Yesterday when I was doing my every day workout in the out-door fitness overlooking the Sečovlje salt pans I noticed the Slovene coast ist crowded with biking families, hiking groups of friends and even young mums and dads pushing the baby stroller both on roller skaters.

Are you one of the travelers that prefer being active during there vacation instead of laying on the beach all day starring at the wide blue sky (even if one or two days of doing nothing is not too bad either)?
Well Slovenia offers many opportunities for sports people, either professional or recreative.

Let´s have a look:

1. Biking trails

There are many mountain and road biking trails as well as bike parks where you can enjoy the ride. It is pretty safe to bike in Slovenia, but your equipment should include helmet. If you are into something different then I recommend you to visit the Mežica abandonded mine in the region of Koroška where you can bike underground. Why being conventional when there is no need for it?

--> Cycling equipment, repair and rental

Foto: Lana Švab (2012)

2. Adrenaline parks

There are at least 9 registered adrenaline parks in Slovenia. My favourite is ˝Doživljajski park Raj Jezersko˝. Lokated 50 km from Ljubljana the ˝eden˝ (raj means eden in Slovene) offers the giant swing, the ˝Indiana Jones hanging bridge˝, the flying fox avenue, abseilling and more. Amazing mountain view is included in the whole package. For paintball lovers- there is one in the vicinity and you can go straight from adrenaline park to paintball (if you have any energy left).

3. Hiking trails

I am proud to say that Slovenia offers more than 10.000km of hikking trailes that are well-marked and safe. Mountain trails, trails specialized for nordic walking, theme trails and many more are waiting for you to discover. Do not worry - if you get hungry on your way we also have lots of mountain shelters that offer food and eventually also accomodation. You can download the GPS coordinates for the starting points and maps of the trails from the web page of Slovene Tourist Organization.

There are some things in life that really impress me and make me recover from whatever sad/nervous/stressed mode I am in. One of them is waking up in a mountain shelter somewhere in the mountains, drink a hot tea or goats milk outside in the cold overlooking the nature and smelling the spruce trees... For those interested in my experience with one of the ˝magic mountains˝.

--> Check out more information and photos about Julian Alps!

Foto: Lana Švab (2012)

4. Out-door fitness centers

In the last few years out-door fitness centers in Slovenia grew as mushrooms after the rain.
In Ljubljana you will find one close to Fužine castle as well as close to ˝Brodarjev trg˝. Few kilometres away from Ljubljana there is one also in Domžale. On the coast we recently got an out-door fitness center on Seča peninsula (you enter from Lucija campsite, municipality of Piran) overlooking Sečovlje saltpans. All of the out-door fitness centers are free of charge.

Foto: Lana Švab (2012)

5. Horse riding

If you want to learn how to ride a horse or already an expert Slovenia offers many riding centers to compliment your vacation. Close to lake Bled you will find Horse Club Lesce Bled. They are offering riding lessons, trail riding, therapeutic riding, horse workshops and more. From may to october they even organize horse workshops for children.
Another must-see for the horse lovers is Lipica- the home of Lippizaner horse. Apart from guided tours to stud farm, tailor-made riding school, the performances of classical riding school and trail riding they also organize dressage championships as well as championships in carriage driving. Visit Lipica on the 20th of May when they celebrate the Day of Lippizaner.

6. Golf
The international Golf Club Lipica has 400 members and operates on the superior golf course within the Lipica Stud Farm mentioned above. Situated in the Slovenian Karst the Lipica golf course consists of 9 holes, PAR 73 and is 6239m long. Another amazing golf course is Golf Club Grad Mokrice in the South Eastern part of Slovenia. What is special about this golf course is the amazing medieval athmosphere created by the castle Mokrice around which the golf course is located. It consists of 18 holes, PAR71 and is 5835m long.

7. Water sports

Did you tryCanyoning? Try it in Slovenia!
When you first visit Slovenia you notice the green woods, fields and vineyards but also the fact that it has a lot of lakes, rivers, streams, waterfalls ... and little canyons which are perfect for canyoning. In the vicinity of lake Bohinj you can find canyons Mostnica, Grmečica, Jerečica and Blatnica that offer great conditions for this interesting sport.

Raftingon river Soča is another thing you simply have to try. I´ve been on rafting three times already and looking forward to go again. What I haven´t tried yet but looks like an adrenaline bomb iswhite water kayaking. Check out the video to understand what I am trying to say.

-->Book water sports adventures!

8. Roller skating

Slovenians are in love with in-line skating, so you will see a lot of them, even whole families practicing it. Many towns even have roller skating grounds within local parks. Even the city of Ljubljana has nice roller skating trails. But the best ones are out of the cities, overlooking the nature. Around Kranjska gora (famous for ski slopes) or Izola (coastline) you will find even more relaxing options. For long-distance roller skaters I recommend the trail that starts on the Italian side in Lagliese San Leopoldo and ends in Mojstrana, Slovenia. 100km of trail that is.

In this blog I kind of neglected the winter sports and probably forgot some other you can do in Slovenia. I invite you to come and look for yourself what Slovenia has to offer!