Very few people realise that Slovenia has a coast, admittedly only a very small one (about 40km IIRC) but the jewel in the crown of the Slovenian coastline must be Piran, a small fishing port that has become a popular tourist resort, with adjoining Portoroz. I recently spent a week in Piran, having a small flat about 10m from the sea, although sadly there is no actual beach in Piran :-(.

Piran is probably best reached by car, since public transport options are somewhat limited. Although the main centre of Piran is pedestrian only (I would defy anyone to get anything larger than a moped through its narrow streets!) arriving by car would still be the definite preferred method of transport, making the route from Italy, Austria or Croatia, or even Ljubljana an easier one. Otherwise you will be dependent on the bus routes, which whilst being reliable (fairly punctual give or take 5-10 mins) can be a very slow way of getting anyway. Coaches leave Piran for Ljubljana (2.5 hours several daily – an excellent trip through the Triglav National Park) Pula (Croatia 3 hours – 1 daily) and Trieste (1.5 hours – several daily) as well as frequent shuttle services to Koper (via Portoroz – 40 mins).

There is a lot of accommodation, both in the form of self-catering rooms and hotels, and prices start at around EUR 30 per night (off-season) for the self catering option for a 2* self catering flat – ultimately all I needed really, given that it was only really a place to sleep at night or to write postcards. There are also private rooms available and booking is best done via the website www.turistbiro-ag.si which is in English, Slovenian, German, Italian and Swedish. My booking bore a EUR 58 reservation charge, although this was deducted from the final bill. Alternatively the site www.maestral.si offers a similar service.

Sights:

The accompanying church is currently being restored so you can’t go in, but the view over the city is well worth it. For an even better view, then the fortified walls of where the castle formerly stood offers you an even better view in terms of elevation. There is a small aquarium which might be a worth a visit on a wet day – although we were very lucky with the weather and chose to travel to Pula and Trieste rather than have heel kicking time. There is a cloister that is open with frequent services, and a remarkable choir, although don’t be fooled that you can hear them singing in the cloister continuously, the sound comes from some very cleverly hidden speakers.

Restaurants:

Going out for coffee is an excellent and very cheap experience – a large cappuccino sat overlooking the breakers in many of the cafés should set you back about 50p (SIT170) and it actually practically makes sense to eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are various places offering burgers, pizza etc. too but I would advise people to be a bit on the adventurous side (in Ljubljana I had some great venison, boar sausages and would have had a foal steak, had they not had any left). In case you are in fear and trepidation about not knowing what to order, most restaurants have English menus, although the translation of them can often be a bit misleading… Just a note of caution, namely drinking lemonade and coca cola in restaurants can be quite expensive – SIT 600 (GBP 1.60) for a half litre, when a pint of beer will probably only cost SIT 300.

Nightlife:

There are a lot of vineyards in the surrounding area and the one which I visited in Baredi does some very reasonable red and white wines, some of which I brought back. Being undiscovered, Slovenian red wine is very drinkable although the refošk – similar to an Austrian Schilcher - is not to everyone’s taste!