Hello,

My wife and I are planning a trip to Slovenia between the 1st and 11th September 2018.

We will arrive in Venice on the 1st and travel to Piran. We plan to stay for 3 nights because we will be arriving late on the first night and on the 4th we want to head towards the Soca Valley/Julian Alps/Lake Bohinj and Lake Bled.

We enjoy walking, kayaking, swimming and visiting towns and villages. We are not big city people, so perhaps one day in Ljubljana would be enough for us. On the 10th September we will need to return somewhere close to Venice, ready for our flight home the next day.

My main question is which place/places would be best to base ourselves with our interests in mind? We do not want to spend too much time travelling to stay at several different hotels/apartments if possible.

Also, we can hire a car but would prefer not to if it is relatively easy to get around.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post,

Dan.

Car would be best for those areas I believe though trains and buses go everywhere too. anway for lots on trains check www.budgeteuroetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Even if driving take train from Venice to Trieste - the bus to Slovenia - rent car theere -if do so in Italy and returning in Croatia could mean steep dropoff charges.

Hi,

Thanks for the links and the tip about renting a car and the potential additional costs about returning it in a different country.

Regards,

Dan.

From what you say of your interests, one day in Ljubljana might be enough for you -- but the roads in Slovenia are largely spoke and hub, with Ljubljana as the hub, so I would think you would want to decide what, exactly, you want to see and do before deciding where to stay.

I'm not sure you would face horrific car rental fees if renting in and returning to Italy, BUT then you would have to spend some time in Italy first, as it is dangerous to yourselves and others to drive before you have fully recovered from jet lag.

If you don't already have it, I would strongly recommend the Rough Guide for Slovenia.

returning car in Italy could be good as Trieste is practically in Slovenia but only if costs for renting in Slovenia are much higher - taking train Venice to Trieste can be cheaper than driving with fuel, tolls and car rental price figured in.

Hi,

Thanks for the recent replies, I will invest in the Rough Guides book and taking the train, Venice to Trieste seems like a good option for us.

Regards,

Dan.

If you travel onto Slovenia by auto and plan to drive on motorways, you must have a Slovenian vignette displayed on your car. Most auto rental companies do not provide such based on my experience. If the car is rented in Slovenia, your rental will already include the vignette, I do speak from a very expensive experience.

We traveled to this region in July 2012. When traveling in Europe, my inclination is to avoid overly touristed areas. For hiking, we based ourselves in the town of Kransjka Gora, which is in the far northwest corner of the country, close to the borders with Austria and Italy. This had some fine hiking with chairlifts to help with elevation gain.
We then drove over the pass to Bovec where there's a park along the Soci River -- very blue. From there, we spent a day across the border in the Fruili region of Italy. We loved the town of Cividale del Fruili. We spent the night in the small city of Gorizia. We stayed at the Palazzo Lantieri (Palazzo Lantieri). Highly recommended. Be sure to request a tour from the countess.

Yes as per Huggy there was a thread posted once that warned folks driving into Croatia I believe - maybe Slovenia - about signs at border saying vignettes were needed on autoroutes but not prominent and cops waiting just down the road to fine violators - like naive tourists.

It was Slovenia. Since Huggy already posted about the issue, I can't imagine that suggesting that it was Croatia served any useful purpose.

Hi,

Thanks for the latest replies to my post, I will look at the town of Kransjka Gora and if we decide to rent a vehicle we will pick it in Slovenia.

Thanks,

Dan.

No need to avoid renting in Italy just because of the vignette. It costs €30 for 30 days (or €15 for 7) and is widely available in the Trieste area and other border areas, as well as within Slovenia. It is a simple procedure, you buy the sticker from a point of sale and apply it to one of the indicated areas on the inside of the car's windshield and that's it.

The issue usually arises with travellers who are unaware of the requirement or even the existence of vignette-based toll systems (and thus the signs on the border have no meaning to them) or who might they can get away with not buying one.

PS: If your itinerary ends up including any driving on Austrian motorways, you will have to buy an Austrian vignette, regardless of whether the rental car is Slovenian or Italian. They are available at larger gas stations and service areas in Slovenia.

My family and I really enjoyed our three days staying right in Lake Bled. The area is beautiful and there are plenty of outdoor options in the immediate vicinity. Swimming and paddling in the lake itself over to the island will still be perfect in September and there are plenty of walks/hikes starting right from town. Be sure not to miss Vintgar Gorge National Park, it was beautiful and you can actually walk to the entrance from the centre of town (approx 4km).

Enjoy, we loved it.