We often forget how beautiful Slovenia is. It is easy to get carried away with planning the far-away adventures, while we forget we have hills, vineyards, seaside and lots of other pretty stuff here in the palm of our hand (or a very short drive away). That’s why we try to do at least one weekend trip to Slovenia every once in a while, which always makes us realize we have been missing out on a lot of beautiful corners of our country.
That’s how we visited:
- Hiša Raduha in Luče which is the home base of an amazing Slovene chef Martina Breznik. We combined it with a snowy trek to Raduha.
- Cycled around Kras while visiting the Turistic farm Petelin-Durcik and had an amazing stake lunch in Gostilna Ravbar in Dutovlje.
- Ate really delicious home-grown and home-made food at Eko Kmetija Mikl and combined it with cycling through old Mežica mine and
- Enjoyed some R&R in lovely wellness of the Na Skaluc farm, which has since been re-done and upgraded and really is worth the visit.
The purpose of our Slovenian trips is rest, relaxation, great food, usually combined with a taste of adventure. This year we decided to explore the Goriška Brda region. If you are a fan of great food and wine, picturesque vineyards and pretty views, and you want to follow in the footsteps of many famous poets, painters, and other artists this is the place and region to be.
While March is not the most obvious month to do a trip to Brda, it was my birthday recently, so I wanted us to have a weekend away for ourselves. We chose Gredič because our friends had dinner there a while ago and they said it’s to die for, so we had to try it by ourselves.
My co-worker who is from the region kindly prepared a special trip plan for us (food suggestions included), which was a huge relief for me, since I am usually the one to do the planning. So, we started our trip the way we like it best – with great food. We had lunch in the Vipava valley in Vrhpolje in Theodosius Restaurant, where we received happiness on a plate in combination with amazing customer service.
With our bellies full and me being slightly tipsy from my two glasses of local wine (#sorrynotsorry) we drove through Ajdovščina and Nova Gorica passed the Soča Fun Park and headed towards Solkan bridge in Solkan to get some pretty views of the turquoise Soča river. We followed the road where Žiga each year does the cycling marathon, towards Dobovo. Soon after we reached our destination – beautiful Gredič hotel and restaurant with the amazing wine cellar. What hit us the moment we stepped into Gredič was the lovely smell of their signature fragrance.
We took a walk around the beautiful vineyards surrounding the property, drove to villa Vipolže and had a relaxing glass of champagne in the living room of Gredič while reading on the sofa (guess we’re getting old), staring in what could have been a lit fireplace. It was wonderful. The same goes for a 4-course tasting menu (you can choose between fish and meat-based menu) dinner accompanied by fine wine picked out for us by the amazing staff of Gredič. The menu changes a few times per year with additional special menus for special occasions – new years, Valentines etc., but even if you try the same menu twice you’re bound to be impressed by its creativity.
While Gredič team is small we were impressed with how smoothly everything runs and how they help each other make the guest feel at home. It’s an intimate hotel, where the staff really is in contact with the guest and you are not only a number. We left with Gredič signature fragrance as a souvenir, which is now embellishing our home with its lovely smell.
We concluded our trip with an ice-cream and a walk around Portorož beach, where spring is in full bloom already, at least if you compare it to Ljubljana. Sitting on a sunlit bench we started writing an adventure bucket list before driving back to wintry Ljubljana.
Verdict: All in all the only mistake we made was coming to Goriška Brda for one night only. So, we’ll try to do a whole weekend of wine tasting or three with friends soon. We still have tons of things to see and cross off our bucket lists in Slovenia, so stay tuned for more adventures. 🙂