Slovenia

Slovenia (Slovenija) is a country in Central Europe that lies in the eastern Alps at the northeastern end of the Adriatic Sea. Despite its small size, with Austria to the north, Italy to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast and Croatia to the south, Slovenia has a surprising variety of terrain, ranging from the beaches of the Mediterranean to the peaks of the Alps.

Regions

Cities

Ports and harbors

Urban municipalities (mestne ob?ine, singular - mestna ob?ina)

Other destinations

Understand

Slovenia is promoted by the Slovenian Tourist Organisation and the Slovenian Government.

Climate

Mediterranean climate on the coast, continental climate with mild to hot summers and cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east

Terrain

A short coastal strip on the Adriatic, an Alpine mountain region adjacent to Italy and Austria, mixed mountain and valleys with numerous rivers to the east. In the southwest there is the Karst (Kras in Slovene) (where the name for karst topography actually comes from).

; Natural hazards : flooding and earthquakes
highest point
Triglav 2,864 m

History

The Slovene lands were part of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria until 1918 when the Slovenes joined the Serbs and Croats in forming a new nation, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, Slovenia became a republic of the renewed Yugoslavia, which though Communist, distanced itself from Moscow's rule. Dissatisfied with the exercise of power of the majority Serbs, the Slovenes succeeded in establishing their independence in 1991 with minimal bloodshed. In 2004, Slovenia joined the European Union and NATO.

; Independence : 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
National holiday
Statehood Day, 25 June (1991); Independence and Unity Day, 26 December (1990)
Constitution
adopted 23 December 1991, effective 23 December 1991

Historical ties to Western Europe, a strong economy, and a stable democracy make Slovenia a leading country among the new members of the EU and NATO.

Get in

As Slovenia is a member country of the European Union, citizens from other member states can enter Slovenia with a valid passport or a valid identity card.

By bus

The Ljubljana Bus Station (Ljubljana Avtobusna Postaja) provides composite information about international and airport bus services. Phone: 090 93 42 30 (Slovenian only) English Website: http://ap-ljubljana.si/eng/

By plane

Slovenia's primary international airport is Ljubljana Brnik => which is around 25 km north of Ljubljana, the capital. The airport is connected with Ljubljana by taxis and buses.

Airlines

By train

Trains may be different from what you're used to in Western Europe. (In Bled, Ljubljana, and Jesenice...) The time of arrival for the next train is not displayed next to the tracks, nor is the train's destination. This information must be found out either from a chalkboard (may have incorrect times) or some other sign near the train station building. Otherwise, many speak English in Slovenia, and they will always help you get where you're going.

Getting off the train can also be difficult. There is no loudspeaker announcement of the next station, and there is usually just one sign at the smaller stations, such as Lesce Bled. It may be helpful to ask the ticket checker for assistance in choosing the right station, or rely on the train's rough arrival time, if you have planned ahead.

By car

Slovenia has an excellent highway network connected to neighboring countries.

From Austria

From Italy

By boat

Get around

By train

Slovenia's internal train network will get you to most destinations in the country.

By bus

Buses fill in the gaps, and may be a better options for some towns not directly served from Ljubljana by train (eg. Bled).

By car

Slovenia's roads are for the most part well maintained and well signposted, and you won't have a problem if you drive or hire a car. Having a car certainly does add a level of mobility and self direction that you won't get by train or bus.

By taxi

Talk

Slovenian, the national language, is spoken as mother tongue by 91% of the population, but there are also significant Italian and Hungarian minorities. Most people you come into contact with as a tourist will speak English, and if not they'll almost certainly speak either Italian or German or both.

Buy

The local currency is the Slovenian tolar (SIT), which trades at around 240 to the euro (January 2005). Prices are high compared to eastern neighbors (except Croatia), but cheap compared to Italy or Austria.

Eat

The oldest Slovenian food are dishes made from flour and groats. The best known are the breads made for holiday occasions which today appear in the form of braided loaves or wreathes, dumplings known as štruklji which Slovenians prepare in 70 different ways stuffed with sweet fillings, meat or vegetables, and žganci (a type of polenta). A real Slovenian speciality is potica, a dessert for holiday occasions also prepared with the widest variety of fillings. A major event in the countryside still today is the slaughtering of a pig from which many various products are made: groat and white klobasa, blood sausage, roasts, stuffed tripe, smoked sausage, salami, ham, bacon, and, of course, the highest quality and most prized Kraški pršut, the Slovenian version of the Italian prosciutto or air-dried ham. Recipes for the preparation of poultry, especially goose, duck, and capon, have been preserved for many centuries. And it is obvious that in a country beside the sea there is a large choice of the fish and sea fruits which we find most often on Primorska menus.

Hungry travelers may also try inexpensive (if greasy) fast food at one of many small snack bars selling the Bosnian speciality burek, a large, flaky pastry stuffed with meat (mesni burek), cheese (sirni) or apple (jabol?ni). Hamburgers and pizza are also widespread.

Drink

Slovenian wine can be quite good. Hint: The best stuff is not exported! Laško & Union beers are also good. An inside tip would be Adam Ravbar beer, which is usually hard to find anywhere except in their small brewery.

Sleep

Dovje Mojstrana

Kranjska Gora

Ljubljana

Bled

Learn

Slovenia has three universities (Ljubljana, Maribor, Koper) and several independent colleges (BSA Kranj, IEDC Bled, Politehnika Nova Gorica...). The University of Ljubljana also contains 3 art academies: Theater and Film, Music, Fine Arts.

Stay safe

Phone Nr.: Police 113

NOTE: Slovenia is most likely one of the safest countries to visit, but do be aware of your surroundings.

TIVOLI PARK: The park is generally very safe, and a great place to take an afternoon stroll, but rapes have been reported in Tivoli park after dark, and flashers are know to hang around the Eastern side of the Park across from the student dormitories. Horse mounted police patrol the park.

DISCOTEQUES: Slovene men are sometimes very aggressive in crowded bars, and it's not uncommon to be grabbed or groped.

Stay healthy

Phone Nr.: Emergency 112

Contact

This text of this article is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0. It has been slightly modified to fit the general design of this website. The authors of this document are Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel, Peter Donaghy, Rory, Wikitravel user SiEagle, Yann Forget, Evan Prodromou and the following WikiTravel users: Bijee, CIAWorldFactbook2002, Cjensen, EBB, Huttite, InterLangBot, Jpatokal, Rmx. The original version of this article can be seen at http://wikitravel.org/en/Slovenia.