Keeping it local in Slovenia

Slovenia has made the most of its myriad landscapes and influences to create a locavore's paradise and raise eyebrows across Europe's gastronomy scene

- Nicole Trilivas

Slovenia is hard to describe to those who have never been there. The sun-splashed Adriatic coast is distinctly Mediterranean in spirit, with its red-roofed medieval towns and excellent seafood.

On the other hand, Alpine Slovenia - dominated by the snow-dusted Julian and Kamnik-Savinja Alps - can often feel like an extension of neighbouring Austria, packed with hale and hearty Mitteleuropean fare and dizzying mountainscapes.

Head instead to Slovenia's wine regions, however, and you could be forgiven for thinking you're in Italy (another influential neighbour). And as for foodie capital Ljubljana? That has a singular Balkan-meets-Austro-Hungarian charm all of its own.

For a country similar in size to Wales, Slovenia's landscape is surprisingly diverse, and its cuisine, thanks to the surrounding influences of Austria, Hungary, Italy and Croatia, is as wide-ranging as its topography. However, no matter which direction you travel, a few things remain the same. First, the food is fresh. As one of the greenest countries in Europe, with an abundance of top-quality natural ingredients, farm-to-fork dining is less of a buzz word here and more a way of life.