Monday 27th May
Arrived Zagreb Airport and were met by people we were hiring our motorhome and bikes from (a Dethleffs Globebus we nickname Globby). After handover, drove to Lake Jarun via a supermarket. Entry to Lake Complex is 5Kuna, we find a spot to park and go for a walk to explore the lakes, watching lots of fit people rowing
Tuesday 28th May
Cycle to the tram stop, chain the bikes up and catch tram into Zagreb. Spend the day sightseeing and exploring – Dolac market, the cathedral, the Museum for Broken Relationships – resisted adding to the exhibits – unusual place. We like Zagreb. Tkalciceva street for lunch and then Corazon Mio Bar where they make the best Sangrias in the world – hot cherry sangria was very good. Starts to rain late in the afternoon. Overnight Lake Jarun.
Wednesday 29th May
Still raining, pack up and head for the Slovenian border. Cross into Slovenia heading towards Brežice, Slovenia. From there turn right and head north towards Rogatec, then turn towards Ptuj. Stop in Ptuj for lunch at Gostilna Ribic right on the river, great food. Still raining though so river views a bit less than they could be.
Decide to find somewhere nearby to spend the night. Find a site alongside Lake Ptuj which is free to stay at – bit hard to find but when we do finally manage it, we park up next to a large circus tent that is pitched on the tennis courts alongside.
Thursday 30th May
Two nights and a day of nonstop rain seems to have finally cleared.. today in the beautiful Jeruzalem wine region of north Slovenia.. some wine tasting then picnic lunch with views over four countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Austria). Globby performing well keeping us warm and dry! Sunshine and warmer temps forecast from tomorrow onwards. Afternoon walk in the woods around Trnek. See a deer and lots of birds including a pair of woodpeckers.
Friday 31st May
Such lovely people here in Slovenia – camped last night next to a small country pub (Gostilna Trnek) and went in for something to eat last night before realising we didn’t have any cash and they don’t take cards! Whoops! Friendly landlord insisted we eat and drink anyway and said we could come back to pay tomorrow.
A quick detour to a local ATM to get cash to leave for our dinner last night. Bossy Betty (the Google Maps Dominatrix) takes us through some lovely villages with brightly painted houses, hares and huge cranes (storks?) in the fields, to the city of Maribor. The sun came out for us despite Maribor’s slight obsession with umbrellas! Betty is ALWAYS right, as we discovered when we thought she wasn’t, and ended up in a quarry car park! We park in Maribor, and explore by bike.
Still have a bit of time left on our parking ticket when we get back to Globby, so quick bite to eat before continuing towards Vransko. This lovely site is in a region famous for its hops. We thought it was time we stayed somewhere with proper showers, and strike gold here – the site has some of the best amenity blocks we have ever experienced…
Saturday 1st June ·
After a day spent exploring the village, discovering a motorbike museum packed with old European models where Ian was in heaven, we spent the evening with a group of Slovenian motorhomers on the site, watching the Champions League football final, putting the world to rights, and enjoying some home made schnapps (with health-giving properties apparently!) with beautiful, friendly people.
Sunday 2nd June
Head towards Lake Bled, do a bit of supermarket shopping then park on the roadside to walk to the stunning Vintgar Gorge. Beautiful place, wooden walkways all along the gorge, trout swimming in the crystal clear waters. I never want to see another stone step again though!
Head back towards place we were intending to overnight (car park near supermarket that said it was free from 6pm overnight) but local policeman tells us we can’t stay there and escorts us to new site (at the back of the Cash & Carry) where it costs Euro25 per night. Decide not to stay there and drive around Lake Bled to check the place out. Find the station carpark, where there are other motorhomes parked, and decide to give that a try instead. Awaken the next morning to workmen moving in heavy machinery and motorway barriers to barricade us in (we think, but turns out not to be the case)!
Monday 3rd June
Make a speedy exit and head back to supermarket carpark where we pay for couple of hours parking and set off by bike to find local Tobagganing place we’d seen on Travel Man. Finally find it (not very well signposted) with the help of a local man on his bike who sees us looking at a map and offers to take us there himself, and return to bring Motorhome to the carpark there, where we can stay until 7pm. Spend morning tobogganing, then cycle around Lake Bled. Nice place for lunch at Vila Prešeren Bled – still reasonable even with this view and handy to keep an eye on the bikes too. Chat to fishermen around the lake fishing for Carp. Return to our station spot for second night, enjoy some drinks at the Station Bar and chat to some lovely German motorhomers.
Tuesday 4th June
Today we decided to check out public transport, Slovenian style. Took a train from Bohinjski Bistrica to the town of Nova Gorica which has the border with Italy right through the middle. Caught a local bus into the centre then got caught out when we asked which bus to catch back to the station – turns out there are TWO stations, one Italian and one Slovenian! Managed to get back to the right one just as the train was leaving, and they stopped it so we could get on.
Camped at Lake Bohinj campsite overnight .. wondering if the Vogel lift will work with the thunder we can hear approaching. Ian goes off for lone cycle ride around the Lake when the storm passes, while Diane stays in the camper stewing some apricots we bought from a stall by the side of the road.
