For the Bohinj area of Slovenia to be regarded as a village is somewhat misleading. There isn't as such a settlement simply called 'Bohinj', with the valley between regional centre Bohinjska Bistrica and the hamlet of Ukanc, translated as 'the end', consisting of several villages including Polje, Ribcev Laz, Kamnje, and Brod. Whilst all of…
Maribor’s Airport is an asset the region needs to and can fully exploit
As a country Slovenia has incredible green credentials - something which inevitably jars with broadening its aviational connectivity. Nevertheless, the question must be asked - does the country want more tourists, or is it focusing on bringing in fewer visitors who arrive with deeper pockets and are more respectful of their natural surroundings? Each trait…
A continued lack of air connectivity is reputationally and economically damaging to Slovenia
It will come as no surprise to those versed with the nuances of Slovenian aviation that talks between the country's Ministry of Infrastructure and low-cost carriers Wizz Air and Ryanair have drawn a blank, facilitating a continued stasis in growth at both Ljubljana and Maribor airports. Despite the outcome being highly predictable it is nevertheless…
Why you should visit Maribor Porhorje
In the final part of a mini-series of blogs detailing the locations in Europe where I focus my alpine attentions, we turn to the least well known of the areas chronicled, Slovenia's second city Maribor and its Pohorje massif: Pros: One of my trio of stays in Maribor was at the Hotel Orel, perfectly situated…
Slovenia and Ryanair: Does the airline simply wish to complete the EU set, or has the previously missing middle ground finally been found?
It has been assumed by many aviation analysts and even those without a professional interest in the industry that Ljubljana's Fraport-owned and operated Brnik Airport held all the cards as to why Slovenia is the only nation within the European Union(EU) where Irish Low Cost Carrier(LCC) Ryanair does not operate. Who though is the puppet…
Lake Bohinj: Dogs, pollution, and being a victim of its own popularity
The northern shores of Slovenia's Lake Bohinj are not only diametrically opposed to its southern flank dominated by an interminably busy road connecting Ribcev Laz with Ukanc and the Vogel cableway, but by contrast affords walkers a fairly rough path only suitable for pedestrians and not bicycles, or any other form of mechanised transportation. This…
Maribor Airport: Flight of fancy or ready for take off?
When is an airport not an airport? I suppose the answer would be when it doesn't facilitate commercial flight movements despite it having the infrastructure, track record, and ability to do so. Two such operations spring to mind - make that three with the impending closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport - namely Blackpool in the…
Bohinj: what I miss, and the things that I look forward to seeing
The last two years have been a serious reality check for globetrotters, frequent fliers, and those who usually got away as often as they could. Travellers now inhabit that rather uncertain no man's land between unrestricted movement and outright lockdown, with day to day pandemic-related uncertainty impacting upon decision-making of whether to venture forth, and…
Hotel Zlatorog: Decline, fall, and rebirth
The imminent demolition of Bohinj's iconic Hotel Zlatorog is now the best and realistically only course of action available to an ailing edifice left to wither on the vine by its previous owner. Once favoured by Marshal Tito as a bucolic setting in which to receive fellow Non-Aligned and Communist leaders when Slovenia formed the…
Air Adriatic falls at the first hurdle in its quest to replace Adria Airways
Should a country the size of Slovenia expect to have a national airline? A nation of just over two million citizens is not an ideal market for an established flag carrier or one that is considering starting up, and had the former Yugoslav republic not previously been serviced by the now defunct Adria Airways, I…
Lake Bohinj sets the agenda for responsible, sustainable tourism
The four sides of Lake Bohinj afford visitors diverse pleasures and limitations, but the body of water itself has become the subject of much debate along a common theme: limiting the impact on its ecosystem from outside influences, both human and otherwise. The road along the southern edge of Bohinjsko Jezero links Ribcev Laz, where…
Bohinj strives for greater balance between agriculture and sustainable tourism
One of my earliest memories of vacationing in Slovenia's Bohinj region was of a headscarf-wearing lady of indeterminate age, perhaps in her late fifties or early sixties, cutting pasture grass by hand; in other words, with a scythe - before placing the presumed silage in a back-mounted basket. Now, if I was to ask you…
Slovenia’s Juliana Trail puts alpine sustainability at the very forefront of its purpose
Awarded the Best Europe Tourism Project by the British Guild of Travel Writers, Slovenia's innovative Juliana Trail has been recognized for providing a tourist-centric product designed to take the strain off traditionally popular, but at times overwhelmed areas of the Julian Alps. Without it sounding like a tired cliche, there is more to Slovenia's alpine…
Slovenia: Europe’s exemplar of alpine custodianship
To me, Slovenia has always punched above its weight as an alpine nation. It can of course be argued that the modern day border that wraps around a territory occupied by 2 million inhabits has within it quite by chance some of the most dramatic mountainscapes of Europe, but it isn't necessarily what you have…
Bohinj’s Hotel Bellevue seeks a happy ending that Agatha Christie would approve of
It is difficult to comprehend the reputational and financial implications that Bohinj must have suffered in the last decade from the simultaneous decay of many of its preeminent hotels, in particular the Zlatorog, Ski Hotel, and the Bellevue. Tourism has never been an industry which the area places its unswerving faith in and dependence on,…
Contemporary Alpine architectural design: A necessary break from the past or opportunistic shock value amid an inappropriate setting?
When thinking of classic alpine architectural design it is easy to bring to mind picture postcard images of the likes of Alpbach in the Austrian Tirol, where geranium-laden window boxes are framed by immaculately kept wooden edifices very much in the style found throughout Europe's alpine regions. Such is the dominance in mountain villages and…
Maribor Airport: Sometimes the most obvious solutions are those that are overlooked
It has been a while since I have written anything about Maribor's Edvard Rusjan Airport, for the good reason that there has been little of note to report from Slovenia's secondary landing strip, which has all but ceased operations. Notwithstanding the obvious novel coronavirus-related pause to air travel Maribor's airport cannot actually point to Covid-19…
Bohinj: Green winters offer an opportunity to diversify away from traditional winter sports
Amid the now annual summer stampede to Lake Bohinj its potential as an all year-round destination is increasingly overlooked. It is though the very reason why winter visitor numbers have significantly declined that the local municipality and tourist association are pinning their hopes on rebalancing Bohinj's appeal as a holiday location for all seasons. The…
Bohinj’s Ski Hotel Vogel: An important example of Yugoslav Architecture to be preserved, or swept away?
Without the high-profile visitors of yesteryear Bohinj's Ski Hotel Vogel is rarely mentioned, other than to group it with other failing or derelict tourist accommodation, in the same breath as its iconic counterparts the Zlatorog and Bellevue. I doubt President Tito and his peers from the Non-Aligned Movement and various otherwise ostracised Communist regimes would…
Has Covid-19 bought alpine tourism some much needed time to reflect on its future?
Reliant on perhaps up to 90% of visitors from outside its borders to sustain a tourism economy, Austria's Tirol region will be nervously anticipating a sharp drop in revenue during its forthcoming summer season. As though border restrictions with its neighbouring countries are slowly relaxed, will a 'make do and mend' hiatus to its usual…
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