This was a trip we had been planning all year, trying to determine the best time and place for it. I mention this because, despite being centrally located in Europe and surrounded by popular destinations, it's not the easiest place to reach.
Ljubljana is the main city and where you fly into; however, it is a fairly small airport, so flights there usually involve connections or odd times. A lot of people take the train or bus, but even trains aren't very prevalent because of the terrain that I guess they haven't built up.
With all that considered, Slovenia might be one of the top all-in-one destinations in Europe. It's a place where you can experience a lot within a single country if you choose to visit just one location. Moreover, because it's somewhat difficult to reach, it isn't as crowded with tourists (although there are still quite a few).
There are lots of day trips and things to do within easy reach if you make your home base Ljubljana. So we started with our top choice, a place that was pinned on my map since I moved to Europe, Lake Bled.
It was just the start of fall so the leaves were just starting to change. It has a great walking path that circles the lake that doesnt take too long to do and there are places to stop along the way. Awesome scenery.
We skipped some of the usual tourist activities, like paddling out to the island with the church, but we enjoyed some delicious food and beer. At least we tried the Bled cake, which was tasty. This made for a simple day trip, but you could easily spend a few days here exploring different attractions. It's likely the most popular tourist spot in Slovenia.
Ljubljana is a nice, small, very scenic city. The old town surrounds the castle with a river running at the base. There was a lot of activity going on outside and a very large park we couldn't make it to.
Increidibly walkable city with a lot of great places to stop on. Also fun fact, the best pizza we have had in all of Europe was here, sourdough crust. Granted we rarely get pizza but this was legit.
This was also like the only trip we got an AirBNB vs a hotel because of cost and the AirBNB was awesome and had a full toy area for Landon. It was awesome being able to head up and make food for him, huge help.
Last day trip we did was to this huge cave that had a train ride inside of it, Postojna Cave.
This was a day I wish we could do over because the walk from the train station was much longer than expected, with hills. The train schedule wasn't very frequent, and not having tickets for the right time slot meant we spent a lot of time waiting just to rush through the caves. However, if you enjoy caves, make sure to visit. (And bring a jacket; it was cold inside.)
Oh yea, the caves had its own ball room. Kinda cool and kinds creepy.
So this was our Slovenia speed run weekend. You can absolutely make it a long weekend since the city is fairly small and just pick one or two day trips, but you can easily spend 1-2 weeks here as well. It does cross with the Alps, so there is skiing, tons of hiking, some nice mountain villages, and waterfalls. Slovenia even opens up to the Adriatic Sea, so there are also some seaside towns to explore.
Nice. Want more Lando/ family pics