I think there are simpler ways to get from London to Slovenia than the overland route I chose. I think about this when once again the kid from the rowdy football team sharing our Brussels-Frankfurt train kicks the back of my seat. Responsible adults have apparently abdicated responsibility. He probably jumped off the train. It’s a little tempting at this point.
In this traveling spree, I question my decision to “slow ride” thousands of kilometers to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, to see what’s on the way to our destination rather than turning green and flying over our destination unannounced. . Our tightly planned schedule can easily go awry. A third of long-distance trains in Germany were delayed last year and our narrow change times are alarming: 20 minutes until our next train from the Eurostar in Brussels; 22 minutes to make our connection from Frankfurt station to Munich.
“Be ready to run as soon as the doors open,” I warn my husband and children, ages 10 and 7.
“What if we miss our next train?”
“Who knows? It’s all part of the adventure.”
As our second train of the day barrels eastwards through Belgium towards Germany, I’m actually starting to believe it. From the plane we would have missed the close-ups of the pine trees covering the slopes of the gentle hills; German towns spread out like a patchwork of trackside apartments and industries; rural houses with large, wide river strips and beautiful, well-tended gardens.
We would have missed all the regular allotments and distant church steeples. As I gaze out the train window at pastel houses in pistachio, rose, and lemon, I enjoy the glimpses into other people’s lives that only road travel can offer.
Hoping to double the dose of romance, I head to the restaurant car for lunch before Frankfurt. But an unrepentant member of the onboard staff informed me that lunch was off. Apparently a power outage.
Instead he offers us unappetizing cold sandwich options: vegan “chicken” or something called “vollkorn haferbrötchen” with slippery cheese, which will do just fine.
On the third and final train of the day, from Frankfurt to Munich, I compensate by randomly ordering from the restaurant car menu: chips, cinnamon rolls, tomato soup. It’s not quite a meal, but it represents a step up from British train fare, and being served to us while traveling feels like something out of an Agatha Christie novel.
Surprisingly, everything is going well in terms of timing. We arrive in Munich, warm and triumphant, 10 hours after leaving St Pancras.
It’s an unseasonably warm spring evening, and we’re further rewarded for our efforts with the magnificence of our accommodation: the majestic Charles Hotel. Just a five-minute walk from the station and overlooking Munich’s tranquil Old Botanical Garden, the Charles is an ideal place to stop.
It’s hard to believe that we are minutes away from the heart of a bustling city. I stand in front of an open window, breathing in the wonderfully fresh air and enjoying the tranquility. It’s the perfect tonic after a day on trains.
Tranquility extends to Charles’s spa and sumptuous breakfasts in his delightful ground-floor restaurant in the bright sunshine.
We spend a pleasant day exploring Munich, starting from the imposing gothic Frauenkirche cathedral. From here we walk towards the busy central square, Marienplatz, before stopping at the spacious, open-air Viktualienmarkt for juicy sausages tucked into crispy white rolls and slathered with thick yellow mustard. In theory, I don’t eat meat, but there’s a limit to the number of sausage vendors a pescatarian can pass on a perfect day. My resolve dissipates towards lunch.
Englischer Garten is so packed with sun-worshipping revelers in the afternoons that it resembles a music festival more than a park. A similarly lively atmosphere will later extend to the massive Hofbräuhaus, where beer is served in steel glasses as big as your head and the Bavarian beer hall vibe is at its peak. Even though there’s a sense of performance to the whole thing, it’s still immensely enjoyable.
The next day, it’s time to get on the train again and we go to Villach, Austria. Barely half an hour from Munich, snow-capped peaks loom on the horizon. Currently, large white Alpine-style chalets, complete with wooden balconies, are beginning to dot the dandelion-filled meadows. Occasionally a cow grazes in a garden.
The train itself is definitely simpler this time and stiflingly hot. I stumble among the shaking carts in search of refreshment, and eventually find a man in uniform sorting the contents of a snack cart.
“Is there a dining car?” I’m asking.
“NO. Tram.”
“Are you going to take him off by train?”
“NO.”
He doesn’t seem too pleased with my intrusion, even my attempt to buy some coffee and poppyseed cake.
This is more than compensated for by the increasingly dramatic views beyond the window: dizzying, snow-capped mountains now, dark pines clinging to their underlines.
Five hours later we arrive in Villach, a nine-minute junction. We rush between platforms in a panic and board our train to the Slovenian town of Jesenice just in time. Excitingly, we’re closing a divide on this. It’s hot and stuffy, but the next 36 minutes will be ours.
Later, things go a little sour for Jesenice. Considering it was only 10 miles away, I assumed we would figure out how to get to Lake Bled once we got there. There must be taxis, I thought. But there is none. Today is Sunday and nothing is open at the station.
After some fruitless searching, we discover that there is a train heading to Lesce-Bled station.
Here, as we drink iced tea on the terrace of his bar under the still intense evening sun, a helpful station bartender hails us a taxi to our Airbnb.
Lake Bled immediately impresses me with its fairy-tale charm. The view from every direction is breathtaking, with the 17th-century Church of Our Lady located on an island in the center and Bled Castle perched on a cliff above the clear water.
The final leg is a bus from Bled to Ljubljana in less than an hour (but cash only and arriving almost 30 minutes late). As I descend from the other end, I enjoy a moment of relief mixed with disbelief: We’ve made it this far without missing a train or getting off the ground.
We’re staying at the InterContinental Ljubljana, where the windows of our spacious eighth-floor rooms overlook a magnificent panorama: the city below us and the rugged Julian and Kamnik Alps surrounding it. The views from the 18th-floor spa and 20th-floor restaurant are even more intoxicating. It is almost impossible to detach ourselves.
Luckily, getting around the sights of this charming and attractive city couldn’t be easier, either on foot or with one of the Kavalir electric golf carts that shuttle tourists around for free.
The hotel is just a short walk from the pedestrian Old Town, a perfect gem of urban design thanks to the classically inspired vision of Slovenian architect Joézcarone Plečnik.
There is much to admire beyond the architecture. We start with Ljubljana Castle. After a few minutes of climbing up the hill on a slippery funicular, we are on the grounds of the 900-year-old complex.
The immersive 4D movie inside attracts children’s attention and brings the story of the castle to life with the help of special effects: we spray our faces to make it rain; rocking the seats for more drama. We enjoy the stunning views from the castle tower.
Back at street level, we sip goulash at a cafe under arches next to the Ljubljanica River, both banks of which are lined with restaurants and bars and connected by a succession of scenic bridges.
In the unlikely event that one tire of Ljubljana, Slovenia’s small size means you can get to almost anywhere in the capital. We’re told we have to see the caves, so the next day we hop on the bus to Postojna Cave Park.
An underground train transports us to a magical kingdom of vast underground chambers; One of these rooms is so large that it hosts concerts. There’s an easy walking path through this incredible landscape of stalagmites and stalactites that take on almost hallucinatory shapes.
We finish our stay in Ljubljana with a morning in the magnificent Tivoli Park, where well-kept lawns give way to walking trails. Then we go to the airport. Yes, the airport. Overland was an adventure. But doing it the hard way once during a week’s holiday was enough.
Rosa Silverman and her family were guests Charles Hotel in Munich and InterContinental LjubljanaONE IHG Hotels & Resorts property. Bookings for road trips from Britain to Slovenia can be made at: Railway Europe.