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Searching for Family History in Slovenia

We spent 6 days in Slovenia in September 2021 - visiting Ljubljana and the Julian Alps. For one day, we had the fantastic help of local guide Tina Hitti, searching for the villages and farms around Ljubljana where my wife's ancestors lived in the late 1800's. Not only were we able to locate specific villages and the farm of her great-grandfather, we also found a relative to talk with! We could never have done this without Tina's help, as she was able to take leads from our Ancestry.com records and drive us directly to villages (which due to the complicated names/designations is impossible for a foreigner). Simply, she was fantastic!!

We also used her in a one-day tour of the Julian Alps, and we'd also highly recommend this tour (in Rick's book) with all the great scenery and WWI history. Again, with Tina doing the driving through the Alps, we were able to focus on the views and really enjoy the day. As expected, Lake Bled was particularly nice - especially the walk around the lake. And the desserts!

Hotel Mrak in Ljubljana and Garni Hotel Berc in Lake Bled were great choices, and the GoOpti transfer from/to Venice worked very well.

Slovenia is a real gem, and we will be returning for an extended stay. English is widely spoken, the country has a clean, refreshing air to it, and we really enjoyed the days we spent in Ljubljana.

Posted by
771 posts

That’s awesome that you were able to connect with family history in Slovenia. When we go to Ireland, we are able to do the same and hang out with family.

We were scheduled to do the Best of the Adriatic tour in the spring of 2020, and had scheduled a private tour of the Lorsaka Dolina with Tina’s company, PG-Slovenia (an area not covered on the tour.). We are scheduled again for this spring, and have once again, booked the same private tour with them. I am really looking forward to the experience.

We will have a total of 4 nights in Ljubljana.

Posted by
10187 posts

It sounds like a wonderful trip. I have been to Slovenia many times, and also enjoyed it, but it has been a long time since I was there. I have wonderful memories of biking around the countryside around Bohinj, doing the walk around the lake, and attending a nighttime concert in some country church. Magical.

Posted by
3961 posts

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience in Slovenia! How special to travel through the villages of ancestors and connect with a relative! From your description I felt that I relived Slovenia. We also took GoOpti transfer from Venice to Ljubljana. Stayed at Hotel Mrak for our tour and decided that Ljubljana was our favorite city in Europe! We were there 4 nights and wished we could have stayed longer! We have friends who were honored to have Tina as their RS guide. How fortunate that Tina was your private guide!