Blink and you might miss the pretty mountainous and forested stretches of Slovenia, tucked between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. But its diverse landscapes actually offer the very best of its more popular European counterparts, with a fraction of the tourist hustle bustle.

The small country, which covers 7,827-square-miles, straddles a range of terrains including the European Alps and Mediterranean Coast. Described by visitors as “as beautiful as Italy or Switzerland” and thanks to its beautiful landscapes and rich cultural history, it’s finally starting to get the recognition it deserves.

The country boasts around 6.9million tourists every year, but this pales in comparison to Italy’s 25m.

Tour guide Mateja Kregar Gliha, 58, has shown travellers around her home country for over two decades and says it still strikes tourists – especially from the UK and US – as an “undiscovered gem”.

Many who do book a tour of Slovenia’s capital city Ljubljana are en-route between cities like Venice and Dubrovnik and don’t have time for more than a cursory circuit of what Mateja calls the “golden triangle” – Ljubljana Castle, the coastline, the Alpine area and the glacier-formed, crystal blue Bled Lake.

Hiking routes around Triglav National Park and an old town feel and restaurant scene to rival Prague certainly make it worth a day trip – but Mateja is keen to invite visitors to spend more time exploring the lesser-known parts of the country, where even in high season, the crowds are scarce.

“The medieval streets often make Ljubljana feel more crowded than it actually is – I like to take people two or three streets further, where the surroundings and the people become more interesting and authentic.”

She has seen tourist trade soar in recent years, with more and more people clocking onto Slovenia’s handy location in the middle of central Europe – but is keen to avoid the perils of over-tourism faced by other parts of the continent.

“It can be hard, but we’re trying to keep tourist groups to just 25 people and below, and we’re working to ban microphones and encourage people to speak in whispers when they’re being shown around.

“It’s important not to give locals a reason to turn against visitors – in other places, where the fire has already begun spreading, it might be too late. But we’re taking it as a warning, and increasing trade is a good thing. We’re blessed to be able to share our small country with even more people who only want to visit us.”

Among other popular activities and sights packed into the small land mass are Ljubljana’s gourmet food market, the breathtaking limestone caves of the Karst Region, the Bohinj Railway, which winds through the European Alps and the 300 elegant white horses at the Lipica Stud Farm.