Strunjan is the secret place on the Slovenian Adriatic coast for locals to have a quiet swim! It is also our GO TO place for an easy swim with maybe a bit of a laze in the sun, an ice cream or even a bite to eat by the sea.

It is a very uncomplicated stretch of warm, salty Mediterranean sea with a long promenade, plenty of spaces to sit in the shade, one lovely cafe, one decent restaurant and lots of space to swim with a view across the bay to Piran and it's stunning Venetian style pointy churches and sea wall for your vista..

Strunjan is just a 40 min, mainly motorway drive, directly down from the Lodge and is hidden away just after Izola, (our fave seaside town on the Slovenian Riviera). 

view from the restaurant down the prom to the cafe..

But it is really easy to find.. Just follow the coast road from Izola to Piran and turn off at the Strunjan roundabout, follow the road about one KM to the long car park next to the seafront where you park up, pay your ticket, go for a swim, maybe eat or drink something and then move on to your next Green Slovenian adventure!

There are no sneaky secret spots to park or other restaurants & cafes to choose from.. Strunjan does what it says on the tin.. Park, Swim, Relax, Eat, Drink, Job done! 

the cafe is next to the car park and a very nice place to sit and enjoy the seaside views..

So now we all know that Strunjan is probubbly the best place to go in Green Slovenia for an easy, uncomplicated couple of hours of salty, warm swimming, you also need to know what it is not!

It is NOT a town or even a village, it is not the most beautiful seaside spot in Green Slovenia, it does not have the magic or crowds of Piran, the charm & ease of Izola, the Tutti Fruttiness of Portoroz or the fab vibe of Koper old town..

So to be as crystal clear as the water here.. It is simply a great place, not so far from the Lodge, to go have a cheeky float around in the sea..

And we absolutely love it to bits for exactly that!

Lots of shady spots along the prom with manky grass..

We wouldn't change Strunjan for all the tea or Apple i phones in China..

When you first arrive at this surprisingly long stretch of Mediterranean waterfront, your mind might start whizzing, thinking about how easily such a slice of prime Adriatic seafront could be developed and transformed into a little bit of commercial paradise, but NO THANKS, we wouldn't swap it for any lakeside in Switzerland or Californian theme park, we love it just the way it is..

you drive past this protected lake on the way to the car park..

But we also think that if you do find a parking space and spend a couple of hours here, you will also get the magic of the place, a bit scruffy, maybe a throwback to Yugoslavian times and difficult to work out what it actually is..

So have your swim and enjoy the shimmering gaze acrosss the bay to Piran into the bargain!   

terrific vista across the bay to Piran..

There is more to Strunjan than meets the Eye..

If you compare the photos we have taken of Strunjan for you in this article, they are nice, but not in the same league as most of the other stunning Green Slovenian photos on the rest of this website!

But there is a little more to Strunjan than meets the eye if you do want more than just a fab place to have a swim and maybe more of a little Green adventure.. so now swap your flip flops for some decent walking shoes and we will tell you all about it..

We love to pop down here late afternoon, either April to June, late Aug to Oct, (basically outside the Slovenian school hols) for a sneaky swim, but even if you do have to come here in the middle of summer, there ARE other things going on both left and right of the horizon..

the concrete pier..

Go Left Facing the Sea..

If you face the sea and walk left down the promenade then you will go past the restaurant and eventually get to a bit more wild coast and eventually some insurmountable cliffs, (Slovenia's are some of the highest in the Mediterranean by the way)..

But just before all this there is a little bridge you can cross to find an excellent small example of how Salt Fields were done on the Slovenian coast.

These are small grids where in the old days workers would trap sea water and as the sun dried everything they would push & pile the remaining sea salt into little pyramids and sell the salt.

the end of the bay leads to steep cliffs and another small area of sea salt plains..

You can actullay see this on a much larger scale with a museum too in the more famous "Salt Fields of Piran", which are actually on the other side of Portoroz..

But to be honest we think there are a lot of other better things you can do in Green Slovenia with your limited time than visit there and see where Jamie gets his salt from.. so maybe here in Strunjan you can have a little extra walk and get just an idea about the Salt process on a smaller scale?

