Slovenia is one of the most beautiful and under rated places in the world. From drop dead gorgeous lakes to fascinating dragon culture, visiting Slovenia is worth it for anyone!

Below, I’ll outline a week long itinerary to hit the top spots in Slovenia, all using public transportation.

Note: If you don’t have international data, I highly recommend downloading an e-sim before your trip! While many of the huts have wifi, it’s good to have service in case of emergencies or to ensure your map loads. I use Airalo for my e-sims, which is affordable and is easy to download. Make sure your phone is e-sim compatible!

How to get to Slovenia?

Depending on where you start your travels, Slovenia can be hard to access. Your best bet is to check websites like Omio, but here are a few suggestions:

Flight: Ljubljana has an airport about 30 minutes north of the city (half way between Bled and Ljubljana) and is easily accessible by bus. It offers direct flights from European hubs like London, Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, etc.

Bus: I arrived via Flixbus, and the bus network is vast in Slovenia. I came in from Croatia, and did not have a flight option. There are many buses that come in from Zagreb.

Train: There is a train station in central Ljublana, served by European rail options connecting Slovenia to Vienna, Zurich, Zagreb, and Trieste.

Shared car transport: When I left Slovenia, I booked a car transport through Go Opti directly to Treviso outside of Venice, Italy. It was an 8-person van that dropped travelers off at a few different destinations, including Venice.

Suggested 1-week Itinerary

Day 1: Ljubljana

Chances are no matter your arrival mode, you’ll come into Ljubljana at some point. The capital city is quite small, and you can see everything in a day. I started my trip with a free walking tour, one of my favorite ways to see a new city and meet other solo travelers. On the tour, we visited the triple bridge and Saint Nicholas’ Cathedral. You’ll walk through the town center where there are markets and shops set up (I bought a little glass dragon, because dragons are big in Ljubljana history!) Some other highlights in Ljubljana include:

Ljubljana Castle

A short 15 minute walk uphill from the city center leads you to the castle. It’s free to walk around the castle, but to enter some of the museums, you need to pay admission fee. It’s a nice place to watch the sunset or spend an afternoon.

Park Tivoli

Across the river on the northwest side of town, this park has monuments and cycling paths winding through it. Good for a morning walk or run to be in nature.

Take a boat trip on the river

Every hour, there are boat trips that leave from the city center and go up and down the river going through the center of town. I personally did not do this, but it is a nice way to see town if you don’t want to walk it!

Day 2: Day trip to Postojna

One of the most famous and popular things to do for the day is travel ~1 hour to Postojna to see the famous cave and castle. While you can book an all inclusive day tour, I decided to use public transport and save nearly 50% of the tour cost.

Postojna Cave

First, I took a train from Ljubljana to Postojna and walked 20-minutes to the Postojna Cave. You can either take a bus or a train to get here, and I tried both based on timing. The cost was ~7 euros one-way, and I bought a ticket at the train station.

Once I arrived at Postojna, I booked a ticket on their website for the cave and the castle for 46.50 euros. It’s pretty expensive but it’s worth it! You will need to select a time slot for the cave tour, and you need to be 15 minutes early. So make sure that you don’t miss your slot!

The cave tour is ~45 minutes and starts with a fun small train ride into the cave. I felt like I was in Dinseyland! The cave is quite cold, about 50 degrees F, so make sure to bring a jacket even though it’s hot outside.

One awesome thing was seeing the Olm (Proteus anguinus), which is a cave-dwelling salamander that lives in the caves. It looks like a miniature dragon and is about 25 cm long.

After the cave visit, I waited 30 minutes for the bus to Predjama Castle (which cost 2 euros).

Predjama Castle

There is no time slot requirement for the Castle, so I popped over right after my cave visit. I listened to the audio guide on my phone throughout the cave visit, which took about an hour. The castle is built into the rock, and is a sight to see!

After visiting the castle, I took the bus back to the caves (free, as the 2 euros covered round trip transportation) and walked to the bus stop in town to return to Ljubljana. The bus back was about 5 euros.

All in all, my DIY cave and castle visit cost about 61 euros, so I saved ~50 euros by using public transportation. The trip did take me all day (9am to 4pm).

The best cake EVER, called kremna rezina. You can buy it in the supermarket!

Day 3-4: Lake Bled

From Ljubljana, I took the local bus to Lake Bled. The bus runs every 30mins - 1 hour, so there is no need to book a bus ticket in advance. The ticket was about 6 euros one-way. This is definitely something you can do as a day-trip if you really want to, but I would recommend staying at Lake Bled because it was one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever been! My top things to do were:

Visit Bled Castle

At 18 euros per person to get in, I didn’t end up going into the castle as I already saw the Predjama Castle. I did hike up to the top to get a nice view of the lake, but the castle itself is a better picture as it’s located on top of a cliff over the water.

