An hour from Ljubljana there is a cave with a train in it and a castle built into the mouth of another cave. They are ten minutes apart, sold on one ticket, and they are the day I would put at the top of any Slovenia trip with children.
Postojna cave is twenty four kilometers long and the first part is done by electric train. You sit in open carriages and roll through halls of stalactites lit like a theater, then walk for an hour with a guide through the bigger chambers. It is ten degrees inside all year, so bring a jacket in August.
The creature is the olm, a pale blind salamander that lives in the cave rivers and can survive ten years without food. There is a tank near the exit, and the kids will press against it. The vivarium next door has more, with a proper explanation.
The castle in the cliff
Predjama castle is wedged into the entrance of a cave halfway up a cliff, and it looks like it was drawn by a child who was asked to draw the best castle. The audio guide is good, there is a story about a robber knight who was killed on the toilet by a cannonball, and there are secret passages into the cave behind. Older kids love it. Younger ones love the story.
Book the combined ticket online for a morning cave slot, do the castle after lunch. The whole thing is four to five hours with driving.
Then Piran on the coast is an hour further, a Venetian town on a point with swimming off the rocks. Or back to Ljubljana for dinner by the river. Slovenia is small enough that both work.
Planning Slovenia with kids? Start with the full Slovenia family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.
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