In 2011 my brother was selected to compete in yet another world rowing championship and this time around we travelled to… Slovenia! Same event in just another Eastern European country. WRONG! Slovenia is nothing like any other country in Eastern Europe. It feels much more like Western Europe and yes, you can even pay with the Euro. So, it’s like Austria only cheaper and a tat more rustic. Go!
The world rowing championships were held at the picture perfect Lake Bled. So my mom and I loaded up the car and drove our butts all the way down to a lovely campground, right at the edge off the lake.
After a few days some more family and friends arrived to cheer on the bro. We watched some rowing action, chillaxed in the sun, watched some more rowing action, did some more chillaxing, and repeat…
But we also did some serious sightseeing. The countryside is very beautiful – especially in summer. We checked out the lovely Bled Castle which is overlooking the lake. Makes such a great viewpoint! We hiked through the Vintgar Gorge which is really cool and easy. We also took a trip to the – very deep and cold – Postojna caves and we went back in time at Predjama Castle.
Since the country is fairly small the distances between various sights are pretty doable. We visited Ljubljana two times for only an afternoon which is great for such a pretty little capital city. So if you just set up camp at Lake Bled you can do all sorts of activities throughout the country and get back to the same bed every night. I think Slovenia is also very suitable for an active family vacation with small (and bigger!) kids, and I will for sure be back with my own some day!
