The Ita-Slovenian Road Trip

600 km, 5 cities, 3 Unesco sites and 1 natural park visited in just 3 days are the main figures of the Ita-Slovenian Road Trip. It has for sure one of the more eclectic road trips I’ve ever made: I combined cities with natural attractions and archaeological sites with fortresses. All the places are quite close so you can reach them in less than one hour of travel.

Since I spent two nights in Ljubljana, this road trip was similar to the Cote d’Azur travel, since in that case I’ve always slept in the same city, that was Cannes, but regarding the types of cities or natural attractions I could be mostly similar to one of the best road trips ever made, the road trip July 2012. This was the itinerary:

The first stop was the town of Aquileia, one of the most important archaeological sites in Italy and capital of a Roman province: this is for sure part of that itinerary that represents the off the beaten path Italy. If you are fond of archaeological sites, you should not miss it. It is part of the Unesco sites.

Then I visited the town of Idrija, mostly known for its lace and its mercury mines, a unique example of that together with Almaden in Spain. Because of this feature, this town became part of the Unesco sites too. It is a nice town in the middle of the Slovenian hills and you can learn interesting things about the famous Idrija lace and the mercury mines. There’s a lot of nature around so you can easily do hiking, trekking, mountain biking or nordic walking. You can see also the emerald lake.

I was completely impressed by the beauty of Ljubljana, so clean, nice and with its Austro-Hungarian architecture. The historical centre has some nice streets with nice buildings and I recommend a walk along the Ljubljanica river during the night with its charming and relaxed atmosphere. Do not miss the castle upon hill, that is the main attraction.

After the capital, I decided to head to the Skocjan caves, an impressive underground canyon that is really worth a visit. Because of its peculiarity and its natural heritage, this site has been added to the Unesco sites list and this was a great decision, since if you love nature you can enjoy and appreciate the wonders of nature and how nature is able to create. This is for sure one of the best hiking trails I’ve ever walked along.

Coming back to Italy, first of all I’ve stopped by the enchanting Trieste, the city where I studied, that was part of my travel highlights section, since I’ve just been to my old university and this visit brought back so many good memories.

The last stop was Palmanova, a model of military architecture, an old Venetian fortress that inspired many other military architects around the world. For sure, it is interesting to discover this city and its heritage: you have also the possibility to follow some nice itineraries along the walls, the ramparts or the rivelines or even follow the wall galleries. If you are fond of it, Palmanova can be a nice destination for you.

Unfortunately I had to come back to my hometown and also the Ita-Slovenian road trip came to an end: this was part of my solo travels that I do once a year.

Top travel destinations:

Ljubljana
Trieste

Hidden gems:

Travel tips:

You need to pay a ticket for the Slovenian autoways and it depends on the length of your stay

I would recommend to rent a car or drive yours since you can reach your destinations faster.

I would suggest you to take 7-15 days to visit the country and its gems, like Bled lake, the seaside place of Piran, Maribor, etc.

Personally I liked this country and could come back to visit more destinations: stay tuned! 🙂

Regarding Italy, well I hope you found some good tips about the off the beaten path Italy and some new ideas of places you could visit.

Regarding the information and guide, I downloaded the info regarding the different places from internet and bought the following travel guide: the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Slovenia, an essential guide with some good insights and tips. If you speak Italian, I would also recommend the Merian guide about Slovenia.

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