Luxury holidays in Slovenia

From fairytale lakes to spine-tingling caves, Slovenia has its fair share of sights for a pint-sized country of just two million people. Topping the list of the world’s most peaceful places, its name ranks among the greenest, too, with over half its land protected, a zero-waste recycling programme and electric trains and taxis that snake through it’s otherwise pedestrianised streets. Though patently Slavic, its enviable perch between the Alps and the Adriatic has nurtured a curious cultural marinade of Italian, Austrian and Hungarian influences within its borders. In the west, the Julian Alps is littered with Gothic churches, while in the eastern region of Prekmurje quaint Hungarian farmhouses are more or less ubiquitous. The capital of Ljubljana is a compact mix of Viennese art nouveau and Modernist minimalism, where European café culture thrives in the shadow of dragon-wielding bridges, a Baroque Cathedral and one rather looming Mediaeval fortress. But Slovenia’s greatest draw is served plainly; hiking and biking through snow-capped mountain ranges and, if you’re lucky, a vineyard or two.