The hike was more strenuous than we expected and scary for those of us with a fear of heights! But totally made up for by all the beautiful views! It was fantastic. And I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of lunch at the mountain.

Lake Bled had to be done, and the colour of the water was spectacular. We rowed to the island, some of us went on inflatables in the lake while the others cycled. But Lake Bohinj was the surprise hit here!! So huge and scenic and peaceful! And we didn’t have high expectations of being able to do SUPs but we all could and will be doing it a lot more in the future! Perhaps my highlight of the whole holiday but it’s hard to pick!

The cycling at Kranjska Gora – they didn’t have a small enough bike for G so gave him an electric bike which was perfect as it was extremely hot and he’s not terribly fit! The path was flat as you had described but my husband took us up a massive hill to a dry ski slope which I was not happy about at all!

The hotel in Bovec was awesome! White water rafting was a memory to last a lifetime and an experience that all 5 of us loved!  We had a couple of hours to chill out at the fabulous hotel pool before the canyoning. Eek! The scariest thing I have ever done?!?! I wish I had photographic evidence that I did it! Perhaps you could suggest to people that they bring a GoPro?

The caves were another big surprise! I have never seen anything like it!! But should come with a warning for those who are scared of heights! I was pretty terrified!

Piran was gorgeous and we enjoyed some relaxing time at the hotel pool.

Predjama Castle was well worth the visit despite it being an extremely hot day!

Ljubljana was great although might have been better as a first stop. We enjoyed our tour and our guide told us loads of interesting things we would never have known otherwise.

So overall we absolutely loved it and are recommending to all our friends and family that they also go to Slovenia! We are not an adventurous family normally and this holiday was a revelation to us – we would certainly book with you guys at Stubborn Mule again!

Everything ran so smoothly with the pre-printed vouchers, for example for the paddle-boarding, rafting, canyoning, mountain-biking, ferry rides, caves etc. It made it all so easy and meant we could be sure we would be going ahead with that planned activity that day rather than turning up and finding it was all fully booked.

We also loved the fact that we had such varied types of accommodation and scenery. All in all it was a total success and we will definitely look to use Stubborn Mule again. Thank you for giving us a holiday we shall never forget. Meanwhile, we have recommended you to all our friends and family!

Special mentions must go to:
– the family who run the mountain lodge who were so warm and friendly – and that place had stunning views
– the guide for our canyoning in Bovec called Marco who was such a character and encouraged us all with humour and energy to do things some of us probably never thought we would do!
– the scenic drives

Thank you very much once again for all your organisation.

Best wishes

Then off to Veli Losinj in Croatia. We loved the hotel in Veli Losinj. The food was great, the hosts were friendly and we enjoyed the pool and the generally relaxed pace. Walking along the coastal path to quiet bays was lovely, and one day we took a boat to the three islands and enjoyed swimming off the side of it. This was our favourite place. I would happily have stayed for the rest of the summer!

The Skocjan caves were truly amazing! Incredibly huge and majestic. I highly recommend this visit to everyone who can manage it. (It does have a lot of steps so that’s worth bearing in mind.) Then we went to Predjama Castle, which was very interesting though absolutely jam-packed with people.

The hotel in Ljubljana was great – nice rooms, helpful staff, great breakfast and very well situated for all the sights. We took a ‘time machine’ guided tour of the castle with actors playing historical figures, which was a fun way of hearing about the history, and beyond that we wandered around looking at bridges and statues and eating at restaurants along the tree-lined river. It’s a beautiful city and we really enjoyed its relaxed atmosphere and excellent food.

Overall we really enjoyed both Slovenia and Croatia and would love to go back another time to explore more.

Car hire pickup was very easy with a lovely guy on the desk and the car was great with an enormous boot, which was very useful.  A map would have been really handy though.  Atet didn’t offer any and the car had no Satnav. Although we used our phones, it’s a lot easier to have a view of the bigger picture on paper to aid navigation initially.

Lake Bled was beautiful and we had the best ice cream ever on the island there.  The kids loved the public lido on the lake which was a really great facility with a slide and diving board and inflatables, especially since the area was so busy that finding a spot elsewhere for free swimming was pretty impossible.  Lots of Brit/Irish end-of-termers, though! Summer tobogganing was also a hit.

The free tourist buses doing circuits in both Bled and Bohinj are really great and worth making people aware to look out for.  The self-catering apartments were great too, very modern and nicely done, close to the free bus stop and a very short walk to the farmhouse for a great breakfast.  The area was lovely and a very doable 15/20 min walk through lovely countryside to town when we didn’t want to drive.  Great beehive educational session/honey tasting there too.

Bike hire at Kranska Gora was good – we cycled to Italy, had pizza and cycled back!  It’s fun to say now, but it was so hot I thought I would die!  None of us had any experience with electric bikes but as it turned out for the length of ride, it was a good thing, and I think electric bikes for all could be the way forward if we did it again. Why strain yourself on holiday?!

White water rafting was the kid’s favourite activity and the hotel was so handy for the rafting centre, only 500m away. We had a great guide and really enjoyed it.

