The conference is in Hotel Slovenia, Portoroz, Slovenia.The coastal town of Portoroz provides excellent conferencing facilities as well as beaches, a marina and sport facilities.Numerous natural (the Karst) and historical places are nearby. Early days of September are quite warm and the conference could be extended into an attractive holiday.

Click on the two maps at the right for more details.

Where to stay

The conference hotel is Hotel Slovenia (on-line reservations!). For alternative accommodation, please visit the updated Portoroz website and the Youth Hostel in Piran.

Visa information

The visa regime is published by our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Citizens of most European countries and the US do not need a visa.

Slovenian money and how to get it

Slovenian Currency is Tolar (code SIT). 1 Euro = 227 Tolars. Detail exchange rates are available from the Central Bank. Buying Tolars outside Slovenia may be very expensive and you may not need them at all. Cash in Euros is accepted for most tourist services, so are credit cards (taxis are cash only). ATM machines accept Cirrius/Maestro cards. All major currencies can be exchanged at a similar margin.

Climate

Early September may be as hot as summer, highs up to 30C, lows down to 18C, autumn rains are possible as well. Both a warm sweater and shorts could be appropriate. Current and historical data is available for example at the WeatherUnderground site (also providing the details show below).

Sea temperature should be between 21C and 24C.

Electricity

Slovenia is on 220V, 50Hz, German style plugs.

Transport

Portoroz is about a half days drive from Milan, Vienna or Munich. Portoroz only has a small airport for private jets. Airports nearby are:

• Ljubljana-Brnik (LJU), then airport bus to Ljubljana, then bus to Portoroz or train to Koper.
• Trieste-Ronchi (TRS), then airport bus to Trieste, then bus or taxi to Koper or perhaps Portoroz.
• Venice (VCE), then train to Trieste or speedboat to Izola.

The conference hotel can organise a transport from these airports to the hotel.

Bus

Bus schedules are subject to change and could change slightly from summer to school year schedule around August 30. They are on-line at the Ljubljana bus station website.

• Ljubljana-Portoroz (about 2 1/2 hours, 2500 SIT): departures at 6:30, 6:45*, 8:00*, 10:00, 13:45, 14:35, 15:00, 17:00. Duration from 2:05-2:45 hrs, price about 2500 SIT.
• Portoroz-Ljubljana: 4:30, 5:55, 7:05*, 10:20*, 10:35, 12:05*, 14:10, 16:35, 18:55* (* not on Saturday)
• Trieste-Koper (may extend to Portoroz, but not all): 6:00, 7:15, 9:00, 11:00, 11:30*, 12:30, 13:00*, 14:00, 15:30, 16:30, 17:00, 17:20, 18:00, 18:30, 19:00 (all Mon-Sat only, * not on Monday) To get from Trieste to Koper on a Sunday, use public transport to get from the airport to Trieste, then take a taxi to the main bus station in Koper, then take a local bus from Koper to Portoroz.
• Koper-Trieste: 6:00, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 9:15, 10:00*, 12:00, 12:45*, 14:00, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 16:40, 17:30, 18:00, 19:00, 19:30 (all Mon-Sat only, * not on Monday).

Local busses from Koper to Portoroz run every 20 minutes.

Train

Train schedules can be explored at the Deutche Bahn website. Relevant train stop for Portoroz is Koper. You want to search for connections from Ljubljana, Trieste or Mestre (Venice). Ljubljana-Koper connections are few, typically at 9:30, 15:30 and 16:45.

Driving

Follow the signs to Koper (Capodistria in Italian) and then to Portoroz. Just before Portoroz there will be a crossroad with a trafic light on the top of a hill, the road cut some 10 meters into the hill. Take a right there. At next crossroads, take a left - a widing road will take you to a crossroad at the sea level. Take a right. You will pass, on your right, the old Palace hotel, the new Palace hotel and next on your right will be the conference hotels Slovenia and Riviera.

Car rentals

Renting a car at the airport could be an economic option, however, not all agencies would let a car pass the Slovenian border and provide for a proper documentation. New: When travelling from the EU to Slovenia by rent-a-car you should fill in a special form at the rent-a-car company. Usually you don't get the original registration documents for fear of car theft, which is ok until you stay in the EU, however, you may not be allowed to cross the Slovenian border without the original registration documents. Therefore you should ask at the rent-a-car company to fill in a form and to get the original registration documents. This rule on original documents may not be as strictly enforced in less frequented border crossings, such as Muggia or Lipica.

Eating out

Conference includes the lunches and the conference dinner. Closed social events for EU projects reviewed in Portoroz and the ECPPM organizers are planned as well.

Food is not very expensive; expect to pay about 400-600SIT for a beer, 1200SIT for a pizza and 1800-2500 for fish. The conference chair favors these places in Portoroz: The Mignon sweet shop, just below the conference hotel with an opulent selection of ice creams; the two Paco restaurants on the beach, to the east of the conference hotel (excellent salads, pizzas, stakes, decent beer). The Gregory restaurant in front of the hotel and to the left (a bit more formal). For a fish meal, go to Piran and pick a crowded place on the waterfront.

Excursions and tours

Visiting the historic town of Piran is a must, besides there are several fish restaurants on the waterfront. Small shuttle busses to Piran (200 SIT) run every 15 minutes, ride takes 10 minutes.

Excursions (for the accompanying persons but not limited to) are organized by Kompas travel agent. Please book directly at portoroz@kompas.si or +386-5-6178000. They offer:

Trips to Venice by catamaran are also possible on an individual basis on September 3, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15 ...

Any other questions?

Please contact msmid@ikpir.fgg.uni-lj.si
her mobile phone number (for emergencies) is +386-31-633-309