Help!! with itinerary. too much? not enough? arrive in Vienna- three nights Vienna, than three nights-Salzburg than four nights Bled/Bohinj (include a day trip to the capital LJ) than onto Piran for three nights and Trieste for three nights and to Bologna for flight home. Geographically, Salzburg is out of the way. Can we see similar scenery in the Julian alps of Slovenia and spend extra time touring slovenia and eliminate Salzburg? That is the big question for now. Thanks.

Trieste for three nights? I loved Trieste but to me this is at best a one-night town - unless of course you have some day trips in mind.

Nice trip!
Are you driving? If so, you have a car drop problem.
I would spend a total of 4 nites in Piran and Trieste and then head into the Dolomites for my mountain fix.

Ljubljana is one of my favorite towns in Europe. A lot of people seem to want to do day trips there but spend the night in Bled, which is backwards to me. Bled is beautiful (so is Bohinj) and scenic by day, but the little town of Bled is nothing special and at night it's pretty dull. By contrast, Ljubljana is magical at night, with the lighted bridges, etc. There isn't much to DO in Ljubljana, but it seems worthy of more than day trip.

I try to avoid overly touristy places, which is why I initially wanted to avoid Salzburg on my last trip in September, but I visited anyway and was glad I did. It is a bit touristy, but it's a charming town - beautiful squares and gardens. You can't see any scenery like the town of Salzburg in the Julian Alps. I found Salzburg much more visually appealing than Vienna - but then again, I'm not into music much. Vienna didn't do much for me personally but some people love it.

What are your interests?