Piran was a big hit with everyone – it’s such a beautiful little historic harbour town, and our hotel was the perfect place to stay.  It’s a lovely old hotel (no laundry option on the weekend though – frustrating) right on the esplanade and we spent the 2 days alternating between ambling through the streets of the town and swimming off the esplanade. We were in the sea 3 times a day and it was so convenient, stepping straight out of the lobby onto the esplanade and into the sea. 

We had beautiful interconnecting sea view rooms with a lovely balcony from one room and the most comfortable beds ever – perfect! There was a lovely atmosphere at night with live music in the harbour and a fabulous/controversial Russian yacht anchored in the bay for interest. The kids also enjoyed the breakfast buffet which featured puddings and cakes heavily! (?!)  We could easily have stayed longer in Piran, not least because I’d have liked to go to the spa at the salt pans, and the kids loved the sea swimming. 

Ljubljana was lovely, such a pretty city. The hotel was good. It was quite well located, not too far a walk from the old town, so we were happy with that.  We spent the time mainly just wandering around – we went to the castle, took a river cruise and we also went to a ‘museum of experiments’ which the kids saw advertised which was quite fun. Lots of science type experiments to do and we spent about an hour and a half there. There were also food markets on Friday and some kind of food festival with loads of street food stands which was good.  We could maybe have had an extra night there, but I think we managed to get a good feel for the place in the time.

Other general observations for info – laundry is tricky to do!  There were very few launderettes (only in Bled but we’d have had to camp in there all day to get a machine) and the only places to offer laundry in-house were Boka (success), Piran (but weekdays only) and Vespera). The food in Slovenia was outstanding everywhere – very fresh and local, but quite pricey – more than the UK for sure. 

Thanks for all your help.

We loved the hotel in the Logarska Valley – one of our favourite places. We could almost have had an extra day just to relax and enjoy the stunning natural pool, with the most amazing views of the mountains in the background! 

Lake Bled was lovely, although incredibly busy!

The Zipline was in everyone’s top five activities – the company were really good and altered the timing so we could enjoy a beautiful sunset (as opposed to torrential rain at our scheduled time). The boys all loved it and would have done it again and again. Stunning views over rivers, and mountains – truly magical. 

We were a little unlucky with the weather for paddleboarding, as there was quite a bit of wind and the water was a little choppy, but nevertheless, it was a beautiful setting and with different conditions, I think the boys would have loved it. 

The hotel in Bovec was another favourite. The pool and views were lovely. Rafting down the river Soca was brilliant and we all enjoyed jumping in and having a swim at the end.

I think the kayaking was in everybody’s top three! Such stunning clear, blue water, beautiful views all around, and a mostly gentle journey down the river with a welcome challenge of a few rapids. We all had a kayak each and the boys had a real sense of achievement at the end. I must say that the company boss did take one look at O and was a little nervous about taking him as he’s only 8. Luckily the guide was confident he could support him, but I think it helped that we were able to say that O had done some kayaking before. 

We were quite awed by the Postojna Caves – it was incredibly busy when we arrived for our slot, and luckily Anja was able to explain to us to go to the fast queue to collect our tickets. However, the tour was well paced and the crowds didn’t take away from our experience.

A day with the bears was everybody’s top activity. The guided tour in the afternoon was really well informed, interesting and intimate. Probably quite long for the younger children, but it was definitely worthwhile. We were provided with a delicious tea ahead of our time in the hide, and luckily bread and apple fritters were also provided to cater for fussy children.

We made the best of the opportunity to train the littlest and chattiest child to practice being quiet for two hours on various days in the run-up to the hide! It was comfortable to sit in, and we enjoyed the boys having to be quiet for a couple of hours. We were incredibly lucky to see a male bear, 3 years old, and a mother with three cubs appear for us. The look on O’s face when the bear cubs turned up was quite a picture. A memory that will hopefully stay with us all. 

Croatia was wonderful and relaxing, we loved the hotel and the beach and it was great to have a couple of days of doing relatively nothing. A couple of learning points, however… 1) some borders are for EU citizens only! Our Sat Nav took us on the quickest route across the border.. only to discover that since leaving the EU we were not allowed to cross here.. and had to travel an extra 45 mins to the appropriate border crossing! We had left plenty of time to catch the ferry and so our crossing was not affected.

Finally – Anja was brilliant.. really helpful and responsive on the multiple times we contacted her with queries. 

However, my favourite activity here was the hike we did on the Soca Trail, crossing over the footbridges and with such amazing views of the river and the mountains. Honestly, it was incredible. (The trail was easy to follow too, which was a bonus!). Our farmstay here was lovely. The kids really enjoyed being able to go off on their own and explore and the location is beautiful.

We also really like Ljubljana. There’s not a huge amount to see, but it’s just a lovely place to wander around. We found an amazing restaurant here with loads of Slovenian specialties – the kids loved it as they had enormous mountain sausages on the menu, and P enjoyed the craft beer. I just enjoyed it all. Thank for you all your help and suggestions.