KARST AND COAST DAY TRIP FROM LJUBLJANA

This was without a doubt, my favourite day of the entire trip to Slovenia. Given that I was so impressed with the tour given by Roundabout Travel the previous day on my Lake Bled day trip (despite the weather set-backs), I decided to give them another chunk of my money and booked the Karst and Coast Tour.

This was also the hottest day of my trip. The weather was around 28 degrees Celsius (in September) and was absolutely beautiful (thanks weather for not co-operating on my trip to Lake Bled – not!).

Predjama Castle

First stop was Predjama Castle, the famous castle in the side of a cliff! We were recommended not to waste time looking inside the castle as there isn’t much to see (I believe it has been turned into a small museum) but I would definitely recommend checking out the outside of the building and the surrounding mountain areas – absolutely beautiful!

Skocjan Caves

Photo credit: Skocjanske Jame Website

Next, on to the Skocjan Caves! There are two main cave networks in Slovenia, these being Skocjan and Postojna. While I didn’t have time to visit both, I made my decision on which one to visit based on the advice that Postojna caves are like the “Disneyland caves” as you sit on a tourist train and work your way around the caves whereas Skocjan is a lot more raw and authentic. No internet research told me quite how much of a work out the Skocjan caves are – be warned, there’s a lot of walking, a lot of stairs and a lot of steep climbs! But it’s definitely worth it for the spectacular beauty of these caves. Unfortunately pictures aren’t allowed in the caves due to artificial light affecting the colour of the cave structures, however this gives you more time to soak up the cave’s beauty without looking through the lense of a camera!

You are advised to wear jeans/covered shoes for the tour of the caves as it gets quite cold down in the caves, ignore this warning on a hot day! You will get sweaty for the rest of the day and the caves are such a work-out that you’ll heat up even while a couple of hundred foot underground!

Lipica Stud Farm

Lipica Stud Farm is one of the few places on my trip that I hadn’t heard about prior to my visit. It is the home to the beautiful white Lipizzaner horses. We stopped here briefly on our way to Piran and boy is it beautiful. Vast open green fields in the glorious sunshine filled with hundreds of beautiful white horses, I’ve never been somewhere so relaxing.

Prosciutto, Ham & Wine Tasting

The area of Karst is also well known for Kraški pršut (The Karst Prosciutto Ham). This tour takes you to a little beautiful restaurant where you are able to sample the amazing ham, cheese and wine while sitting in the glorious sun, shaded by a grape vine.

This is one of my favourite memories of the trip. Our tour consisted of me, a male solo traveller in his 30s, a young couple in their 20s and a couple who were in their 60s. We sat drinking wine, eating amazing food and getting to know each other. The older couple were two of the most interesting people I have ever met and we all sat enthralled by their round-the-world travel stories. Travel isn’t always about the places, but the people you meet too.

Piran

And finally on to our last stop, Prian! Piran is a beautiful seaside town where the weather seems to be eternally great!

We started our trip to the area with a stop at Prian Wall which overlooks the town from a cliff for a breathtaking view of the tiny Slovenian coastline, as well as the neighbouring coastlines of Italy and Croatia!

From here we were given free time to explore the town and do as we pleased (obviously, this meant a stop for ice-cream). Piran is absolutely beautiful and I would definitely recommend this as a town to get lost in.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and all thoughts are my own.
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