Through a series of unfortunate events, I booked remote working with my friend in Slovenia in July 2022, but then a few months later when we arrived, I ended up not working while he had to still work (don’t ask).
itinerary
- Ljubljana
- Day trip Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle
- Piran
- I scooted over to Italy Trieste and Verona while my friend worked
- Lake Bled
- Ljubljana
I always think 6 a.m. flights are a good idea when I see the price and book- then immediately I think I’ve made a terrible mistake. When I show up at the airport at 230am with goopy eyes and a sour face know I’ve made a terrible mistake. Never again lol she says as she books a 740am flight on Skyscanner.
Schiphol Airport at 230am in October 2022 was looking as rough as I was. Everything was pretty much closed. Except for La Place and one other spot, which wasn’t la place to be. I also think I’m super funny between the hours of 2:30-2:50am, but I’m not. Admittedly, I see that now.
You know when you leave for a trip and you need to clean out your fridge, take out the garbage etc? Non-gross people do this. Everything my friend didn’t have the heart to throw out we brought with us to the airport. Flash forward to me putting salmon on a La Place bought croissant, eating grapes and slices of savings at 2:42am. That time is correct, we arrived 4 hours early as per Schiphol’s shittiness and we zoomed through security with no problems or wait times. Isn’t that always the case?
After a delightful flight with screaming, kicking, snotting infants in the row behind us- the trip was off to a fab start!
Public transport in Slovenia consists of buses and very slow (and unpredictable) trains. We didn’t have a car but you can get by without one- unless you hate buses, in which case, good luck.
From the airport terminal, we walked to where the buses were supposed to be according to a sign (you’ll see it, it’s a parking lot). The original bus we were waiting for (as shown on the bus timetable) didn’t show up, but a different bus did– the driver pulled the ole switchero with the paper sign in the window.
All of a sudden, the bus to Lake Bled was going to Ljubliana. We asked the driver how many stops. He said a lot. Then he mentioned this wasn’t the direct bus to Ljubljanna (I have no idea how to spell it so it may be different each time), but we still paid the full fare of €4.10- he also wanted to charge (jokingly?) an extra €1.30 for luggage, which we didn’t pay. I told him we will put our suitcases on our lap then- he ignored me. Making friends already!
The other somewhat cheap option from the airport to Ljubliana would have been to get a shuttle-type thing. It cost a bit more (an amount you could barter apparently), but for some reason we were set on taking the bus. Don’t ask why.
The bus drive took over an hour.
We arrived at the main Ljubliana bus depot, which is about an 11 min walk into the centre to grab a tea at Cacao. It had free wifi and toilets- fancy schmancy.
When we could finally check in to our accommodation, we caught the bus to the furtherest stop at the border of Ljubliana. At least for the longer buses at the main Ljubljana bus station, the bus timetable was fairly accurate. There is a free bike situation where you pay €1 for 7 days or €3 for a year. The bikes, unlike me, are in really good shape and I was impressed.
There is an app as well. Uber/ride-share service doesn’t exist here so if you are stranded in the middle of nowhere because you and your friend got on the last bus of the evening in the wrong direction then you can use the Platforma app to desperately call for a taxi close to midnight from a street with no street lamps or joy.
Ljubljana is adorable- it’s got all the hits of a good city: castle, river, and coloured buildings. It is quite small though so spending 4 days there in total was a bit much for sightseeing purposes. For remote working though, it was darling.
I did a free walking tour, which was nice but mostly was about one architect and the city’s fascination with dragons, which for 4 hours was not that thrilling (sorry).
slovenian foods to eat and ones to just look at
They sell jota, stews and strook-lee. I got the jota (€6.00), which is heavy on the sourkraut and štruklji pastry curd cheese thing (€4.00). I don’t think my pallet is developed enough to really like the taste of these.
Sells unreal sausage- you can get it with barely soup, plain with dips or vacuum-packed to enjoy later.
Pekarna Planika
Bled crème cake €4.20 at Pekarna Planika bakery in Bled. It tastes like the Dutch dessert called tompouce.
wheels on the bus
It’s a good thing I adore buses so much and never get motion sickness- said Corrine NEVER. My body is all like wooah woah woah you’re slightly swaying, better throw up. Then there just that lil somethin somethin about the way you have to cram in buses, smacking everyone with your backpack with the upmost safety regulations- no seatbelt and in some cases no seat! Non-stop fun. Some bus prices around Slovakia are below:
- €12.30 return trip Ljubljana to Postjona caves by bus- I heard there was a shuttle bus running between the Castle and the caves during peak times but we never took this bus; we bought a tour
- €1.90 train from Ljubljana Vizmarje station to Skofja Loka (day trip). The one-way train was one of the safest train journeys I have ever taken. I walked to this building with a track nearby, which apparently was the station. It felt abandoned. Suddenly, someone walks by and I ask if there is a train. They have to go ask someone. They come back and say yes. The train arrives and I walk to the tracks then have to heave myself up since there is no platform or steps. I felt like Rose getting heaved up on the debris from the Titanic. Too soon?
- €2.80 bus back from Skofja Loka back to Sentvid, Ljubljana (day trip)
- €3.30 bus from Ljubljana to Piran one way
- €3.10 Piran to Koper (Slovenia)
- €4.40 bus from Koper to Trieste (Italy) – buy in the station
- €22.00 Trieste to Verona (Italy) by train 3.5 hours
- €2.10 Ljubljana (Slovenia) to Bled (bought in bus station)
- €6.30 Bled to Ljubljana
skofja loka
An easy half-day trip from Ljubljana- train (see story above) or bus is more reliable. Wander around, it’s super small so you can’t get lost.
castle and caves
I mentioned my friend and I did one tour in Slovenia- there is a way to take a bus to the castle and caves from the main Ljubliana bus station, but it got a bit finicky with the tickets and organising the timing of transport in general (the castle and caves are really close but not really walking distance). You have to pay for parking if you go by car and parking spaces are limited in the summer, apparently. We ended up booking a (pricy) tour, which was good since you get a guide with it and you don’t need to use your noggin. We were also there during off season so not all the tours were running.
Piran is a delight except for that one waitress who thought me ordering 6 glasses of Prosecco in the climate change October 22 degree sun was a bit much. Some people are so judgey.
Lake Bled is also fantastic — another one the gram got right. We walked around the entire lake, ordered a drink sans judgment. They have a bobsled track thing that I did in Switzerland, which was unreal, but it just closed for the summer the week before. We could have stayed longer for hiking around the area.
Slovenia is a goodie. I was there for over 3 weeks and felt I saw the best bits. You could do 5-7 days and see it all by public transport: 2 days Ljubljana, 1 day Piran, 2/3 days Bled area.
