To be honest, it’s not easy anymore to choose a country to visit in Europe. Especially that it is very hot during the summer. But we ended up in Slovenia which is my 51st country. Slovenia was fun as we enjoyed an epic drive covering four countries.

After renting a car at the airport, we drove to the south then to the east of Ljubljana. We enjoyed the beautiful mountain views and the long, winding and narrow roads crossing all the way to Austria before we reached our hotel in Lesce. It was a peaceful and homely feel kind of hotel from where Lake Bled is located some 2 kilometres away. So Lake Bled was the destination for the next day.

Lake Bled is really pretty and it was worth a visit even in this cloudy day. But there were lots of people and somehow, the peaceful vibe that I was hoping to get by watching this beautiful lake was a bit disturbed by the number of people swimming in the lake. But it was summer and swimming is what summer is for.

However, Lake Bohinj is even more prettier and we had the best meal facing the lake and the tall mountains. So beautiful!

The plan for the next day was to visit Mangrt. Mangrt is a mountain in the Julian Alps located in the border between Italy and Slovenia. It has an elevation of 2,679 metres. Check out the reel here. But to reach Mangrt from our hotel, we had to pass by Italy. It was such a scenic drive! It was also lovely to discover the city of Tarvisio where we enjoyed coffee, gelato and some authentic Italian food. The Calzone was the best ever. Italian food gained my trust again! Check out the reel here.

We moved to another hotel in search for more lakes and mountains. This time, we stayed near Lake Jasna. Lake Jasna is two interconnected artificial lakes with a pretty background of the mountains. We also went to Lago di Raibl in Italy to enjoy the amazing view of the emerald lake and the mountains.

The next day, we left the lakes and the mountains in search for the sea. We drove south, mostly in the Italian side and found a small city called Palmanova. We also drove through Trieste before reaching Ankaran in Slovenia where we had the most lovely accommodation in all this trip. It was in a villa facing the Adriatic Sea. Surprisingly, we had the best room in the entire villa. It was the only room with a balcony and a living room. It was huge that I really had to reconfirm the room rate at the reception. The receptionist said to me, ‘Madam, I gave you the best room’. And so it was an upgrade! Check out the reel here. We enjoyed a delicious meal of seafood, wine and Lava cake at the villa before enjoying a beautiful sunset by the beach.

During the next day, we enjoyed the seaside. We had a refreshing swim in Kanegra in Croatia, visited Koper in Slovenia then drove to Chiampore in Italy before heading back to the villa. We were in three countries in one day! We also drove to Piran in Slovenia and enjoyed the beautiful Rovinj in Croatia. It was such an experience to be able to visit different countries in this holiday.

Then it was time to leave our beautiful villa in Ankaran and head back to Ljubljana for the last 2 nights of our holiday. On the way, we passed by Predjama Castle. Predjama Castle is a castle built within a cave. You can find the reel here. We arrived in Ljubljana, enjoyed a walk in the city centre and watched the beautiful sunset view in Ljubljana Castle.

For our last day, we can’t resist not to drive to the Italian border city of Gorizia. It was an hour drive but it was so worth it. I love the small Italian cities with its charm and authentic Italian food. This was the perfect way to end our holiday!

Please check out my travel journal here.

All photos by Ari Vitikainen