Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Much to do there? We've just booked a July trip that will take us from Venice to Ljubljana and then on to Pula (because the cheapo flight back from the Dalmatian Coast to Manchester is from there).

We probably won't be cliff diving into the sea or paragliding or anything there, as a) we're there for a day and b) we don't really do "activity" things anyway.

Tips though for what to seek out in terms of eating/drinking ("authentic Croatian" tips welcome)/sightseeing for a day?

Oh, and on the off-chance that anyone knows Ljubljana really well, I'll now be there on the night of the World Cup Final (a Sunday night). If you know the town centre and can recommend a bar that will be perfect for watching the game ...

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

The Venice - Ljubljana trip features some stunning scenery, as does Ljubljana - Zagreb but it sounds like you're not going that way.

Ljubljana has a neat little museum of Slovenian contemporary history, it's in like a mansion, and it's got a tank outside. here

There's a little cluster of bars and pizza restaurants opposite the station in Ljubljana, they looked like the sort of fellas who'd have the football on so if all else fails ...

No idea about Pula.

[Alderman Barnes]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

As it happens, we've been down that way three times in the past few years, and it's very nice. I couldn't tell you what to do though, because we've only ever once managed to get our shit together to get out of the hotel resort. I'm sure you'll find something.

One thing though - it's Istria, not Dalmatia. That's further south. Oh, and James Joyce was an English teacher in Pula and hated it.

I suspect Ursus is your man here.

[Duncan Gardner]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

If you meet a drunk Bosniak called Faoud in any Ljubljana bar, tread warily- especially if he offers to show you his gun.

[alyxandr]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

(This seems as good a place as any to register my discontent with the Olympics U.S. teevee announcers who continually reference some country called "Slovainia".)

[Southport Zeb]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

alyxandr wrote: (This seems as good a place as any to register my discontent with the Olympics U.S. teevee announcers who continually reference some country called "Slovainia".)

Isn't that where they kept all the mirrors in the former Yugoslavia?

[via vicaria]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

Slovenia isn't exactly massive so you can probably take a day trip from Ljubljana. If possible, Lake Bled is a must see:



Piran's old town is quite picturesque (around Tartini Square), although most of the small towns on the coast of Istria (e.g. Rovinj) are lovely.

[Magik]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

Been to Krk last year which is close to Pula. I did nothing there but kept drinking beer on the beach while the kids were swimming in the sea to locals horror as it was early may. Apart from that kept telling the locals "hvala" and "pozdrav". It was lovely, man....

[The Purple Cow]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

That amphitheatre excites me greatly. This'll be two years running we've gone somewhere we'd never heard of before purely because it was a cheap flight, only to then discover it has some archaeological or historical wonder. Last year it was Bodrum.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

Another recommendation for Rovinj. We had our 1st 'proper' holiday there (i.e. not one where we set off with rucksacks and mainly slept on trains.

Yugotours last minute booking, staying in 'village rooms', which were basically
widow(er)s' spare rooms.

Lovely Venetian architecture, real sense of Italo-Croat cultural mix, good (very cheap) food and wine, lovely boat trips to islands.

6 months later it all kicked off, so I know it won't be the same.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote: That amphitheatre excites me greatly. This'll be two years running we've gone somewhere we'd never heard of before purely because it was a cheap flight, only to then discover it has some archaeological or historical wonder. Last year it was Bodrum.

This is quite special. They're playing their first season in KHL and doing surprisingly well, holdng a play-off position.

[linus]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

That's an awesome (colossal!) setup for a hockey game, Ganja.

Looks like Slovenia is headed to the QFs, they're dismantling Austria, as expected.

[ad hoc]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

Put me in among the "people who went to Pula 30 years ago" crowd. Sounds like we could have had an OTF-athon drinking mish-mash ( a sort of Yugoslav sangria)

Ljubljana is lovely, as is pretty much everywhere in Slovenia. You can't go wrong really. last time I was in Slovenia found myself in the lovely little town of Ptuj, for example. Never heard of it before, and still don't really know how to say it without - basically- spitting, but it was great.

Alderman Barnes wrote:
Oh, and James Joyce was an English teacher in Pula and hated it.

I thought Joyce was an English teacher in Trieste?

[Alderman Barnes]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

He was, but got packed off to Pula for part of that time.

[Guest]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

I also went to Pula 30 years ago. In 1984, the coastline was nice for picnics, I seem to remember, and there were excursions to Trieste, Lipica and Postojna.

[The Purple Cow]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

.

[Third rate Leszno]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

Another vote for a day trip to Bled, here. They have rowing competitions there too, it's a tremendously scenic venue.

Lake Bohinj is nice too, but windy as fuck a lot of the time. If you get down to the Slovenian coast Piran is nice, Portoroz isn't. Get the hydrofoil over to Venice... oh wait, you've just come from there, haven't you?

[Crusoe]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

I think it was 2005 we stayed for 2 weeks in Opatija, just round the coast from Pula. Beautiful old Austrian spa resort town slightly sullied with some ugly concrete hotels.

We managed only a day trip to Pula. I remember the coliseum was very impressive indeed. There was also a market, more of your Kilburn car boot sale than Notting Hill arts and crafts though.

Lake Bled was beautiful and highly recommended. Ljubljana looked suprisingly modern - I had a naive and fairly patronising idea that all of the ex-Yugoslavian cities and towns would either be bullet-scarred civil war ruins or beautiful old medieval ports like something from Assassin's Creed.

Other things to do around Istria: the rural inland has some nice farms that welcome tourist parties. Some of the nicest, simplest food I've ever eaten.

Parascending in the Kvarner Bay. I'm terrified of heights but gave it a try anyway. Was all going swimmingly well until several hundred feet up I started examining the catches connecting me to the harness.

And for another day trip, you can easily get from Pula to Rovinj (Rovigno), a very pretty town, and from there get a hydrofoil ferry across to Venice. You get a full day there, time enough for the most obvious sites and a wander round.

Lastly, it would be a long day, but you could try getting a bus down to southern Croatia - I found the Plitvice Lakes particularly beautiful.

[Johny10]

Ljubljana/Pula, then, for Croatia/Slovenia experts

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