Ljublyana is definitely worth a visit. May would be a lovely time to wander round the city, take in a coffee or two and just generally soak up the atmosphere. The weather is likely to be warm and mild. It's a very 'studenty' city - it has a big university - and a very relaxed atmosphere. Good shopping too, even in the days of Tito, so probably even better now! However, I'm not sure that there will necessarily be that much of special interest to a 7 year old - you'll know them best - but the folk museum is fascinating with potentially loads to interest a child because it used to have lots of 'how we used to live' type room sets with a display of toys too.

SM

hi

thanks for your reply, shes fairly interested in history and wants to go on a horse and carriage and on a boat, i can see there is a river so must be boat trips i assume. have you visited piran area, we have 6 days to see as much as possible and happy for any recommendations thanks

karen

We are off to Ljubljana for a week in April, and are going to make it our base to see the rest of country. Yes there are boat trips along the river and there is one of those miniature trains that take you up to the castle.

Here is the website for the city's tourist board which gives tons of information and pictures :-

http://www.ljubljana.si/en/tourism/

it does look lovely, i cant decide whether to stay at a hotel in bled or do like you commute and stop in ljubljana for a few nights then go to izola/piran area as that looks nice. ive had to change some plans due to some of the hotels not having car parks inc the bled hotel. ive got 1 hotel marked to stay in on the outskirts of ljubljana as my hubby not keen on driving abroad so dont want him to have to cope with a busy city too, the hotel looks nice and has lovely pool for my daughter

Although I have driven a lot on the continent we have decided that this time we are going to make all our trips using either public transport or the odd organised trip. According to my guide-books there is a very extensive bus service and a quite extensive train network. The country is the same size as Wales and the main tourist sites (which are mainly in the north and the west) are quite easy to reach.

Regarding the Postojna Caves. The last time I was there was in 1963 !

wow thats longer than i was there, i was there about 1982, we are arriving in italy so think we wont have any choice but to hire a car, we are worried about it, and if there are hidden costs or probs going over the border in it etc. we were thinking of staying in italy going to venice on the train etc, but when i showed hubby the places i had visited in the old yugoslavia he said how lovely it looked and decided he would rather visit there instead. i was looking at opatija in croatia too but then read you needed an international driving license so have decided against that, just need to make up my mind where to stay lol

Bled to Ljubljana is from memory something like a 90mins possibly 2hrs drive in each direction and I would suggest that it would be better not to base yourself soely in Bled in you want to include Ljublyana in your trip. Better to book a couple of hotel nights in each place. The whole of the Istrian Riviera where Opatija is, is beautiful and nearby Lovran is lovely too but smaller. However, something to bear in mind is that it's a quite rocky coastline - no golden sandy beaches for your daughter to play on. Most of the hotels have sunbathing terraces built with access to the sea from them for swimming but not much in the way of a beach at all in the general vicinity of Opatija.

SM

im just waiting for a reply from octopus now as 2 of the hotels i booked are on request only, so i should know within 48 hours if they arent available then i will have to start all over again grr, and consider croatia,hubby doesnt fancy driving far and i think for croatia international license is needed didnt know where to sort that out from so thats why decided to stick to slovenia . it all looks so lovely and ive visited a lot of it many years ago and have fond memories so would be nice to see some of the places again

We have always hired a car abroad and we did not need another license.

My boyfriend loves driving abroad and has no bother, we have driven in Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro also Slovenia he said the driving is much more relaxed than in the UK(he is a lorry driver).

I loved Ljubljana, I am now thinking of us sitting in a cafe along the river and drinking coffee. Lake Beld is lovely as well, we stayed 5 days in Lake Bled and visited Ljubljana and various other places.

We are going to Serbia this year and hiring a car

Enjoy wherever you decide to go

Linda

hi

i read on the michelin site that an international license was needed for croatia is that not true then, as would open doors to other areas thanks

karen

No my boyfriend has driven in loads of EU countries and has never needed any different license, just checked with him and all you need is a green card for insurance but you get this with hired car.

