Slovenia is incredibly diverse. The sheer number of possible activities surprises even us locals. We can go hiking, visit one of the many castles, explore caves, take a bike ride around the vineyards, enjoy great food, get lost in the deep woods… It wasn’t hard coming up with 50 places to visit with kids in Slovenia.
Let’s kick it off with the capital – Ljubljana.
1. Ljubljana Zoo – offers a really nice walk mostly in the shade, so it’s perfect even in Summer, cute animals, a petting zoo. It also has a few nice playgrounds with lots of options to play with water. Plan to spend half a day here, so you don’t have to rush the kids.
2. Botanical gardens – take a walk along the right bank of the river Ljubljanica, you have a beautiful path all the way from Preseren square to the Botanic Garden, at Spica cross the footbridge and you can’t miss the entrance. Perfect time for a visit is definitely Spring, though you can best enjoy the tropical glasshouse in the Winter and imagine you are some place else.
3. Minicity Ljubljana – creative city for kids, when kids can pretend to fly a plane, to work in a store or be an awesome TV presenter…
4. House of experiments – because science can be so much fun and here are so many great experiments to prove it.
5. Slovene Ethnographic Museum – one of our favorite museums in Ljubljana, with many interesting exhibitions and a very kid friendly -as in you can touch and feel.
Check out more things to do in Ljubljana come rain or sunshine.
Now how about exploring some cool – literally caves?
6. Postojna Cave – take a train to explore it and don’t forget about the chance to see olm or proteus – an aquatic salamander, called human fish by locals, because of its skin color.
7. Skocjan Caves – with no train it is a wilder version of a cave and that’s why you might even enjoy it more.
8. Krizna Cave – said to be one of the most beautiful and best preserved caves in Europe, but it doesn’t contain concrete pathways and strong lighting. Now this is an adventure. 
Here’s to adventures on the rivers:
9. Soca river is tempting for rafting, kanyoning, or kayaking, or just sitting on the banks and marveling at the emerald green waters.
10. River Mura – offers The Woodland Experience Path, which teaches you about the Backwaters of the River Mura.
11. River Kolpa: it gets really warm in the Summer which makes it on the best rivers for swimming, rafting, cycling or walking along the banks.
Not just a rainy day option, these museums are always interesting:
12. Museum of Apiculture – learn all about the bees, literally and beekeeping.
13. Slovenian Alpine Museum – learn about the amazing mountain world of Slovenia and then pick a hike to experience it.
14. Technical museum of Slovenia – located in the former Carthusian monastery in Bistra, it osts interesting exhibits, activities for kids and beautiful surroundings.
15. Slovenian Fire-Fighters’ Museum Metlika – because it’s all about the firefighters.
16. Javnik timber-rafting museum – learn about timber rafting on river Drava.
17. Park of Military History – some cool aircraft and tank collections, a helicopter and a submarine – just to mention a few of the things to see.
18. Museum of Lake Cerknica – if you visit lake Cerknica, make sure you get to know all about this very interesting lake that keeps changing: from a dry flat karst plain to the largest lake surface in Slovenia.
Discover the fairy tale lands:
19. Fairytale land Bled – let the kids experience Bled through folk tales and learn how the lake was created.
More about family activities in Slovenia perfect for Spring.
20. Fairy tale village Lese – no ordinary place, but a true fairytale village, with its own fairytale creature. The beautiful woods, mountains and mines are home to some interesting creature, come here to meet them.
21. Witch’s Cottage – because there is never enough of fairy-tales.
22. Dwarf’s Land – meet the dwarfs and see if they are really as naughty as they say.
23. Fairy tale Woods – Logarska valley is especially beautiful but add this visit to the mix and everyone will be happy about the trip.
Get the royal treatment at these castles:
24. Castle Bled – because kids love castles and this one is perched on top of a hill, overlooking the whole region.
25. Predjama Castle – the coolest castle you can visit, built into a cave with imagination inspiring legends of knights and battles.
26. Celje old castle –The biggest Slovenian medieval castle harbors many myths and legends that are far from Disney material. But the kids will still enjoy the cool surroundings, run around the castle’s main square and try out the old medieval swing with wooden baskets.
Read all about our great visit of the Celje old castle or how about a visit to Castle Sneznik.
