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26 April 2023 - Vicenza to Koper, Slovenia
We woke to sunshine for a change and the weather forecast is good for a few days. Today we drove 3 hours from Vicenza to the old coastal towns of Piran and Koper in Slovenia. We didn't leave Vicenza until midday so that we could arrive at our new accommodation just after the earliest check in time of 15.00.
Our Tomtom satellite navigation had problems locating our new accommodation and tried to take us down some very narrow tracks. We were becoming very frustrated and tried Google maps instead and that did the trick.
I was surprised to find that our apartment was one of seven apartments in a building. The owner was very friendly and the apartment was very clean and nicely furnished. However, I am concerned that there is a connecting door with another apartment. I dislike such doors as they let in noise. We will see what happens tonight!
We drove about 20 minutes to Piran, parked outside the town and took the car park's free bus into the old centre. It is probably misleading to say free as the parking is about Euro 3 per hour! In summer Piran is jammed with tourists and parking is difficult. Luckily for us there were very few tourists and there were plenty of parking places.
We walked around the old Venetian town for about 2 hours and then had supper on the seafront. It was warm enough to sit out and we had very good grilled calamari and sardines.
I have done a blog on "1 Week in Slovenia" that provides detailed information on the places that we visited in Serbia.
27 April 2023 - Koper to Ljubljana, Slovenia
Last night we had our best night's sleep since leaving home and there was no noise from the adjoining room. We checked out at 10.30 and drove 5 kilometres to the port of Koper.
Parking can be a real problem at Piran, and it is very expensive, but at Koper there are plenty of car parks near the city centre. We were about to pay at the machine when a man kindly informed us that it was a public holiday and parking was free.
Not only is it a holiday today but also May 1st and 2nd! This does cause a problem with grocery shopping as no supermarkets are open on public holidays. It also seems they won't be open on 30th April. We will have to stock up tomorrow!
We wandered around the historic buildings of Koper for a couple of hours in warm and sunny weather. We forked out Euro 4 each to climb up the Bell Tower for views of the city. I don't think we will bother doing this in other towns as it is a lot of effort and cost for very little benefit.
We had lunch at a very small eatery outside the market called Fritolin. It is recommended in the Lonely Planet guide book for cheap and fresh seafood. We both ordered grilled calamari and chips and with a soft drink it cost Euro 22. We ate it at one of the few basic tables outside and it was very good.
Afterwards we walked an hour and 15 minutes along the coastal promenade to Izola. It was a very nice walk and was popular with the locals who were cycling, roller blading and walking. We had a quick walk around and after buying some bread for tomorrow's breakfast, and gelato, we took a short bus ride back to Koper.
It was then just an hour's drive to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, where we had booked an apartment for 2 nights. See my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 1".
I knew that we would be sharing the garden with the owner's parents. However, we were shocked to see that there were 4 people moving a pile of soil, and sifting it, only about 3 metres away from our apartment's windows.
They were all talking very loudly and it was like a construction site. The apartment was otherwise very nice and the parents were friendly. By 18.15 I had had enough of the noise and texted a complaint to their daughter. They stopped at 18.30 and agreed to only work the next day whilst we were sightseeing. It did take the edge off things though.
28 April 2023 - Day Trip to Ljubljana
We drove to Lidl's in the morning to do some grocery shopping since all the supermarkets will be shut from Sunday to Tuesday. We didn't realise that it was in central Ljubljana, but luckily there was hardly any traffic and driving was easy. Parking was also easy and only cost Euro 1.50 for an hour.
After unloading the shopping at the apartment we walked back into Ljubljana and it only took about 20 minutes. Initially it was exceptionally quiet for a capital city but after a while it got a bit busier.
The guide books say there is nothing in particular to see, but we found it to be a very pleasant city to walk around. We walked around for about 4 hours and it was very relaxing compared to the crowded towns of Verona and Venice. We had taken sandwiches for lunch, but there were a lot of outdoor stalls selling great smelling food.
