Slovenia is a nation in the Balkans. Formerly a part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia today attracts thousands of tourists each year who flock to this tiny country that is only half as large as Switzerland. Often called "Europe in Miniature," Slovenia offers tourists a varied landscape that ranges from mountains featuring world-renowned downhill ski resorts to beaches straddling the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.
Slovenia vacation rentals even allow tourists to walk in the footsteps of famous Americans such as author Ernest Hemingway, who visited the small village of Kobarid and then featured it in his great novel about the First World War.
Storybook Land
Some parts of Slovenia will even strike visitors much like a page from a book of fairy tales. Bled, for example, is a small village on the shores of a lake. In the center of the lake, there lies a tiny island where the town church is dwarfed by the castle behind it. So idyllic is this panorama that thousands of tourists visit Bled annually and the scenic little island is heavily featured in Slovenia travel brochures.
Tourists may also consider the national capital of Ljubljana to have a great deal in common with a storybook. A small city, it still has its own castle, and many of the streets are made of cobblestones laid centuries earlier. Popular attractions here include the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, the Dragon Bridge, and the Robba Fountain.