Slovenia Tips (hotels & restaurants in Ljubljana, Bled, Portorož/Piran)
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I’ve done some trawling but kind find too much on HfP articles/forum about Slovenia bar a review of the IC Ljubljana in 2017 and Rob’s hat-tip to the Kempinski Palace Portoroz in 2023, so keen to get some ideas and tips from those who have been please.
Thinking of spending a week in the country next month with my OH, our rough plan would be to fly into Ljubljana (have a Barclaycard voucher to use by 4th July and cash prices are pretty high), spend 1 or 2 nights in the capital, hire a car and travel to Lake Bled and spend 3 nights there, then travel to the coast and spend 2/3 nights in Portoroz/Piran. This will be our first holiday since January as we are in the process of moving house, so we are keen for a bit of luxury relaxation (ideally hotels with pools!), good food, lovely views plus potentially some watersports.
Around Lake Bled I like the look of Vila Bled and Grand Hotel Toplice (the latter is SLH but unfortunaetly isn’t included in the current Amex cashback offer!) On the coast, the Kempinski in Portoroz looks lovely and Hotel Piran has a roof terrace with great views, though not sure if there’s as much to see/do in these places. As of yet I haven’t booked anything so our itinerary is completely flexible and all suggestions would be warmly appreciated!
Can’t comment on car hire as I arrived by train from Italy and used the train to get to Lake Bled and the IC was convenient as it’s close to the station.
Wouldn’t call the IC “luxury” and it’s on the very edge of town on a busy road. The toilet “auto flushed” at 3am every morning which really narked me.
2 nights max in Lubljana is enough to see everything. Wine tasting at the castle was fun.
You can walk around the whole of lake bled in 2 hours but if you want to take a boat to the island or hike up the hillside for the best views I’d stay overnight.
@davefl thanks, would happily consider train options if it works for our destinations so I will look into the logistics. Noted re the IC Ljubljana, the Vander Urbani Resort hotel in the Old Town is quite appealing (member of Design Hotels and has a rooftop pool!) Keen to stay lakeside at Lake Bled so we can walk/swim/boat to our heart’s content.
Admittedly it was many years ago, we stayed in the hotel Toplice, and had a wonderful time, not sure if it’s the same (i’m sure current photographs would show this) but the restaurant had a big outdoor terrace/balcony, looking over the lake that you could sit at while dining. We went in July and had wonderful weather. Always meant to go back, but too many destinations and not enough time. We took a rowing boat out on the lake a few times and loved it.
@Misty glad to hear good things about Grand Hotel Toplice! The terrace very much looks to still be there 🙂 I think where we still will ultimately come down to availability as we will be booking pretty short notice, but if we don’t stay there this time we can always try it next time if we like the area enough to go back! OH visited Lake Bled interrailing years ago but it will be my first visit to Slovenia.
I attended a wedding at Lake Bled last summer and most guests stayed in the Toplice, where I attended a pre wedding drinks event the day before there ceromony on the terrace @Misty mentions above, or the Riki Balance Hotel directly behind it where I stayed.
The Toplice got good reviews by all that I spoke to and the service was good. Equally, the Riki was more than adequate and has a great pool and spa, both indoor and out.
Bled is a fantastic location, the scenery is to die for.
Points Hound – thanks for your feedback on Hotel Toplice and the Riki Balance (which I will now look into!) The views do indeed look spectacular which is why we’re keen to be right on the lake.
We stayed in the IC in Ljubljana last year as part of a European Rail Trip. I thought it was excellent with good views over the city and mountains from the restaurant and gym to boot.
Technically you can get a train to Bled but the station is some distance from the lake so may not be the best option. You can hire a car from Europcar right next to the station/very close to the IC.
One rail trip to consider though is the one towards Rijeka from Ljubljana, we stopped at Opatija, the train cost 9 euros one way for a scenic, if slow 2.5 hour journey. We went to the Hilton Rijeka Costabella which isn’t luxury (think better than Berlin Hilton, but not as good as Waldorf Astoria). However it does have an excellent restaurant and fantastic views over the Adriatic.
Slovenia is a wonderful country. Also consider the restaurants in Kobarid, which has a rep as a ‘foodie’ town. But Ljubljana has several excellent, inexpensive ones also.
You can get a return bus from Ljubljana to Bled for about a fiver, buses leave every hour and take around an hour and a half to get there. The bus depo in Ljubljana is right beside the train station (10 minutes walk from the river), and you can book your bus tickets online.
The bus stop in Bled is only 100 yards from the busy end of the lake (and 150 yards from the George Best bar if you fancy a nostalgic pint!).
Be sure to take the Bled Toboggan ski chair up the hill when you’re there for the views from the top, then the little toboggan down the ski slope back to the bottom – great fun!
* Oh and one more thing, regards swimming in the lake. There are strict rules regarding lake access, there are designated swimming areas and you usually have to book a slot!
Thanks for all the tips, I’ve now booked 4 nights at Grand Hotel Toplice on Lake Bled followed by two nights at Vander Urbani Resort in Ljubljana (it was a toss up with the IC but this hotel is in the old town and has a rooftop terrace with pool which swung it for me!). Very much looking forward to my first trip to Slovenia and will report back.
Late to the party but will chip in in anyway – We spent a couple of days in Ljubljana last year and absolutely loved it. Stayed at the IC, everything from the friendliness of staff to the facilities (great pool/sauna) and quality of food and drinks at the restaurant/bar were top notch.
Right across the street from the IC is a hole in the wall type place selling bureks – traditional meat/cheese pastries, definitely worth trying. For more traditional food head to Baščaršija. Great little town but but not much to do in Ljulbljana itself so spending 2 nights should be enough.
@xefo thanks for the tips. I’ve actually now cancelled Vander Urbani Resort and booked the IC as I read more reviews about the former and it sounded like it could potentially be a very noisy stay. I was delighted to find that the Railcard 20% discount worked on the IC booking so it only worked out about £20 more total for a much bigger room and all the IC facilities of the pool etc (plus the points). Unfortunately the IC isn’t participating in the current £75 cashback on my Amex Plat but you can’t have everything!
Forgot to mention, if you want Burek (or Doner Kebabs since you’re from UK & Germany 🙂 ) then the two go to places are Burek Olimpija and Nobel burek, both serve 24/7 and both inexpensive.
@davefl Yup, Olimpija is the one we visited (more times than I’d care to admit). I still dream of that burek sometimes…
@ExpatInBerlin hope you like the IC, don’t know if you have status with them, I was diamond at the time and got a double upgrade with lounge access thrown in. The Spa is worth visiting too, the massages were very reasonably priced.
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