huntley

We have two days at the end of our trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Our flight takes off from Venice. We were wondering what we could include on our way to Venice by train (fr Budapest or Vienna). We'll not have a car; we plan to get a East European train pass, good in Austria but not Slovenia or Italy).

Any thoughts?

Catbert

You could easily spend two enjoyable days in any of those places. But since you'll be in cities, I would choose Bled.

jabrew

I'd choose Bled as well, but getting there without a car could be a little trickier than the other destinations. The train station in Bled is not truly in Bled - it's on the other side of the lake.

Catbert

There is a bus that takes you from the train to the lake. Or you could take a taxi. It's not far.

girltraveler

After having visited such lovely, active cities, you might be disappointed by Ljubljana-- not that it is not lovely, but other than the gorgeous outdoor market, it is very small and comparatively speaking, there is little to see after coming off Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Bled is a nice contrast to the cities in that it reminded me a great deal of Lake Placid as a resort center-- the lake is a breathtaking shade of blue-green (it actually looks the color of nyquil), the ice cream is delicious, many of the restaurants are right on the lake and the walk around the water is a nice way to start the day. The trip to the top of the castle affords an outstanding view of Bled and its little island and was a treat on a beautiful sunny day; later on, the gondola that shuttled us back and forth to the island was relaxing and a decidedly different vantage for viewing the scenery. The beekeeping museum in Bled is interesting as well. It's a nice place to relax and reflect on a trip of cities and their requisite charms at the end of a vacation. Never been to Trieste, so I cannot comment there, but I stayed a week in Bled in 2003 for a writers' conference and it was a delight. If they're still on the tolar and not EU (a change they had been planning to initiate when I was there), it was extremely affordable-- there's a Chinese massage therapist in the hotel at the top of the main street (I cannot remember the name) who did shiatsu for some ridiculously inexpensive fee and we ate out at nicer restaurants relatively frequently for 2 weeks, lunches and dinners for $200 American dollars. As I said, I was there three years ago and I don't know how much has changed, but it was a lovely stay... good luck with your choice!