If you are a tourist in Slovenia, you will need to know where true Slovenians enjoy going for a perfect holiday. When you know where people from a country go for their vacation, you know the best spots in the country.
There are many destinations to choose from in Slovenia, and Slovenians often enjoy leaving the big cities for a lovely weekend or holiday. Whether you go to the mountains, the countryside, the coast, or the lakes, you will feel like a true Slovenian. They love getting to get some fresh air after a week of work.
Let’s take a look at the different destinations you can choose from to feel like a Slovenian on holiday and discover all the secret spots to visit the country without feeling like the usual tourist.
Slovenians Love Holidays in the Mountains
In Slovenia, there are mountains everywhere, and Slovenians love hiking in those mountains. The highest mountain in the country is the Triglav, in the Triglav National Park. Mountains are so crucial for Slovenians that the Triglav is a national symbol. It even is on the flag and the coat of arms.
There are many natural parks that Slovenians go on holiday to hike, ski, and bike. Besides Mount Triglav, you will find mountains like Grintovec, Krn, Stol, Skuta, and many more.
Slovenians are real mountaineers. They love hiking and climbing. In 1990, the first married couple to hike Mount Everest were Andrej and Marija Štremfelj. They were Slovenians.
If you love hiking, you will enjoy Slovenia. Views from up the mountains are absolutely amazing, and Slovenians love going there for a deep breath of fresh air before going back to the city. There are many mountains huts to go to that are lovely.
If you are not a big hiker, you can still enjoy the Slovenian mountains. For example, you can drive up to Velika Planina, which is a shepherd’s village in the mountains. It is a breathtaking place, especially in the summer when it is not too cold, and cows are out, or in winter when it is snowing.
You can also head to Vršič by car, where you will get an unforgettable view of Slovenia’s mountains. There is also a lovely Russian Chapel to see on the road up the hill. It is the highest mountain pass in Slovenia, and it is worth the climb. Slovenians love going there for a weekend or even just a day, and you will definitely understand why once you are there.
They also love to ski. Davo Karnicar is a Slovene alpinist. He was the first person to make a full ski descent of Mount Everest in 2000.
In Slovenia, there is a big tradition of skiing. You will find places to do ski jump everywhere, even in the Park Tivoli in Ljubljana. Slovenians also enjoy going to the Planica Nordic Center, which is the country’s biggest skiing complex.
Slovenians Always Go Back to the Countryside for the Weekend
Most Slovenians live in the country’s biggest cities like Ljubljana or Maribor, but during the weekend, Slovenians always go back to the countryside to join their families. If you want to spend your holidays like a true Slovenian, head for the countryside.
Even if you do not want to go far from the capital, you can go to the Ljubljana Marshes. There, you will feel like you are far from the city, but you are about 45 minutes from Ljubljana’s center by bike.
In the Ljubljana Marshes, there are many small towns like Brest, Matena, Ig, Podpec, Bevke, etc. You will also find many things to visit because the Ljubljana Marshes, also called Barje, are a natural reserve where men used to live during prehistoric times.
To go deeper into the countryside, you can head to the East or the South of Slovenia, where people usually go less. What is excellent about Slovenia’s countryside is that you will feel in a different world, with immense grasslands, hills, blue rivers, and mountains all around.
Slovenia’s countryside is one of the most beautiful things, and Slovenians love to go there to unwind. You can also take the opportunity to spend your vacation on a tourist farm or a lovely ranch.
Tourist farms are a new trend in Slovenia. Families love to visit them to stay and be close to nature and animals.
If you are not such a fan of animals, there are also many places for camping or to park a camper van. Roadtrips in Slovenia’s countryside is one of the best things you can experience. If you have a car, you can spend your holidays driving from small town to small town and stop wherever you like.
This way, you will see all of the beautiful landscapes and undiscovered places in the country. No matter where you are in Slovenia, there are hundreds of secret places and unforgettable sceneries to experience.
