The Weekender | Slovenia Edition

I’ve wanted to visit Slovenia for a while now. Pictures of lush greenscapes, medieval castles, and a sense of serenity often filled my Instagram feed. While visiting my family in Serbia over the Easter holiday, we decided to take a spontaneous three-day trip to Ljubljana — just a 1.5-hour flight away with Air Serbia.

It was spring weather filled with rainy days, a cool breese and pockets of sunshine; exactly what I was missing. Our trip can be summarised as an energising active break as I made sure we visited as many places as possible from Ljubljana, to the famous Lake Bled, a cave castle and of course, the world famous Postojna Cave known as the home of baby dragons.

Did you know that Slovenia is the only country in the world that has the word "love" in its name? Read more and I hope you fall in love as much as I did!

***

STAY

We stayed at the Hotel Slon which is located in the city centre just steps away from the old town. It was important for us to be able to walk around as much as possible and not to depend on transportation as we explored Ljubljana.

The hotel is very modern, the rooms are spacious, the bed extremely comfy and the hotel breakfast was splendid. The hotel also has a charming cafe serving delicious treats!

EXPERIENCE

I'll break this down per destination so its easy to read, starting with the capital city, Ljubljana - which means "loved one". Ljubljana is also know as the "city of dragons", thanks to the legend which says that Jason and the Argonauts slayed the guardian dragon. We'l come back to dragons a bit later.

Similar to most ancient European cities, you will find a contrast between the old and the new. I always find the historic places so interesting, and this one felt like I was in Game of Thrones.

Some unmissable sights to visit include:

Presernov Trg | one of the main squares in Ljubljana leading to the medieval town. It's filled with cafes and is a great central meeting spot!

Old Town & Mestni Trg | the centre of medieval Ljubjlana and one of the most charming places in the city. Filled with picturesque architecture, historic gems, cafes, boutiques and so much more! Don't miss the Robbov Vodnjak, an enchanting fountain located in medieval Ljublana called "Fountain of the Three Carniolan Rivers"

Central Market | traditionally a meeting place for the local community, this delightful open air market has just about anything you can imagine and is a perfect place to purchase local crafts and souvenirs.

Mesarski Most | The Butchers' Bridge - filled with grotesque yet intriguing sculptures. The bridge gets its name from a nearby butchery market however today it attracts lovers.

Dragon Bridge | beautifully blends art nouveau elegance with mythical legend, standing as a symbol of the city’s rich history and creative spirit

Ljubjlana Castle | Almost 900 years old, this majestic castle sits on the hill and overlooks the capitaly city and beyond. We took a funicular for a more scenic experience however you can also take the car or hike. While the castle doesn't have too many areas to walk around, it does have an interesting gallery and of course, incredible views.

Tivoli Park | one of the most beautiful parks, filled with a variety of greenery and the perfect place to relax and recharge.

***

Moving on to the daytrips, the first was to Postojnska Jama (Postojna Cave) - the largest cave in the world, and Predjama Castle, the largest cave castle.

Did you know: Slovenia has over 10,000 caves?

Postojnska Jama is just under 25km long - one of the largest in the world. Our tour started off with a thrilling 3.5km long train ride through the various bends and curves of the cave. Once we reached our destination, we were able to explore the wonders mostly thousands of incredible stalagmites, unlike any I've seen before.

It was cold and slippery, the perfect thriving atmosphere for the stalagmites; some of which are hundreds of years old. Just before the end of the tour, we were able to admire the famous "human fish" upclose through an aquarium, only appreciating their beauty even more.

Legend says that centurties ago, strong floods flushed these creatures out of the castles into the nearby villages leading local residents to believe that these creatures were baby dragons given their similar appearance.

We couldn't take any photos as they are extremely sensitive to light given their blindness so please read more about them here.

***

Predjama Castle is truly a marvel, standing strong for over 800 years against the 123-metre high cliff. This great attraction is located just 20 minutes away from the Postojna Cave, complementing the day trip.

We really enjoyed exploring the medieval stories and ways of life and were fascinated as to how it was even built all those years ago!

***

To end on the sweetest note and a conclusion to our visit to Slovenia, was our daytrip to Bled.

The enchanting lake town has been a hotspot for royals, the elite, movie stars and pretty much everyone for centuries. Surrounded by kilometres of walkways and enveloped by bountiful forests, it is easy to understand the lure and charms of this postcard-perfect town.

Due to the windy weather, we were unable to experience Lake Bled by boat however it gave us the opportunity to explore more of the medieval town and enjoy some local delights!

***

TASTE

Located along the Alps, Slovenian cuisine features a lot of wild, fresh produce. Though a lot of the dishes are heavily based on meat and cold cuts such as the famous Carnolian sausage; most dishes are carb based, featuring ingredients like buckwheat, potatoes or wheat.

This website gives a lovely summary of true Slovenian cuisine and delicasies as I'll be honest and say that we didn't expore gastronomy much on this trip. We did try some traditional dishes mainly stew based as it was cold and rainy when we visited. My parents also enjoyed the prekmuska gibanica and kremšnita (both desserts) as they were reminiscient of their childhood memories.

GETTING AROUND

Like any major European city, Ljubljana is a highly walkable city. If you choose to stay downtown, most of the key sights are within short walking distance (my 60+ year old parents can confirm this). Other forms of transportation are pretty standard: rental cars, taxis, buses etc and for our daytrips, we booked them via travel agents who picked us up.

In summary: enjoy the nature, walk as much as possible and forget about that fitness tracker! :)

***

Until next time, Nasvidenje!

xo,

Marina

Disclaimer: All views are my own and all photographs are © My Sweet Escapes, unless otherwise stated. Prices reflect the exchange rate at the time of publishing this post.