Ljubljana

[atrottel]

Bled is a lovely spot but can be full of Brit excursion bus tourists pottering about the lakefront with their strollers... October should be fine, though, as the summer season is just about over. Bohinj is a possible alternative.

There are some fabulous cave systems around Slovenia that you can visit but possibly too far away and time-consuming for a birthday weekend.

 

[SuperBlues]

Thank you! Gonna try to make a trip to Lake Bled one of the days. The underwaterman?

The underwaterman is a mythical person living in the depths of the Ljubljanica river.
You'll have a ball.
The George Best Bar in Bled is good drop-off but being from Norn Iron I would say that

 

[ste d' indica]

Did NYE there a few years ago, really liked it. It's a very compact city, but really charming, overlooked by a very cool castle. As others have said Lake Bled is lovely, nice people, a gang of students invited us to a really good party, they were made up we'd just gone out there to see how they celebrate the new year. Food was good, lot of cool bars, they have a really interesting local wine scene, they don't make enough to really export it so there's some undiscovered gems. I'd really reccomend it, not as raucous as Prague (and admittedly not as stunning), not as edgy as Budapest, but just a nice place to go.

 

[alvinh]

I can only endorse what others have said. The castle is nice and worth a visit. The city itself is compact and charming and well suited for pedestrians. Lake Bled is very nice, I think it may be where Agatha Christie fled when things got on top of her, but I may have that wrong...

Best of all was the people, utterly charming.

 

[atrottel]

Here's a decent guide:

Everything You’ll Miss in Slovenia if You Only See Lake Bled

What to see and do in Slovenia, including Lake Bohinj, Triglav National Park, Piran, Portoroz, spas, waterfalls, skiing, and where to eat in Ljubljana.

matadornetwork.com

 

[Prevenger17]

Really like the look of this kid, great turn of pace, eye for goal, can really spot a pass

 

[Seathestars]

Slap a load of preparation H them.

 

[Deleted member 28206]

Brasses, lappies, hardcore drugs, and human organ trading.

 

[dholliday]

Bohinj is a possible alternative.

i've just got back from there...lovely place and at this time of year not supertouristy. nowt for hedonists, mind...more for nature friends (there's waterfalls nearby and whatnot).

@DrEFC Ljubljana itself is ok but no Prague, not even a Budapest. The usual bars 'n restaurants. Watch out for romany street gangs in the oldtown centre asking you to sign surveys (i.e. pickpocketers), otherwise it's a safe casual place. Walking up to the castle grounds gives huge views over the city, where you'll notice some of that typical darkslav architecture.

Trubarjeva cesta is a happening local street with decent bars and that, a stones' throw from the touristy centre, unfortunately it's currently marred by humongous roadworks smack in the middle of it.

Slovenia is a nice country. Fine folk, lots of lovely nature...arguably a bit thin on own culture, they were part of Yugoslavia and before that the Austria/Hungarian empire, so maybe lacking a little in own identity, but they seem happy enough.

this is Lake Bohinj early in the morning:




me and my lad in front of the parliament building in the capital:




dober dan!

 

[Tea_drinker]

I took the train there from Vienna. Went through the Julian Alps and took about 6 hours. It was really cool.