Even Slovenians have to spend days exploring the country because even though it is relatively small, you never get enough of Slovenia.
Slovenians Love the Sun in the Coast
If you prefer the sun, do not worry, Slovenians feel the same. During summer, many of them head to the coast to swim in the Adriatic Sea and enjoy a bit of sunlight. Slovenians leave the cities where it is colder to get to Piran and the sea whenever they can.
The weather is not perfect during winter, so Slovenians love to visit Piran, Koper, Portoroz, and other cities from the coast to take as much sunlight as they can during the hotter months. The water temperature in Summer is, on average, between 68°F (20°C) and 81°F (27,5°F).
In Piran, the most beautiful and picturesque city on the Slovenian coast, you can stay for a while to bathe in the warm sea, see the city from above, and visit the Salt Pans. It is a small city with narrow alleys everywhere, and it is a tourist favorite between June and September.
The Adriatic coast is small, but there a lot of things to do. You can also leave Slovenia, even for one afternoon, to visit Trieste in Italy, or Umag and other cities in the Northern part of Croatia.
Until you have bathed in the sea in the Moon Bay of Strunjan or the jumped from the city of Piran directly into the water, you are not spending your holidays as a true Slovenian would.
Visiting the coast is also the perfect place to taste fish specialties and seafood delicacies from Slovenia. If you are a shell fan, you can also visit the Shell and Snail Museum in Piran, also called the Magical World of Shells, which is one of tourists and Slovenians favorite museums in the country.
Shell and Snail Museum
Address: Tartinijev trg 15, 6330 Piran – Pirano, Slovenia
Slovenians Enjoy Bled and Bohinj for a Nice Weekend
No matter the weather or the season, Slovenians always enjoy a trip to the many lakes in the country. The most visited lakes are Bled and Bohinj, and for a good reason!
With its lovely island in the middle and its impressive castle, Bled Lake is a dream destination. Bohinj is a more natural lake, surrounded by forest and mountains.
After a long and challenging week of work in the capital, Slovenians love going to Bled and Bohinj to relax, enjoy the view, and even swim if the water is not too cold. Between June and August, the water temperature is over 20°C/68°F. However, it is the only time when you can swim in Bled. In winter, the average temperature is 4°C/39.2°F, in autumn, it is 13°C/55.4°F, and in spring, it is 10°C/50°F.
Slovenians also love hiking in Bled and Bohinj. You will easily find all the roads to the viewpoint marked around the lakes. In Bled, for example, you can hike to three different views in less than an hour. These viewpoints are called Mala Osojnica, Velica Osojnica, and Ojstrica.
Bled Tourist Information Center
Address: Cesta svobode 10, 4260 Bled, Slovenia
Phone: +386 4 574 11 22
Bohinj Tourist Information Center
Address: 38, 4265 Bohinjsko jezero, Slovenia
Phone: +386 4 574 75 90
If you visit Bled and Bohinj, you will see two of the most touristic lakes in the country, but you should not stop there. If you enjoy a beautiful lake like all Slovenians do, keep going. There are about 320 lakes in the country to discover.
You will have thousands of incredible things to see from the intermittent lake Cerknica to the emerald green lake Jasna in the Soca Valley. Do not worry. You cannot get tired of the beautiful Slovenian lakes. They are always different with new and exciting things to offer.
Be a True Slovenian on Holidays
Now that you know all the destinations Slovenians enjoy for the holidays, you can leave for your vacation and be sure you have chosen the right one. With Slovenia, you can be sure that every destination is the best destination because the country is full of breathtaking places to visit and discover.
No matter what you do, you will enjoy Slovenia. It is impossible not to like this country. Whether you like snow, sun, hike, relaxation, mountains, or plains, you will love Slovenia. Here, there are things for everyone. The most important thing to do is to choose the right season to travel and be prepared. Live and enjoy Slovenia fully!
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