Coast and Karst

The Coast and Karst www.slovenia.info region of Slovenia lies along the Adriatic coast and extends inland into the cave-dotted karst territory.

Ruled by Venice for five centuries, an Italian influence is clearly visible in the coastal towns of this picturesque area.

• Divača — close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Škocjan Caves
• Izola — port
• Koper — industrial port city with a Venetian old city
• Nova Gorica
• Piran — port
• Portorož — Beaches, casinos and package tourism
• Postojna — Site of the gigantic Postojna caves
• Sežana

• Hrastovlje —
• Lipica — home of the Lipizzaner horses

Italian is an official language in many coastal towns and widely understood.

KOPER - there are frequent buses between Trieste and Koper (and on to Piran). Journey time is around 1 hour and the distance is about 20km. There are also frequent buses and trains from Ljubljana (journey time around 2 hours, 90km). NOVA GORICA - there are frequent buses between Gorizia (Italy) and its Slovenian counterpart (1 euro 3 cents, 10 minutes). Buses and trains head north towards Bled and Jesenice (5 euro, 2 hours). Buses and some trains are also quite frequent between the city and Ljubljana (8 euro, 2.5 hours). SEZANA - on weekdays there are 7 buses a day to/from Trieste (Italy) taking 25 minutes and costing 1 euro. Regular train and bus services run between Sezana and Ljubljana (7 euro, 2 hours)

With the exception of Koper, Sezana and Nova Gorica all of the settlements are very small and crime is virtually non-existant. In all parts crime is low when compared to all neighbouring countries. Most young people will speak very good English and coastal areas are usually bilingual (Slovene and Italian).