Slovenia might be one of the smallest countries in Europe with only 2 million inhabitants, but its geographical position on the borders of Germanic, Ugro-Finnish, Romanic and Slavic world and its regional diversity makes in one of the most unique countries in the World. You can enjoy the skiing in the Alps in the morning and only after two hours drive having a coffee on warm Adriatic coast. Not many other countries in the World can vaunt about that. All the best wheelchair travel locations united into a single package!
Pick up from Ljubljana airport and transfer to Ljubljana. In late afternoon or evening we do a 2-hours guided tour of Ljubljana, a city which in 2015 was given the Bronze Access City Award and a 2018 Silver Access City Award. We walk around the city center that was highly denoted by the Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik and take the funicular up to Ljubljana Castle.
A day trip to the Štajerska (Styria) region. In the morning, we will drive across the Črnivec Pass to the Upper Savinja Valley. The region sits in the middle of the mountains but still has some influences from Štajerska which can be seen in the warm and welcoming locals. We visit the Mozirski gaj flower park, the largest of this kind in Slovenia. From there we will take a short ride to the Logarska Valley, one of the most beautiful glacial valleys in Slovenia. After lunch with some local specialties in the Logarska Valley we will take the opportunity to walk along the trail of which one part is accessible for wheelchair users. On the way back we will drive through Austria to Jezersko and back to Ljubljana.
Best of the Alps. From Ljubljana, we will drive to Bohinj and start enjoying the beauty of our biggest natural lake Bohinj which is a part of the Triglav National Park. The lake is situated between some of the highest mountains of Slovenia. As viewing is always a good idea, we will take the cable car up to the winter ski resort of Vogel, 1.625 meters above sea level. From here we will get the best possible view of Triglav, our highest mountain, and the picturesque lake far below us. From here we will drive to Bled with its famous island with a church and a medieval castle on the rock above the lake; so with just a little of imagination we can feel like being in a fairy-tale. We will stay in a hotel in Bled and relax a bit. After that a short tour around the lake will bring us to the best sweetshop in the area, where a typical Bled cream cake “kremšnita” (Bled Vanilla cream slice) has been produced in the same way for decades. Yummy! Dinner in the hotel and free time in the evening.
On this day we will change the climate from Alpine to Mediterranean. From Bled we will take the windy road up to 1.611 meters above sea level. The road was constructed during the First World War by Russian prisoners and connects the Sava Valley in the north to the Soča Valley in the south. After a short stop to take in the beautiful views at the top of the Vršič Pass we will descend to the river Soča. The river is popular for rafting and other activities and it is believed that this is one of the most stunning rivers in Europe. The great green color of its waters will accompany us most of the day. On the way we will see the Boka waterfall, one of the highest waterfalls in Slovenia. We will than make a stop in Kobarid’s museum of cheese production, as the region is very famous for it. The area around here was the place of the Isonzo front line during the times of the First World War. From here we will continue to Goriška Brda (Goriška Hills), the area that is famous for producing delicious wines. After some tasting (what else?) of rebula, tokaj, zelen, pinela or vitovska grganja (all these types of grapes can only be found in Slovenia and a small part of Northern Italy) we will spend the night between the vineyards of Brda.
Kras (Karst) to Slovenians mean something like Provence to the French. Small hills rising up from the flat terrain that is covered with fields and vineyards. One of the best things about this region is the food and wine. Traditional dried pork called “pršut” (prosciutto) is produced here, which is prepared just by using salt, some local bora wind and a lot of love. When it’s washed down with the strong red wine called “Teran”, you’ll get an idea of what heaven looks like…We will try all these delicacies at one of the many farms that offer their homemade food to hungry tourists. The next stop is Lipica, where the white Lipizzaner horses have been born and bred since the 15th century. When we arrive at the short but interesting Slovenian seaside, we will base ourselves in a hotel in Portorož, Strunjan or Izola, just a few steps away from the warm Adriatic Sea.
In the morning, we will take a guided tour of Piran. The town is one of the best preserved medieval towns on the Adriatic coast with its beautiful setting on a peninsula, narrow cobbled lanes and a church and fortress high above the town. An afternoon off for swimming and enjoying the Mediterranean climate.
On the way back to our capital we will make a stop at the Škocjan caves, the only natural beauty in Slovenia that is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list. As the cave is protected, it’s unfortunately not possible to visit it in a wheelchair. Instead of that we can take part in a virtual 4-D tour of the cave, which is not far away from the real walk (believe us, we were scared of the high walls and deep falls a couple of times…). Transfer back to Ljubljana and have some free time for shopping or sightseeing.
Transfer to Ljubljana airport and departure.