Jessica Bezuidenhout finds delicious treats, rich history and great value in this upstart European country

There is a remarkable intimacy about Slovenia, the tiny European nation that is so conveniently situated between Croatia, Hungary, Austria and Italy. Up north it has its share of the Alps, down south, a 42km-long stretch coast where travellers can bask in the Mediterranean sunshine. And, I kid you not, depending on who's driving, that's a mere two hours apart.

Upon first arriving at the airport in the capital city of Ljubljana, however, I find myself a bit stunned: I had over-packed a for my trip: this place looked rather like Bloemfontein.

Thankfully, I soon realised that this former Yugoslavian country is full of surprises.

It has all the trappings of old European cities - the country is a very new member of the EU. It has history, castles and an abundance of greenery that turns any happy snap into an instant postcard.

Of course I bought the postcards, hard to resist at one buck. Besides, as a guest of the local tourism body, I didn't know how much I'd get to see in just a few days.

A country of only two million people, it is small enough for an adventure traveller to trek through in a week. Yet it is sufficiently rich in heritage to allow the educated travel palate to savour each moment around its medieval remnants. There is an interesting blend of architecture and the cluster of karst caves at Postojna is mesmerising.

Being a generally lazy tourist, I was lucky that most of my treats were laid on by my hosts.

During a drive to the Postojna region, guide Tilen Gabrovsek told me that about 60% of his country is covered in forest. It's green everywhere you look, so I figured this exquisite landscape must at least be part of the reason why there are so many large camper vans along the main roads.

On a hilltop overlooking Ljubljana, home to roughly 200 000 people, stands a grand old dame, the Ljubljana Castle, a famous landmark dating back to the ninth century. Today a museum, the castle was previously home to an array of governors and later even served as a prison. I found a local youth choir - the impressive Perpetuum Jazzile - doing a rather lekker version of Nkosi Sikelela' iAfrika - in all five languages, including Afrikaans and Zulu. It made me weepy as I hummed along.

In the city centre there's an amazing buzz around Preseren Square. I was happy to wander around this place, where the city's folk gather throughout the day, some for ice cream, but also youngsters with crazy hairdos, and moms and dads with tots on tandem bikes.

Nearby, a market place, narrow cobblestone streets and small non-descript eateries like Dvor line the Ljubljana River. There's nothing fancy about this tiny pizza restaurant but it's intimate and the pizzas, over 100 of them on the menu - were exquisite. Of course I didn't sample all of them, but judging from the reaction of my fellow travellers, I was almost certain one would have to go to Italy to find an equally delicious feast.

Once we had it figured out, it was simpler to order by number and when we went back there for supper the following evening, I chose the same number to order my four cheeses pizza. At only R70, including the local beer and a fairly decent glass of red wine, it was a cheap treat.

That's the thing about Slovenia - it's Europe, but affordable, and there's no hair-raising fuss about the price of a bottle of water. And besides, tap water here is apparently of exceptional quality.

Untainted by the Yugoslavian civil war of the 1990s, Slovenia may not be hot on the tourist route, but it has a lot going for it. The Japanese, Spanish, French and German tourists have long figured this out. I found that many of the highly educated tour guides can switch between si'l vous plait and their gracia with ease.

Slovenian State Secretary for Tourism Marjan Hribar says, "it's a value-for-money destination".

I figured the best way to test this would be a trip to a local shopping mall. I know, one is not meant to corrupt travel trips with such a chore, but I needed an outfit for a Mandela cocktail function I had to attend later that evening.

The stores were to die for, especially the variety of women's clothing on offer at a fraction of the price you'd pay in boutique stores back home.

I couldn't resist a beautiful pair of grey leggings and the efficient saleslady made me try on a white ruffled shirt which, once on, I simply had to have. Best of all, costing just R300, it didn't break my travel budget.

It is rarely spoken about, but Slovenia is one of Europe's safest countries. I caught a cab one night from my hotel and found it possible to savour the buzz around the Ljubljana River area without once worrying about my bag.

While here I chatted to mother-of-two Andreja. She didn't seem one bit stunned when I said I was from South Africa - her country's soccer team had been here recently for the World Cup.

Andreja treated me to a delicious cola-flavoured ice cream before I headed back to base camp, Hotel Mons - a lovely modern four-star establishment set in a woodland just outside the town.

Although the city offers a variety of hotels, I was happy at mine - I could smell the trees through the huge windows at the breakfast den.

Ljubljana is littered with a fascinating mix of architecture and while most of the historic buildings have remained intact, a large number - if not all - of Slovenia's medieval houses and Baroque-style buildings were damaged or ruined during an earthquake in 1895.

A brief visit to Saint Nicholas Cathedral with its Baroque décor was magnificent. Tour guide Dragan Bekcic rattled off some interesting facts, including that the frescoes were painted by Giulio Quaglio in the 1700s. Fascinating stuff, but I soon wandered off to a mini-market outside where giant fresh mushrooms were on sale next to exquisite multicoloured glassware, another Slovenenian speciality.

Another highlight was a visit to the Predjama Castle, perched proudly on a 100-odd-metre-high cliff. It was formerly home to the rebellious knight, Erazem.

Dragan entertained us with a hilarious story of how Erazem had compromised his impenetrable security when nature called, shoving his behind out of one of the tiny windows, from where the enemy then took a shot at him.

Not far from here is the Postojna Cave, the country's number-one attraction. At this geological wonder, about 20km of intricate passages and chambers reveal the magic of millennia of water drippings that have chiseled spectacular formations, massive drapes and flutes in the limestone.

While there's cave-trekking on offer below the Predjama castle, I settled for a train ride through the main cave and a stroll through some of the accessible parts.

About an hour or so outside Ljubljana is Bled, a picturesque region which is made up of a series of small villages.

Bled also has a culinary speciality - a cream cake made of layers of custard and cream sandwiched between crispy light pasty.

The recipe, I was told, was brought to Slovenia by a Serbian chef in 1953; having a taste is on every tourist's to-do list upon arrival in the area.

I devoured the first slice with a nice hot latté but sadly, couldn't muster more than a tiny spoonful of the next one.

My trip to this beautiful country had a lovely ending in the country's oldest coastal town, Piran.

Picture-perfect with its Venetian-influenced buildings, narrow windy streets and war stones dating back to the seventh century, Piran is also home to an old-fashioned salt pan right next to the Croatian border post. The pans, about six kilometres in overall size, produce the key ingredient for one of Piran's delicacies - medium dark salt chocolates.

With a bit of that melting away in my mouth the next day, I was back on the plane - nostalgia setting in as I went through the beautiful memories now forever imprinted on my mind.

• Bezuidenhout was a guest of the Slovenian Tourist Board

MUST-DO:

• Lipica: One of the oldest stud farms and home to Slovenia's Lippizaners
• The spectacular Predjama Castle
• St Nicholas Cathedral in Ljubljana's city centre
• The region of Bled - its lake, tiny island and of course, a taste of Bled's cream cake

HOW TO GET THERE:

There are no direct flights, but good options via Frankfurt, Munich, London or Istanbul are all between an hour or two hours' flight away.

VISAS:

Slovenian Schengen visas are issued by the German Embassy in South Africa. For details about visiting Slovenia, contact the Consulate of Slovenia at: (021) 970 2447; or send an email to: info@slovenianconsulate.co.za or go to the website: www.slovenianconsulate.co.za.