Bordered by heavily touristed countries like Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Austria, Slovenia often gets overlooked. We were surprised to discover that it is just as beautiful as its neighbors (if not more so!), and we were pleased to find that unlike its neighbors it is not yet saturated with selfie sticks and tour groups.
Perhaps I would have felt differently if I had visited the coastal town of Piran, which looks much more Balkan and more my style.
But even though it wasn’t what I thought it would be, I had a wonderful road trip in Slovenia, I absolutely recommend it, and I’d love to return next summer.
Though many people use the term “Balkans” to describe the former Yugoslavia and Albania (myself included), the Balkan peninsula technically includes Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece as well. But Balkans purists use the term to describe the region beneath the Balkan mountain range. And only a tiny portion of Slovenia is within this range. When you add that geography to the fact that Slovenia has also been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it makes sense that it looks so different.
Day Four Essential Info: Since we were flying out early the next day, we stayed at Dvor Jezeršek, a hotel home to a culinary school in Brnik, right by Ljubljana’s airport. The hotel was nice and the food was terrific.
I had a great time — but Slovenia was not what I expected it to be. That’s not entirely a bad thing; I just went in with the wrong expectations.
As a Balkans-phile, I expected Slovenia to be more like its former Yugoslavian neighbors like Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Truthfully, Slovenia did not feel remotely Balkan to me. It felt like Austria. I mean, look at it!
