How Expensive is Slovenia?

We expected Slovenia to live up to its reputation: everything the Alps has to offer, with smaller crowds and cheaper prices. So, how expensive is Slovenia? Our family spent 23 nights in Slovenia during October 2021. You can read about our stay in Piran, our favorite adventures throughout the country, and travel to Slovenia during COVID.

Throughout our trip around the world, we are tracking our spending. This helps us stay on budget and hopefully helps show others what is reasonable and attainable. Here is our answer (with free pro-tips scattered) to: how expensive is Slovenia?

Lodging for 23 nights: $1391 ($60.48 per night)

We were able to find incredible places to stay, in great locations, for reasonable pricing. Everything except the hostel was 2 or 3 bedrooms, and all were great hosts and great stays. Pro-tip: only book properties that have verified reviews.

• Piran: $551. We stayed in an amazing apartment for our first 12 nights in Slovenia. It was 2 bedrooms, bunk beds for the kids, full kitchen, nice bathroom and was only 25 euros a night, plus fees and occupancy taxes.
• Kranjska Gora: $215. Three nights in an amazing 3-bedroom Airbnb. Spend a few nights here while in Slovenia. The views of the town and the Alps were amazing!
• Farm Stay: $480. Five nights in our favorite Airbnb to date. The host was amazing: multiple horse rides, homemade apple juice and schnapps. He hosted us for a barbeque one night, and the apartment itself was very modern and comfortable.
• Ljubljana: $145. This was 1 night in a tiny home rental and 2 nights in a hostel.

Food for 23 days: $775

Slovenia introduced us to a favorite new cuisine: assorted meat platters with diced onions and pita bread. We ate several meals at restaurants, with (multiple) repeat performances of both the Bosnian/Serbian family meat platter and the takeaway doner kebab.

We had great success doing most of our grocery shopping at Mercator stores. Specifically, in Piran, the selection and prices at Mercator are far superior to the other small grocers. Pro-tip: you don’t qualify for the Mercator discount card as a tourist. However, Jon asked nicely, and a cashier gave us a receipt with a temporary bar code to unlock all the savings!

Transportation to Slovenia: $110

We used FlixBus, again, to get from Venice to Portoroz. It was another wonderful experience. Jon has become “Team Bus instead of Fly”.

Transportation around Slovenia: $745

After leaving Piran, we used a rental car for the rest of our stay. Plan your budget to include a rental car. Driving was easy in Slovenia. We did pay for parking a few times but booked all our lodging with parking included. One highlight was driving the Vrsic Pass and then loading the car onto a train for passage through the mountains.

Our car rental was more expensive than it should have been. We used economybooking.com and our confirmed reservation was not fulfilled, requiring us to book with a different supplier on the spot. It was honestly a frustrating experience with their customer service. Our pro-tip would be to stay away from any deals that they offer.

Entertainment for 23 days: $481

• Piran: $121. We made many trips to the local park, walked along the coast, and mostly just enjoyed a slower pace of life. You can enjoy Piran without the need to spend money. We did choose to walk the walls of the old castle, rent bikes multiple times, and spent the day at the thermal spa in Portoroz. Pro-tip: swimming in the Adriatic is free, and the jellyfish don’t sting (there were thousands of them!).

• Rest of Slovenia: $360. We spent money for all the following: summer sledging in Kranjska Gora, riding bikes to watch ski jumping, an amazing white-water rafting trip, hiking through both the Tomlin and Vintnar Gorges, another thermal spa in Bled (with a slide), and playing an interactive castle escape game in Ljubljana. Read about all these activities here: we would do them all again. There is a lot of free things to do as well. We hiked in Triglav National Park, climbed through tunnels, hiked to Austria, and walked around both iconic lakes: Bled and Bohinj. Don’t miss any of this!

How expensive is Slovenia? Our family spent $3,502 (average of $152/day) for an amazing 23 days. This included nice accommodations, multiple meals at restaurants, and every adventure activity that we wanted. Slovenia is at the top of our favorite countries so far!

Slovenia was one of our stops during a year-long trip around the world!  To see all our travel adventures, head over to our Instagram page. 

If you have questions or tips for saving money in Slovenia, let us know!