Some notes on the Slovenian language
As with most Slavic languages, the j is pronounced like the English y/य,
so “Ljubljana” is pronounced “Lyublyana/ल्युब्ल्याना”.
You might also see a caron, an inverted cap(◌̌) on some letters, for example, č, š, and ž.
Imagine the caron as h to get the pronunciation.
čis pronounced like the Englishch/चšis pronounced like the Englishsh/शžis pronounced like thezh/झ़
Day 1
Start with a walking tour of Ljubljana to orient yourself in the city.
The city is small, walk-friendly, but fairly unassuming.
Afterward, I would recommend hiking to the castle, 20 minutes uphill from the city center. The hike is pleasant, and the views of the city from the top are worth it. You don’t need to pay to enter most areas of the castle. Only if you want to enter the museum or climb the tower do you need to buy the entrance ticket.
Day 2 - Škocjanske Caves and Lake Bled
Take a 15.5 Euro train from Ljubljana to Divača and then hike 40 minutes to Škocjanske Caves.
Buy tickets for the caves at least a few hours in advance, as the number of visitors is limited. The caves are a UNESCO World Heritage site and are among the largest known underground canyons in the world.
From there, instead of returning, I took a 3-hour, 10.7 Euro train to Lake Bled. I reached there at 7 PM, right around sunset. Lake Bled is beautiful, but I could only spend a couple of hours there before catching the 5.2 Euro, 1-hour-long last bus at 8:45 PM back to Ljubljana.
I would recommend planning this better and reaching the cave early in the day, so that you have more time at Lake Bled.
Note
- If you are coming from Western Europe, for example, Vienna or Salzburg, you will immediately notice a decline in prosperity and prices.
- There are several free toilets near the city center of Ljubljana. Look for signs with a “WC” symbol.
- Every train I took was delayed 5-15 minutes. So, plan accordingly.