Let’s Go Exploring! Slovenia: Switzerland without the Lavish Price Tag

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Long term readers of this blog know that ever since we quit our jobs to travel the world in 2015, we’ve been playing this game we like to call “Schengen Bingo”.

For those that don’t know, Schengen is the area in Europe consisting of 27 countries without internal border controls. Travellers can freely move through this area without border checks between the countries. With our Canadian passport, we can only stay in the Schengen zone for maximum 90 days.

During our 9 to 5 days, we only had 3 weeks’ vacation so 90 days was an eternity but when you’re retired and nomadic, 90 days goes by pretty quickly. So, we made up a game to visit every country in the European Schengen zone and collect stamps on our passport like a bingo card:

ZElsb, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When we got a working holiday visa from Germany back in 2018, we easily went to 70% of the 26 Schengen countries in just one year. But there was always one country that alluded us, one country that was our “white whale”

I’m happy to report that this time, since our last stop, Croatia, was only 3 hours away, we finally made it there! That means we now only have Luxembourg and Liechtenstein left, and after that we’ll be able to yell “Schengen Bingo!”

Let me tell you about Slovenia, the underrated European country that blew me away the most.

History

Before coming to Slovenia, we learned all about Yugoslavia and its controversial leader, Josep Tito, from the “Croatia Homeland War tour” in Zagreb and how eerily similar that situation is to the current situation in Ukraine. Our education continued in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia. We learned that this small country of only 2 million people, somehow managed to produce ¾ of the economic output in Yugoslavia, despite consisting of only 9% of the population.

Coming from the laid-back Dalmatian coast of Croatia, this felt pretty weird. I stopped relying on bus schedules in Croatia because delays were par for the course, but in Slovenia, everything was efficiently run and executed with precision, which reminded me a lot of Switzerland. The nature was another aspect that gave me Swiss déjà vu, but we’ll get to that in a second.

We also learned that there as a special cake called “kremna rezina”, invented just for Tito to impress his dignitaries while showing off Lake Bled. Lake Bled js one of the most popular attractions in Slovenia, with a church in the middle of an alpine lake and a medieval castle on the top of a cliff, so we had to try it. Our tour guide waxed poetic about this pastry, and how it was only available from the cafes in Lake Bled, so I had high expectations.

I sat down, found a table with a view, and ordered the delicacy. Then adorably it was brought to me via a robot waiter made to look like cat:

Just called me “Miao-fred”

The view out the window was mesmerizing, but the cake itself was underwhelming. Made up of 3 layers: phyllo dough and icing sugar on top, whipping cream in the middle, and egg custard on the bottom.

Maybe the guide set my expectations too high or maybe I’m into more intense flavours but to me, it was eating a tasteless brick of cream. I just don’t get all the hype.

Clearly, I was the exception since the “Park Restaurant and Café” beside lake Bled sells 2000 of these cakes a day.

The Nature, oh, the Nature

There’s a lake 1.5 hours from Ljubljana called Lake Bohinj, which means “God’s place,” and as soon as I got there I could see why.



There were several times where I had to stop and gape at the scenery because my eyes just couldn’t believe it wasn’t a screensaver.

The only other time I had this feeling was in Switzerland. Even their alpine cabins looked a lot like Swiss chalets.


The biggest difference, however, is that Slovenia is surprisingly affordable and one of the least expensive places we’ve been to in Europe. Since it didn’t have Game of Thrones driving up the prices, it was much cheaper, less crowded, and far better value than Croatia.

So Slovenia is essentially Switzerland without the eye-watering price tag.

Most people think of Lake Bled when they think of Slovenia, but I enjoyed Bohinj far more as there were less crowds and the nature was more beautiful.

That being said, it’s still worth it to visit Lake Bled. There are many buses that go there from Ljubljana (far more than buses that go to Bohinj) and a ticket will cost you only €2/person each way.

Plus, there’s a quite a few attractions there, like this castle on top of a hill with incredible views:

A boat ride to the uninhabited tiny island in the center of the lake with a church and coffee shop on it (it will only take you 5 mins walk around the entire island—I timed it):

Boat ride up to the tiny island in the middle of Lake Bled
Dock of the island
Walking trail around the island

And this amazing hike that gives you a bird’s eye view of the entire lake:

Just look for the “Mala Osojnica Trailhead” on Google Maps. Be aware that if you’re afraid heights, this steep, nearly completely vertical ladder might be too much for you:

The steps turn into a vertical ladder. Going up is much easier than coming back down.

Caves

Another thing that stands out in Slovenia are the underground caves. And not just any underground caves, caves the size of entire football stadiums and some are even used to host concerts due to their excellent acoustics.

We went to Postojna cave, which is the most touristy one. There are many other, better, off the beaten path caves like the Skocjan Caves or the Predjama Cave but we decided to save them for next time.

