We LOVED our trip to Slovenia – an easy destination with something for everyone. Read on to find out where you should eat, sleep and how best to see this stunning country in a few days.
Slovenia – How to get there
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia with easy flights from London, Warsaw, some German destinations, Austria and Dubai!
The flydubai flight (terminal 3 same as Emirates) takes around 5 hours and timings are sensible. You leave mid morning and return on an evening flight.
Gold and Silver card holders can access the Emirates Lounge when taking a flydubai flight from Terminal 3.
No visas required for British passports. The airport is small and beautiful so you get to see the mountains in front of you while waiting for your luggage. No long walks or queues either.
Where to stay in Slovenia – Ljubljana is the capital city
You should definitely stay within easy walking distance of the Old Town of Ljubljana, about 30 minutes easy taxi ride from the airport.
We chose and recommend the InterContinental hotel in Ljubljana (pronounced Lubiyana)
Why choose the InterContinental Ljubljana
It’s an easy 10 minute walk to the Old Town so location is perfect.
Spacious modern rooms with lovely views and fantastic bathrooms featuring Byredo products. High thread count linen too.
It’s an easy 7 minute walk to lovely museums, the Tivoli park and a very cool department store – Maxi Market. That’s a bit like Selfridges food hall in London, check out their basement for food and drink to bring home with you when you leave.
The hotel has an excellent spa with a pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi as well as a well equipped gym.
These facilities are brilliantly located on an upper floor of the hotel with floor to ceiling views of the city.
Even if you’re only in Slovenia for a few days, it’s lovely to either start your day or early evening with a session in their spa.
The hotel breakfasts are excellent. Expect fresh, high quality, often local produce that covers pretty much everything you’d expect at breakfast time.
We LOVED our breakfasts here. Service is efficient and super friendly, plus there is both an inside and outside terrace area. Felt a bit like I was eating in California at times! Sorry not many pictures of food as I was mainly eating it!
If you’re doing some tours outside of Ljubljana and we recommend you do; then the InterContinental is a great place to be picked up and dropped off as ALL of the old town is pedestrianized.
There are little shuttle carts if you need them to get around the old town, super useful for those who cannot walk too much. Best of all the service is totally free but a little tip goes a long way!
Useful emails for the InterContinental Ljubljana
General Information mail is ljuha.info@ihg.com
Concierge service mai is ljuha.concierge@ihg.com
Room reservations mail is ljubljana.reservations@ihg.com
What to see in Slovenia and which tour company to choose
Despite our trip just being 4 nights long, we managed to see SO MUCH of Slovenia but that was mainly due to the excellent tour company we chose. They pretty much did everything for us. It was so easy.
We chose Slovenia Explorer company for all our experiences and were happy throughout. I would definitely use them again.
Their email for any enquiries is info@slovenia-explorer.com and ask to speak to Urska or Gregor.
Please say you heard about them from Monica at DoinDubai. Thank you.
We highly recommend a good walking tour of Ljubljana especially if you’re interested in the history and architecture of the town.
Your guides will be very happy to answer any questions you may have along the way. This tour is about 2 hours long, it’s best to do in the morning as early as possible especially if you’re going during the summer as it won’t be too hot!
We loved our guide Nina who took us to the Alpine villages and major lakes about an hour and half drive from Ljubljana.
What to see outside Ljubljana
That depends on your interests and how much time you have plus how active you’re feeling! Slovenia is a country for active people!
We loved our day trip to Lake Bohinj and the Alpine villages, Lake Bled Castle for lunch and a walk then ending with a gorgeous trail through the Vintgar gorge.
Lake Bled and the castle shown in the first picture on this post.
The Vintgar Gorge is an easy, super scenic 45 minute or so walk through waterfalls and forest.
We also did a much longer trip to Piran, the coastal part of Slovenia after a visit to the Skocjan caves.
The cave visit is quite long, you walk for around 2 km inside the cave system, with many steps along the way and it’s dark at times.
Not recommended unless you’re quite fit. But very dramatic none the less.
If I was to book a private tour of this coastal part of Slovenia I would spend longer in Trieste exploring the old town, maybe have lunch there, then visit Portoroz and end with a walk and drinks around Tartini square in Piran.
What about food and drink in Slovenia
Food and drink in Ljubljana and outside is excellent. See our post here on FOOD AND DRINK RECOMMENDATIONS SLOVENIA for where to head to and try.
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Check out our DoinDubai INSTAGRAM Slovenia highlight for VIDEOS.
Fancy a different European destination – then try MILAN
Want to go further a field – how about a KENYAN SAFARI
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Disclosure: This post was written in conjunction with the Intercontinental Ljubljana but the views are all my own.
