Slovenia is home to incredibly diverse landscapes including tall peaks, lush forests, rocky underground caves, and a lovely coast. It is also one of the most accessible and friendly European countries we’ve visited. We spent a week in September in and around the capital of Ljubljana and hiking in the Julian Alps. Here we offer up our itinerary as an example of how you might structure your own first visit to Slovenia.
Trip Overview & Tips
This trip begins in the capital city of Ljubljana and ends in the mountains near Lake Bohinj. Renting a car is essential.
- Ljubljana Area | Days 1-2
- Lake Bohinj Area | Days 3-7
Driving on Slovenian Motorways
To drive on Slovenian motorways and expressways, you need a vignette linked to your license plate before you start driving. We found it easiest to purchase a digital vignette online via the official DARS website. We were able to purchase a 7-day vignette online within minutes for around €16.
Slovenia Trip Map
Below is a map of our trip including points of interest, activities, and restaurants. Toggle the sidebar for details.
Day 1 | Ljubljana
The first day in Slovenia is best spent exploring the capital city of Ljubljana. Here you can learn about medieval history, walk nearly everywhere you want to visit, and savor delicious, local cuisine.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at an Airbnb on Castle Hill high above downtown Ljubljana. This location was fantastic because it was private and quiet, yet just a short walk to attractions like the castle and Old Town.
Visit Ljubljana Castle
Ljubljana Castle is perhaps the most recognizable landmark in the city. Sitting prominently on top of a hill east of Old Town, the site was originally a medieval fortress dating back to the 11th Century. Due to a subsequent major earthquake it was largely rebuilt in the 16th Century.
It is free to enter and explore the grounds, but we highly recommend paying the entry fee to access restricted areas. We really enjoyed the views of the city and river from the top of the watchtower. The Chapel of St George is beautiful to see, covered in frescoes, while exhibits on Slovenian history and the interactive exhibits in the Puppet Theatre helped round out our morning. We spent about two hours exploring the castle grounds and exhibits.
Need to Know
- Tickets: Tickets are available to purchase on the castle’s website or, as we did, you can walk up to the ticket booth and purchase them on site. There are many ticket options, but we chose the basic entry ticket with audio guide.
- Hours: Hours vary by season, so be sure to check current opening times on their website
- Directions: There are many options for getting to the top of the hill where the castle is located, but the two most popular are to walk up the footpath, or take the funicular. The castle’s website has a lot of good information to help you choose the best option.
City Walking Tour
A great way to gain an understanding of Ljubljana and Slovenia’s rich history is to join a walking tour. We spent an afternoon as part of a guided walking, food, and boat tour. Our guide was an enthusiastic local who taught us a lot of history and answered all of our group’s many questions about Slovenia.
We visited the Baroque old town, Art-Nouveau new town, Town Hall, and the famous Dragon Bridge. We stopped at the local fish market and at a farmers market, sampling local cheese, bread, and sweets. The tour was capped off with a cruise down the Ljubljanica River.
While we enjoyed our tour and learned a lot, we would not recommend this particular tour. We felt it was trying to do too much and in hindsight would have just joined a simple city walking tour, then taken a boat cruise on our own time.
Check Out the Local Brewing Scene
Ljubljana is home to some great breweries worth checking out. We really enjoyed visiting Union Brewery Pub, home to Pivovarna Union, one of Slovenia’s largest breweries. We also visited Tektonik and had a delicious pint of their beer onsite.
Both of these breweries are fairly close to Tivoli Park, the largest park in Ljubljana. Here there are walking paths, art galleries, and cafes. Unfortunately we didn’t visit as it was raining when we were in town, but this looks like a great place to pop into for some time in a beautiful green space.
Dinner in Old Town
Old Town is home to many affordable, high-quality restaurants. We chose to dine at Julija, known for their delicious traditional Slovenian cuisine. We had an amazing dining experience in terms of the food and our waiter who made very helpful suggestions. We ate octopus salad, beef filet with cheese dumplings, local pasta with mushrooms, all coupled with a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from Slovenia. A slice of pistachio cheesecake ended our evening. Reservations are highly recommended.
Day 2 | Škocjan Caves & Predjama Castle
Škocjan Caves
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Škocjan Caves are located about an hour outside of Ljubljana and can be visited by guided tour. Carved from the Reka River, this is one of the most impressive cave systems we’ve ever visited. A true gem.
Before a guided tour, we highly recommend making the short walk along the nature trail from the visitor center out to the overlook. Here you can see the river above the surface of the limestone and part of the trail network you may traverse later in the day.
After walking to the cave entrance, our guided tour began and lasted about one hour. As part of the tour we covered about 1.25 miles and felt like we were almost going too fast to absorb the beauty and wonder inside the caves. The initial path goes through the “Silent Cave” which is dry and home to countless stalactite formations and folds. The Great Hall, a cavernous room hundreds of feet tall, was breathtaking. The last part of the tour goes through the “Murmuring Cave” where the Reka River rushes through the cavern and a gorge that is almost 300-feet tall…inside! No pictures were allowed to be taken inside the cave, but they would not have done it justice anyway.
After the guided tour concludes, there are several options for returning to the entrance. These range from a 15-minute walk to a 1.5-hour hike. We highly recommend the longest option which will take you through more caves, past waterfalls, bridges, and walkways. This only took us 45-minutes to complete, but note the last portion to the visitor center involves a steep uphill with lots of stairs.
Need to Know
- Tours: Tickets for tours routinely sell out, so booking in advance on the Škocjan Caves website is highly recommended.
- Hours: Hours and tour availability change seasonally, so it is best to check the website for current opening hours.
- Directions: The caves are just an hour drive outside of Ljubljana. There is a large, free parking area outside the cave’s visitor center.
Predjama Castle
Predjama Castle is a Renaissance castle built within a cave mouth. The castle has perched in the middle of a 400-foot-tall cliff for the past 800 years. This is definitely the most unique castle we ever visited and the surrounding countryside is incredibly idyllic.
You can take a self-guided tour of the castle in about an hour with the free audio guide (via a phone app) included in your ticket.
Following the audio guide we visited areas in the castle such as the bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, and chapel. We also saw the darker side of life in the castle including a dungeon torture chamber, attic armory, and some of the cave and secret tunnels located behind the castle.
A steep climb up a very narrow stone staircase led to a view high above the valley, and is highly recommended.
Need to Know
- Tickets: It is recommended to purchase tickets in advance on the Predjama Castle website. When we purchased our tickets they were valid for a whole day, not a specific time slot.
- Hours: Hours vary seasonally so be sure to check the castle’s website for current opening times.
- Directions: The Predjama Castle is about a 40-minute drive from the Škocjan Caves and 1 hour from Ljubljana. There is a medium-sized, paid parking lot at the castle. When we visited it was €3 per hour, payable at the automated kiosk in the parking lot, before exiting.
- Pro tip!: Bring your own phone and headphones to avoid the €2.90 charge to rent an audioguide on site.
- Note: Many people elect to combine a visit to the castle with one to the nearby Postojna Cave (a shuttle runs between the two). Based on our research, we skipped the Postojna Cave as the Škocjan Caves looked more spectacular and less crowded, and we were happy with our choice.
Days 3-7 | Hike in the Julian Alps
The Julian Alps are a mountain range that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia. On clear days, hikers are confronted with a wall of stunning, rugged mountains, many of which fall inside Triglav National Park. Mount Triglav, Slovenia’s highest peak (9,396 feet) is such an important national symbol it is featured on Slovenia’s coat of arms. Read about our favorite experiences on trail in Slovenia, here.
