How to Enjoy a Month in Slovenia
There is so much to do around Ljubljana, you can easily explore for a month — we did!
First, whether you’re stopping by for a few days or a month or more, check out the four day itinerary in Ljubljana. But stay a while, and really get to know this beautiful city and its surroundings.
Around the city
Turns out, Slovenia was one of the original hotbeds of escape rooms, and it shows, as they still have way more rooms per capita than most countries. We tried several rooms in Enigmarium and had a blast!
Saturday’s Central Market - the regular central market doubles in size with popups from some of the best restaurants in Slovenia. Taste all manner of Slovenian and international foods, as well as wines from dozens of local producers.
Illusions museum — a good time for all, especially if you enjoy puzzles
Ethnographic museum - this massive, but often overlooked museum covers everything from traditional boat woodworking, to Egyptian artifacts, to traditional Slovenian festival outfits
The Dr. France Škerl library has all kinds of board games for use (even for visitors) — including Wingspan!
There are both private and public pools in Ljubljana, though we somehow never made it to one.
Take a carrot or a watermelon rind and go meet some nutria at Spica Park
(In Leonardo di Caprio’s voice) “I’m not a rat!”
Short Trips
Your first major trip away from Ljubljana should be Piran — on a warm sunny day it really is a central European paradise.
Caves: Postojna caves merely scratches the surface for the superficial tourist. Slovenia is rife with cave systems, the most well known being Škočjan Caves (a UNESCO heritage underground) and Križna Cave aka Cross Cave, located on Bloška Polica.
Wine regions
Goriška Brda - having later visited actual Tuscany, we can say that Brda looks more like your image of Tuscany than the real thing. This chill wine region in the northwest of Slovenia has everything you need — gorgeous vistas or rolling green hills with vineyards, historical attractions, tasty wines, delicious foods. Having visited two of the three regions listed here, we can confidently say you should visit this first.
Izola - even more laid back (and in our impression, more dispersed and flat), it also offers some great wines. Given it’s proximity to Piran, we recommend combining them in the same trip. As for specific wineries, we can recommend Korenika & Moskon; they even have a grape and apple juice tasting to the kiddos.
Vipava valley - the most famous of Slovenia’s wine regions, it’s ubiquity in travel guides means it’s rather touristy, something like Napa Valley in California. Of course, its fame is not without reason.
View from Kabaj in Goriška Brda
The town of Idrija offers a different educational experience with a mercury mining museum. An hour’s drive west of Ljubljana, the city at one point had the 2nd largest mercury mine in Europe. Go down hundreds of meters into the shafts of the mine to see past mining techniques demonstrated.
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Get outdoorsy with it
With hiking being an official national pastime, Slovenians are all about the outdoors:
Do more at Bled & Bohinj lakes
Get your adrenaline going at Pustolovski adventure park at the top of the hill overlooking lake Bled
Relax on the many beaches of Bled
Take the cable car up to Vogel and hike to the peak of the mountain
Rent a kayak or SUP on Bohinj and explore this pristine and quiet lake
View from the Vogel cable car
Kayak down the famously aquamarine Soča river through Bovec
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Hike in Triglav National Park — do a day hike to Viševnik peak or a traditional multiday hike to Triglav peak and stay in cabins along the way. If opting for the latter, it is recommended to go with a guide as it is both strenuous and subject to extreme weather swings
View from near Viševnik peak
Hike or bike through Logarska Dolina, a gorgeous alpine valley less than an hour from Ljubljana
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See nearby countries
Venice (easy 2.5 hours drive)
Croatian coast (2 hours drive)
Graz (2 hours drive)
Vienna (4 hours drive or train)
Where to Stay
If you are staying for a month you can expect substantial discounts on many platforms including Booking.com. Negotiating with landlords is often effective, yielding 20% or more off daily rates. You will probably want to stay a little out of center, not only for the cheaper rates, but to get a better feel for local life. Luckily, the buses and taxis are cheap and provide good coverage, and it’s a small city anyway. I would recommend the west side of town under Tivoli park.
Here is a Google map we ended up with, combining tourist attractions around the country with restaurants, bars and cafes in Ljubljana. Most of these we visited and enjoyed, some are strong recommendations that we didn’t get to.
Want to know more? Read our travelog posts.
Have a great time and let us know if you discover other attractions you enjoy!
