Hi,
We did that trip in September last year. The only difference was that we flew into Ljubjlana instead of Trieste, hired a car and drove down to Portoroz. There was a considerable saving flying Easyjet compared to Ryanair into Trieste on this occasion, it might have had something to do with the bank holiday dates we went over.

Portoroz is stuck in time warp but is still an enjoyable destination. It is like a 1970/80's destination trying to catch up, no surprise with Slovenia being part of the former Yugoslavia.

I am doing it a dis-service really. If you want sun, sea, bars and reasonable restaurants it is perfect. If you want sand, you'll be disappointed, it is like concrete central and many of the beaches are concrete(!) or grass and privately owned by the hotels.

Temps were 30c most days in September, so June should be pretty nice as well.

We stayed in the Hotel Rosa, part of the Metropol group. It is a nice hotel, brilliant location with average rooms, mega views of the sea. Rates were reasonable, although it tended to be heavily populated with germans, no problems with that but you know the stories about bagging the sun beds in the morning.....The hotel shares facilities with the other on-site hotels, although the olympic sized pool was never that busy in September (I don't know why). The hotel rate included breakfast which was very nice.

There are plenty of bars in Portoroz although not as many as I thought there would be. All are pretty much of a muchness to be honest. The same could be said for the restaurants although the mexican just down from the Metropol is absolutely the tops!!!! Well worth a visit.

Piran will be worth a visit and is only 10mins from Portoroz, you can get a boat transfer there and is reasonably cheap. Lovely, quaint and a nice contrast to Portoroz.

Not sure on internet links in hotels, not in the Rosa I think. Maybe in the 5star Grand Hotel Metropol????

Let me know if you need further info. We were there for a week and managed to fill our time easily.

Julian

How did you fnd the driving JW? Any problems/rules and regs we should know about? Roads OK? How long to get from Ljubj? What about the cars? FSOs? Many thanks.

Hi!!

From Ljubljana to Portoroz is about hour and a half (about 130 km). It is highway all the way (you can drive 130 km/h). You have to pay toll, it's about 4 eur. Here you will find more information on the roads http://www.amzs.si/?jezik=1033
If you are coming to Ljubljana airport you can find there almost every bigger rent-a-car you want. You can also check this here: http://www.lju-airport.si/vsebina.asp?IDm=216 (there is also 'english' button).
As for night life in Portoroz I can't tell you much. I'm from Slovenia, but I go there just for a day to jump to the sea But there are many bars. I hear Planet Pub Heiniken is good. You will find a great party in Ljubljana!! Any kinds of bar you want. Taxis in Ljubljana (I mean inside the town) are not that expensive but I think it's good to ask 'how much' in advanced (I do that). If you like clubs go to Global http://www.global.si/

Here is about hotels in Portoroz: http://www.metropol-hotel.com/index.php?lang=en&nov_jezik=en

Take care!

Ana

ps: sorry that I replyed all in one post

I too was in Slovenija last year and had a throughly good time. I spent a week and a bit in Portoroz. This is a very pleasant and yob-free resort, centred around two hotel groups, the Riviera which seems to have UK tour company representation and the Metropol which has Inghams. I stayed in the Hotel Lucija - part of the Metropol group just infront of the Villa Rosa (mentioned above). Couldn't have been happier, clean rooms, really friendly staff and excellent breakfast until 11 am! This group has a large (and boy I mean large) swimming pool area over the road (literally 2 minutes walk) with a good children's pool too. I had a really relaxed time, and visited Piran (go in the morning before the tour busses arrive) and Koper (which is the nearest train station - about 20-30 mins by taxi from Portoroz) also visited the Istrian peninsular of Croatia - Rovinj, Porec and Pula.

I also visited Lake Bled and the various waterfalls and national parks in the North of Slovenija. Out of this world.

You'll definitely have to hire a car - and make it clear if you intend to visit Croatia so that the necessary red tape can be applied. Roads are OK - but the Croation roads between Rovinj and the Slovenijan border are horrendous - we had light rain and saw 8 ACCIDENTS within a 5 km stretch!!!

The Trieste border crossing can be lengthy and you do a full tour of the not so salubrious suburbs to get there!

Tolars can be easily got from ATMs and the locals are really friendly. Go now before it kicks off like Croatia has - tourist prices and commercialisation.

There is a Slovenijan National Tourist Website - sorry I haven't got the title to hand but it'll come up through a search engine. The information is good and the replies to any questions etc (in English) is speedy and accurate.

Have a lovely time.

Here is the link

http://www.slovenia-tourism.si/?home=0&lng=2