Rachel’s Interrail Adventures

I skipped a day – did you miss me? Haha – didn’t think so! It’s been a nice two days. I’m writing this as I wait for Chris to leave for the airport. Another storm is starting – it’s been a funny few days weather wise but we’ve been very lucky actually.

Yesterday we visited two popular spots in Slovenia – the Postojna Caves and Predjama Castle. 15 minute shuttle buses connect them and so they match up well in a day trip.

We took the 8.15 bus from Ljubljana as it takes you all the way to the Cave car park. Most other timetabled bus journeys only go into Postojna bus station and you have to walk about 20 mins to the cave.

The cave visits are timed and take about 90 minutes. They start with a train ride, then a guided walk and then a train ride out again. The walking can be fairly steep and I was glad to have my hiking sandals on which are very grippy.

Did you know that there are stalactites, stalagmites and…. curtains?! Well I do now. The photos do not do justice to the caves- they are huge and majestic.

Afterwards, we popped on a shuttle to the castle which took about 10-15 minutes. The castle is stunning from the outside and interesting to tour. After eating our pre bought sandwiches (thank you local Ljubljana bakery) we went on the castle tour. It is self guided and you can go any time on the day of your ticket. Audio guides are included in the ticket and they are interesting.

Predjama castle was first built around the year 1200 and is built in a cave on a cliff face. It is well protected there and there is a series of caves and passageways behind it through the rock that came in handy during one particular year long siege!

It was a good day. The castle is great to see as are the majestic caves. A combined basic ticket is EU41.50.

Our day actually finished around 1.30pm and we were looking for something else to do. I tried to get a bus to Koper at the coast but it didn’t work out. Eventually we got back into Ljubljana around 3/4pm after trying a couple of options and having a beer instead. We walked around the old town and had Carniolan sausage again. It’s honestly so good – best sausage ever. Very juicy. Did I mention that it has a ‘protected status’ on it?

The next day we started a little later with a walking tour in Ljubljana booked at 10. In fact it was the same guide who had cancelled on me on Sunday. I’ve got to say she was excellent. Her name is Minka and I booked the tour through GuruWalks. Best walking tour on this trip so far by a mile.

Minka told us lots about the complicated history of Ljubljana and brought us many foods to taste too. She spoke about the union that became Yugoslavia and pointed out many Art Nouveau style buildings that were built after a big earthquake in 1895.

Excellent tour so I forgive her for canceling on me 😎.

Afterwards, guess what we had for lunch? Yep – Carniolan sausage again. This time from another well known place.

And so now it’s Saturday morning and I’m off to Salzburg. I’m already on the train making a 12 year old Belgian scout practise his English 🤞🤞 – he’ll thank me for it in the future!!