Boat to Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

You can rent small row boats at a few operators on the water (I would recommend THIS one) and row out to the church in the center of Lake Bled. Unfortunately, there is no other way to get there outside of a boat and swimming.

I ended up swimming from the beach to the island which worked great, but I couldn’t enter the church since I was wearing a bathing suit. The church and island are one of the most iconic things in Lake Bled and definitely worth seeing!

Hike to Ojstrica Viewpoint

The best hike is Lake Bled - Ojstrica - Velika Osojnica - Mala Osojnica on the west side of the lake. The trail is pretty steep, so make sure you wear actual shoes, not sandals. There’s signs on the trail warning people of the steep and rocky conditions.

The good part of the trail, most of the rest is steep dirt and rocks!

Swim in the lake

I could have spent my whole time just swimming in the lake! Note that many of the beaches near the main town of Lake Bled require you to pay. My 2 favorite places to swim for free were:

Olimpijski Veslaški Center Bled (I also rented a rowing boat here and got to row with the national team - one of my favorite experiences of my whole Europe trip!)
Velika Zaka (west side of the lake, next to the Ojstrica Viewpoint)

The best way to get there is to walk. It can take ~45 minutes to make it from the town to the west side of the lake.

Olympic Rowing Center and a great place to swim!

Walk around the lake

The full loop is 4 miles and can take 2 hours. It’s the best way to see all the gorgeous views of the lake!

Hike Vintgar Gorge

This hike is one of the most popular in the area and costs ~15 euros. It’s a flat hike that goes through the gorge over erected platforms. You’ll also need to wear a helmet for safety. Depending on whether you’ve done something like this before, it’s a really cool experience and something easily accomplished in 2-3 hours from town. You can book the trip at the bus stop.

Day 5-6: Lake Bohinj

Lake Bohinj is about 45 minutes from Bled, and is an absolute hidden gem. While Lake Bled is very popular for tourists to visit, most people don’t venture out to Lake Bohinj. If you are looking for more of an outdoor, hiking, and off-the-beaten path experience, spend some time at Lake Bohinj!

The bus runs every hour from Lake Bled (and Ljubljana - it’s the same bus line!). From Lake Bled, my ticket cost 2 euros. I believe it was the weekend and bus tickets were half off.

I stayed 2 nights in Stari Grad at this really cute guesthouse for $85/night. The location was great, and there was even a small concert in the town center on my last evening there. This area can get pretty expensive, so make sure to book in advance or look for last minute deals!

Visit Savica Waterfall

On the west side of the lake, Savica Waterfall is part of Triglav National Park. A short walk from the parking lot (and a small entrance fee of around 5 euros), the waterfall is located in a lush forest and up many stairs. You can also hike there from Stari Grad if you feel inclined to do so!

Savica Waterfall - unfortunately you cannot swim in the water!

I hiked from Stari Grad on the north side of the lake and took a bus back to the town center. Make sure to check the bus schedule posted at the trailhead or in town, as they have summer hours and can adjust operations.

Hike in Triglav National Park

I embarked on an epic journey to hike Valley of the Seven Lakes. It was 16 miles and covered A LOT of elevation. From Stari Grad, I took a shuttle to 0.3 miles from the trail head. There are many shuttles that connect Lake Bohinj to popular areas and trailheads, which costs 2 euros for a 24 hour pass. The shuttle was on time and there were at most 3 people on it, so pretty empty! If you want to attempt this hike, make sure to start early (the first shuttle is around 5am, and the last around 6pm). I took the 6am shuttle and came back on the 3:30pm shuttle, but I also am a fast hiker.

The trail began by climbing up into a valley where there were a few cottages and tourist huts. Some people hike in this area on a hut-to-hut adventure. You can also purchase meals or snacks at the huts, and there is generally free water to refill your bottles.

The trail climbed again from the valley to a cliffside with sweeping views, before turning and passing the famous lakes. This area is really large and there’s a lot more exploring you can do, if you have time! Although this hike was really challenging, it was one of my favorite days in Slovenia.

I mainly ate PB&J sandwiches I made in advance from the supermarket with some apples and other snacks, so I didn’t purchase any snacks on the trail.

Enjoy the lake

Similar to Lake Bled, you can walk around the whole lake (6.8 miles) on a less developed dirt / gravel path. You can rent kayaks or sail boats, or just relax on the pristine lakeshore.

Day 7: Head back to Ljubljana or depart

The bus to the airport / Ljubljana runs every hour and costs 7-8 euros. It takes 2.5-3 hours, but budget extra time because if the traffic is bad in the capital, it can take much longer!

Honorable mention: If you’re into climbing or via ferratas, head north to Kranjska Gora. This area has a lot of nature to explore on the north side of the Triglav National Park. When I go back to Slovenia, I want to go here!

A week in Slovenia: Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, Triglavski National Park