenia, there’s quite a drive up the mountain-side to get up to the viewpoint. There’s a total of 4-5 tunnels and parks of the road where only one car can go at one time, but the view above is completely worth it. On one side you see the peaks of the Slovenian mountains, and then if you take a short hike a little higher from the parking point, you reach a view point where you can see into Italy and the Italian Alps as Mangart is right on the border between the cities.
Then, after a quick lunch, we headed back to Bovec where we had booked a rafting trip! This was one of our favourite experiences from the entire trip. Rafting on the crystal blue waters of the Soca with the mountains in the background was amazing. It comes highly recommended. We ended the day with a stop at the Virje Waterfall (Slap Virje).
Day 3 – Beach day!
We started the same way as we ended the previous day, at a waterfall. The Kozjak Waterfall to be exact. This is a waterfall inside a cave, where some groups even go canyoning (we actually saw a group when we were there). It costed 5 euros to go see it but it really was quite impressive (on the other hand Slap Virje and Slap Boca – the other waterfalls are free, so it really depends on your preference).
Thereafter, we drove to the south of Slovenia towards Piran to get to the short stretch of Slovenian seaside. On the way, we stopped for an amazing lunch (restuarant recommendations below), and reached Moon Bay around 5PM. A quick dip in the Adriatic sea and we were on our way to the city of Piran for a romantic sunset harbour-side walk and a sea food dinner.
We then had to drive back over 2 hours to get to our accommodation near Triglav National Park, this was because of our limited time in the country. If you go there for longer, definitely find accommodation in Piran and stay there one day or three, and enjoy this beautiful seaside city.
Day 4 – Ljubljana
Rain clouds brought doubt to our hiking plan, thereby we decided to go to Ljubljana to look around. The capital city of Slovenia was a drive toward the East of the country. Here we found the best Burek we’ve ever had in our entire life, saw the very unique Triple Bridge, the Ljubljana castle, Dragon Bridge and hid in a park due to the burning sun. The city had an interesting area full of graffiti and art, this artsy area is along Metelkova Street as well.
The late afternoon hours were spent grilling fish at our accommodation. We would highly recommend this when travelling in Slovenia since fish is fresh and affordable, and it can also cut down costs to cook in your accommodation if you have an option.
Day 5 – hike till you drop
Finally. Hiking day! The inital plan was to hike up to the Seven Lakes Valley in Triglav National Park from Bohinjské Jezero, but since it rained the day before, we hiked up from Planina Blato. This was a great choice in the end because the hike from Planina Blato is less steep and shorter. It look us almost 5 hours to get to the top, so it would have taken atleast 7 hours if we climbed up almost 1000 meters from Bohinjské Jezero.
The first stop on the hike was at Jezero na Planini při Jezero, 45 minutes later we were at a small cute valley with a lot of old farm houses, a few midway stops, amazing views and almost 3 hours later, we got to the top of Seven Lakes Valley. The hike down took significantly less time, but it was an event for the whole day.
Day 6 – coming close to the end of our travels
This was a day for relaxing, we spent the morning near lake Bled. Firstly, we hiked up to the Ojstrica view point (this is the easiest viewpoint to get to, with the best view! So follow the signs that say Ojstrica. Renting a paddleboard was a must-do for us at Bled, it costed 10 euros for one hour, there is a rental point on the southern side of the lake (pin in map).
After an amazing pizza lunch nearby, we headed to Bohinjské Jezero for more swimming and relaxing our tired muscles after the previous days’ hiking adventures.
Day 7 – we don’t want to leave!
Did you know that the cable car that goes halfway up to Velika Planina is the longest cable car in Europe without support beams? The ride takes around 5 minutes to ascend a height of around 250m. We continued with a ski lift up which took around 25 minutes going slowly up the mountain side. The entire ride, both parts, costs 17 euros. It is possible to hike up as well, however since we had a long drive back to Prague planned for the afternoon, we look the cable car plus ski lift up.
Velika Planina or the Big Pasture Plateau is a large area surrounded by mountains all around. There are many herders’ dwellings that sell typical Slovenian mountain food, like cheese and herder food. This plateau comprises several settlement areas including the aforementioned Velika Planina and the Mala Planina (little pasture). This was the perfect last stop in our amazing 7 day trip travelling in Slovenia.
Things to see if you are travelling for longer in Slovenia
- Tolmin Gorge
- Solčava Panoramic Road
- Škocjan Caves
- Predjama Castle
- Vintgar Gorge
Where to eat
Where to sleep
You can easily find some places on booking.com, airbnb.com or any similar portal. We stayed at 3 great apartments which we found on Booking.com.