I chose this trip partly because of the timings, only one night required in London, but it ended up a great choice.
The party size was 18, luckily flying from Heathrow rather than the chaos at Gatwick. Didn’t see a JY rep in Heathrow before I used the bag drop but the TM, the excellent Pamela, introduced herself on the plane. We travelled in a large coach all week so we all had plenty space, though a smaller one would have made it more social.
The Park Hotel in Bled is wonderfully located, almost on the shore of the lake and it was about two minutes walk from the Christmas market. I thought it was excellent, the only slight criticism was that the dining area became a bit understaffed as the hotel filled up nearer Christmas day. We all got a stocking of gifts from the hotel (and another from the TM) on the day.
Just You were concerned that dancing which had been listed in the brochure wasn’t happening but that was no disappointment for me. As an alternative we were able to go to excellent free concerts at another hotel a short walk away. Instead of the carol concert we were expecting one night it turned out to be a quartet singing gospel songs unaccompanied. It wouldn’t normally be my cup of tea but those guys were so good...
Anyway we had cold but good weather for the week. Thick fog on our day in Piran was the only dampener. The sun was out for our Christmas morning carriage ride round Lake Bled, the visit to Ljubljana where we waited for the lights after dark, and our mountaintop experience via the Mount Vogel funicular. Also there was the adventure deep underground in the Postonja cave. The sun was still out for a walk all the way round Lake Bled on the last afternoon and really take in the beauty of the place.
Overall it was a super trip. One question remains after a lot of testing by the whole party. Is red or white glühwein better?
If anyone wants a look I have more photos here