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Title: Slovenia (Country Guide)
ISBN: 1741044804
Author:
Steve Fallon
Publicate Date: 2007-05-01
Publish: 2007-05-01
List Price: $21.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $13.68
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $8.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $14.95
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1: Great resource
Well written and conceived. The brief history was helpful to help understand the people and the circumstances of the people today. The diet section was great. In describing the various geographic areas of the country I would have liked more pictures. The written explanations were great but never having been to the country, more pictures would have helped. I think it would be a great addition if there were internet video links to get a really good feel for the geography.
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2: An indespensible guide for the traveler
I visited Slovenia this summer and this book was invaluable in my trip. Having done the trip I can now say that I could have used this book even more than I did (which was quite extensively).
Overall the guide does an excellent job of balancing interesting facts and background about the areas around Slovenia with useful traveler information about hotels, internet locations, laundry site, rail/bus schedules and prices. Although the guide was published in 2007, I found the prices to be accurate and the bus/train information to be invaluable (not so much in exact times but it prices and locations that could be reached from any one town or city). For example, I was able to find a free internet site in the capital during my day of site-seeing.
The biggest thing I got from this guide was flexibility. I was solo backpacking and this let me leave the trip to go where I wanted. I could look up any city. Find if it had connections to where I was, what prices its hotels were, etc. In this way, the guide is ideal for people backpacking or going on very flexible trips. However, it does not shy away from giving top notch hotels and places to stay.
The restaurant reviews in particular were great for this book. I only had one day in the capital and I tried the author's choice. The one thing I will note though, is that the name of the restaurant had changed since this book was published. It was still easy to find and the description left no doubt that I had found the right place. It was an amazing, memorable and affordable meal in a place that I would probably not have found in such a short time on my own.
I visited Kobarid and Ljubljana and found the sections on both of the these places to be extremely accurate and the maps to be very helpful. The reviews of the attractions at each of these places were spot on and helped me chose the best places to see in the time I had available.
This is a must have book, no mater what kind of traveling you are doing. I only hope that they come out with a more updated guide as the 2007 one is already becoming outdated in minor spots.
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3: Wonderful country!!!
This guide has been very useful to see most of the country. The prices are not exact (now everything is a bit more expensive) and I miss the dance of the Lipizzaner Horses because of a mistake in the timetable, what a pity!!!! But, in general, the guide is excellent
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4: Gianni Italy
Lots of news and helpful book to read if you are going to visit this country.
I reccomand it to everyone!
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5: Still the best guide to Slovenia
I took this book with me on a trip to Slovenia in September-October 2004, when it was hot off the presses. My travels didn't cover the whole country, just the western half, so I can't speak for all of the book's recommendations. But, in general, I found it immensely helpful, both for planning my trip and for day-to-day guidance while traveling. Some comments:
1. Slovenia's currency hasn't stabilized yet, so expect prices to vary upward, especially now that the Euro is so high against the dollar. Big deal; it's still a comparatively inexpensive country. (I went to a rip-off-the-tourists but very good restaurant in Ljubljana, had a full dinner and a half-liter of wine -- and my total bill was $20!)
2. The famous disappearing Lake Cerknicka does indeed disappear for a large part of the year, so it's likely that all you'll see is a bumpy plain covered with grass. On a related subject, the Soca River valley is beautiful, but in the fall the water is low, so anyone expecting a kayaker's paradise would be disappointed.
3. Renting a car is expensive, and the train and bus system, while not perfect, is still very good. So I used this book to plan ahead: I took public transportation most of the time, then rented a car for one day to visit some areas that are difficult or impossible any other way (e.g., the church at Hrastovlje, which is amazing even if you're not a fan of medieval religious art).
4. The church of St. John the Baptist near Lake Bohinj, with the interesting medieval wall paintings, is closed for repairs, completion date uncertain. However, if you walk up the road to Stara Fuzina, the church there has some arguably medieval paintings in the front porch; it's a lovely walk, too, and you can continue on to Studor and admire the antique hayracks.
5. I totally agree with the book's description of the Skocjan Caves: I'm not a big fan of caves, but these were special, and fully worth the effort. (The tour requires considerable walking and step-climbing, so it's not for the weak or the faint-hearted.) The bus access to the site is poor, but some tour companies run day trips from Ljubljana, and the prices I saw were pretty reasonable.
6. The book's restaurant recommendations are generally excellent: Delfin, in Piran, has the best grilled squid on the planet, and the mussels aren't bad either.
7. Fall can be rainy: I encountered a couple of wet, chilly days that made me wish I'd brought waterproof shoes and a heavier raincoat. But, the rest of the time, it was warm enough that I wore sandals.
8. In the fall, many museums and other sights cut back their hours drastically, so be sure to check before you go, especially if a long trip is involved. (I arrived too late for the day's last tour of Sneznik Castle; on the other hand, I visited the Dormouse Museum -- which is utterly mad and not to be missed -- and hung out in the pub next door with the locals practicing their English on me, and that was way more fun than seeing some rich German family's old furniture!)
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