These 7 tips will help you save several hundred euros on your trip to Slovenia.
With this article, you can reduce the cost of your stay in Slovenia and avoid any minor hassles. It’s essential reading for a trip without surprises. The first tips in the article concern your journey to Slovenia. By making the right choices, you can save over €100.
You’ll also find some advice here:
- Choosing your accommodation,
- How to pay less for parking
- On the best way to organise a great, inexpensive holiday.
Worth knowing : The first two paragraphs concern your journey to Slovenia. If you’ve already planned it, go straight to error no. 3.
If possible, don’t drive through Italy, drive through Germany!
If you have chosen to travel to Slovenia by road, study your itinerary in detail on a road map of Europe.
Plane: If you’re coming by plane, you can skip straight to tip no. 2.
Here are two figures on the cost of a one-way car journey to Slovenia:
Crossing Italy costs €303
Crossing Germany costs €159
Why such a price difference?
Italian motorways are not free. In contrast, German motorways are free! Expect to pay just over €65 in tolls to cross northern Italy, or €130 for the return journey.
Slovenia is just two hours from Venice
When I talk about my host country, I like to mention that Slovenia is only two hours from Venice. This information never fails to confuse my interlocutors. For your trip, this geographical proximity is a great way to get to Slovenia, as Venice airport is a major international airport served by a large number of low-cost airlines.
You can reach Venice with low-cost airlines
For your trip, consider taking off from major provincial cities: fly to Venice on a direct low-cost flight and hire a car there for the rest of your trip to Slovenia. Then a two-hour drive and you’re already in Slovenia.
Good to know: The advice and tips I give on car hire in Slovenia will also work perfectly in Venice. Be sure to check the general terms and conditions for the extra cost of crossing the border.
Shuttles: And if you don’t hire a car to explore Slovenia, there are several direct shuttles between Venice airport and Ljubljana. You’ll meet lots of Slovenians who like them for their convenience and speed (expect to pay around 30 euros and a 3-hour drive on the motorway).
Don’t wait until the last minute to book your accommodation
Although never overcrowded, Slovenia is busier in summer than it was ten years ago. The supply of accommodation has not increased fast enough. As a result, if you wait too long to make your bookings, the best accommodation will pass you by and you’ll pay more for less pleasant accommodation than you could have found if you’d planned ahead. An itinerary in Slovenia is not very complicated to put together, as the country is small and interesting attractions are everywhere!
For a first trip, concentrate your itinerary in the west.
Decide quickly on your stopping-off points and don’t multiply them. Bear in mind that Slovenia is pretty almost everywhere and that it is small. This means that you don’t need to stay just a few kilometres from the must-see attractions to have a great holiday.
Check that your accommodation is not too far from a motorway entrance. This will be a key point once you’re there, especially when it comes to getting to these must-see attractions, as they are often not far from a motorway
Don’t forget: Slovenian motorways have no tolls and operate on a vignette system.
Don’t focus your holidays on the cities
I ‘ve been repeating this advice on this site for over ten years now: it’s Slovenian nature that will amaze you with its beauty and diversity. Don’t inflate your holiday budget with a succession of expensive activities. Once you’re in Slovenia, you’llfind plenty of great free experiences.
You can also take plenty of cheap breaks in your day by having a coffee on a terrace by the water, a pint of beer for €3.50 or by ordering a pizza (they are often delicious in Slovenia because of the proximity of Italy – Slovenian pizzaiolos have gone to their Italian neighbours to discover the secrets of concocting an excellent pizza).
In short, you won’t need to spend a lot to enjoy an extraordinary holiday in Slovenia.
Swimming, hiking and walking should be at the heart of your Slovenian holiday, and these activities are free. Don’t concentrate your trip on visiting Slovenian cities. And when you want to treat yourself and do it often, invest your holiday budget in unforgettable activities, choose a good restaurant in the countryside (very good value for money in general) or go canyoning/rafting on the Soca.
No need to buy a travel guide
Of course you can buy one before you leave, but you’ve already got everything you need on this website, which I’ve spent over ten years writing. I work with publishers with whom I have written and published several books. In fact, I know that with over ten years’ work, I’ve spent far more time writing this site than the authors of these guides have spent on their books.
In short, you don’t need a guidebook to have a great holiday, and you’ll find everything you need on Secret Slovenia.
Admittedly, these articles are a bit long to read because the advice is precise, but don’t skim over them. There’s everything you need to know for a great day out, which is why they’re long. What’s more, I update them regularly. What’s more, before publishing them, I always spend long hours and days in the field, exploring every nook and cranny. Then I think long and hard about how best to organise the visit to the place the article is about.
On this blog, I make a drastic selection of the best things to do in Slovenia. There are a lot of places I know about that I don’t mention because I don’t think they’re must-sees, because I think they’re good but not the best. In short, if there’s a blog post about a place, it’s worth a visit and there’s a great experience waiting for you there. Try to read as many articles as possible before you leave and then when you get there.
A comment left by a blog reader
Hello,
Just a quick message to say a big thank you for all your great advice! We bought the Lonely Planet for our trip to Slovenia and ended up spending our time looking at your blog without even opening the guidebook 🙂 Well done for this brilliant site! We’ll be back.
Keep up the good work and maybe we’ll see you soon…
Regards
Tip: If you’re going with several people, divide up reading the site according to tabs. One person could look after Ljubljana and Bled, another Piran and the caves, for example. You’ll have everything you need for a great holiday in Slovenia!
Don’t book your rental car at the counter or on the rental company’s website!
I live in Ljubljana and don’t own a car. I’ve chosen to cycle around and hire a car whenever I need one. Surprisingly, prices are much lower on online comparison sites than anywhere else. I’ve explained it all in a great article on the subject.
If you’re planning to hire a car in Slovenia, read that article ,
The advice in this article will save you at least €100 and will probably save you a few hassles, because renting a car is not that simple. You really need to be a seasoned consumer.
Eat in the countryside like all Slovenians do
In their free time, the most popular activity for Slovenians is hiking in the mountains or doing sports in the countryside. Immediately afterwards, they go and eat in the gostilnas (traditional restaurants found all over the country). There are hundreds of them. You’ll find them on every back road. Choose the ones that are isolated in the countryside or at least two kilometres away from the most touristy places, so that only Slovenians can be found there.
This way, you’ll get a real local experience and, above all, real local prices (not tourist prices).
Remember: try to eat in the countryside more than 2 km from tourist attractions. And don’t forget a very practical tip for your holiday: service is continuous in Slovenia, so you can eat at any time from 11am to 9.30pm. This means that you can eat very late in the day, a flexibility that is much appreciated on holiday.
Other costly mistakes you should avoid:
- Not checking out the car parks before you park in the most touristy places (Ljubljana, Piran, Bled, Bohinj, Vintgar)
- Eating in restaurants that are a little too expensive because you’ve chosen the wrong ones
- Taking two scoops of ice cream (take two half scoops as the Slovenians do)
- Not knowing that you need a vignette to use the Slovenian motorways and getting a hefty fine.
- Paying admission to Bled Castle and a visit to the church on the island. There are better things to do and they’re free.