Exploring Picturesque Slovenia and Croatia

Today, we’d like to take you on a photographic journey through Slovenia and Croatia — both wonderful places to explore and photograph and a bit less touristed than more popular European travel destinations.

Slovenia and Croatia both used to be part of the former Yugoslavia. However, Slovenia’s culture, cuisine, and landscape have always been closely aligned with its neighboring Austria and historically, it was part of the Austrian/Hungarian Habsburg Empire before WWI. Both countries are now members of the EU — easy to navigate and filled with wonderful travel destinations.

At Photography Travel Tours, we take our clients to the area of the magnificent Lake Bled in Slovenia, the medieval city of Rovinj on the Istrian Peninsula and the magical Plitvice National Park in Croatia, and of course, we also include many fun side trips.

Follow our footsteps and if you have the time also visit the gleaming town of Dubrovnik, rightfully called the Pearl of the Adriatic. Just know that it can be overrun with tourists and is, therefore, a challenge to navigate with a larger group of people.

Beautiful Rovinj at sunrise

. . . and again at blue hour

A closer look at Rovinj at blue hour

The sun sinking into the Adriatic casts a golden light over Rovinj’s medieval walls.

From Rovinj we drive inland to the impressive Plitvice Lakes National Park, a beautiful heavily forested gorge in central Croatia with 16 lakes, numerous creeks, and cascading waterfalls that are connected by trails and boardwalks, many of them built right over the water.

Boardwalk over waterfalls in the Plitvice National Park

A romantic trail alongside one of Pitvice’s many pristine lakes

Cascading waterfalls and miles of board walks

The Gorge of Plitvice — what a magical water world!

Peaceful tranquility awaits you if you visit the Plitvice National Park early in the morning or just before closing time.

After spending a few days at  Plitvice Lakes National Park, we drive north into Slovenia to the charming town of Bled on the shores of Lake Bled, one of our favorite places in Europe for its tranquility and beauty. 

A charming chapel on the small island in the middle of Slovenia’s Lake Bled

Traditional Pletna boats will take you to the island.

Rewarding side trips from Bled are the little chapel of St. Primož, the lovely town of Škofja Loka, and the charming small village of Radovljica with its bee museum. Slovenes adore bees!

A fun detail on the crumbling walls of the charming small village of Radovljica

Our photo tour clients befriending horse in Slovenia

Colorful wall in the medieval town of Škofja Loka

Details you will find in the Slovenian countryside

The small chapel of St. Primož high in the mountains near Lake Bled at sunset

Make sure to also pay a visit to the vibrant intimate city of Ljubljana and its wonderful farmers market.

For another one of our articles about Slovenia and Croatia, click here. »

Relaxing in the sunshine in Slovenia

If you love photography and would like to travel with us, check out our Slovenia/Croatia Photo Tours for 2022 and 2023.

• May 23 to June 1, 2022  (1 space remaining)

• May 18 – 27, 2023 (it’s not too early to sign up)

Jim and Magrit have been photographing professionally and traveling in Europe for the past 20 years. They started Photography Travel Tours in 2011 with the goal of educating and guiding photographers to some of the most beautiful and iconic scenes in Europe. The tours are not just about getting great photographs but also have the side benefits of doing so in wonderful environments. Great food, wine, people, and ambiance. Read more about Jim & Magrit and their wonderful photo tours here: (http://photographytraveltours.com/about/). Slow Travel Tours is an affiliation of small-group tour operators who offer personalized trips in Italy, France and other European countries.