Day three in Slovenia was dedicated to visiting the Postojna caves. I say “was dedicated” because it ended up taking up most of my day due to public transportation. I wasted a lot of time waiting for busses, but I’m glad I went nonetheless. The caves are in the town of Postojna, about 49 km from Ljubljana. I took a morning bus and arrived with the hopes of seeing the caves and the castle.

Getting to the caves was a bit of a goose chase. The bus station is a good 20 minute walk from the caves, and I don’t have data for a map on my cell phone. Thankfully an older asian couple was also trying to find the caves and we walked together until we stumbled upon the entrance. The woman didn’t speak English, but the man did and we stopped a few times to reevaluate the map before continuing on. It was a comical sight I’m sure.

I purchased the castle/cave combo at the bus station, something I never do. I discovered once I arrived at the caves that I’d need to take a taxi to the castle because there was no shuttle running this time of year. I was annoyed, and was reminded why I typically buy tickets at the location.

Had I not wanted to be back in Ljubljana in the evening to meet with my hostel friends for a concert I’d have walked the 12 miles round trip, alas I took the loss and moved on.

Once inside the caves I forgot all about the wasted castle money, and I was in awe of the passage ways. There is a train that takes you 2km into the cave, we walk another 5km, and then take the train the 2km back out. The walking tour took about an hour, and it was so cool. Literally and figuratively, which I was thankful for on this 90 degree day.

After the cave tour I had a lot of time to kill before the bus came to take me back to Ljubljana. I walked around Postojna a bit, however there wasn’t much to see. I eventually found my way to a mom and pop burger shop, and was given amazing service for my specific food needs. The woman spoke perfect English, and I modified my order to accommodate my food sensitivities and she was so kind about it.

10/10 recommend and the food was amazing. 

I splurged and ate the fries.

I finally made it back to Ljubljana around 5pm, and had plans to watch a classical concert on the river. My first night in Ljubljana I saw the advertisement for a boat cruise with a classical concert, but missed the last boat by 1 minute. I had my heart set on this concert for two days and the girls in my hostel wanted to come too.

I discovered that there were no classical concerts that night, but there was a jazz concert instead. I figured a change of pace would be nice, so I messaged the girls and gave them the update. Cornelia and Coti had done the city walking tour that day, Coti made another friend, and she decided to spend the evening with him. So Cornelia and I met up for the jazz boat and it was AWESOME.

I had told the man I bought my tickets from I was dying to get on one of these boats, and he told the musicians. The musicians then dedicated a song to Cornelia and I. These musicians are fresh out of high school (the one on the far left is still in high school) and they were so good! Cornelia had recently done a swing dance camp, and the jazz music brought back fun memories for her.

After our boat ride, Cornelia and I met back up with Coti and her new German friend for a drink before retiring back to our hostel for our last night together. Or so I thought. We all had plans to leave the following morning/early afternoon, but I decided to stay another day because I wanted to spend more time in the city.

Cornelia also ended up staying another day because her train to Salzburg was delayed. Coti headed off to Munich, and Cornelia and I soaked up one final day in Slovenia together. Day four we walked to Metelkova, an alternative district of artists, hippies, students, punks, and creative minds aggregating in an old military headquarters. The street art was worth the walk to Metelkova.

If you haven’t caught on by now, sLOVEnia was a LOVEly time. I couldn’t have imagined this last minute trip going any better. Sometimes the most unexpected things happen when we don’t have any expectations at all. This is one of those trips that can never be recreated in the same way, and for that I will always have a special place in my heart for Slovenia.

I hope to visit Coti in Chile, and Cornelia in Sweden someday. It’s not everyday you meet people you immediately bond with. We have messaged each other here and there since meeting over a month ago. Don’t cross Slovenia off your list, it’s a MUST see. While my posts were more focused on the people I met, there is so much history and beauty to the cities I visited too. My heart was just more focused on the friendships.

Q: Have you ever thought about visiting Slovenia?