Unless you arrive in Green Slovenia on a cruise ship, you are unlikely to even consider visiting Koper, Slovenia's largest port and coastal town.

Even then a lot of those cruise ship guests will be whizzed away from Koper in buses for the day, maybe to see the most visited tourist cave in Europe at Postojna and the most unique castle in the world at Predjama, both just around the corner from the Lodge, by the way!

When it comes to Green Slovenia's Mediterranean Coast, you have probably heard about stunning Piran and would be licking your lips about visiting there or the seaside resort of Portoroz and if you are lucky, you might have also heard how fantastic Izola is too..

Christmas sunset photo, but would you ever guess this was little old Koper in little old Slovenia..

BUT Koper might only be slightly bigger letters on the map for you!

To be honest, after a few stale visits to Koper ourselves, we had thought the same and pretty much dismissed the sprawling new shopping centres, apartment blocks, endless roundabouts and warehouses for stuff like garden furniture as just a sunny alternative for going to Ljubljana's out of town warehouses..

BUT WE WERE WRONG!

You have to pinch yourself in so many corners of Green Slovenia to remember you are in fact in Green Slovenia..

There is a big clue reaching up to the sky that there is more to Koper as you race past on the motorway on the way to Piran and that is the large Venetian tower..

The Slovenian coast is just so lovely that our first few years here were taken up exploring the delights and nooks & crannies of Piran, Izola and Portoroz, before we went with a guide friend to discover the secrets of Koper old town.. right next to that big tower..

And you could have knocked us both down with a seagull's feather at how much we loved it!

This is one of the most beautiful enclosed town squares in Green Slovenia.. do have a coffee here and an ice cream next to the sea..

So if we were living here and managed to ignore Koper, why should you even consider it as worthy of your all too limited holibubble time in the most beautiful and varied small country in Europe?

Well, we now know that KOPER OLD TOWN has a lot to offer, indeed something different to the rest of the extremely varied Slovenian Riviera..

In the same way as Portoroz has sandy beaches, hotels and tutti frutti casinos, Piran has drop dead gorgeous photo opportunities & a world class sophistication standing up to anything on Croatia's beautiful coast and Izola has a quieter, refined seaside feel with easy parking, easy eating and easy swimming..

Well, Koper has a really different and fantastic old town that used to be an island!

If only Koper looked like this still..

Koper is actually the closest Slovenian seaside town to the Lodge, being just 30 mins down the motorway, but like we said, we always pretty much avoided it cos, at first sight, lets face it, there are many pretty ugly new offices, stadiums and outta town shops to see from the motorway.

But here is a fact that will change your understanding of Koper, cos the old town was once an island, bobbing in the sea and THIS old town is what we are making all the fuss about you visiting in this article!

Yep, it will be really easy for you to navigate around on your own if you remember, that just like Izola.. Koper also used to be a grand old island town surrounded by sea salt fields.

This gate still survives from the Old Town wall..

The sprawling main town and new buidlings were built over time where the sea was filled in, now like a concrete circle around the pretty old town! 

If you climb up the stairs of the main Venetian tower for a really fantastic view you can also easily see the stark contrast of the stunning red terracotta roofs spread around the tower in a circle with the Adriatic sea on one side and the new town stretching out to the Mediterranean hills and vineyards..

Clear to see the contrast between the beautiful red terracotta roofs of the old town and the quite frankly, bland new town..

Koper was quickly expanded to be Yugoslavia's main port after WW2 when Italy, shall we say, acquired Trieste and it's port from Slovenia and nowadays Koper is actually the busier port!

This port came in handy for allowing Venice sized cruise ships to dock in Slovenia and dump hundreds of one day visitors to go "do Slovenia in a day".. By this we mean see the Postojna cave, Predjama castle, Bled, Ljubljana or Piran for the day!!

When a cruise ship stops over it is almost as big as the Old Town..

If you only knew how amazing Green Slovenia is and the number of sensational SECRET GREEN SECRET PLACES to VISIT, there are here, then, "doing Slovenia in a day or even 3 days" is such a ridiculous and shocking concept, but you can be totally forgiven if even you might suffer from this illusion.. until you read a bit more on this website!

But even this terrible one day mass tourism concentrated on just a few of Slovenia's world class locations has had a positive effect on Koper and we have noticed over the years how the Old Town has really spruced itself up and concentrated on having shops, cafes, restaurants and other places to temp the cruise ship guests to stay and relax..

Plenty of different styles of church in the old town if you look..

You DO not get this in too many other places in Green Slovenia..

And of course, this is great news for the other non cruise ship visitors to Green Slovenia, cos it means KOPER is a serious option now for you to go relax, have a look around, see some real history, eat something and enjoy being by the Adriatic sea!

Indeed, where the cruise ship guests embark into Koper is a great sneaky tip place to park and maybe use the lift from the car parks at the back of the old town to enter and explore those wonderful narrow streets, churches, souvenir shops and restaurants & cafes, all lined up by the salty Mediterranean, flowing like a lake alongside!  

