One of the smallest countries in Europe, Slovenia more than justifies the ‘Europe in Miniature’ hype. Tucked in an enviable geographical position between the Alps and the Mediterranean, it is blessed with spectacular mountains, thick forests and an Adriatic coastline. 

Following the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during WWI, Slovenia became a part of the new ‘Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’ in 1918, later ‘Yugoslavia’. After WWII, Tito created Socialist Yugoslavia. Following his death in 1980, the economic and political situation deteriorated and led to a series of regional conflicts in the early 1990s. Slovenia was the first republic to break away, achieving independence relatively peacefully in 1991. 

Slovenia was always the most prosperous region in Yugoslavia and it has successfully made the transition from a socialist economy to a capitalist free market one: it was first of the former Yugoslavian states to join the EU in 2004 and adopted the euro in 2007. 

Picturesque Ljubljana, the capital, is the starting point for a wide range of excursions. Situated in the heart of Slovenia, draped along the banks of the Ljubljanica River, the capital is within a two-hour drive of all the state borders.

Geography
This compact and strategically important country is dominated by mountains, rivers and major north-south and east-west transit routes. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast and Croatia to the southeast, with a 47km (30-mile) Adriatic Sea coastline, where the main port is Koper.