Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SPAS
SPA
Terme & Wellness Centre Portorož
( 692 80 60;
www.lifeclass.net
; Obala 43; swimming pool 2/4hr pass Mon-Fri €8/12,
Sat & Sun €10/15; 8am-9pm Jun-Sep, 7am-7pm Oct-May, swimming pool 1-8pm Mon-
Wed & Fri-Sun, 2-8pm Thu)
Terme & Wellness Centre Portorož, a large spa connected
with the Grand Hotel Portorož that you can also enter from K Stari cesti, is famous for
thalassotherapy (treatment using seawater and by-products like mud from the salt flats).
The spa offers various types of warm seawater and brine baths (€36 to €44), Sečovlje mud
baths (€23), massage (€30 for 20 minutes) and a host of other therapies and beauty treat-
ments. There is also a palatial indoor swimming pool.
SWIMMING
The lifeguard-patrolled
beaches
( 8am-8pm Apr-Sep)
, including the main one, which
accommodates 6000 fried and bronzed bodies, have water slides and outside showers.
Beach chairs (€4.10) and umbrellas (€4.10) are available for rent. Beaches are off-limits
between 11pm and 6am and camping is strictly forbidden.
The large outdoor
swimming pool
(adult/child €4/3; 9am-7pm May-Sep)
, south of
the Grand Hotel Metropol, is open in the warmer months.
SALT OF THE SEA
Salt-making is a centuries-old business along the Slovenian coast. The best place to get a briny taste is at the old salt
pans of the
Sečovlje Salina Nature Park
(Krajinski Park Sečoveljske Soline; 672 13 30;
www.kpss.soline.si
;
adult/child/family €5/3/10; 9am-8pm Jun-Sep, 9am-5pm Oct-May)
, on the Croatian border. The 721-hectare
area, criss-crossed with dykes, channels, pools and canals, was once a hive of activity and was one of the biggest
money-spinners on the coast in the Middle Ages. Nowadays its wealth is in birdlife - some 270 species have been
recorded here.
In the centre of the reserve is the wonderful
Saltworks Museum
(Muzej Solinarstva; 671 00 40;
www.pommuz-pi.si
;
adult/child/senior & student incl Maritime Museum in Piran €3.50/2.10/2.50; 9am-8pm
Jun-Aug, 9am-6pm Apr, May, Sep & Oct)
. The exhibits relate to all aspects of salt-making and the lives of salt
workers and their families. Some 2000 tonnes of salt are still made here every year in the traditional way.
The seawater canals lead into shallow ponds, and were then dammed with small wooden paddles. Wind-powered
pumps removed some of the water, and the rest evaporated in the sun and the wind as the salt crystallised from the
remaining brine. The salt was collected, drained, washed and, if necessary, ground and iodised.
