Visiting Italy from Munich, via Vienna, Hungary and Slovenia is a great idea. But only under condition if you drive the so called national roads not the highways, because you can't see anything from a highway. If entering Slovenia from the Hungarian side, you have possibilities to stop, eat and sleep: small inns, as Mr. Sauder wants or - spas. Linda and Don, we actually met just between the HU border and Maribor in Slovenia in Radenci, you, I think liked it.* Anyway, there are tourist farms there, which would be a great experience for an American (couple) or countryside inns with beds, just by the road. You can't miss them. I would recommend one in the center of a small town Lenart, called Vindis. Nice, cozy, clean and cheap. All that region, called Styria, is a great value for money. Careful: this is a wine region. That does not mean that it's dangerous, but that you just must try some of their wine. Gornja Radgona (on the route) is a center of Slovenian champagne, a great classic or charmat method made sparkling wine (visit their famous wine cellar. They even have a little waterfall in the cellar). And - oops! - no fat-free or cholesterol-free foods. Please, don't judge them for that. A nice highway will take you from Maribor to Ljubljana later. You just must stop in Ljubljana to experience the marriage of Mitteleuropean Logik and Ratio and Meditterranean joie-de-vivre. Worth to see. From Ljubljana, there's another 100 km to reach Trieste, 100% highway. That means exactly 3 and a half hours. Why so much? You need 59 minutes to drive there and one minute on the border with Italy. That's one hour. You need a half an hour for a cup of a good cappuccino on the border and a short visit to a duty free shop. And an hour and a half for the Postojna caves ..... Second largest in the world, just 3 miles from the highway, beautiful and worth visiting. Horse lovers? Sure ... Lipica** - the birthplace of the famous white Lipizzaner, is only 5 miles away from the very same highway. You don't believe? Well...... here's the proof: http://www.slovenia-tourism.si/ And - welcome to Slovenia. Enjoy your stay here

Rok

P.S. Gas stations? No problem at all. Modern, cheap (for Europe) and open all days.

Notes from Linda&Don: * We sure did! You will read about our visit to Radenci in the first travelogue. ** Unless you are horse lovers, we'd recommend Lipica for a visit when you have time to spare.