I have loved all the countries we have visited and have not had any problems.

Enjoy

Linda

PS if you need anymore info please feel free to ask

thanks for letting me know

all booked now including car hire and visiting this month, has anyone stayed at any of these hotels we are staying at if so is parking easy and what are the hotels like thanks

ljubljana resort in ljubljana

san simon hotel in izola

garn aurora in trieste

You'll have a great time - so much to see!

The border crossing from Trieste to Slovenia does tend to take you around the outskirts of the town and you often wonder if you are driving around in circles, but just keep on going! You'll get there eventually!!

Might I suggest that you take extra care when driving in southern Slovenia when it's been raining as the roads can be extremely slippery. Do visit Piran and Koper when you are in Izola, and try various country restaurants which offer meat on a spit ... also the 'truffles' (white) which come with risottos or pasta!

You will also enjoy the Postojna caves, and there is a lot to see in Ljublyana ... see last week's Telegraph travel section for ideas!

Have a lovely time.

Ljubjlana was also covered in last Saturday's Times travel section.

im really looking forward to it, i went there around 1983 when it was then yugoslavia so ive seen most of these places then and wanted my family to see them as they stood out in my memory from my 18 mths travel as being so lovely, sadly i missed both the paper articles. i havent visited piran area before so that will be new, ive read somewhere you can catch the ferry to venice not sure if thats true or how easy it would be too do, its something we might consider doing but only have 6 days to see as much as possible over whit

We have just come back from week in Ljubljana. Here are some of my thoughts on the place :-

Ljubljana is a beautiful city with a river that runs through the centre. On one side of the river is the “old town” which consists of a network of narrow streets full of restaurants , upmarket shops and small art galleries. There is also a very large open-air market which trades six days a week and the medieval castle which sits atop a steep hill. Crossing the river you come to the “new town” which is several hundred years old. This part of the city contains the larger shops, department stores, hotels , government buildings , embassies , theatres and concert halls. Beyond this is a very large open space called Tivoli Park. The actual river is lined with open-air cafes and restaurants and on Saturday mornings is the location of a second-hand and antique market.

We also made several trips to other parts of the country. We used a local bus to travel to Lake Bled which is located in a wonderful location, surrounded by mountains. We travelled by train to Maribor which is the second largest city in the country and is located near the Austrian and Hungarian borders. This is another gem of a town with baroque architecture which and surrounded by vineyards. The other trip we made, via an organised tour, was to the coast which is only thirty miles long and is located between Italy and Croatia. On this coast there are three towns. There is Kopar, which is the seaport for Slovenia, Piran , which has Venetian origins and looks like a miniature Dubrovnik , and Portoroz which is the location of several high-class vacation hotels.

Eating out is cheap with lot's of choice , including Slovenian, Italian and Hungarian. Because of the Austrian influence there are wonderful cake shops and cafes. The people are friendly and most can speak English. They enjoy a very high standard of living (better than Greece and Portugal). The place is scrupulously clean although (probably because there are 50,000 students ) you will see quite a lot of graffiti.

We rented an apartment very close to the market which was roomy , clean and very comfortable. On the last night we went to a classical concert staged by the University Music Academy Symphony Orchestra. The tickets were free and the the Orchestra was as good as many "professional" ones I have heard.

Al in all a very enjoyable trip.

that sounds wonderful, we are taking our 7 yr old with us, so a lot of things we do will be based around keeping her occupied although she is aware its an anniversary holiday for us and we are going to turkey in july for our summer hol where she can do all the things she likes there. i love the sound of the shops and markets although hubby will hate that lol, we will be visiting bled, the caves and ljubljana for the day, our hotel is based just outside ljubljana and we will be staying 3 nights so will only have 1 day in ljubljana but we could go there for a few evenings after our days out, then we are staying in izola near piran for 2 nights

how much is beer, an average meal etc and what currency do you recommend i take with us ?

just been reading this thread with interest . Ljubtjana sounds just lovely . can anyone tell me the nearest airport that the budget airlines use. I would like to investiagte this a little more.

lyn