Ljubljana & Predjma / Slovenia

After our day exploring Bled and a tiny bit of the Triglav National Park we slowed the pace down and had a look around Ljubljana. The weather was temperamental, the grey clouds loomed. As with many other city visits, we joined a walking tour around the old town. It was pretty good and the guide was a local student who told us that student life, is in fact the best life.

University is free, you get 50% off food, cheap accommodation and will always be employed. People loved the benefits that they just kept studying until they put some restrictions in places for people who had graduated once already! The sun showed up for an hour or so, which was great - until we had to walk back to the Airbnb in the rain. But we did manage to get some lunch and a mid-afternoon treat. Lemon curd pie, so good! 

Pro tip - Car rentals in Slovenia

The rest of the night was spent relaxing at the Airbnb until I came across something while researching our plan for the next day. How toll roads work in Slovenia. Since we had hired the car from Austria, we had been driving in Slovenia this whole time WITHOUT a Vignette - a sticker that acts as the toll paid to drive on the Slovenia highways. There are cameras at the toll points and randomly on the motorways that check for the sticker. The fines are hundred of euros - let the freakout commence. I had thought that driving through all the toll points without stopping was a bit strange, but had thought only the trucks got tolled. The Vignettes are actually really reasonably priced I thought. €15 for a week, €30 for a month a €110 for the year. So in about 6 months from now, we may get a fine passed down from the rental car company.. so get that Vignette! 
 

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The next day our plan was to hit Predjma Castle, Škocjan Caves and the coastal town of Piran. A pretty ambitious day with a decent amount of driving. First stop was picking up a Vignette from the servo to avoid any additional fines! (Actually praying we don’t get any fines)

We arrived at Predjma Castle before it opened so couldn’t go inside as we needed to be at the caves for the tour at 10am. But it nice to have a look around with no one else there! It is pretty awesome to see this castle just hanging out on this cliff face. 

We got back on the road and headed to the caves. In the area are two world famous caves, Postojna and Škocjan. Postojna is probably the one visited the most out of the two. It is closer and a bit more tourist friendly. There is a train system that runs through the area open to the public and lot of colourful lighting. The stalagmites, stalactites and pillars are meant to really pretty and spectacular. But Postojna is not the one we visited. Being on a budget meant we would only visit Škocjan. It is less visited but is a UNESCO world heritage site. Why? Because its one of the largest known underground canyons in the world. Photography inside is not permitted (took one sneaky shot though), but it did make you take in and really appreciate just how impressive the caves are. Highly recommend reading about it here - even if you never intend to visit. There are pretty cave formations at the start of the tour in the silent cave (silent because it wasn’t discovered until much later since no water runs there) and then you enter the canyon. At one point the guide turned of the lights, the pitch black darkness and the raging rapids made for a rather tense 10 seconds. If you’re visiting and can only visit one, Škocjan is our pick.