Slovenia 

This was recommended to us as a restaurant that stays open year round, not just for tourist season as many in Rovinj do, and is beloved by locals. We took this to mean decent local food. It was so good we ate there two nights in a row.

Aka “the old iron”, this restaurant is located along the south shore of the lake right and easy walk from the main part of town. It serves delicious Slovenian and Mediterranean meals with an emphasis on local trout, John Dory, and other seafood options. They also serve meat and vegetarian options. Have happy hour out […]

Enjoy a delightful lunch while sitting on a deck with unbeatable views of Lake Bled.

This hole-in-the wall place in Old Town Ljubljana offers up traditional Carniolan sausages from Slovenia’s uplands. Evidently the recipe for these sausages (from 1896) is protected and only eleven producers are certified to make them in all of Slovenia. It’s a very limited menu: sausage, soup, or a rolled pastry.

These caves are amazing (and I’ve been to a lot of caves). It’s absolutely enormous, with 3 separate chambers, a massive canyon, and a huge river with waterfalls and rapids far below.You take a guided hike through the caves (approx 2 miles) which winds you up and down about 400 steps so get ready to walk. After […]

The crowning mountain range of Slovenia, the Julian Alps offer scenic views, mountain culture, hikes, WWI sites, and alpine villages. In the center is Mount Triglav, Slovenia’s national symbol and tallest peak. You’ll spend the day driving the 50 hairpin turns of the Vrsic Pass and back along the Soca River Valley. The whole drive takes about 4 hours, but to enjoy it well it will take the entire day.

The Lipica Stud Farm is in a beautiful setting, with even more beautiful horses.

Beginning at the Triple Bridge, the colonnade holds stands of souvenirs, butcher shops, bakeries, and fish galore. Near the end you’ll find a market square, marked on one side by an 18th century cathedral. In the basement of the seminary palace is a market hall with lots of cheese, meats, pastries, nuts, etc. In the middle of the square is a wonderful farmer’s market.

A beautiful walk extremely close to Lake Bled (2.5 miles away), it’s a nice stop on the way to the Julian Alps and a way to stretch your legs before the drive. The walk is along the river Radovna gorge. You walk along boardwalks, which can be slippery, and cross bridges over spectacular waterfalls.

Visit the most recognizable part of Lake Bled, Bled Island in the middle of the Lake.

The only way to get to Lake Bled Castle in the middle of Lake Bled is to take a boat. The best option is to take the traditional wooden flat-bottomed Pletna boats, made by locals and only found on Bled.

Sitting on a cliff overhanging lake Bled, this castle dates from the year 1004, making it the oldest castle in Slovenia. The castle terraces offer amazing panoramic views of the lake, the countryside, and the mountain ranges of the Karavanke and Julian Alps.

Now a hotel and restaurant, prior to WWII this villa situated on Lake Bled was the summer residence of the Yugoslavian royal family. Upstairs of the lobby you can find Tito’s Socialist Realist wall murals, depicting postwar Yugoslavia and an idealized version of communist Yugoslavia. The terrace boasts a restaurant with beautiful views over the […]

These lovely apartments in Ljubljana’s Old Town pedestrian only town were fantastic and could not have been better located. They were an easy walk to every site and had a great view of the river. Each apartment (we were in a big group so rented multiple) was exquisitely clean, spacious, had a full service kitchen, and came with air conditioning.

This delightful bed and breakfast in Rovinj offered clean comfortable rooms with easy parking about 1000 feet from the hotel. Outside was a lovely garden and the breakfast was great.

This was a fantastically located hotel in Lake Bled, easy walking distance to all restaurants and downtown.