Wine Tour to Slovenia
Wednesday 3rd-Sunday 6th July 2025 – fully booked
Thursday 18th-Sunday 21st September 2025 – fully booked
4 days/3 nights based in Ljubljana, £1,349 pp, £100 single supplement
Price excludes travel to/from our Meeting/Departure Points/Early booking discount available
- Visits to top estates, meeting owners and winemakers, and tasting fabulous wines.
- Our visits will cover key regions including Goriska Brda, Vipava Valley and Podravje.
- Based in picturesque Ljubljana, a wonderful place to stay and enjoy picturesque architecture and a vibrant dining scene.
- We will enjoy the beautiful scenery and learn about how Slovenia’s shared history with Italy and Austria has influenced its winemaking.
- At least six visits over three days.
- Comprehensive tastings at every visit, and six fabulous tasting lunches or dinners
Tour dates 2025
Tuesday 3rd-Friday 6th July – fully booked
Thursday 18th-Sunday 21st September – fully booked
Outline Itinerary
Day 1
Our tour commences in the morning at our Meeting Point, Ljubljana airport, meeting the daily flight by Easy Jet from London Gatwick. Our coach will take us to a restaurant in the Primorska wine region, an hour or so’s drive from Ljubljana, for a leisurely lunch followed by a winery visit that will introduce us to Slovenian wine. We will then return to the city to settle in to our central hotel, brilliantly situated to stroll out into the town and enjoy the lovely atmosphere.
Evening at leisure.
Day 2
The Podravje region is in the east, near the city of Maribor on the border with Austria. Its steep hills and cool climate are shared with the Styria region to the north, and we will taste some amazing wines in truly stunning scenery. A tasting lunch amid the vines looking out across the hills will be a highlight.
Evening at leisure.
Day 3
We spend the day in Goriska Brda, on Slovenia’s western border with Italy. Over two winery visits and tastings we will discover the history shared with the neighbouring Friuli region, and explore the fabulous quality of the wines. We will take a light lunch in a local restaurant and be back in Ljubljana in time to relax before our final night dinner.
Day 4
We check out of our hotel and our coach takes us to the Vipava Valley, a verdant, fertile area a short drive from Ljubljana. Young innovative winemakers are vying with longer established vignerons to make stunning wines from indigenous and international grape varieties. We will have plenty of time after our visit and lunch to return to Ljubljana and catch the evening flight back to Gatwick.
Note: the Itinerary may be changed at Tim Syrad Wine Tours discretion so as to facilitate the smooth running of the tour and to accommodate great opportunities for visits or tastings that may become available.
Key Tour Information
* The Key Tour Information specifies what you should expect from the tour, no matter how far ahead you book.
As additional information is published on the website, it will be advised to clients who have reserved a place. The daily itinerary will be finalised in the weeks leading up to the Start Date.
Pricing
- £1,349 per person based on 2 people sharing a double/twin room.
- £100 supplement for single occupancy of a double room,
- £100 discount for bookings made before 1st January 2025, and paid for 12 weeks before departure.
Price includes
- 4 days (including arrival and departure days)/3 nights bed and breakfast in good quality 4 star hotel in Ljubljana.
- Coach for all activities in the itinerary.
- Two full days, two part days of visits and tastings.
- At least six visits/tastings, covering Slovenia’s major wine producing regions.
- Four lunches/dinners with local wines.
- All local taxes and service charges.
- The services of Tim Syrad as your Wine Tour Manager and Wine Guide.
It is a condition of my accepting a booking that you will take out appropriate travel insurance – please see our Terms and Conditions Section 8.
Terms and Conditions are available here or on request.
Please note travel to destination is not included in the price. Many of my clients prefer to extend their holiday before or after my tours, so I let people make their own travel arrangements.
* End of Key Tour Information
Travel to/from the Tour
Our Meeting and Departure Points are Ljubljana Airport. I will arrange transfers to coincide with the daily Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Ljubljana, and for the return the Easyjet flight to Gatwick and British Airways flight to Heathrow. Note currently Easyjet do not fly to/from Ljubljana on Saturdays, should you be planning to extend your stay.
Tour 1 3rd-6th July 2025
Outbound (Thursday 3rd July)
Easyjet from London Gatwick to Ljubljana. EZY8841 departs LGW 0710 arrives LJU 1025
Return (Sunday 6th July)
Easyjet from Ljubljana to London Gatwick. EZY8842 departs LJU 2120 arrives LGW 2245
or
British Airways from Ljubljana to London Heathrow BA0691 departs LJU 2125 arrives LHR 2245
Tour 2 18th-21st September 2025
Outbound (Thursday 18th September)
Easyjet from London Gatwick to Ljubljana. EZY8841 departs LGW 0710 arrives LJU 1025
Return (Sunday 21st September)
Easyjet from Ljubljana to London Gatwick. EZY8842 departs LJU 2120 arrives LGW 2245
or
British Airways from Ljubljana to London Heathrow BA0691 departs LJU 2125 arrives LHR 2245
How to Book this Tour
Please contact me by phone or email, or use the enquiry form on the Contact page on the website to check availability. When I confirm a place is available, please complete the booking form to reserve your place.
