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Lipica Stud Farm

Top choice in Southwestern Slovenia


The stud farm can be visited on very popular, 50-minute guided tours. The interesting, informative tours are available in a number of languages; a tour covers the farm's unique heritage and the breeding of the horses, and visits the pastures and stables. It ends at the very good, hands-on museum called Lipikum (entrance included in tour). A highlight is the performance of these elegant horses as they go through their complicated paces, pirouetting and dancing to Viennese waltzes with riders en costume.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, you can watch training sessions at 10am and 11am (adult/child €14/7 including guided tour). It pays to check the website or call to confirm times, rather than arrive and be disappointed. In April and October there are a reduced number of performances and training sessions; from November to March there are none.

Horse-drawn carriage jaunts around the estate might appeal (15/30/60 minutes €20/30/50). They run 10am to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday from April to October, and from 11am to 3pm Saturday and Sunday from November to March.

You can still take a tour in winter, but there are fewer horses around. Avoid visiting on Mondays, when there are no performances, training sessions or carriage rides.


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