Looking to do a summer trip with the following itinerary. What is the fastest travel mode between the cities? Any recommendations on a private transfer option? Do we have enough days in each? We are in our 30's and love great food, culture, sightseeing opportunities.

Day 1: Arrive in Budapest from NYC, jetleg day, some sightseing maybe
Day 2,3,4: Budapest
Day 5: Transfer to Ljubljana, spend rest of day walking around town
Day 6: Either rent a car or take a train up to Bled, return back to Lj
Day 7: Either same rented car, or train down to Piran, return to Lj
Day 8: Morning transfer to Venice via Pedjama Castle, rest of day explore Venice
Day 9,10: Venice
Day 11: Venice, 7pm flight out.

Hope this is good.

Sergey

I had a whole week in Budapest and it wasn't too much but I do think 3 days plus your arrival day will be enough to see the highlights.

It would be a very long train ride from Budapest to Ljubljana, have you checked easyjet and ryanair, for that distance I would fly.

I did a day trip to Bled from Ljubljana and it was fine, plenty of time at the lake. But I spent the night (actually a couple nights) in Piran and went from there to Trieste by taxi. I think it was only about €50 and took about an hour. I spent the night in Trieste and took the train the following day to Venice, but of course you could just take the train that same day if you didn't want to spend time in Trieste (it was pleasant, but not a highlight of Italy so if your time is limited I'd skip it). But I think it was easier to get to Italy from Piran than from Ljubljana.

Here's my trip report from the Slovenia trip. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-slovenia.cfm

I was thinking to get a private transfer actually from Budapest to Lj. Distance-wise its around 4hrs or so I assume there must be lots of companies that offer that transfer but not sure.

Budapest to Lj is about 8 hours by train with only a few direct trains so driver would be much faster if 4 hours.

Have you checked rome2rio.com for options? Not always accurate, but a good starting point.

And FWIW, I think the 4 hour drive time estimate is low. I could be wrong.

Budapest to Ljubljana is about 4.5 hours by car. Note that I don't know of any shuttle company that would be offering shared transfers between Ljubljana and Budapest (cheap), only private transfers, which will cost a fortune (you're renting the entire van and driver for yourself). That said, you still may be able to find one. If so, do share! It's a popular route for overseas tourists, but not for anyone else, hence the lack of transport options.

On a side note, I don't know when you're planning to do this summer trip, but Flixbus, a pan-European bus operator, will be launching a bus route between the two cities sometime in the next 12 months or so, but until then, the train is the only cost-effective option that I know of.

Consider visiting the caves or Predjama Castle in the morning on the way to Piran, spending the night in Piran and then taking a bus or taxi across the border to Trieste, from where there are plenty of train connections with Venice.

Also, this may be just my personal preference, but I really wouldn't spend more than a day or two in Venice in the summer season, it's absolutely overrun with tourists. I prefer visiting in the spring or autumn, when it's somewhat less crowded.

Why not fly to Lj from the airport in Budapest? Cheaper than a driver it seems.