Wednesday 5th June
A busy day going up and down mountains in cable cars and chair lifts (still patches of snow around), driving along scary mountain roads, lunching on roasted mountain trout, and another stunning gorge walk (I never want to see another stone step – EVER!) up the Tolmin Gorge with at least three million stone steps to climb to get from river level back to the car park!
Camped in the Vipava Valley wine region among the vines near a small town/village called Dornberk.
Thursday 6th June
One of the best things about this country is the people you meet by accident. Stumbled across a lovely winery when out exploring the area on our bikes this morning, and had the best wine tasting – as well as some home cured ham, local cheese, bread, asparagus and cherries – and a tour of the cellars by the very welcoming wine-maker, who also suggested a good place to eat tonight. 2013 Barbero was a wine made for the Gods!
A house in Dornberk that looked totally residential from the front turns out to serve the most delicious local food if you go round into their back garden – would never have found it on our own, but one of our most memorable meals in Slovenia, surrounded the locals, and being guided by our fantastic waiter (the son of the family) on what to eat.
Friday 7th June
So remember I said I never wanted to see another stone step? Well, today we visited the Skocjan Caves and guess what? 500 more of the bloody things – and I swear at least 75% of those were steps up! Not allowed to take any pics in the caves though, which are Unesco listed. The River Reca (which means River River) flows through the cave system – in February of this year they had so much rain it filled 70% of the cave system. The bridge inside is 45metres above the river and the water level was over the bridge.
After the caves (and maybe a medicinal wine or two) we went to see the famous Lippizaner horse breeding stables where they teach the horses to dance, and train them for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. The foals are all born brown or black and turn white as they mature. Beautiful animals.
We then head for the coast and park by the Marina in Izola. Intrigued by the Lasko IPA in the supermarket, the hops for which we passed on our drive to Vransko, Ian decides to give it a try. Made with 100% Slovenski Hemlj it says. Mmmm not bad not much malt character but fresh and fruity, with a touch of new world citrus and floral notes. Sundowner!
Saturday 8th June
Headed to Piran. Parked the camper 2km away and cycled in along the shore on purpose built cycle tracks and roads where bikes have priority over cars and stopped at a seafront cafe for breakfast. So safe, so civilised, so European. Ian has a swim in the sea and we visit the local Salt museum. Leave Piran and are amazed at the traffic heading in the opposite direction to us, coastwards. Find out after it’s a long weekend in Europe.
Head back through countryside to Pivka and stay at the Camping Plana & Bar 66. Run by a lovely German lady, and they serve Bavarian beer in the bar there, so Ian is happy! Early dinner then head to Postojna to meet our guide for a bear watching trip into the forests.
Our guide, the amazingly knowledgeable Tina, takes us to a hide where we spend three hours waiting for a bear to show. He does eventually and it’s the highlight of our trip. We also get a visit from an Edible Dormouse in the hide, and a tiny bat, and see playful fox cubs on our drive back to Postojna
Sunday 10th June
Decide to have another night at this campsite. Ian goes off for a ride on his bike to explore, and luckily doesn/t meet any bears. Otherwise we relax with Kindles, German beer and local wine and cherries.
Monday 10th June
Head towards Ljubljana, park at the (free, including electrical hookup) Park & Ride at Dolgi Most then cycle along the cycle path into the city (about 15 minutes) to explore. Visit the market, and the castle where we pay for the self-audio guide as the other options have already started for the day (we get there around 3pm) – money-saving tip: if you’re a couple, just pay for one and share it between you! Someone really needs to tell them to put the numbers in order – what’s with the constant backtracking? (Oh and more stone steps of course!)
Try really hard to order a glass of the famous Orange Wine but despite stressing to the waiter that’s what I wanted, he still bought me the plain white stuff (which was very nice, but I couldn’t work out why it was called ‘Orange’ until I realised it wasn’t!)
Eddie Izard managed to find umpteen water fountains when he visited Ljubljana – we only found the one, a kangaroo, but an appropriate one, I think! There are some weird and wonderful sculptures dotted around the city…
Tuesday 11th June
Return to the city and take a boat trip along the river, followed by a visit to the Botanic Gardens (a little disappointing, but we’re spoilt with our equivalent here in Adelaide) – interspersed of course with more eating and drinking and a bit of cycling to try and work it off.
Return to the Motorhome and decide we’ve had our fill of the city, so head to Skofja Loka. Find the local Motorhome free parking spot, and head to the Visitor Information Centre to ask for a recommendation for dinner. Explore the beautiful old town on foot and then head to the Gostilna recommended – housed in a stunning old grain store, now housing bank on ground floor, restaurant in basement, and museum upstairs … we only made it to the restaurant though!
Wednesday 12th June
Ian has time for a last minute bike ride around the Loki Trail before breakfast
Clean the camper, bin any left-over food, and return to Dolgi Most to hand Motorhome back. Time for one last cycle ride to a local cafe before we have to return Globby and The Trusty Steeds (hired bicycles). Motorhome owners give us a lift to the airport for our flight to UK. Airport is about 40 minutes from Ljubljana city. Spend the time at the airport finishing off the last of our snacks and drinks, which includes rather a lot of vodka and gin, watched in bemusement by local cab drivers.
Have been so impressed with Slovenia – the people, the scenery, both natural and man-made, the infrastructure.. something for everyone and all contained in a very manageable sized area.
Wining Poms 