Best Slovenia Road Trip Itinerary

Years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined taking a vacation in Slovenia. I didn’t know much about this country and it was never on my radar for a visit. But I’m so glad I went there in 2019 as it was one of the best trips I’ve ever had! I want to share what I think is the Best Slovenia Road Trip Itinerary and perhaps convince you to visit this beautiful paradise!

Slovenia is a magical country in the eastern part of Europe. There are mountains, rolling hills, lakes, caves, waterfalls, vibrant cities, and the seaside! I found Slovenia to be clean, much like Switzerland is. The local people are friendly and open to visitors discovering their country and culture. It hasn’t been overrun by tourists yet, so put it on your list to visit before it’s too crowded with tourists!

After deciding to visit this gem of a country, I did my usual research for where to go and what to see. I have to say it was quite challenging to easily find information as there weren’t too many websites that promote Slovenia travel for tourists.

I did find a few websites for organized hiking and biking tours and this helped me a lot to create my own itinerary. You could book one of these tours but the prices were quite high. I decided to copy their itinerary and adapt it slightly. I talk about this sneaky trick in my blog post on ‘Tour Packages – Pros and Cons‘.

We decided to drive to Slovenia instead of flying there and then renting a car. I didn’t find many flights to get us there directly or quickly from Switzerland and the overall cost would have been higher. Having our own car gave us the freedom we needed, such as stopping by Milan, Italy on the way back from our trip. It was a long drive to get there from where we live – approximately 8.5 hours but definitely doable.

After much research, I decided to base ourselves in three different locations over 9 full days to see the best of what Slovenia had to offer. We stayed in the towns of Bled, Ljubljana, and Piran.

For our first destination in Bled, I found a cute basement apartment on the website VRBO.com. If you don’t know this website, it’s a bit like AirBnB and designed for vacation rentals around the world. Our apartment was located just outside of Bled in a town called Ribno. It was a 30-minute walk to the center of Bled and perfect for us if we didn’t want to use the car.

Day 1 – Bled – Vingtar Gorge

After the long drive from Switzerland, we started our first full day discovering the surroundings of Bled. One of the must-dos near Bled is a visit to Vingtar Gorge. The gorge is located 4 kilometers from Bled. We decided to walk there from our apartment in Ribno.

The cool and shady gorge is 1.6 km long and carved by the Radovna River. There is a long trail that winds around the gorge with photo-opportunity bridges and views of the rapids. We walked the full length to see the mighty 13-meter-high Sum river waterfall. You can stop at the small cafe there and have a beer or snack overlooking the falls.

After visiting the gorge, we walked back to town and started a tour of the lake. I had seen photos of a lookout point from a hike above the lake. It wasn’t too hard or long and definitely worth the trek.

We got a bit lost on the way back but finally reached the lake. We walked further and saw a nice place to stop off for a drink. We had a great view of the lake and sipped some local Slovenian prosecco at the Belevedere Cafe.

Day 2 – Bled – Triglav Park – Vogel, Bohinj Lake, Savica Waterfall

For our second day near Bled and to give our sore feet a rest from the 28K steps on day 1, we took off with our car to see a few highlights in the Triglav National Park.

Our first stop was Vogel where we took a 4-minute cable car ride to the top. The cable car took us up 956 meters to an altitude of 1,535 meters. We then took a chair lift to reach the very top at 1,682 meters. We walked around and admired the stunning views of Lake Bohinj and the snow-capped mountain peaks from the top.

Our next stop was Slap Savica or the Savica Waterfall. The word for waterfall in Slovenia is Slap.

Slap Savica Waterfall is the most famous waterfall in Slovenia due to its unique A-shape and emerald pool. You’ll have to climb more than 500 steps to reach the lookout point but it’s worth it.

There is a barrier at the end of the path preventing you from getting too close to the steep drop-off. It’s close enough though to see the bright green pool of water and hear the roar of the waterfall.

We came back along the same road and stopped off at the edge of Lake Bohinj in the small town of Ribčev Laz.

This was a tiny village with an old church and stone bridge. We got lucky and saw the traditional Slovenian Lipizzaner white horses crossing the bridge when we were there!