Despite it being touristy and feeling like a Disney attraction (you sit in a little train that takes you to the center of the cave, much the same way you would a Disney ride), I still enjoyed the audio guide. If you go to Postojna, choose the audio guide instead of the human guide (both are included in your ticket) because it’s difficult to hear when you’re walking around in a big group.

We learned that it takes an entire 1,000 years to grow just 1 inch of stalactite or stalagmite! And since many of these formations reached the ceiling of the skyscraper high cave, we could see that they were millions of years old.

We were also told about something called a “baby dragon” or “human fish” which dwells deep in the waters of the underground caves.

I thought, maybe the Slovenians were trying to make like the Croatians and cash out on the sweet sweet Game of Thrones mania, but turns out this “baby dragon” was simply a salamander that can swim and feeds on small crabs, worms, and snails. The crazy thing is that it can survive years without food! Imagine how fast we’d be able to get to FI if we had that ability.

In ancient times, people believed they were the young offspring of dragons and so gave them that name.

Nice People

Other than the breathtaking nature, the second thing that stood out to me about Slovenia was the incredibly nice people. Our AirBnb host was kind enough to go out of his way to pick us up from the bus station (the only other time that happened was in Chiang Mai). Not only that, when we went to change our bus ticket time to leave Slovenia and didn’t have enough change on us for the 81 cents change fee (they wouldn’t take credit card and there were no ATMs nearby), a nice lady in line behind us just paid the fee for us. Slovenians, you rock!

Views

For the best views in Ljubljana, make sure you go to the Nebotičnik Skyscraper, which has a nice café where you can order delicious treats like “Gibanica”, which is a Slovenia apple strudel, for only a few euros.

If you just order a coffee or dessert, the restaurant lets you sit there and enjoy the view for as long as you want.

You can also climb up to the Ljubljana castle which is free to enter.

Food

One of our favourite restaurants in Ljubljana is “Druga Violina” (or “Second Violin”) which not only had great food at an unbelievable price, but also employs people with special needs. It’s not often I find businesses that combine value, quality, pragmatism, and empathy, so I was very impressed with this place and we ate here many times.  

We got a set meal for lunch of soup, main, and appetizer for only €6.50 per person. Everything was full of flavour and made my belly happy.

We also ate štruklji in the “My Dumplings Of Slovenia” restaurant which is a cheese dumpling with different fillings that looked like a log cake. It kind of reminded me of the štrukli in Croatia but less creamy and less like a casserole.

To go with this Slovenia specialty, we ordered Jota, which is Slovenia sauerkraut and bean soup, which ended up being one of my favourite comfort foods.

We also went to the Open Kitchen Market, located in Pogcarjev Trg, which was open on Fridays between 10:00 AM and 9:00 PM, with a large variety of traditional Slovenia food as well as international cuisines.

While strolling around the market, I noticed that, apparently, Slovenia is also rich in bears because we saw a few signs for bear salami all around the town.

I didn’t try any, but to anyone who’s adventurous enough to try it, please let me know how it tastes.

Here’s how much we spent in Slovenia:

CategoryCost in USD/couple per dayCost in CAD/couple per dayNotes
Accommodations$43$58We found an AirBnb 30 mins walk from downtown that was clean, comfortable and came with en-suite dishwasher and laundry. The host was amazing and went out of his way to drive us. The price of AirBnbs in Slovenia varies depending on the time of year you go. Try to avoid the busy July and August summer months.
Food$30 ($20 eating out, $10 groceries)$41 ($27 eating out, $14 groceries)Eating out was inexpensive and hearty Slovenia meals were on average around €6-8/person. We mostly ate out for lunch and cooked for dinner. Groceries were also pretty inexpensive.
Transportation$13$18Our host was nice enough to give us some preloaded transit cards, so we only needed to top it up twice. Each ride on the bus was €2 or less.

Getting out to places like Lake Bled, Bohinj, and Postojna was easy and cheap via the bus for only €2-4/person round trip. Crazy right? I feel like because they are tourist destinations, the cost must be subsidized to be that low.

We also spent €12 and €16 per person to take boats to the middle of the lake in Bled and Bohinj and getting from Zagreb to Ljubljana cost only €9/person.
Entertainment$19$26The most expensive entertainment cost was the entrance to the Postojna cave which was €28 each and included an audio-guide and train ride. We also went to a day spa which cost €24/person for the whole day.

There were enough free attractions like the hike above Lake Bled, walking tours, Bohinj, and the Ljubljana castle that you don’t have to spend much money on entertainment in Slovenia at all. Its gorgeous nature is the entertainment.
Total$105$143We splurged a bit more on spas, boat rides, and meals out since we only spent a week in Slovenia, so the cost is a bit on the higher side compared to how much it would be if you lived here long term. Compared to how much we spent in Switzerland ($154 USD, $210 CAD) with a crappier Airbnb, without splurging on spas, or eating out at all, Slovenia was a steal. The nature in Slovenia is so breathtaking that I constantly forgot that I wasn’t in Switzerland. So, you’re getting all the natural beauty at 1/2 or even 1/3 of the price.

