Tour to Slovenia on Sunday 25th August: Sign up now!

[Infopoint]

Guided tour by coach on Sunday, 25 August 2013
to SLOVENIA: Piran, Portoroz & Predjama Castle

Departure time is fixed at 09.00 and return at 20.00 - Cost Euro 33/head -
Cash payment only -

IF INTERESTED, BUY YOUR TICKET AT THE INFO POINT COUNTER, LEONARDO Building

MEETING POINT with our English-speaking guide at the coach at 8.50 near
bus stop 6 in Grignano (seaside).

We shall drive across the border, into Slovenia and visit Piran,which
resembles a large open-air museum with medieval Venetian architecture.
Narrow streets and compact houses give the town its special charm. The
hills in the Piran area were inhabited by Illyrian Histri tribes who were
farmers, hunters and fishermen. They were also pirates who disrupted Roman
trade in the north Adriatic Sea. The Piran peninsula was incorporated into
the Roman Empire in 178 and 177 BC and there are Roman ruins spread out in
Slovenia and Croatia. Piran had, like most of the coastal towns in
Slovenia and Croatia, historic and cultural ties with ancient Rome, the
Franks, the Kingdom of Italy (830 - 935) the reign of Carinthia, the
Republic of Venice (1283-1797), the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Reign of
Italy. After World War II it became part of Yugoslavia and then Slovenia.
After Piran, we shall drive to neighbouring Portoroz (Portorose in
Italian), one of the largest tourist areas in Southwest Slovenia. Its
development as a summer resort started in the beginning of the 20th
century, as a tourist resort within the Austrian Riviera.
We will have some free time in Portoroz to have a walk around or have a
snack or swim or just relax.
Right after, we shall proceed to the incredible Predjama Castle, built in
a cave and dating back to at least 1274. In the 15th century, a renowned
robber baron called Erasmus fled the revenge of the Holy Roman Emperor and
settled his family in this castle fortress. There ensued a long siege in
which the castle was destroyed. It was rebuilt twice: in 1511 before being
destroyed by an earthquake and in 1567.  It has a secret natural shaft
that leads out of the castle for supplies when the robber baron needed a
quick in and out for his robberies.

Lunch/snacks in Portoroz at own cost.