Piran, Slovenia to Millstatt, Austria

5 min readSep 22, 2019

While traveling I sometimes do what I call a “pivot” day where I change plans and strike off in a different direction. Today was that day.

I mentioned earlier that I decided to head north after exploring Istria rather than continue further south down the Croatian coast. You’ll notice a dramatic change in scenery and culture from Croatia to Austria.

I departed Brtonigla this morning, crossed the border from Croatia into Slovenia and stopped to visit the town of Piran on its own peninsula in the Adriatic. Slovenia has just 29 miles of coastline but it makes the most of them.

You couldn’t drive into Piran. You parked in a seven-story garage just outside town and courtesy shuttles brought you to the main square. I liked that, no dodging traffic. And it was all done with Slovenian efficiency.

Piran was just the right size. Plenty of things to see but with everything in manageable walking distance. As I usually do, I scaled something tall first to get the lay of the land. I eyed the clock tower and started climbing.

Looking out from the top, I could barely see Venice across the water to the west and the Slovenian Alps to the north. I looked a bit longer at the mountains. I was headed there, over the Julian Alps into Austria.

It was a pleasant, three-hour drive across Slovenia. The only delay was at the border with Austria because I had to wait in line to pay a toll for the tunnel. Once I broke back into sunlight on the northern side of the border, the road signs and radio stations were in German. Welcome to Österreich!

I arrived at my small hotel in Millstatt, Austria, this afternoon. It overlooked the Millstätter See (“see” means lake in German. I know, it’s confusing for English speakers). Of course it had an honor system beer cooler. Whatever you took, you just wrote it down on your slip of paper pinned to the board.

After dropping off my things in the room, I hiked down the hill to explore town. I’ve never spent much time in southern Austria but it felt similar to southern Germany. Maybe it was just the familiarity with the language. It was nice to be able to comprehend signs again.

One thing that struck me was how neat and tidy Austrians seemed to be. I also noticed more signs of affluence. I guess it does pay to be the center of your own empire (even through it disappeared a hundred years ago).

The church interiors in Slovenia and Croatia tended to be spartan and a bit cold architecturally to me. This Austrian church interior was rich and warm with ornate stone carvings, scrolling iron work and thick wood pews.

Another reminder that I had crossed into a different culture was the cemetery outside. Without fail, every German and Austrian church have some sort of memorial to the World Wars. To me, they’re not as powerful as the small family markers. They intimately share the personal loss.

Like at home, most business in the German-speaking world are closed on Sundays. It’s just more extreme here. It’s hard to find something to eat. I drove a few kilometers back around the lake to the neighboring town of Spittal an der Drau.

I walked past the Rathaus (town hall) and had no idea what this sign was prohibiting. I hustled along…