Slovenia - Slovenië

Slovenia (Slovenia) [1] is a country in Central Europe located in the Eastern Alps on the northeast side of the Adriatic Sea. Bounded by Austria in the north, Italy in the northwest, Hungary in the northeast and Croatia to the south, despite its small size, Slovenia has a surprisingly varied landscape, with Mediterranean beaches and high peaks in the foothills of the Alps. This makes Slovenia suitable for a nice lazy summer holiday, as well as for an active summer or winter holiday.

Towns

• Ljubljana - the picturesque capital
• Izola - port city
• Copper - industrial port city with Venetian old town
• Kranj
• Mariboro — Slovenia's second city, particularly known as a wine region
• Nova Gorica - Half Italian and half Slovenian.
• Novo Mesto
• Piran - Picturesque harbor town
• Portoro - Beaches, casinos and group tourism
• ptuj
• Slovenj Gradec
• Velenje
• celje

Other destinations

• postojna - Place with the very large Postojna (stalactite) caves
• Divaca - Site of the less commercial but no less impressive Škocjan Caves (also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Dovje-Mojstrana- Best starting point for mountaineering and hiking in the Julian Alps
• Bled - Unlikely romantic mountain lake complete with castle and island, also a good base for active or relaxing activities in the region
• Radovljica - Old historical town, beekeeping museum
• Bohinj - Alpine Lake

• Triglav . National Park[2] - The national symbol Mont Triglav and the mythical chamois Zlatorog.
• More from Bohinj
• Lake Bled
• Caves of Škocjan
• Pilgrimage site Ptujska Gora near Ptuj
• Stud of the Lipizzaner horses at Lipica
• Predjamski Grad [3] - Special castle near Postojna that sits like a bird's nest in the middle of a 123-meter high, steep rock face at the entrance of a cave. The castle's history goes back to the 12th century.

Info

Forget Switzerland and Austria, forget the south of France and forget the north of Italy. Why do you still want to go there when you can go to Slovenia? Slovenia also offers skiing, rafting, cycling and diving. It also has delicious wines, good beer and good food. There are also ports, museums, castles, churches and stalactite caves to visit or to take pictures. It's about the same distance, you can pay with the euro, and every guide or hotelier speaks a good bit of English.

Geography

With an area of ​​20,256 km², Slovenia is about half the size of the Netherlands. The perimeter of the borders measures 1213 km (546 km with Croatia, 330 km with Austria, 188 km with Italy and 102 km with Hungary). Slovenia's coastline is 47 km long.

Despite the relatively small surface area, the country has large differences in the landscape. To the north are the Karawanks, Kamnic Alps and - to the north-west - the Julian Alps. Triglav National Park is located in the Julian Alps, the mountain of the same name, Triglav, which at 2864 m is the highest mountain in the country. This is also where the Koritnica, Soča and Sava originate. Together with the Mura and the Drava, the Sava is one of the most important Slovenian rivers. In the Julian Alps is also the largest lake in Slovenia, the 25 km² comprising Lake Bohinj. The east, on the other hand, is flat, merging into the Pannonian Plain of Hungary. In the south-west and south, low mountain ranges and hilly landscapes predominate, which merge into the Dinaric Alps. This is often a karst landscape with the characteristic periodic lakes (eg in Cerknica) and many subterranean caves. In the extreme south-west at the port and seaside resort of Portorož (Italian: Portoroze) the 47 km long coastline runs. Half of the country is forested. The climate is continental in the north, Mediterranean on the coast up to the Nova Gorica-Postojna line.

History

Present-day Slovenia belonged to Austria for centuries. The Slovenians lived in the crown lands of Krain, Carinthia, Styria, Primorska with the County of Gorica and Gradišče and the hinterland of Trieste.

In 1866 some areas inhabited by Slovenians became part of the new Italy. In 1918 Slovenia became part of the short-lived State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (SHS), before becoming part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. At that time, in the period 1919-1920, Slovenia's borders were established in the Treaty of Saint-Germain (northern border), the Treaty of Rapallo (western border) and the Treaty of Trianon (north-eastern border).

After the occupation in 1941, when Slovenia was divided between Germany, Italy and Hungary, a fierce liberation struggle followed led by the Slovenian Liberation Front, which joined the partisans of Tito. On August 10, 1945, Slovenia, as the People's Republic of Slovenia, became part of the Democratic Federative Yugoslavia, which a few months later, after the unfree elections on November 11, became the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia, and still later, from 1963 to 1991, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

Slovenia was the most prosperous republic in this federation. On March 7, 1990, the name "Socialist Republic of Slovenia" was changed to "Republic of Slovenia". Slovenia became independent in 1991. This was preceded by the Ten Day War, which was ended by the Brioni Agreement. On May 1, 2004, the country joined the European Union. It is now also a member of NATO.

On January 1, 2007, Slovenia officially joined the Eurozone. This marked the end of the Slovenian tolar.

Arrive

Passport and visa

Slovenia belongs to the Schengen zone.