ALSO if you go LEFT along the sea prom and then duck behind the restaurant you can see the large protected marine lake, which we think is a partly salt one.

view from the back of the restaurant across the lake..

We are pretty sure it is protected anyway and we are happy about that, cos just look at how ugly the new bit of Koper looks away from the old town with those bland, boring modern buildings and just thank your lucky stars this hasn't happened here in Strunjan!

You could take a walk around the lake too OR park up over the other side of the water when you arrive in Strunjan. 

There is a lot of stuff around this lake you might not immeditely associate with Slovenia like enormous reeds and swans, so if this is your cuppa tea, go for it, there will not be a crowd at any time of the year by this lake.

the restaurant at the end of the prom..

Go Right facing the Sea..

If you head off right when facing the sea you go past the cafe and can beachcomb off towards Izola for more long stony, pebbly beaches and if you are here in high summer, say, maybe find your little rock to hop on for a bit of space away from the crowds!

You will be surprised in a country that is billed to have such a "small" coast, (which think about it, is still longer than the British, Swiss and German MEDITERRANEAN coasts added together!!), how far this extra bit of rocky coast stretches off!

Be careful you do not go a bit too far here though, especially if you are not of fan of wrinkly, leather handbags, cos there may be some nudists, literally hanging out along here, the further you go!

maybe you will spend some time relaxing in the cafe..

Do the secret hike along the cliff path to Moon Bay..

You cannot get to Izola along the beaches this way as some more high cliffs will cut you off, but we saved the very best extra Strunjan tip till last as there is a path you can take from back near the car park, dodging (bypassing) the large hotel apartment complex thingy to get up onto the cliff path and then walk high up along the cliff, (very safe btw) with UBERSTUNNING vistas to get to the absolutabubbly uberamazing secret half moon shaped beach called Moon Bay.

It is tricky, but actually not tricky to get there and so amazing we did a whole other Secret Place to Visit article on How to Get to Moon Bay..

This is Moon Bay, Baby.. Reachable from Strunjan..

So like most Secret Places here in Green Slovenia, Strunjan can surprise and delight you with more than you might initially expect on offer..

Maybe you will have a day out in Piran or Portoroz and then stop off here in Strunjan later in the afternoon to bag a parking space and have that decent secret swim with a sunset before returning to the Lodge?

Maybe you will park up for the day in Strunjan and hike to Moon Bay, having a bite to eat and a swim here in Strunjan after to cool off, bow wow wow, what another unexpected amazing day in Green paradise that would be!

enter the car park here or at the other end, there are also street spaces available, but they cost the same..

Pick your moment to enjoy Strunjan..

We probubbly don't need to tell you that if you are coming here for the whole day by the sea in the middle of summer, then arrive as early as possible in the morning to get your parking spot..

The car park is a key factor in your time at Strunjan, cos you can always find a space to swim, or a table at the restaurant, but if the car park is full it is game over.. (Even then, you could still do the old ninja supermarket trick and just hang about a bit to wait for someone to leave)..

This is the Adriatic.. fantastic sea and concrete beach..

By the way, the car park tickets ARE checked regularly by zealous, diligent, long & short haired students, so MAKE SURE you do get a ticket and pay enough for your time, the sea is so close you can easily pop back and buy a new ticket if you need to top up!

Our trick is to rock up in the mid to late afternoon, roll into a parking space and spend the rest of the daylight hours relaxing and having a swim, but we live here so it is so easy for us to cherry pick the best times to really enjoy the warm Mediterranean sea especially in April, May, September and October. 

arrive in the mid late afternoon out of school hols and the car park should look like this..

If you can schedule your week in Green paradise outside the school holiday months of mid July and August, then you will also be able to easily pick and choose when you come here and have your swim!

The water is clear and warm and salty, so you can even just float around with little effort if you want or have a very nice swim in a Slovenian secret place you can easily find and actually pronounce..

find your spot and enjoy the view..

IF you thought that the tiddly Green Slovenian coast was "just" or "all about" Piran, then think again and if you are lucky enough to have time in your schedule then here is another fab Slovenian seaside option for your to do list!

Have a great swim!