Green Slovenia
Among the catchy slogans promoting tourism in Slovenia, the one that resonated with me was "Green Slovenia." A country formed after the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, it's set in the heart of Europe at the juncture of the Alps, the Mediterranean, and the Pannonian Basin (which is part of the Hungarian plain); and it is indeed quite green.
Slovenia
I managed to convince my son to spend his last week of summer vacation in Slovenia even though it wasn’t on many “must see” lists. We had heard from friends that Slovenia has labyrinthine caves and castles built into cliff walls, steep river gorges, charming medieval towns, and fishing villages on the Mediterranean where Roman ruins could be found.
The same friends suggested that we base ourselves at the Lipizzaner Lodge in the heart of the country.
The lodge owners, Chris and Hana, were enthusiastic hosts who helped guests find hidden gems in the country. They directed us to different sites each day, saying, "Here are ten things you can see along the way, and you have to stop for lunch or ice cream at this place." They're both fine cooks, as well as trained massage therapists and raconteurs.
Predjama Castle
The lodge was close enough to Predjama Castle that we were able to walk there through a forest one day. The castle had been built right into cliff walls over an extensive network of caves. In many places it was impossible to tell where the limestone cliffs ended and the castle’s walls and ceilings began.
We used an audio guide to explore the castle with few other visitors inside. After the tour we trekked through its underground caves and climbed chutes and ladders on a labyrinthine trail.
Hiking, Wine & Moats
We hiked back to the lodge along country roads with wide-open views of the surrounding mountains. People told us that Slovenia was like Switzerland as it was fifty years ago; more rustic and less developed with fewer tourists and lower costs.
Slovenia
Like Switzerland, Slovenia has several wine-growing regions, and we did a few wine-tasting tours. Most of the vineyards are family-based businesses that don't produce enough wine to export. But we enjoyed the local wine at a restaurant in the charming town of Vipava.
We hitched a ride with our host one day when he set off to explore the Voje Valle, which is an hour's drive from the lodge. Chris drove us around Lake Bled into an adjacent valley to look for the trailhead of the Mostnica Gorge hike.
We hiked through a forest and followed a narrow gorge trail with an emerald river below it. It took two hours to reach a double waterfall, after which the trail led to an open meadow before ending at a mountain wall. We sat in a café and enjoyed the bucolic setting in the late afternoon while soothing our throats with a local beer.
After hiking back down to the car park, Chris took us to the more remote Lake Bohinj in another valley and we found a deserted beach at the end of the lake. The water was still warm enough in early September for a leisurely swim in the lake.
We capped the day with a stop in the town of Radovljica, which has an old Roman wall and moat, as well as a viewpoint where we could see the snowy peaks of the Julian Alps. Mount Triglav—the highest mountain in Slovenia at 2,864 meters (9,400 feet)—towered over them in the twilight.
One morning Chris and Hana arranged a walking tour with a local forester for me and another guest. The guide led us through the forest pointing out animal tracks made by bears and warthogs, and he told stories about the packs of wolves that often passed through the area.
Caves, Horses & Market Day
After the morning walk, I drove to the immense Skocjan Caves twenty minutes from the lodge with my son. It was the most impressive network of caves we had ever seen, with cathedral ceilings, vast chambers, an underground river, and a high footbridge that crossed it.
Around the Caves
Eerily lit with colorful stones and stalagmites at intervals, the caves were more surreal than the better-known Postojna Cave, which has a Disneyesque train that carries thousands of visitors through its chambers each day. With more time one could take a four-hour walk that led even deeper into the underbelly of Skocjan Caves, or hike along the cliffs and into the hills above the caves.
We spent another morning at the Lippizaner horse farm close to the Lodge. The famous Lipizzaner horses were first bred in a nearby town centuries earlier. I’d seen performances of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna as a child and wanted to take in a show while there.
We happened to visit Ljubljana, the tiny capital of Slovenia, on a Saturday when local farmers and crafts vendors set up stalls for a weekly market. It was an apt time to wander the cobbled streets and footbridges over the Ljubljanica River, stopping in craft shops and in cafés to watch passers-by.
The Best of Many & More to Come
Once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Slovenia's cuisine was heavily influenced by its neighbors—which is why one can find Italian pizza and pasta, Austrian schnitzels and strudel, Serbian sausages, and Hungarian goulash in local restaurants.
My son and I decided that the Adriatic coast was worth seeing on our last days in the country. We stayed at the San Simon hotel in Izola, which turned out to be an ideal choice for a quiet seaside room with a balcony over the beach.
Izola has the charm and ambiance of the Cote d'Azur minus the expense and crowds. From the hotel restaurant and surrounding bluffs, we had splendid views of the Mediterranean Sea and snow-capped Italian Alps on the horizon. The Sea was still warm enough to swim in September, and we could walk into town along a promenade that skirts the harbor. Izola was a low-key village without many shops or crowds.
More action could be found in neighboring towns like Piran and Koper, or the Italian city of Trieste. We enjoyed walking around Piran, a pedestrian-only village with ancient city walls and a tower from which we could look down on red-topped roofs and the surrounding sea. Its wall-to-wall houses were built on a narrow peninsula in the 13th and 14th century.
In one week we’d managed to explore only the western half of Green Slovenia with its major caves and mountain walks without having ventured into the rest of country, which clearly warrants a return.