We walked up the hill to the castle, although you can use a funicular for about Euro 4. It was expensive to enter (about Euro 12), but free to walk around the grounds and even to climb up onto the walls.
In Italy we spent a fortune on public toilets as they charged from 70 cents to Euro 1.50 in Venice. In Slovenia there are plenty of clean toilets and they are all free! Great for old guys who need to pee often!
29 April 2023 - Ljubljana to Lake Bohinj, Slovenia
We left Ljubljana at 09.30 to make our way to our next accommodation at Lake Bohinj. Going directly would take only about 70 minutes, but our plan was to visit Skofja Loka, Radovljica and Lake Bled on the way.
It was very easy driving out of Ljubljana and once we had got off the motorway we drove on pretty, rural roads with the snow covered Julian Alps in the background. We reached the historic town of Skofja Loka after about 30 minutes. There is quite a large historic core and we spent about 2 hours wandering around.
Then it was another short drive to the town of Radovljica. The historic centre there mainly consists of one street of 16th and 17th century houses. It only took about half an hour to wander around.
A 15 minute drive later and we were at Lake Bled. Slovenia is a very compact country! We experienced traffic congestion for the first time in Slovenia. Lake Bled is obviously very popular and it was a beautiful sunny and warm day on a holiday weekend.
We turned off at the first parking sign we saw and the charge was Euro 15 for 4 hours or Euro 25 for the whole day! This is as expensive as Venice, but we decided to pay for 4 hours rather than have the hassle of driving around trying to find somewhere cheaper.
It was a very short walk to the lake shore and it was very busy with many local tourists. I dread to think what it would be like in the summer. We walked the 6 kilometres around the lake and it was only busy at the start and end. It should have only taken about 90 minutes, but it actually took 3 hours with a lot of stops, a lot of photos and congestion on the trail.
Apart from the number of people it is a very nice path around the lake with great views all the way. It is so photogenic with the island, the castle perched above the lake and the snow covered Julian alps in the distance. Some people were swimming and the water didn't feel that cold.
It took 30 minutes to drive from Lake Bled to the apartment we had booked at the village of Stara Fuzina, which is on the shore of Lake Bohinj. Our apartment is on the attic level of a "Swiss chalet" and the owners live on the 2 lower levels. I selected this Airbnb apartment as it had good reviews and I prefer not to have people clunking around above us.
The woman running the apartment was very friendly and offered us some honey liqueur. I readily accepted and as it was too harsh and strong for Lani I forced myself to drink hers as well! We had a basic supper of bread, cheese and salad in the apartment and then a very good night's sleep.
30 April 2023 - Day Trip around Lake Bohinj
Lake Bohinj's weather forecast was for rain today, but when we woke up it was misty and dry. The mist soon cleared and at 10.15 we started walking the 12 kilometres around Lake Bohinj. We decided to go along the southern side of the lake first, but unfortunately the trail followed the road and trees often blocked the views.
We got to the end of the lake at 11.45 and had our sandwiches at a picnic table overlooking Lake Bohinj. The weather was still dry and warm and there were some sunny spells. Clouds covered the tops of many of the snow covered mountains of the Julian alps.
There is no road on the north side of Lake Bohinj and the trail is close to the lake. However, there are a lot of trees that partially obscure the views a lot of the time. We got back to our apartment after 3 hours.
Lonely Planet states that Lake Bohinj is more beautiful than Lake Bled but I don't agree. However, it is far less touristy.
In the afternoon we rested on our apartment's balcony. The weather forecast tomorrow has now also improved and it should be dry. If so we will drive about 1.5 hours up to the top of the Vrsic Pass which is at 1,611 metres. It is usually closed due to snow until the end of April or early May and it has just been opened for this year.
1 May 2023 - Day Trip from Lake Bohinj to Vrsic Pass
A few days ago the weather forecast for Lake Bohinj was dismal and over 1 inch of rain had been forecast for today. Luckily weather in the mountains is difficult to predict. The weather forecast improved and we woke up to some sun and views of the snow covered mountains.