Several narrow shopping streets, which are so rare in Slovenia, they are frankly a joy to behold and rub shoulders with a few other visitors..

To get to the back of the old town, just take the first PORT exit from the motorway to avoid the new town and park somewhere near the glass lifts.

But there are other new car parks along the sea front near the market too and you might even be lucky enough to find a spot directly in the old town if you have someone in your party who has difficulty walking..

Just head for the spire of the Venetian church in this case and there is a really beautiful little square behing the main square with parking spaces there and a short walk to the main square where some of your party can choose to have a coffee, while the others go off to explore!

We bagged this parking spot right next to the old town centre in the middle of June..

Probably the main feature of Koper and a good place to start your walkabout is at the nearby old town square, (like a very mini St Marks) with a beautiful Venetian church tower rising up.

You can go up the tower for a great view and then maybe walk around the tight surrounding streets to explore. 

the main Venetian tower is on the central square.. you can go up here for the view..

There is a grand old town hall and typically for a town once ruled by Venice, you can spot several lions on buildings with maybe a lion and an open book carved into the wall.. (a closed book means the town resisted the Venetian's rule).         

The old town is not so big, so it won't take long to explore, but we do urge you to really go discover the side streets and even try to get a little lost as this is pretty much impossible to do and this is how you will find quirky little bridges across alleyways, washing hanging up and hand made doors..

This is NOT Piran or Izola, we urge you to explore KOPER old town too..

When you reach a beautiful stone fountain and a big chunk of wall then you have reached the edge of the old town OR the old island, but it is also easy to notice this as just step outside the wall and you will be surrounded by those new buildings built on the open sea where they also used to collect salt in pyramids, where you cab  still see in places like the Salar fields in Portoroz and Strunjan, quite simply, where Slovenians go for a bit of a swim!

Look for a bronze map set into the pavement near this fountain for the best map you can find of how the island old town actually looked!

Lovely fountain near the old town gate..

Also have a good look around that pretty side square, with a huge olive tree in the centre.. Water was very scarce on the old island, so there were gutters on the houses surrounding this square to catch rainfall and direct it all underground to the centre of this square in the fountain where the local people had to come and pay for their water! 

You see the history is all around you if know what to look for and there are many other interesting and important stone features and all sorts of different churches around the old town. 

Look up for fine details all over the old town..

If you just go down to the main seafront and have a stroll there, you will find more cafes and restaurants and a big old fish market building, with one of those lion's and a book carved into the side of the wall..

Well here you can also find a stone spire dedicated to Koper's role in defeating the sea threat of the Ottoman empire and in tribute to Napaolean whose troops landed here and used Koper as a springboard for their attempt on Russia..

Rumour has it Napoleon's army was doomed by taking too long in Koper before setting off for Russia too late and arriving in winter a few weeks too late.

The Christmas fayre on the edge of the old town..

We are very happy to suggest that you might not spend a week too long here, but Koper certainly has enough unexpected delights to look after you for part of your daytrip to the coast!

We love popping down to Koper now to explore around, have a coffee and even have our favourite little family run fish restaurant, (which is the closest we have found to a traditional British fish and chip restaurant), near the old market..

If you stick to the main shopping streets you will not find these side streets with so much character..

We are absolutely delighted how Koper has come along in the last ten years to be a beautiful space for both it's residents AND visitors and this includes the long promenade that leads from the old town harbour all the way down the coast away from Koper to Zusterna beach..

Another of our tips for a family to go swim and discover the secret delights of a country with a Mediterranean coast 48 km longer than what Britain, Germany or Switzerland all together can boast!!

Long, long marine promenade leads from the old town towards Zusterna beach..

Maybe you will combine a visit to Koper old town with a family swim in Zusterna or a visit to the other Slovenian seaside options.. It is even possible to walk from Koper along a car free promenade all the way to lovely Izola in around an hour..

Maybe you will visit the VINAKOPER wine shop to buy some wine produced in this mini wine region, one of Green slovenia's 7 unique wine regions.. look for Refosk and Malvazija..

Indeed Koper is also the gateway to the enourmous Coastal Hinterland that is packed with little hill top villages and churches, olive groves and vineyards..

You might have thought the Slovenian coast was just Piran, but even from up here you CANNOT even see Piran or Izola or Portoroz..

Maybe you will visit the large and wild nature reserve on the other "Port" side of the coast stretching towards Ankaran and Italy, but most people will enjoy a good old bumble around the old town, now in the knowledge that you are walking on what was an island bobbing in the sea in the old days!      

Slovenia is so lucky to have such a varied and beautiful Mediterranean coast and we sincerely hope that if you do choose to visit Koper old town, then you will see a lot more than many of the cruise ship guests, who still whizz off to "do Slovenia in a day"!!