Once I have confirmed a tour is proceeding I advise clients to arrange flights and confirm travel arrangements to me. Please do not arrange flights before I have confirmed your place and that the tour is proceeding.
Full payment must be made 12 weeks before the tour starts, invoices will be sent out 14 weeks before the tour starts. Two weeks before the tour starts you will need to provide your insurance details (name of insurer, policy number, 24 hour emergency telephone numbers), outbound/inbound travel arrangements and any dietary requirements.
More about my Wine Tour to Slovenia
Home to the world’s oldest grape vine, wine making in Slovenia existed long before Romans introduced it to France, Germany and Spain. A rich wine making history and perfect viticultural conditions mean Slovenia is a true gem, producing fabulous wines that almost no-one has heard of!
The country is bordered by three of Europe’s most famous wine-producing countries – Italy to the west, Austia to the north and Hungary to the east. Slovenia is blessed with a variety of climatic conditions and wonderful soils that ensure its wine are terroir-drive and of very high quality.
Our Visits
Our visits will enable us to explore key wine regions:
Primorska in the west borders the Friuli region of Italy and many winemakers have historically tended vines on both side of the borders. With coastal influences from the Adriatic to the south, and mountain influences from the Dolomites to the north and rugged sub Alpine terrain there is a multiplicity of terroirs and it is without doubt one of the most exciting regions in Slovenia. Goriska Brda and the Vipava Valley are the major sub regions.
Podravje was historically the epicentre of Slovenian wine production, home to the famous (infamous?) Lutomer Laski Rizling, that some may still remember from the 1970s! We will visit top winemakers in the Stajerska sub region. Close to Austria’s Styria region, it is now home to many winemakers who are celebrating its cool conditions to make top quality white wines.
Vine Growing and Wine Making
Slovenian winemakers play with a full palate of grape varieties. International white varieties such as Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc are widely found, while aromatic wines are made from Traminer, Furmint, Muscat and Malvasia. Red wines are made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Barbera.
Most wineries we visit will have a variety of approaches to winemaking. While we see plenty of stainless steel vats, we will also find oak vessels of differing sizes and amphora are increasingly being used. Slovenia is a leader in natural and orange wine making and the quality of these can be very high.
Our base
Ljubljana is one of the loveliest cities in Europe. Its centre is exquisitely pretty, with cobbled streets and brighly painted gabled buildings. Very much designed for pedestrians, central Ljubljana is a joy to stroll around in the evening, while those spending additional time in the city will be able to enjoy its impressive castle, cathedral and museums.
Gastronomy
Slovenian cuisine celebrates the wonderful source of fresh ingredients it has at its disposal. Foraging is a national pastime, and menus will reflect what is in season – dandelion salads are a particular feature in the spring!
Karst dry-cured meats are a speciality from the Adriatic coast, local cheeses include Nanoški Sir a hard cheese from the Vipava valley which during maturation benefits from the same Bora wind that keeps vines healthy, and Trnič, a sheep’s milk cheese from Podravje that is smoked over an open fire. There are 10 Michelin-starred restaurants in Slovenia, and young chefs are creating names for themselves in restaurants across the country.
More about Tim Syrad Wine Tours
Since 1997 I have escorted over 140 groups of people on wine tours, visiting more than 40 wine regions in Europe and the New World. My clients keep coming back year after year because in addition to tastings and visits we really do meet the people who make the wine and tend the vines.
I pride myself in offering tours that are informative, imaginative and enjoyable. I keep group sizes manageable so that we spend our time appreciating our visits, not getting on and off the bus or queuing for the loos! I personally escort all of my tours, and I ensure as much as possible of the money my clients pay is spent on great food and wine, and good hotels. I believe you can combine appreciating fabulous wine with relaxation and laughter, which is why so many of my clients come on tour with me every year. More than 100 people have come on at least 10 of my tours.
There is a friendly and welcoming atmosphere on every tour from the start, and I am proud that many friendships have been made between the people who come on tour with me.
Check out the FAQ page for more specific information about my tours, or contact me directly if you would like to discuss any aspect of my tours.
For more information about me, my next tours, and previous tours I have run, and to find out what my clients say (some of whom have been coming on tour with me since 2001) please explore the website.
Get in touch
For more information, or to book a place, please contact me
By phone (020 7060 4529)
Or email (tim@timsyradwinetours.com)
Or use the online enquiry form on the Contact page