You could spend a whole day at Bohinj Lake, but we just admired the tranquil views during our quick stop.

Day 3 – Bled – Triglav Park, Tolmin Gorge, Kozjak Waterfall

On our 3rd day in Bled, we had a long day of driving to see the southern and western areas of Triglav National Park. On our list of sites to see were Tolmin Gorge, Soca River, and Kozjak waterfall.

We headed out with our car to drive the main route to the park. The ride itself was beautiful and I was happy there were not many cars or tourists at this time in early June.

Although we didn’t plan it, we stopped briefly at a lovely lake called Most. The water was a gorgeous color of turquoise blue. We saw people on stand-up paddles out on the lake.

We finally reached the entrance of Tolmin Gorge and started our walk into this enchanting area. As we walked along the path, the view kept getting better and better.

Tolmin Gorge is 1000 meters long, between 5 and 10 meters wide, and up to 60 meters deep. The water really is the aquamarine color you see. The round trip took about an hour and the entrance fee was 4 euros. The highlight of the walk was to see the triangular shaped rock they call ‘Bear’s Head’.

After the gorge, we continued our route onto the next waterfall called Kozjak, with a quick stop on the way to admire the Napoleon Bridge over the Soca River.

From the Kozjak parking lot, it only takes 30 minutes on an easy walk to reach the falls. There is not much place to move around once you turn the last corner and see the falls. We had to wait our turn to get up closer on the ledge for photos. It was pretty cool and worth the visit.

This was a big driving day for us but necessary to see the highlights in Triglav Park.

Day 4 – Bled – Bled Island and Castle

After our long driving day on Day 3, we decided to rest and stay local around Bled. It was sunny and hot with temps around 20 celsius. We walked into town and around the peaceful lake.

We decided to take a rowboat ride over to Bled Island. There were tourist boats you could also take but we wanted to experience being alone on a rowboat. The traditional boats from Bled are called Pletna boats and are made by the locals. These brightly colored awning boats can carry up to 18 people and date back to 1590.

For our private rowing boat, we paid 20 Euros for one hour. The ride over to the island only took 10 minutes if you had a good rower like mine.

Once over to the island, we parked our boat and walked up the many steps to reach the church. The most recognizable symbol of Bled Island is the Church of the Mother of God dating back to 745 and renovated in 1465. Its bell tower has a height of 54 meters.

After that fun and active excursion, we continued walking around the lake to reach the small path leading up to Bled Castle. The castle dates back from 1011 and is the oldest castle in Slovenia. There is a terrace restaurant at the top of the castle but it was full and we didn’t have a reservation.

We had fun just walking around the grounds to see the overhead views.

If you time it right, you’ll get to see a gorgeous sunset like we did!

One thing not to miss while in the Bled area is the traditional Cream Cake. It is sold almost everywhere and has been made since 1953. The cake has a golden crispy crust made from butter dough and a vanilla cream layer. It is topped with whipped cream, another crispy layer of butter dough, and a good dusting of icing sugar. We tried it and liked it!

Day 5 – Bled – Biking to Radnova in Triglav Park

We spent our last day in Bled to venture out on rental bikes to see the tranquil scenes and country roads of Triglav Park! We rented e-bikes in Bled and managed to do a total of 42 kilometers.

I really enjoyed this bike ride with lush green surroundings and mountains off in the distance.

I recommend renting an bike and seeing the park from this angle. We rode along the main road but there wasn’t much traffic or noise.

Day 6 – Leaving Bled to Ljubljana

After several days exploring Bled and the surrounding parks, we finally packed up and left our comfy VRBO apartment toward the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana (pronounced ‘Lyoob-Li-Yana’) is a city full of style and sophistication, history, monuments, churches, museums, and great restaurants. 

It was a short 40-minute drive on the autoroute to get to Ljubljana, so on the way, we made a detour to see the Church of St. Primoz, one of the most photographed scenes and churches in Slovenia.

We got as close by car as we could to the church. This spot didn’t seem geared toward tourists as it was quite challenging to reach the remote area. We used our drone to get closer with some nice overhead shots.

