Vignettes and New Towns, Novo Mesto, Slovenia
Zagan the motorhome is sitting in a car park with thunder rattling around him. He’s parked somewhat cheekily just a few hundred metres from a €10-a-night camperstop here in Novo Mesto. As we don’t need any of its services, we’ve opted to free camp just outside the Revoz Avtomobiliov factory (which makes Renault cars) instead (N45.79587, E15.17258).
First things first – Charlie update. He’s currently sitting in the kitchen watching Jay make our tea. After the jab at the vets he is now on his first of three days worth of tablets and is loads better. His breathing is loads better and snore levels are almost back to normal, which was a tad annoying last night as we slept in the otherwise silent forest.
Yesterday afternoon we headed out for a walk with Charlie as he’d not been out while his breathing was troubling him, or rather every time we took him out he would just stand there wheezing, poor little fella. We followed the signs to the exciting sounding ‘Bunker 44’ but sadly when we got there it was just a hatch in the earth, which neither of us fancied climbing into. We were both on a high state of alert for bears and wild cats, totally forgetting the smaller wildlife which we also spotted on our walk.
What’s that? Jay prods the piece of pipe with a stick, it moves, Ju and Charlie leg it!
More my kind of wildlife – no idea what it is though!
Back in Zagan the night came and Jay nipped out with Charlie for a final leg stretch only to be confronted by almost total darkness. There wasn’t a beam of light to be seen anywhere, except from Zagan, so we switched off all his lights and stepped out to stare in amazement at the stars. There were so many we couldn’t even see the constellations that we know, then we realised how silent it was, then I got a little scared so I nipped back into Zagan and headed for bed – duvets are the best form of self defence.
This morning the skies were bright blue and the trees vivid green, it was if someone has turned up the colour controls on the world. We set course for Novo Mesto and made our way out of the woods and off Kočevski Rog.
Seeing the town of Podturn was like returning to civilisation
Spotting a post office in the spa town of Dolenjske Toplice we found somewhere to park as needed to get a vignette for the motorway and I suspected we might struggle on a Sunday. Wandering around the town we could see bath-robed couples walking around behind the glass walls of the spa hotels and to be honest there wasn’t much else to the place. We walked around a few of the streets and the main square but nothing really captivated us other than a few bear things, so after a quick stop at the post office it was time to move on.
Spotted on a balcony in town, possibly the closest we’ll get to one now we’ve left the woods
Not wanting to be outdone, Charlie the bear!
Vignette Info – I bought a one week vignette (for vans under 3.5t, heavier vans have to pay tolls) for Slovenia. This means we can use the motorways which form a cross through the country, meeting at the capital Ljubljana, however I’m pretty sure we have the wrong one. The lady at the post office spoke some English and was very helpful, but because Zagan is over 1m 30cm she insisted I needed a class 2b vignette which cost €30 for the week. Looking on the internet, and at other Slovenian motorhomes, I think we should be class 2a which would have been €15. I don’t think the post office lady understood that we were a motorhome and not a van, so my top tip for buying a vignette is do it at a petrol station and point to your van!
Our 2b vignette (2a has a picture of a car on it)
The roads were nice and wide and tarmacked today, which was a very pleasant change from yesterday, so it only took 15 minutes to reach Novo Mesto. We followed satnav to the aire in our camping car info database which bought us to this car park instead of the camperstop just down the road. There are are two Slovenian vans already parked up, so we slotted in alongside and set off to explore the town.
Novo Mesto which means New Town. This is the old town of the New Town.
Wrapped by the Krka River (which goes on to be the Krka falls in Croatia) the old town looked lovely in the sunlight. As we approached it seemed very quiet, all soon became clear when we reached the first of the shops – they all shut on a Saturday afternoon, and Sunday. Even the tourist office closes at 2pm on a Saturday, luckily I got in at 1.55pm and grabbed a map. As everything was shut we went for a walk around the street for about fifteen minutes, then a walk along the river bank for about ten minutes, then stopped and sat in the sun drinking beers – what else could we do?
Riverside beer and burger festival – summer is here (it pee’d it down an hour later)
Someone smells burgers!!
The beer prompted discussions about where to go next, and much deeper discussions about our future in general. We just don’t fancy visiting another church, museum or castle right now, are we travelled out? While Slovenia is lovely, green and clean it isn’t really exciting either of us, and our guidebooks simply tell of more lovely castles to come. After an attempt by Jay to get us heading back to Croatia, we’ve now got all the maps out in Zagan to see what to do. Watch this space.
Slovenian Kozolecs (hay drying racks) come in all shapes and sizes
Look who else we spotted today – feels like we’re back home in the UK
Ju x
We also spotted Jamie in Slovenia!!
A post office lady also tried to sell me a 2b vignette…..I stuck to my guns and after a search, she found an English translation of all her info. It clearly stated that motorhomes all come under 2a, regardless of height (as long as they are under 3.5t). You were done!!!
Hiya gang, we’re heading up the peninsula today and then to the island of Cres. then on to Krk and thèn on to the mainland. Who knows what after that!
Sounds cracking guys! Careful, Croatia’s like the Hotel California! Cheers, Jay
We thing it’s either a kite or a buzzard !
Hi! From the picture of your nice motorhome I would assume the height at the front axis is above 1.3m. Based on the official vignette site, the 2B class is correct for your vehicle. 2A class is only for cars and caravans which have less or equal of 1.3m height above the front axis. This is the official site: http://www.dars.si/Dokumenti/Toll/Methods_of_payment/Vehicles_up_to_35_t/Vignette_308.aspx
I think you have made a good decision to explore the east part of Slovenia. Too many travel guidebooks focus only on the west part and people miss out on the beauty of the east. Too bad about the weather. Wishing you nice feature travels!
Hi Sam, yep, that’s how it looks on the website. Other motorhomes like ours only had a 2A, but we don’t know why. Yes again, Eastern Slovenia is very beautiful. Cheers, Jay
Hi!
I was thinking today about the 2B sticker and how ambiguous the label below the sticker can be read. So I found another document with detailed explanation here: http://www.avtokampi.si/PDF/DARS-2015.pdf which writes: “The second toll-rate category A: camping vehicles(regardless of height) and two-track vehicles with a height above the front axle up to 1.30 m* and whose maximum permissible weight does not exceed 3,500 kg, either with or without a trailer (from here on: 2A)”
Lorraine and Larry were correct to stick to their guns :) But I can see how the lady in the post office got confused. Well, lesson learned :)
Heading to Slovenia in next couple of days. It’s always great to get your perspective. Love Croatia but Bosnia was a real highlight for me. We only have 10 weeks left after a 10 month trip so far and are at that stage where we suddenly feel the need to cram. Hungary is on the agenda. We’re getting nostalgic about what we’ve done which is not cool because there is still things to do! Your site and experiences have been helpful from the beginning, so thanks. I think this Karlovacko beer might be kicking in. Getting emotional. Ridiculous….
Know how you feel Phil, towards the end of a long trip. Ju reminds me most people would kill for 10 weeks touring Europe, which I find hard to argue with. Enjoy the beers and your many weeks left on this tour, and congratulations on many months on the road! Cheers, Jay