kurlanddrake

We will be coming off a 7 day hike in the Dolomites in early September, and will then have 6 days til we leave for home from Venice. I think that's too long to stay in Venice - we were thinking 3-4 days there. Does anyone have ideas?
Thanks, Amy

PalenQ

Trieste is a unique city with an Austrian and Italian flare I was pleasantly surprised with - nice rehab of wooden houses in the old town and a vibrant port area. Ljubjlana is also a wonderful city so if tired on mountains try those.

Vincenza in Italy is a gem too - full of Palladian architecture as this was his home I think. Verona and Lake Garda are really neat places too - base in a Garda lakeside town and day trip to Verona, one of the most best cities in Italy to me. Padua is OK but has some major religious shrines and churches.

Andrew

You could take a ferry to Rovinj, Croatia, depending on the schedule. Or rent a car in Venice and drive down. Istria is really nice. The Slovenian seaside town of Piran is lovely as well - you'd get to it on the way to Rovinj if driving.

Or check out Slovenia - the beautiful capital Ljubjana is only a few hours away from Venice by shuttle, though sadly there is no direct train and limited bus service. I've used a competing service in the past to make this trip, but in the future I'll probably use a well-recommended service called GoOpti to make the trip. Or again, rent a car. Lake Bled makes an easy day trip from Ljubljana, even without a car (easy bus trip). With a car, you could check out Lake Bohinj (less developed than Lake Bled, which is an old, well-developed resort town), Triglav National Park, and the Soca Valley. Some like to drive the twisty old road over the Vrsic Pass over the Julian Alps and down into the Soca Valley - takes a few hours but really unique and some beautiful views. Difficult to do by public transportation but you could probably book a tour to do this if you don't have a car.

If you do wind up renting a car in Italy and driving to Slovenia, you MUST buy a Vignette sticker - driving pass - just as you enter the country, at a gas station or something. Croatia uses tolls, so you don't need to worry about it for driving in Croatia, if you drive down that far.

With a car, you could probably swing a trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia - an amazing park - but you might wind up driving a great deal of your short time in country. Up to you whether you want to see more or drive less.

thursdaysd

I could - and have - easily spend all that time in Venice. But if not, I would second the recommendation for Ljuljana - with a day trip to Lake Bled and a food tour - and disagree with the recommendation for Trieste.

brdcollie

From the Dolomites, head east to the Julian Alps (Kranjska Gora), then to Ljubljana and then back to Venice.

kurlanddrake

Thank you all so much! We'll arrive in Venice on a Monday morning. Based on your recommendations, I'm thinking we should rent a car and head to Ljuljana and stay until Wednesday, then drive back to Venice, return the car and stay there until we leave on Saturday. Sound workable? Again - thank you!

mnag

From Ljuljana I would recommend you cover lake Bohinj instead of lake Bled. I found lake Bled and the town too touristy for my taste. It takes away from the setting. Also if you go to Bohinj take the cable car up to Vogel for stunning views. Also if you can swing it as mentioned above, the Vrsic Pass over the Julian Alps and down into the Soca Valley is quite amazing.

traveller1959

Your itinerary makes sense only if you drive to Ljubljana directly from the Dolomites.

However, this itinerary would leave only two days for Venice, which is short, IMO.

Travelwise, it would make most sense to stay for two or three nights on Lake Garda, as suggested.

Everyone here on this forum is crazy about the Amalfi Coast, but the northern half of Lake Garda is as equally dramatic as AC. And Verona would make an easy daytrip from Laka Garda or a stop on the way from the lake to Venice. And after your hike, you will enjoy some swimming. Early September will be an excellent time to go there.

kurlanddrake

traveller1959 - how would you get to lake garda from venice? do we need to rent a car? swimming after our hike sounds very appealing.

Andrew

If you rent a car and drive to Ljubljana and Bled, note that if you take the "scenic" route from Ljubljana to Bled via the town of Skofja Loka (a nice little town, worth a stop), the drive from Skofja Loka through the mountains to Bled is breathtakingly beautiful, something I wasn't expecting but became a highlight of my trip to Slovenia.

neckervd

I suppose you already checked Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Lake Garda, Bergamo, Prehistoric rock carvings in Val Camonica, Mantova castle and Mincio cruises, Montagnana (one of the smallest walled cities of the world), Aquileia, Miramare castle, Postojna caves, Skocian caves, Pirano, Parenzo, Pula.....

kurlanddrake

wow neckervd - too much to see! We need to have at least a few days in Venice at the end.

neckervd

Wherever you go in Western Europe you have to make a choice; there is always "too much to see".
So everybody can make a tailor-made program

His_Dudeness

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...a-slovenia.cfm

We cannot say enough about Ljubljana!

Dannyberry

I highly recommend you to see the lake Bled ın Ljubljana Slovenıa. Lake Bled is one of the favourite destinations with its stunning views.

justraveling

There's plenty to do and see in Veneto. Not to stress yourself too much, I'd suggest to have a look at the wine region, easly reachable from the Dolomites, then Caorle, to have a late season swim, and Trieste... Plus Venice, of course, for the big end