Slovenia Road Trip

Transportation: Drove our car

Lodging: Dasing, Germany: Landgasthof Asum

Bled, Slovenia: Apartments Bassanese

Ryan and I had heard from so many people that Slovenia and Lake Bled were amazing as well as the Cream Cake they make in Bled! We decided it would be fun to take a little roadtrip with Molly over the Fourth of July weekend and check out the beautiful scenery.  

Both Austria and Slovenia require you to drive with a vignette. When you get close to the Austrian border there was a sign and small pull off gas station where we were able to buy both country vignettes. I don't know why I was so nervous about that because it was super easy and a nice place to get a snack and use the WC's.

The drive to Bled is about 7-8 hours so we wanted to get a head start and leave Thursday night after Ryan got home from work. We made it about 4 hours to the Munich area and stayed the night in a small hotel. The next morning we were up early and drove the rest of the way into Slovenia, sitting in a huge stau (traffic jam) due to a semi having a huge accident. At least we knew the reason why were stopped! In most cases in Germany you will be in a stau and never see what the hold up was!

We started out exploring the Vrisic Pass. This pass lies in the Slovenian or Julien Alps and is a beautiful drive. There are tons of opportunities to pull off and hike, but we didnt have time on this day for that adventure.

From there we drove the rest of the way to Bled to check into our hotel and do a little exploring of the town. We stayed at Apartments Bassenese and had a good experience. It was about a 10 minute walk to the lake and had parking. The downside to anywhere you travel in Europe during July is the heat. Dealing with 95 degree heat and humidity with no air conditioning or even a fan was pure misery. Poor Molly was such a trooper and of course, we made sure we had plenty of water with us.

We found the famous Cream Cake at a cute Bakery called, Smon. Lake Bled is gorgeous so after dinner at Pizza Rustica, we hiked the perimeter of the lake to take in the views and work off our dinner.

The next morning we were up early so we could explore the wine region of Slovenia called Goriska Brda. From Bled it took us a little under 2 hours to drive to our home base in Dobrovo. We parked at the Dubrovo Castle where they have a nice tourist information office. They were helpful on great things to see in the region, restaurants, hikes, and wine tasting. Another amazing thing I liked at this spot was the vinotek, where you can taste wines from all over the region, without needing to go to individual vineyards. Since we were short on time, this was the perfect solution for us.

Originally, we had decided to do a 3 hour hike starting from the Castle. We hiked for about 30 minutes in the heat and decided that it just wasn't a good idea. Not only were we miserable, but poor Molly would not have made it for 3 hours in almost 100 degree heat. Instead we drove to several cute villages in the area, had lunch and wine at an amazing little restaurant, and did some wine tasting before we headed to our next stop.

 Dubrovo Castle 

My honey and baby bug!

On our way back to Bled, we made an obligatory stop at the Predjama Castle. I have heard its a great tour, but due to time and lack of interest we took some pictures and were back on the road.

Predjama Castle in the Rock

It was a beautiful evening, so we left Molly in our apartment to cool down and rest, while we did more exploring of Lake Bled. We attempted a boat ride to the Church on the island, but the man refused to take us because we only have 6 passengers interested and he required 8.

Bled Castle 

Sunday was another long day trip out to the town of Piran on the adriatic sea and to the capitol city  Ljubljana. We did a short walking tour of all the highlights in Ljubljana and stopped for a nice breakfast to people watch. After checking out this cool city, we made our way to Piran. From Piran you can actually see Italy and Croatia in the distance. It was one of the most quaint and beautiful cities we have visited in Europe.  Not to mention its on the water and you can just hop in anytime!! It was another super hot day and we were kicking ourselves for not having our swim suits with us.  

 Ljubljana 

 Ljubljana

 Ljubljana

 Flea marketing in Ljubljana

Kids play area so that the adults can enjoy Sunday Brunch! Brilliant!

 Piran 

 Piran 

 Gelato break was much needed!

On our last day in Slovenia, we drove out to Lake Bohinj and hiked up to an awesome waterfall.  This lake was absolutely gorgeous and way less traveled than Bled.  In our opinion, Bled is a great little resort town with lots of people and hype, but if you want a more quiet adventure be sure to check out Bohinj just 30 minutes from Bled.  

 Vintar Gorge 

 Lake Bohinj

 Lake Bohinj

 Lake Bohinj

 Lake Bohinj

 Lake Bohinj

The last stop on our Slovenian road trip was a hike through the Vintar Gorge. The hike took about 1.5 hours and was quite gorgeous.  We stopped and had a nice Slovenian lunch before we hit the road back to Germany.  

Overall, we loved Slovenia and would recommend it to anyone who wants to do something a little less traveled.  So many gems to found in this country and not to be missed!