Slovenia is truly an undiscovered gem in Europe and despite its small size, it has so much to offer! Throughout our week we spent in Slovenia we were amazed by the diversity, the beautiful scenery, the nature, the cleanliness and the very kind people. We booked a half day tour with Roundabout Travel from Ljubljana which would take us to the world famous underground world of Postojna Caves and also to the magnificent Predjama Castle.
We were picked up around the corner from our hotel by our friendly guide Tine at 1:45pm. Our group consisted of three Aussies, a British Couple and Dan and I. Tine was a great guide, he was really friendly, chatty and funny and took the time to point out a number of sites of interest as we drove out of Ljubljana and told us really interesting facts about Slovenian history and some funny ones including how often they are confused for Slovakia and how many extreme athletes they have! We were very impressed by his ability to multi-task driving and guiding!
Our first stop of the afternoon was the world famous Postojna Caves, the most popular karst cave in the world! Postojna Caves are the world’s largest caves that are open to the public and are truly magnificent! Our guided tour of the caves consisted of an electrical train ride through the caves followed by a walk through beautiful passages and chambers with spectacular drop stones, pillars, limestone curtains, stalactites, stalagmites and other unforgettable forms! The caves are home to over 150 species of animals and we were lucky enough to catch a rare glimpse of some salamanders which was incredible! After we’d walked for just over an hour we reached one of the largest areas of the cave and re-boarded the train which took us further through the caves and eventually back outside. The caves were truly magnificent and I can see why they are the number one tourist attraction in Slovenia!
After we finished in the Caves we met up with Tine and he drove us about 15 minutes up the road to Predjama. It was a beautiful drive through the countryside until we reached the cute, idyllic village of Predjama. It was an incredible experience to see the beautiful fairytale medieval Predjama Castle for the first time! Tine explained the difference between castles and palaces and gave us plenty of time to take lots of photos before we headed inside the castle. Predjama Castle had a dramatic location in the gaping mouth of a cavern, halfway up a hillside and is literally built into the caves and cliff face! We had a guided tour of Predjama Castle where we learnt all about the history, explored the many rooms and learnt all about the legend of Erasmus who is known as the “Slovenian Robin Hood”! Tine was a fantastic, engaging and knowledgeable tour guide and we learnt a lot from him throughout the tour.
Once we’d finished our tour of the castle we headed back to the minivan to drive back to Ljubljana which was only 45 minutes away. Tine played a CD in the car for us which was a really funny parody of just how difficult the Slovenian language is to learn! Trust us, it seems almost impossible and we met a number of expats during our time in Slovenia who had lived there for over 10 years and had still not learnt the language!
Our Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle with Roundabout Tours was fantastic. Tine was a great driver and guide and was both extremely knowledgeable and engaging and we learnt a lot about Slovenia, Postonja Caves and Predjama Castle during our half day tour. Roundabout Travel have a wide range of tours all through Slovenia and neighbouring countries and if you’re interested head over to the Roundabout Travel website to check them out and book!
The Aussie Flashpacker experienced our Postojna Cave & Predjama Castle Tour as a guest of Roundabout Travel Slovenia.
Our opinions are as always, our own.
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