Slovinia/money

Off to slovinia in about two weeks we'll take Euros for the rest of Europe but for Slovinia what do you reckon? £ cash or travelers cheques? I know euros will work some of the time. I'd be greatfull for any advice.

Hi Beacon

Local currency for Slovenia is Tollar (about 350:£1, I think).
Don't use Euro cash, as you'll get a very crap exchange rate in bars/restaurants

Use Travellers chqs and normal exchange services to buy some Tollars

However I use my Bank Servicecard (Natwest) with the Cirrus/Maestro symbol and draw local currency from cashpoints (as you would in UK, with your cashcard PIN no.)

Works in all former Eastern Bloc European states ( Hungary/Slovakia/Croatia et al)

However if you draw cash on a Credit Card.............you'll pay a lot of interest as soon as you draw it.

Visit caves @ Postonja, Lake Bled, Julian Alps etc and if you're going to coast....... Piran is worth pitching up in ...........try Hotel Piran - great views over Bay of Venice

When I was in Slovenia I just used the hotel bureau de change to get cash. A tenner's worth of local Tolars provided enough cash for 2 nights beer & food. For the convenience, I didn't really care that the exchange rate might be poor - they took me for 50p perhaps.

They will take Euros too.

Even the petrol stations in rural areas took credit cards.

At Postonja caves that JB refers to they accept any currency. I was impressed with the cashier. He seemed to be able to assess each person and display the price in their currency before they even spoke.

Thanks johnny/wessie thats just what I wanted to know. we are booked into a guest house in Izola for 4 days thats all we have booked and we'll take the rest as it comes, the caves at Postonja are on the to see list, we tried hotel Piren johnny but a bit expencive for us! I know somewhere you said you got it for £20 a night but they were quoteing me double that, have you done the ferry trip to Venice at all? thanks again.
Chris

beacon said:

Thanks johnny/wessie thats just what I wanted to know. we are booked into a guest house in Izola for 4 days thats all we have booked and we'll take the rest as it comes, the caves at Postonja are on the to see list, we tried hotel Piren johnny but a bit expencive for us! I know somewhere you said you got it for £20 a night but they were quoteing me double that, have you done the ferry trip to Venice at all? thanks again.
Chris

Click to expand...

Don't do Venice trip...............too expensive

Fly from UK on Easyjet.............you could go 3 times on that, compared to Ferry Trip

Make sure your insurance covers for Croatia.............as a ride down the Istrian Peninsula towards Pula is worth doing........especially inland as it's very remote and unspoilt - good for GS riding

BM insurance covers Croatia these days so no prob, I fancy a couple of days there its all we'll get time for I think.

Don't forget that Slovenia is now an EU member state, so normal European cover insurance includes the country - most also cover Croatia now too. Credit / debit cards are widely accepted, as is the Euro in tourist areas. Petrol stations are payment card friendly. ATMs for getting the local Tollar are generally easy to find in normal banking locations.

Regarding caves, personally I'd say don't bother with Postonja. Very pretty and a very long (and very expensive) underground train ride, but the caves at Skocjanske (see http://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si/) are IMHO much better. No train, far fewer people, not as long, not as deep, but the river section is breath-taking. You'll park at the visitor centre then have to walk back down the road about a Km to the entrance.

For an interesting place to stay, the main hotel communist era hotel at Postonja is a giggle and so 60s retro you won't know where to look.

Great roads - have fun.

slovenia

slovenia welcomes the euro
crotia less enthusastic about it,
transfer money into cc a/c so that you do not have to pay interest on withdrawels otherwise a cirrus bank card works in all hole in the walls