Click on the photo to learn how to hike Soriska mountain.
Get the kids to fall in love with hiking and you will never have a dull moment in Slovenia.
27. Hiking Voje gorge – there are thousands of possibility for hiking in Slovenia. This one was lately one of our favorites. It is a very easy walk through the woods, along a magnificent gorge. It is a perfect Summer morning destination, which you finish off with the swim in the lake Bohinj.
28. Kofce – again a great hiking possibility, with a great playground to keep the kids entertained and busy, while you soak up the views and enjoy the delicious food.
29. Vogel – if you aren’t into hiking, but would still love to enjoy the mountains, you can board a cable car – a great experience for the kids and then get amazing views of lake Bohinj and even Slovenia’s highest mountain Triglav.
30. Vintgar Gorge – a perfect walk.
Open-air museums in Slovenia:
31. Velika Planina – considered to be the most beautiful alpine pasture in Slovenia, while there visit also the Preskar Alpine dairy farm, which is the only preserved example of a typical oval Velika planina hut in Slovenia.
32.Open Air Museum Filovci – it is an ethnological museum, showing Panonian architecture.
33. Jurij Homestead: experience the life of country folk in the time before, during and right after World War II.
34. Open-air museum Pleterje – because you get to go back in time and see how life used to be in this part of Slovenia and because kids can chase farmyard animals across the field.
35. Rogatec Open-air Museum –The best way and certainly more interesting way to learn about the region of Obsotelje between the 18th and 20th centuries. Largest open-air museum in Slovenia, that preserves the folk architectural heritage and cultural tradition.
36. Bolnica Franja: hidden deep in the woods, in a remote gorge this former hospital built during the WWII played a very important part in history.
Relax at one of the many spas in Slovenia:
37. Therme Olimia – East part of Slovenia is famous for its thermal waters and these offer both fun for the kids as well as relaxation for you.
And so much more:
38. Volcji Potok Arboretum – admire the flora and fauna and then let the kids get crazy at one of the best playgrounds in Slovenia.
39. Stud Farm Lipica – learn all about Lipizzaner horses, try riding one and see what the fuss is all about – are they really from Slovenia or not.
40. Secvolje salina Nature Park – because you can’t just swim and stay at the beach all day long. This interesting place is a large coastal marsh wetland and unique due to different ecosystems, a combination of sea water, fresh water and land. Great for leisurely walking around and observing.
41. Dinosaur Footprints: it’s really nothing special but it’s dinosaurs, so if you have a chance, wouldn’t you want your kids to see it? Located bear the village Godovic, you can see fossilized footprints on a large rock.
42. Adventure park Vulkania: learn all about the volcanoes and the geological history of the Goricko region
43. Center of Experiments Koper: can science be fun and interesting? It can be here.
44. Traditional Floating Watermill: the only panonian floating mill in Prelekija, there used to be hundreds of mills on the Mura river before, now this is the only one and it’s still working.
Stay at a tourist farm
45. You could just stay at one of many great tourist farms in Slovenia and have a chance to pet animals, watch the farmers do their daily chores, enjoy delicious local food… Here is a list to help you choose.
Our favorite farm is Pri Flandru.
Discover the interesting underground world by going deep into the mines:
46. Peca Mine Museum – because the underground world holds a special appeal, you get properly dressed groups, equipped with lamps and transported by the train 3.5 km deep into the interior of the mountain. So, what’s there to think about?
47. Idrija Mercury Mine – if you don’t have enough of the mines, here is another one you can explore: the underground world of the mercury mine.
Test your courage with a visit of adventure parks.
And keep in mind this is a work in progress, so I will be adding new places as I hear about them. If you have a tip, please just write it down in comments and I’ll make sure it finds its way on the list.
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Great list. Maybe you should also add the Vice spike-forge in Kropa. A forge is a building constructed from rock and wood, where the iron forgers of Kropa used to manufacture over 120 different types of spikes. Today, the Vice spike-forge is a museum with manual spike production demonstration. It’s a wonderful experience for the children.
Sounds like the most perfect country , hope get the chance to visit one day
Another great place for kids and family is The Fairyland of the Goldhorn (Zlatorogova pravljična dežela) in Bohinj: http://www.bohinj.si/en/experiencing_bohinj/fairyland_of_the_goldhorn#showHere