Here’s what our Airbnb looked like:

If you’ve never been to Slovenia, add that to your European bucket list because it turned out to be one of my favourite countries. Plus, it’s just an easy and convenient 3-hour train ride from Zagreb, Croatia, so if you’re visiting anyways, why not tack on a few extra days to see a place that looks like Switzerland while saving tons of money and avoiding crowds in the process!

What do you think? Have you ever been to Slovenia?


Announcement: We will be doing a Livestream on March 15, 2023 8pm EST with our friends at Passiv, where we will chat about how we use their tool to make investing easier, manage our dividends, and basically live our kick-ass nomadic retired life!

Here’s the link to the FB event page.

Be sure to go there and mark it as “Interested” so we know how many people will be attending. If you do, you will automatically be entered into a draw to win 5 t-shirts from Passiv, which is exactly the kind of nerd cred that you need in your life 🙂

Click here to add it to your calendars:

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Hope to see you there!


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13 thoughts on “Let’s Go Exploring! Slovenia: Switzerland without the Lavish Price Tag”

  1. Love it. We really enjoyed our two trips there and hope to go back again.

    Next time visit the Soca River valley. It is next level amazing (even better and less touristy than Bohinj/Bled and prettier in my opinion). Buses seemed kind of hit and miss with very limited availability so we have always rented a car to get there. Excellent hiking and relaxation and summertime, there are decent water sports activities like kayaking and whitewater rafting.

  2. Excellent… I love you travelling.. so that we can travel along… I wish I had the chance to meet you in one of those places… I would buy you a cup of coffee, make you laugh and enjoy myself… Cheers..
    PS: We will be travelling to London May 1- June 4, Switzerland Jun5 5 to 12, Vienna June 13-14, Prague June 15 – 17, and Portugal June 18-27..
    If you are around… I will come and meet you..
    Cheers
    henry

  3. I do appreciate the interesting post.

    But I also wonder how stressful all this traveling really is (you know, the bus rides, train rides, plane rides, boat rides, sleeping in strangers’ houses/apartments). How do you deal with the stress on long travel trips like this, far from home? Seems very exhausting.

  4. I love Slovenia! Going back there again this May (along with Croatia and Bulgaria). BTW, Croatia is now in the Schengen Zone, as of Jan 1. I definitely recommend Skocjan cave when you get back there. What spa did you spend the day at?

  5. Looks nice! The one thing about Croatia I wasn’t a fan of was all the dry an rocky terrain near the coast. This looks much greener and lusher.

  6. We had the exact same impression of Slovenia when we visited in 2015, though we said it was “Austria at less than half the price” (we had just come from Austria). If you love the outdoors, limited / no crowds, very reasonable prices, and kind & helpful people, Slovenia is fantastic! Our only regret is that we didn’t get to the beaches near the Italian border. Looking forward to getting to that region on our next trip.

  7. We also loved Slovenia when we visited 6 years ago. The sauerkraut soup yummmm so good! I think we ate it daily after we first tried it. Agree that Lake Bohinj is wayyyy nicer than Lake Bled. We went to Skocjan caves and would highly recommend that to any readers interested as it’s incredibly beautiful and wayyyy less touristy.

  8. Wow! I loved Slovenia too. I went there with my wife and daughter (who was probably 6 or 7 at the time) on a road trip from Italy. We visited most of the places you were in, such as Lake Bled, the caves and the capital. It is so easy going around Europe that we can’t get enough. We are from Portugal and we are addicted to traveling.

    If you come back to Portugal one day, do let me know. I live in Évora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site 100 miles away from Lisbon. Taking our time is king here. Wonderful for relaxing and resting in-between trips.

    By the way, your book is one of my favorites about FIRE. I am on the way there (maybe 3 years) and I am planning on reading it again 1 year before I reach it. Especially for the buckets technique.

    Keep on having fun!

  9. Szeretem a helyeket. egyébként a https://kaszinoworld.com/energy/ weboldal megosztásával is szeretnék segíteni. Az online kaszinókat úgy tervezték, hogy kényelmesek legyenek, a játékosok bármikor felkereshetik az oldalt. ha ezeken az oldalakon játszok, sok pénzt kereshetek.

  10. Now that the semester is pretty much over, I can read some of the back catalog, before heading to the West Coast of North American next week.

    Slovenia is great, we’ve also been there a few years ago and visited many of those places.

    I did find that Slovenians are really hardcore as well. When I was there, they had as many Olympic medals in judo as Canada, despite being a way smaller country. The rock climbing was good too.

  11. There are many free activities available in Slovenia, such as the hike above Lake Bled, walking tours, Bohinj, and the castle in Ljubljana, so you won’t need to spend much on amusement. The scenery there is breathtaking. Having fun with the getaway shootout game is yet another way to pass the time.

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