Five one-of-a-kind experiences in Slovenia

Words: Gordon Scott

Slovenia is Europe’s ultimate boutique destination. Despite its traveller-friendly compact size, it manages to cram in a world of awe: a Mediterranean coastline, Alpine meadows, entrancing cities, life-enhancing thermal waters and a dynamic food scene. It’s an authentic place with the kind of heritage that makes for genuinely one-off experiences, the kind of under-the-radar travel secrets that you really can’t find anywhere else. Here are five of the best. 

1. Dine 160m underground in a subterranean coal mine

For a gastronomic experience like no other, head to the Coal Mining Museum of Slovenia in Velenje, an hour’s drive from Ljubljana. Once you’ve fortified yourself with a welcome drink and a good luck miners’ greeting from the kitchen, don a hard hat and enter the oldest still operating lift in Slovenia to descend 160m down into the mine. After a tour of the mine and a drive in an underground train, you then sit down to a four-course štajger, a modern version of the meal once enjoyed by the mining foreman, followed by a glass of sparkling wine in the miners’ atmospheric changing room. 

2. Go ‘sheep salting’ with an Alpine mountaineer

High mountain pasture grass doesn’t have much sodium in it, so the Jezersko-Solčava sheep that graze under the north face of Grintovec in northern Slovenia rely on traditional salting to stay healthy. Guided by a local Alpinist, visitors can hike these centuries-old shepherding trails to high pastures off the beaten path and witness this historic farming ritual in action, where the flock gathers at traditional stone feeding spots. Along the way, you’ll visit the country’s oldest mountain hut, enjoy a hearty shepherd’s meal and learn about the storied history of these romantic mountains.

3. Experience the effects of thermal water in a romantic island castle

The delightful Otočec Castle sits on a small island in the middle of the Krka River, which winds through the dense forests and pretty valleys of Slovenia’s lush Dolenjska region. Now a luxury Relais & Châteaux hotel, it is one of the most glamorous places to experience Slovenia’s famously revitalising thermal waters. Its Secret Spa offers nurturing massages and anti-ageing rituals of the sort that have made the country one of Europe’s up-and-coming wellness destinations. 

4. Go bear-watching in ancient forests

Slovenia is home to one of the largest areas of uniform woodland in Europe. The forests of Kočevje in the south of the country are known as ‘the green sea of Europe’, and they contain primeval remnants and virgin forests, untouched by man. They’re also home to the continent’s most thrilling apex predators: bear, wolves and lynx. In keeping with the country’s focus on green light-touch tourism, visitors can head into the forest with a specialist guide to learn about the regional flora and fauna and picnic on local food and foraged herbs, before retreating to a special observatory for an evening of bear-watching.

5. Explore secret spy rooms

Built in 1971, Hotel Jama appeared for much of its life to be a regular hotel, catering to the tourists who flocked to the nearby Postojna Cave. But a renovation in 2016 revealed that until 1991 it had had an extraordinary double life. Hidden from view was a network of secret rooms used by the intelligence services of the old regime. Today, guests can explore these old surveillance quarters, which offer a fascinating insight into the machinations of the Cold War. On the tour, you walk down windowless corridors like a character in a spy thriller and listen to archival material that was taped on listening devices and wiretaps used to eavesdrop on important figures of the day. 

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