There are no border controls between countries that have signed and implemented the Schengen Agreements. These are the member states of the European Union (except Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom), Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. In addition, a visa issued for a member state of the Schengen zone is valid for all member states that have signed the treaties and have implemented. But beware: not all EU Member States have signed the Schengen Agreements, and there are also Member States of the Schengen Area that are not members of the European Union. This means that there may be customs checks but no immigration checks (if you are traveling within Schengen but to/from a non-EU country) or there may be immigration checks but no customs checks (if you are traveling within the EU but to/from a non-EU country). -Schengen country).

Airports in Europe are divided between "Schengen" and "no Schengen" sections, which correspond to the "domestic" and "foreign" sections in other countries. If you fly from outside Europe to a Schengen country and then travel on to another Schengen country, you can complete the customs and immigration checks in the first country and then proceed directly to the second country without any further checks. Traveling between a Schengen country and a non-Schengen country will result in the usual border controls. Please note that whether or not you travel within the Schengen zone, many airlines require you to always present a passport or identity card. Nationals of Member States of the European Union or of the EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) only need to carry a valid passport or identity card to enter the Schengen zone — they never need a visa, no matter how long the visit takes. Nationals of other countries must carry a valid passport and, depending on nationality, need a visa.

Only nationals of the following non-EU/EFTA countries have no Visa required to enter the Schengen zone: Albania*, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chili, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Croatia, North Macedonia*, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro*, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Serbia*/**, Seychelles, Singapore, Taiwan*** (Republic of China), United States, Uruguay, Vatican CITY, Venezuela, South Korea, as well as persons with a British National (Overseas) passport, a Hong-Kong-SAR passport or a Macau-SAR passport.

Visitors to these visa-free countries are not allowed to stay longer than 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen zone as a whole, and in principle are not allowed to work during the stay (although there are some Schengen countries that allow nationals of certain nationalities to work — see below). The counter starts the moment you enter a member state of the Schengen zone and does not expire when you leave a certain Schengen country for another Schengen country or vice-versa. However, New Zealand nationals may stay longer than 90 days if they are only visiting certain Schengen countries - see [4] for an explanation from the New Zealand government (in English).

If you are a non-EU/EFTA national (even from a visa-free country, with the exception of Andorra, Monaco or San Marino), make sure that your passport is stamped when entering and leaving the Schengen zone. Without a stamp upon entry, you can be treated as having exceeded the length of stay on departure; without a stamp on departure, you may be denied entry to the Schengen zone the next time due to exceeding the length of stay in a previous trip. If you can't get a stamp, keep documents such as boarding passes, transport tickets and receipts from ATMs, as they can help convince border police that you have stayed legally in the Schengen zone.

Be aware that:

(*) Nationals of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia require a biometric passport to benefit from visa-free travel;

(**) nationals of Serbia with passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate (residents of Kosovo with Serbian passports) must apply for a visa;

(***) Taiwanese nationals must have their ID number registered in their passport in order to enjoy visa-free travel.

By plane

From airport Amsterdam, SchipholIn any case, companies regularly fly to the capital.
And also from the airport of Brussels Airport different flights can be booked.

For flight information to other cities in the country, see the articles for that city.

By train

Despite the rise of budget airlines, train travel can still be a cheap, fast and certainly more convenient option for transportation. Because train stations are often located in the city centres, the train on the medium distance (for example Enschede - Paris or Bruges - Wolfsburg) can compete very well with the plane.

Currently in Belgium and at the Deutsche Bahn online only to order tickets for the neighboring countries of Belgium, resp. Germany and a number of easily accessible cities further on. Other tickets can only be purchased by telephone or at the counter, or of course in the country concerned. The latter is often much cheaper. Also keep an eye out for the many Sparpreis offers at the Deutsche Bahn, which can be very advantageous for a travel route to or via Germany.

However, it is quite possible to train journey map out from home. The two sites listed immediately below provide information not only about journeys from the Benelux, but also about all train connections throughout Europe and in the Russian part of Asia, e.g. between Moscow and Madrid. It is about this the site of the Belgian railways and the Dutch site of the Deutsche Bahn.

NS Hispeed only offers information about travel between the Netherlands and a few large foreign cities. As a rule, this information is also limited to trains that run directly to or from abroad (i.e. no connections between Utrecht and Paris or between Rotterdam and Germany, because there is always a transfer within the Netherlands). To plan trips within the Netherlands, it is best this website use.

NS Hispeed sells online a small range of journeys departing from the Netherlands to other countries (one-way and return journeys), and a very limited number of routes from abroad to (other) foreign countries (one-way and return journeys). You can book other trips by telephone via the Telesales department (0900-9296, €0.35 p.m.) and at the counters in the Tickets and Service shops at the (medium) large stations. This is the online International counter of the Dutch railways.

Smoking is prohibited on the train in all European countries.

