Slovenia is a green country, full of natural wonders of every kind: excellent beaches (although not many), forests, enormous caves sculped by the time, beautiful fields, picturesque rivers and lakes and magnificent mountains, valleys and gorges which remain dressed in white through almost the entire year. It is also a country with a great History and many storys to tell. Simple but extraordinarily beautiful cities, little nice villages, churches, castles... No one is sure about how many castles there are in Slovenia, it is said that perhaps there are a few hundreds. Some people think that in no other place in the world such diversity can be found in such a small area. True or not, this diveristy contributes to make Slovenia an extraordinary country also as far as tourist attractions are concerned.
We haven't yet had the joy of visitng the entire country, but we have already had the privilege of spending a few wonderful days in Slovenia, so we will use our own experience and the help of people who really know what they're talking about to present a little summary of those attractions... a starting point for the discovery of the rainbow of Europe.
What follows is just a very small presentation of some points of interest in Slovenia, but if you want to learn more try the Links part where you'll find some useful urls.
[The Alps]
[The cities]
[The coast and the caves]
The Alps
The northwest part of Slovenia is made of valleys, mountains, gorges, waterfalls, forests, clear water springs... It's the Julian Alps, which are probably the most known and appreciated region of Slovenia, especially by the winter sports lovers.
Standing out from all the other mountains is the imposing Mount Triglav with its three peaks, the highest of them reaching 2,864m. "Triglav" means "three heads", and is the name
of a three-headed omnipotent Slav god whose heads watch over the earth, sky and hell. Mount Triglav is in a protected zone which is the Triglav National Park (Triglavski Narodni Park) with an area of 83807ha, which includes a variety of natural wonders: mountains like Skrlatica (2738m), Mangart (2679m) or Jalovec (2645m), waterfalls (Savica, Martuljek and Pericnik are among the most beautiful), extremely rare flora and fauna (like the trout from river Soca), valleys (the Trenta valley and the Soca valley are the most important), wonderful lakes... The magnificent Bohinj Lake, for example, is probably the most famous lake in Triglav National Park.
Two important Slovenian rivers rise in the park: the Sava and the Soca. The first one passes near Ljubljana, crosses Zagreb and flows into the Danube; the second one, which flows into the Adriatic sea, is among the cleanest, most beautiful and most picturesque rivers in Europe and in the world. Along the Soca some of the toughest battles in World War I were fought, and today this is reminded in a beautiful museum in Kobarid,
which received the Counsil of Europe "Museum of the Year" title in 1993. In the novel "A Farewell To Arms", Ernest Hemingway writes about the Soca, the battles fought along its banks and his own experience in the war (he drove an Italian army ambulance).
Another interesting place in the Triglav National Park is the city of Kranjska Gora, in the center of the Zgornjezavska valley, and its "Ajdovska deklica" (Pagan Girl), a face sculped by Nature in the mountain's wall. The triangle that signs the meeting point of three countries (Slovenia, Austria and Italy) is also a must.
- Bled
Surrounded by mountains which keep, throughout the whole year, small white dots of snow in places the sunlight cannot reach, the clear waters of Lake Bled are home for a small island, where there is nothing but a little church. Legend has it that, in the 16th century, a young couple lived happily in the castle until the husband was murdered by thieves. The young widow gathered all her jewels and had them melted, in order to cast a bell to be placed in the island's church. When the bell was being carried to the island, a great storm
came upon Bled and the boat ended up sinking. It is said that, still today, on silent nights, the sound of the bell can be heard coming from the depths of the lake. Inconsolable, the poor widow sold all she had and left the money to the church as she went into a convent where she spent the rest of her life. When she died, the Pope ordered a bell to be placed in the island's church in her memory. According to the people's belief, those who make a wish when ringing the bell will see it come true by the power of the young widow's love. Anyone can, free of charge, ring the Wishing Bell; to reach the island, you can go by "Pletna", a romantic traditional boat or you can rent a nice rowing-boat.
The Cities
Small squares, old houses, nice people, most of the times a beautiful castle watching over the city from high above a hill - this is what Slovenian cities are like: small in size, great in history, heritage and soul. In some of them there are tall buildings and modern shopping centers, responses to the demands of a cosmopolitan city, but harmoniously combined with the surrounding landscape, without changing the personality of the city. Museums, art galleries, casinos, fairs, cinema, music, theater, festivals, cozy streets revealing its magic at each step of a simple walk - there is everything, for everyone. We could talk of dozens and dozens of cities, but, facing the impossibility of doing it, we will talk specifically of only two: Ljubljana and Maribor. Besides these two, also Celje, Idrija, Kranj (colorized in yellow in the Home page), Murska Sobota, Nova Gorica, Novo Mesto, Ptuj, Skofija Loka and many other cities undoubtedly deserve a visit and will surely make it unforgetable.
- Ljubljana
Ljubljana, a beatiful, cozy and lively city, is the capital of Slovenia. Located in the center of the country, it's also its biggest city with about 300.000 inhabitants. The castle is probably its main atraction, but there are many other places which cannot be left behind in a visit to Ljubljana: the National Theater, the "Triple Bridge", the Dragon Bridge, the Museum of Modern Art and the Opera, for example. Also very important is the National Library, designed by Joze Plecnik, a famous architect that influenced the personality of the city of Ljubljana (author of another point of interest in the city, the market). The Preseren Square, where there's a statue of the gretest Slovenian poet, author of the National Anthem, is also a "must visit" along with St. John's Church, whose main entrance is in that square. Preseren Square is described in the book "Veronika Decides To Die", by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. Also important is the splendid Ljubljana Cathedral, whose doors are incredibly beautiful and original.
- Maribor
The coast and the caves
- The coast
- The caves
One of the most important atraccions in Slovenia are its magnificent caves. There are more than seven thousand (!) caves in the country, like Krizna, whose clear lakes can be crossed by boat, Skocjanske, a spectacular cave system considered World Heritage by UNESCO in 1986, and Postojna, the biggest and most famous cave system in Slovenia.
The cave system of Postojna is 20km long, but only 5km are open for visit of the public in general; the visit includes a tour inside the cave in a little train. Considered "the greatest exposition of sculptures made by mother natureby the great english sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986), the Postojna caves are home to the biggest vertebrate living inside a cave: the Proteus anguinus, or "human-fish", who has this name due to the absense of pigment in its skin (it doesn't need it beacause it is never exposed to sunlight) that makes it similar to caucasian men's skin. The interest on this "human-fish", which can reach 30cm of lenght and has no eyes, originated a new cientific branch, speleobiology, which still today has its center in Slovenia. Also worthy of remark is the extraordinary concert hall inside the Postojna caves, with a capacity of 10.000 people..