We started driving to the Vrsic Pass at 09.20. When we reached Kranjska Gora, at the turn off to the pass, the view of the Julian Alps was superb. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to park quickly enough to take a photo and the mountains partially clouded over.
There are numerous parking spots on the way up to Vrsic Pass and we used them to enjoy the views and take photos. After 46 miles of driving, and 26 hair pin bends up the pass, we reached the top of the 1,611 metre high pass at 11.30. The road was a bit narrow around the hair pin bends, but otherwise it wasn't a difficult drive.
We had originally planned to go back down the same way, but we decided to go down the 24 hair bin bends on the other side. The hair pin bends weren't as tight and the scenery wasn't as dramatic as on the way up.
We looked out carefully for the site of the memorial Russian Chapel built by Russian prisoners of war in 1916. Unfortunately we missed it and decided not to drive back up to locate it.
The fastest way back to our apartment would have been to go back up Vrsic pass and return the way we came. The alternative was to do a longer circular route, which we decided to do in order to see different scenery.
The road was narrow at times and it was slow progress as we had to drive carefully. We reached our apartment at 15.00 after driving 130 miles.
2 May 2023 - Lake Bohinj to Novi Sad, Serbia
We woke up to the rain that they had been forecasting for the last 2 days. If it had to rain then today wasn't a bad day for it. We left Lake Bohinj at 09.00 and estimated it would take us 8 hours to reach Novi Sad.
We had informed the owner of the next apartment that we would arrive between 17.00 and 18.00. One of the problems with booking apartments, rather than hotels, is arranging a time to collect the keys. We can estimate the driving time from Google maps but there are often delays.
With this journey the border with Croatia and Serbia was the big unknown. Particularly since we couldn't buy car insurance for Serbia in the UK and had to buy it at the Serbian border.
It was a fairly relaxing drive despite the rain and spray from other vehicles. The highways aren't congested in Slovenia and Croatia like they were in Switzerland and Italy and the drivers are less aggressive. The scenery was very unspectacular and it wasn't improved by the bad weather.
Most of the time we drove at about 110 kms an hour, despite the speed limit being at 130 kms an hour. There were no border formalities at the border between Slovenia and Croatia as both countries are part of the Schengen area.
It seemed that we would get to Novi Sad at about an hour earlier than expected, but then we reached the border between Croatia and Serbia! There was a huge queue of cars and despite us choosing the best lane it took one hour to enter Serbia.
Then we had the issue of buying car insurance. We were relieved when a helpful policeman directed us to an office where we could buy the insurance. Unfortunately the person there didn't know how to issue the insurance and had to seek assistance over the phone.
This man was becoming very frustrated with the process and as his English was poor we didn't know what was really happening. After 30 minutes the insurance was issued and we had to pay. Until then we didn't know the cost, but I thought it wouldn't be more than Euro 50 for the 4 days we would be in Slovenia.
The amount was RSD 21,000, but we didn't know what this equated to in real money. We couldn't google it as our phones didn't have roaming for Serbia. We tried to pay by credit card but it was rejected. The man then said we could pay in Euro and it was Eur 230!
I did query it, but in the end we had to pay, which left us feeling ripped off. Later that evening I researched it and discovered that it is virtually only UK car insurance policies that don't cover Serbia.
There were a few comments on the internet about the prohibitively high cost of insurance at the Serbian border so we weren't cheated. However, if I had known what the cost would have been I wouldn't have chosen a route going through Serbia.
When we left the Serbian border we texted the apartment owner that our ETA was 18.15. Unfortunately when we got to Novi Sad it was difficult to find the apartment and we didn't get there until 18.35.
We booked the apartment through Booking.com and the apartment had excellent reviews. However, no review mentioned that the apartment block dated back to the communist era and didn't look nice on the outside or in the common areas of the building.
The apartment itself was a very spacious apartment on the Danube with 2 bedrooms and 2 balconies. It costs only Euro 45 a night! Unfortunately they skimped on items like cooking utensils and there were a few other things that needed attention.
See my blog Novi Sad, Serbia: Travel Guide for details about Novi Sad.
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