While you might easily recognize Rome, Venice, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast as Italian vacation destinations, names like Ljubljana, Maribor, and Piran might be more challenging to place. These names all belong to Slovenia, a small country that's traditionally been on the fringe of the Western European gaze. Despite the less familiar names, however, Slovenia shares much of the appeal of Italy's top tourist spots, minus the country's crowds and costs (at least, for now).