By car

In the summer months Slovenia is easily accessible by car from the Netherlands and Belgium. Before Bled (in the north) and the centrally located capital Ljubljana, the route runs via Munich (Germany), Salzburg (Austria), and then just past the Austrian Villach over the border with Slovenia through the Karawanken tunnel. The distance is about 1200 km, a distance that - for someone who drives well on the German highways - can easily be done within a day.

Keep in mind that you need a motorway vignette for both Austria and Slovenia, otherwise you risk a hefty fine. You can purchase both vignettes at most German gas stations from about 50 km before the border with Austria. In addition, Austria also has several toll tunnels, including the Karawankentunnel. So make sure you have enough cash with you.

Slovenia itself has a limited but good highway network connecting the main cities of the country. Place names are well marked, and important roadside notices are in both Slovenian and English. Tourist attractions near the highway are indicated with information signs and graphics along the highway.

A local map is [5].

By bus

You can book your trip to Slovenia by bus at http://www.eurolines.nlYou are traveling via Frankfurt and will have to change there.

The journey takes between 22 and 24 hours.

By boat

Travel around

Language

The official language of Slovenia is Slovenian. In addition to Slovenian, Italian and Hungarian are maintained as official languages ​​in the regions where the Italian (approx. 3000 people) and Hungarian (approx. 8000 people) minorities live. The German-speaking minority, especially in and around the city of Maribor, was expelled after 1945 (see also Expulsion of Germans after the Second World War).

In the tourist areas you can generally get along well with English as a visitor. Depending on the region, conversing in Italian or German is also possible.

To look at

To do

To buy

Cost

The costs for a meal or a drink on a terrace are considerably lower than in Western Europe. Depending on the region, you can sometimes drink a cup of coffee for 80 euro cents, and a beer (0.5 L) costs about 2 euros.

However, the prices in the supermarket are not much lower than in Belgium or the Netherlands. The Slovenians pay almost as much for a carton of milk or a loaf of bread as we do in our supermarket. What is especially expensive are the imported products. In Mercator, for example, a jar of peanut butter is for sale for 3.90 EU.

The entrance fees to tourist attractions (caves, zoo, etc.) are also of Western European proportions. Activities, on the other hand (diving, rafting, canyoning, etc.) are cheaper.

Food

Slovenia has many restaurants and eateries, and the influence of the surrounding countries on Slovenian eating habits is clearly noticeable. For example, you will find Austrian-oriented dishes (schnitzel, sausages and steak), or Italian pizzas and pastas, but also Central European meals such as goulash and mixed grill.

Meat is an important part of the meal. You will also find many fish dishes on the menu, especially towards the coast in western Slovenia. Vegetarians are less satisfied in restaurants, although this varies per region and per restaurant.

The region around Ptuj and Maribor, in the northeast of the country, is known as the wine region of Slovenia. The region produces several very tasty wines. If you are more of a beer drinker, visit the village of Laško, a few kilometers south of Celje. Laško is known for the beer of the same name; the pride of the nation, which can be found on tap at every Slovenian pub. If there are enough registrations (15 people or more), a small tour of the village will be given on Friday afternoon. A visit to the Laško brewery is also on the program, and it will be concluded with a beer tasting.

Going out

Slovenia has a striking number of casinos, especially along the Italian border. Because gambling is prohibited in Italy, many Italians come to visit their Slavic eastern neighbors every year to be able to spend their money in the casino there.

stay overnight

Slovenia has an extensive range of accommodation options. Hotels, apartments, private rooms, overnight stays on farms (agritourism), youth hostels, mountain huts and campsites are among the possibilities.

• http://www.apartmaji-jansa.net/ Apartments Jansa in Radovljica - Triglavska cesta 7 - SI-4240 Radovljica - tel. 386 (0)4 531 5204 - email: [email protected]

Safety

Health

Those traveling to Slovenia are advised to get vaccinations against DTP, and against Hepatitis A and B.

respect

Contact

• Slovenian Tourist Board, tel/fax 386 15891 840/841 [6]

• Tourist Office Dovje-Mojstrana in mojstrana, tel/fax 386 45891 320 [7]

Countries in Europe

Balkans: Albania · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Kosovo · Croatia · Montenegro · North Macedonia · Romania · Slovenia · Serbia Baltic states: Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania Benelux: Belgium · Luxembourg · Netherlands British Isles: Ireland · United Kingdom Central Europe: Germany · Hungary · Liechtenstein · Austria · Poland · Slovenia · Slovakia · Czech Republic · Switzerland France and Monaco: France · Monaco Iberian Peninsula: Andorra · Gibraltar · Portugal · Spain Italian Peninsula: Italy · Malta · San Marino · Vatican CITY Caucasus: Armenia · Azerbaijan · Georgia East Mediterranean: Cyprus · Greece · Turkey Eastern Europe: Kazakhstan · Moldavia · Ukraine · Russia · Belarus Scandinavia: Denmark · Finland · Norway · Iceland · Sweden

Destinations
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This is a usable article. It contains information on how to get there, as well as the main attractions, nightlife and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but dive in and expand it!