Cecile and her husband Guy travelled to Slovenia with their campervan last summer holiday. Slovenia turned out to be a real revelation: a pleasant climate, both high mountains and Mediterranean coast and very friendly and spontaneous people. Walking and cycling, they enjoyed the beautiful nature Slovenia has to offer and, thanks to the democratic prices, also numerous outdoor cafés.
We leave Wevelgem very early in the morning. After 1000km we drive into the Dolomites and spend the night at our first, but immediately most spectacular camper spot: Camper Stop Parcheggio Rifugio Auronzo. What a magnificent view of the Drei Zinnen! We immediately decide to stay an extra night so we can spend a day exploring the area.
From here, the route is truly breathtaking. We drive via Kransjska Gora to Trenta via the Vrsic Pass, Slovenia's highest mountain pass cleaving the Julian Alps. Fortunately, the 50 hairpin bends pose no problem for our campervan! This is how we end up in Bovec, in the middle of the Triglav mountains. Camping Polovnik will be our base for the next few days: basic, but quiet and surrounded by greenery! It's great for hiking and cycling (fortunately electric). Two trails really stood out: the Soča Trail and the climb to the Prestreljenik Window. Besides hiking and cycling, Bovec is the adrenaline centre of Slovenia: rafting, climbing, paragliding... As well as the longest Zipline Park in Europe. We glided at 70 km per hour through the beautiful valley, highly recommended!
The Soča Trail is a beautiful hike in Slovenia's Triglav Park along the river. Take a taxi or bus from Bovec to Izvir Soče and hike back on the well-marked trail. The trail starts at the river's source and then you keep following the water for about 25 km. Emerald green water, rugged rocks, even a gorge here and there and numerous suspension bridges make this trail more than worthwhile and don't forget your swimming gear! You can easily leave at another place to shorten the hike.
For 6km, the Kanin Cableway (5 minutes from Bovec) takes you up to 1766m altitude where you can do some wonderful hiking. You'll enter a completely different world: the arid, desolate limestone offers a great contrast to green Bovec, but is no less beautiful and impressive for that. A must is to hike towards the Prestreljenik Window (at 2499m altitude). The views are breathtaking.
In the mountains, the weather can already turn. Thanks to our app, we could follow the forecast closely and headed towards the coast. Everything is close together, so a few hours later we were already in Piran sitting on a terrace enjoying a summer climate on the Adriatic. The place is busy-crowded, but nevertheless well worth a visit!
Moving inland again, we drive past Predjama Castle, a very special place. This medieval castle is built in the entrance of a cave under a high cliff. Both the castle itself, and the caves are visitable and worthwhile! Nearby, there are also the famous Postojna caves, but when we got there, we ended up between buses full of tourists and decided to drive on. Next time, we'll come early in the morning.
Ljubljana is a gem and must-see! The capital is small, cosy and very green! The only place to stay overnight in and around the capital is the car park at restaurant PRI KOVACU. For €25 you can stay overnight in their car park and use basic facilities. At the restaurant, you can have a nice pizza or local dish. We walked to the city centre, but there is also a bus stop at the restaurant.
After two days of strolling around the city, we drove on to Bled. Bled is possibly Slovenia's biggest tourist attraction, and for good reason, as it is hugely idyllic. We install ourselves at campsite Šobec. And visit the region by bike. Besides Bled itself, we also found the Vintgar Gorge to be a must-see.
You hike 1.6 kilometres along the winding river in all shades of blue and between rocks up to 250 metres high. The gorge ends with a 16-metre waterfall, the highest river waterfall in Slovenia. We had forgotten our swimming trunks and had to watch a lovely swim at the waterfall. An ice cream at the kiosk made up for a lot. We cycled to Vintgar, but there is also a shuttle bus from Bled.
We drove on to the fairytale village of Kranjska Gora which lies at the foot of the Julian Alps and the Triglav Mountains, as well as near the tri-border point of Slovenia, Austria and Italy. The Planica camper park is a well-maintained car park in a unique location close to ski jumps and cross-country ski trails. You will notice that this car park has recently been renovated into a fully-fledged camper park with a lot of facilities. Just before Kranjska Gora, you should definitely stop at Jasna Jezera. These artificial lakes with the Julian Alps in the background are a lovely place to relax. You can hike, fish, enjoy a snack and a drink and there are even musical performances in the evening!
Visited motorhome sites
In general, we usually choose to camp freely. However, this is not allowed in Slovenia. Fortunately, the many charm campsites and Park4night sites managed to approximate the free feeling! Plotting out and booking in advance is not for us. Sometimes we had to search, but in the end we always found a nice spot. We can recommend these motorhome sites:
- Parcheggio Rifugio Auronzo, Belluno
- Camping Polovnik, Bovec
- Park4night Kazlje, idyllic and free camper stop at a church between Bovec and Piran
- PRI KOVACU, Ljubljana
- Camping Šobec, Bled
- PZA Planica, Kransjska Gora
The 5 camper essentials according to Cecile
- Dometic Go Compact Camp Bamboo Table and Travellife Ancona Compact chairs: the table should be large, but compact to store in our campervan,also the chairs should be compact, but still comfortable!2.
- Cadac Safari Chef 2 HP: compact gas barbecue for outdoor cooking.
- Thule Bicycle carrier: the bikes go A L T I Y D a n d O F E R A L! Thule's new tow bar allows the bike rack to swing open. This way we have access to the boot without having to take the bikes off. Moreover, you can actually use this tow bar as a tow bar (and not just as a bike carrier as with all other systems). Super handy!
- 2 solar panels + extra residential battery + inverter: this way, we can always charge our bike batteries in the camper without having to connect to the electricity.
- Soplair Thermocover: we can't live without this one! Helps keep the heat out, the cold and the light in (or in winter just keep the heat in and the cold out!)