Upon arriving in Ljubljana, we got settled into our adorable AirBnB which had a Beer theme! The small apartment was decorated with all kinds of beer paraphernalia including a bed in the shape of a beer barrel. I included this special apartment in my blog post about ‘10 Unique Places to Stay‘.

We then set off on foot to discover this special and lively town. It was a beautiful warm day for walking the streets of Ljubljana. You can walk for a long way beside the Ljubljanica River with scenic bridges.

We came across a unique bridge called Butcher’s Bridge. The bridge is nothing too special but the tons of locks attached to it are definitely worth seeing.

We finished off the day by going up to the roof of a high building in Ljubljana and admiring the view.

Day 7 – Ljubljana – Metelkova and Tivoli Park

We had more to see in Ljubljana the following day, including the funky graffiti-filled Metelkova Art area. The history of this alternative culture center dates back to 1993 when part of the former army barracks was squatted by 200 people supporting an initiative of underground artists and intellectuals.

Today, the Metelkova area is known for culture and art attractions, with concerts, festivals, and clubs. It was completely empty when we visited it during the daytime.

I was fascinated with this spot since I love taking photos of street art. For more info about this unique area in Ljubljana, check out this website.

We then walked to the pretty Tivoli City Park to admire all of the trees and gardens with colorful rose bushes.

I really enjoyed Ljubljana city and was glad we included a couple days here in our itinerary.

Day 8 – Leaving Ljubljana to Piran – Predjama Castle, Postojna Caves

Our last destination on my ‘Best Slovenia Roadtrip Itinerary’ was the southwest coast to experience the Venetian architecture and seaside ambiance of Piran.

On our way to Piran, I had planned to stop off at the unique Predjama Castle, built into the side of a mountain cave. We didn’t take a tour of the castle but just wanted to admire it from the exterior. It is quite amazing to see up close.

Our next stop was the famous Postojna caves. At 24km long, it’s the biggest tourist accessible cave in Europe. We had to first take a train 2km into the cave which was like a Disney World ride and fun in itself!

After that we walked 1.5 km through the huge cave on a guided tour. It was very well organized and quite informative.

We learned about all the stalactites and stalagmites that have formed inside this cave in the last 300,000 years!

After a busy day of sightseeing, we finally arrived to Piran, which is located between Croatia and Italy at the farthest southwest point of Slovenia. There are only 47 kilometers of Slovenia’s coast on the Adriatic Seas and Piran is one of the most picturesque towns along the coast. The buildings are very colorful and the harbor is filled with sailboats and yachts.

We got settled into our new apartment which was perfectly located next to the harbor on the 3rd floor of a historic building. There was no parking available in Piran, so we had to leave our car in a big car park just outside of the town.

I loved the ambiance of this place and the multitude of seafood restaurant choices. Walking around the harbor was peaceful with very few tourists.

Day 9 – Piran

On our only full day in Piran, we chose to first visit more of the central town including a walk to the church at the top of the hill. Tartini Square, completed in 1894, is the Italian-style plaza at the heart of Piran.

Piran is surrounded by olive groves, salt pans, and pebble beaches. We wanted to explore the outskirts so we opted for a 5-hour hike to the Strunjan cliffs and back around via Portoroz. It was a total of 16 kilometers but some good exercise to take in the views of this beautiful area.

It was a beautiful warm day for a long walk and breathtaking views.

I was impressed with the terra cotta colored rooftops and tall cypress trees that reminded me of Italy, Slovenia’s neighbor country.

If you take a trip to Slovenia, I recommend a stop over in Piran. This coastal town has a whole different feel than the other areas of the country.

So this was my ‘Best Slovenia Road Trip Itinerary’! I’m sure there are other areas of this country worth visiting, but I found this itinerary varied and relaxed over the 9 days. If you are looking for more information about Slovenia, I found this website quite useful.

If you are looking for assistance to plan your next trip, I am here for YOU! I love to plan travel itineraries for myself and others. For more details on how I provide this service, please check out my Itinerary Planning page and drop me a quick email at jan@janadventures.com to get started!

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