Things to do from Trieste: crossing into Slovenia's Karst

Trieste sits roughly 20-25 km from the Slovenian border, and the crossing itself is a non-event: both Italy and Slovenia are fully inside the Schengen area, so there are no routine passport checks on this route. Within about 20-30 minutes of leaving Trieste you are in the Karst plateau, where the limestone landscape hides some of Slovenia's best-known sights.

The Lipica stud farm, home of the Lipizzaner horse breed since 1580, sits just a few kilometres over the border. Postojna Cave and the Skocjan Caves, both major cave systems, are a similarly short drive further in. 30 m tall.