This is the story of our two-week visit to Slovenia. I had heard good things about that country from a couple of friends who had visited, so it has been on my long list of Places To See Someday. It turned out to be a welcoming country, with friendly people, beautiful scenery and not too expensive. Our trip was a success! The hiking in the Julian Alps was tougher than I expected. Perhaps I had too much gear in my pack. The sections of the trail where we had to clamber over rocks really slowed me down. I am not the most sure-footed of hikers, so when the trails took us through boulder fields, it took a long time to cover any distance. However, the Julian Alps also yielded some of the most dramatic scenery in Slovenia, so it is definitely worth including some mountain hiking if you visit the country. Don't skip the Postojna Cave and Škocjan Cave - those are quite impressive. Also, Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj live up to their international reknown. I also liked Kozjak Waterfall. The Mt. Vogel Cable Car was certainly worth doing. Visit at least on of the famous gorges: Vintgar, Tolmin or Mostnice.
We traveled in July to ensure that there would be no snow on the trails in the Julian Alps. This is peak tourist season, so we purchased our admission tickets for the gorges and caves about a week before our arrival, and that proved to be a sound strategy because some of attractions sold out (especially the cave tours).
I planned this trip on our own, rather than going on a guided tour. For the first week of our tour, I looked at the existing Slovenia plans from
Mac's self guided adventure tours of the High Trails of the Julian Alps. I felt their tour plans could be improved a little bit. I combined their Day 3 and Day 4 into one long day, hiking from Dom Planika hut to Koča pod Bogatinom, rather than stopping at Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih hut. When we descended from the mountains to Lake Bohinj,
I opted for us to hike along the north shore to reach Ribčev Laz. I knew that we would be walking along the south shore to reach the Mt. Vogel Cable Car, so this plan gave us the maximum number of different viewpoints over Lake Bohinj. Plot of our 4 day Julian Alps trek 58 Km and +2603m
We spent three nights at Ribčev Laz. This gave us time to do the Mt. Vogel Cable Car on one day, and then hike to Mostnice Gorge and Voje Waterfall the next day. We then took the public bus back to Ljubljana to retrieve our stored luggage. Another bus ride took us to the Ljubljana airport where we picked up the rental car and began the second half of our Slovenia visit.
This is our driving route for the second week. 8 hr, 505 KM total driving
I think this plan worked out rather well. Everyone seemed to enjoy their visit. Slovenia is a safe, warm, welcoming country. Even though Slovenia is not that big, there is enough to see to merit a two-week stay, you might miss a lot of highlights if you just stop in to visit the capital and Lake Bled and then hurry on to Croatia or Italy.
Sunday July 13Take off from Seattle. 2:20 PM |
Monday July 14Land at 8:55 AM in Frankfurt Takes off at 12:10 PM
Land in Ljubljana. 1:20 PM Take bus into downtown bus station Stay at Railway Ljubljana ROOMS $432 for 2 nights Three twin rooms with shared bath, shared kitchen. |
Tuesday July 15UNESCO World heritage capital sites
Three twin rooms with shared bath, shared kitchen. |
Wednesday July 16Leave luggage at Ljubljana. Take a 1 hr bus ride €6 each Explore Lake Bled - take a hike around Lake Bled 8.7 miles, 5 1/2 hrs, +2421 feet elevation Vintgar Gorge
Stay at Vila Alice Bled $607/night Three double rooms. |
Thursday July 17Trek Day 1 Transfer on free bus green line 3/4 hr, to Pokljuka Hike 8.5 miles, +2106' / -2346' to Hotel Pokljuka Stay at Hotel Pokljuka $366 / night Triple room + Double room. Includes breakfast. |
Friday July 18Trek Day 2 Hike 6.6 miles, +4124' / -695' to Planika Hut Stay in Dom Planika $358 / night 5 person dorm. Dinner + Breakfast included. No showers. Must bring sleep sack, no sleeping bags. |
Saturday July 19Trek Day 3 Hike 11 miles, +1516' / -4373' to Koca pod Bogatinom Stay in Koca pod Bogatinom $358 / night 5 person dorm. Dinner + Breakfast + lunch included. Showers (€5 token) unless water runs out. Must bring sleep sack, no sleeping bags. |
Sunday July 20Trek Day 4 Hike to Savica waterfall and then north shore of lake to Ribčev Laz 10.2 miles, +475' / -3655' Stay in Ribčev Laz at Bohinj Lake home. $1336 for 3 nights Three bedroom house, 3 twin beds + 1 double bed. Full kitchen. |
Monday July 21Trek Day 5 Hike 5.5 Km to base of the cable car along Bohinj Lake Shore Ride Mt Vogel cable car for €30 each, Mt. Vogel Cable Car and Mt. Vogel hike Hike 2.85 flat miles along Bohinj Lake Shore back to rooms. Stay in Ribčev Laz at Bohinj Lake home. $1336 for 3 nights Three bedroom house, 3 twin beds + 1 double bed. Full kitchen. |
Tuesday July 22Trek Day 6 Hike to Mostnica Gorge, and Voje Waterfall 9.6 miles, +1158' Stay in Ribčev Laz at Bohinj Lake home. $1336 for 3 nights Three bedroom house, 3 twin beds + 1 double bed. Full kitchen. |
Wednesday July 23Bus Transfer back to Ljubljana Retrieve luggage from Ljubljana Pickup rental car at Ljubljana Airport. Drive 1 1/2 hr, 90 KM to Tolmin Tolmin Gorges 2 KM, 1.5 hr. Must buy tickets in advance
Stay in Tolmin at Pri Mlinarju $381 for 2 nights 2 bedroom apartment. 2 twin beds, 1 queen bed, 1 full bed. Full kitchen. |
Thursday July 24Soca Valley and Soca River
Boka Waterfall
Kozjak Waterfall
Great Soca Gorge
Stay in Tolmin at Pri Mlinarju $381 for 2 nights 2 bedroom apartment. 2 twin beds, 1 queen bed, 1 full bed. Full kitchen. |
Friday July 25Drive 1 hr 30 min to Postojna Cave Visit Piran on Mediterrean coast
Stay in Piran at Apartments Mirjana $428 Two studio apartments, each w/ 1 queen, 1 full bed. Full kitchen. |
Saturday July 26Morning in Piran Drive 45 min, 50 KM to Škocjan Caves Take 2 to 3 hr tour Škocjan Caves UNESCO site. Starting at 2 PM Drive 1 hr 15 min to Kranj (2 miles from airport) Stay in Cerklje na Gorenjskem (5 min from airport) Rooms & Apartments Jana $216 Two double rooms w/ 2 twin beds + one single room. |
Sunday July 27Drive 2.5 miles to airport. Return rental car Take off from Ljubljana at 9:35 AM 5 1/4 hr layover in Munich Land in Seattle at 5 PM |
Monday July 28 |
Tuesday July 29 |
Wednesday July 30 |
Thursday July 31 |
Friday August 1 |
Saturday August 2 |
