ONE OF EUROPE’S BEST KEPT SECRETS
Slovenia, one of Europe’s best kept secrets, has much to offer experienced travelers in search of new horizons. This compact, green, varied and beautiful country was first to declare independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Approximately the size of New Jersey, Slovenia is bordered by Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Italy.
As I write this, we arrived this week in Slovenia by flying from Vancouver BC to Munich. The next leg of our trip took us from Munich to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital. On the travel app we provide our clients, we received a notification in Vancouver the airline we were flying from Munich, Adria Airlines, had temporarily ceased operations. You may have heard on the news that the oldest tour operator in the world Thomas Cook, collapsed this week. Adria Airline felt the ripple effect. They cancelled many flights due to financial reasons. I was so happy that my office was making all the substitute arrangements for us to get to our final destination while we were in route to Europe. Another reason to use a travel professional.
We ended up flying into Trieste, Italy and took a 75 minute transfer to Ljubljana. The next day we set out it explore this beautiful city.
It’s charming. The city is so small you can easily get around on foot, bicycle or public transportation. We rode the funicular to the top of Ljubljana’a castle for panoramic views of the city. We stayed in Old Town along the banks of the Ljubljana river. My favorite was the boat ride along the river.
Day two we visited the Predjama Castle, a one of a kind castle built into a cave; the medieval town of Ptuj is a well preserved village with a bell tower that will remind you of St. Marks Square in Venice.
Day three we visited Lake Bled, Solvenia’s most beautiful Alpine Lake. We caught a boat called a pletna and took in the views of the castle, high above the lake. (Photo above).
Slovenia is known for it’s award winning wines, making our fabulous dinners even better. There are over 20,000 wineries in Slovenia. It will seem as though you are in Tuscany!
Next stop: Croatia, where we experience our 38 passenger yacht around the Croatian Islands.
Next Month: Common Travel Problems