Thanks neckervd, I'll take a closer look.

Good luck with your planning, Mel. Actually I would have thought lake Bohinj would be more up your alley than lake Bled, but they're only about 40min apart (assuming no travel jams in Bled) so you could do either. Both have local hikes. Be aware that one of the hikes from Bled to overlook the lake involves a ladder (but is otherwise okay and even the ladder is fine). I agree that Soca valley is lovely.

To get a feel for places to visit in Slovenia, it might be worth looking at the Juliana Trail (270km I think). This trail doesn't necessarily always provide the best of Slovenia's hiking but they've linked existing hikes and forest roads into a circuit around the west of the country and is useful for seeing what's around. Outdoor Active is a really useful hiking website and app.

I looked briefly in the Cadore cluster of towns for my own holiday and thought that transport to the towns was fine but not beyond that (such as closer to trail heads) so not sure whether I'll make it there (I won't have a huge amount of time in this area). Maybe this deserves some more research.

Actually I would have thought lake Bohinj would be more up your alley than lake Bled, but they're only about 40min apart (assuming no travel jams in Bled) so you could do either.

And it very well may be, I've barely scratched the surface with my research. I will be sure to look into it, especially as we don't care for crowds.

I'm still floundering a bit on towns in the Dolomites - we've been twice before and I'm looking into out of the way places in new to us areas, but sometimes I make things harder than they need to be, lol.

I'm off to research the Soca valley.

Ljubljana is a perfect base for day trips! Lake Bled is very easy to reach by bus, usually taking between 45 minutes to an hour.​Since you are using public transport, I highly recommend visiting Postojna Cave (Postojnska jama), which is breathtaking. You should also consider Ptuj, the oldest town in Slovenia—it has a beautiful castle and history.​For nature lovers, Kranjska Gora and the world-famous Planica Nordic Centre are must-sees. Lastly, Lipica is a fantastic destination where you can see the famous Lipizzaner horses. Slovenia is small and well-connected, so you will definitely enjoy these spots!

Thank you marijanik9114 - the planning is currently stalled while we watch airfares, but I appreciate your input.

Lipica and Ptuj are not doable for a day trip unless one fancies being on a train for 5+ hours round trip. Not a valuable slot of precious vacation hours. Slovenia is compact-agreed. But don’t waste your time when you could be enjoying the beautiful scenery to be had in and around Ljubljana

Well, honestly, Ljubljana is so small that it only takes 3 hours for a person to walk around it. I don't know what he will enjoy so much in Ljubljana and what a beautiful landscape. The only public transportation to Ptuj and Lipica is by train, there are also buses.

Okay, just booked flights, so the planning is back on!

3 hours? I enjoyed 3 hours in beautiful Tivoli Park…a great green space right in the city. 2 hours plus in taking the funicular up the castle and exploring the castle and the surroundings. Outdoor daily market selling incredible fruits, vegetables and home made foods another hour. Walking the bridges and exploring then beautiful city 3 hours plus not including 1 hour for coffee and a homemade pastry and then an hour for lunch in one of the many restaurants
along the river.. Ljubljana is an easy 3 days. Wow! Some people just don’t get it. Reminds me of the folks who bus ride into the Louvre rush to the Mona Lisa take a photo and a selfie and then go to Paris McDonalds for lunch

Like mike1728, I think planning for 3 hours in delightful Llubljana would be a disservice to any visitor. In addition to the things Mike1728 mentions, the city has architecture that can easily merit a few hours to admire and it has a charming museum, not to mention that a boat ride is a pleasant way to spend an hour or two. Of course, it all depends on what one wants to see and experience....

This reminds me of when I asked the Australian husband of a friend how long to spend in Tasmania...his answer, two days. Ah, not happening. We made two 2-week trips and still wished we had more time.

There is also the fabulous Open Kirchen in Ljubljana on Fridays (weather dependent) but it only runs until end of October.

https://www.odprtakuhna.si/en/

It really depends on what type of person someone is. If you’re not spending 3 hours in one place, realistically one day is more than enough for Ljubljana.Honestly, I don’t know what someone would visit for 3 days in Ljubljana. I also don’t understand what a person would do for hours walking around the bridges or the market.

Perhaps the difference is whether you are sightseeing or simply enjoying being in a place. Also, for me, Ljubljana and Slovenia are so different from my home country and I love that difference. I have spent a few weeks there (over multiple holidays) and would very happily return, checking out the museums and galleries, the streets and their architecture, the parks, riverside, markets, cafes, bars, shops, etc, etc. Yes, it's a small city (mine has a population of about 6million) but I like that. Having a large student population, it's a vibrant and relaxing place, and very walkable. It has good transport to other places as well. I could, however, see how someone who just wanted to get a taste of the city could do so in a couple of days.

Interestingly, there is another Australian who posts on a different forum who often says that 2 to 3 hours is plenty to see everything he wants to see in Ljubljana - which just goes to prove that we're all different, which is a very good thing!

Okay, after more prodding from neckervd on my Italian bus thread, we've re-grouped and are now considering adding time to Slovenia so we can better see some of the many great suggestions above, including the Soca Valley and Triglavski Naroda Park.

We've come up with the following loop in Slovenia, planning to see what we can before heading to Villach and then continuing into Italy. We'll have to make some cuts to our Dolomites itinerary, and still need to do a lot of research regarding bus schedules, but it seems a shame not to take advantage of being in Slovenia, even though that wasn't our original plan.

We're considering four nights in Ljubljana, three nights at Lake Bled, and then ? nights on the following loop: https://maps.app.goo.gl/G9yuULmsYyHWZecT6

My questions - how to divide our time? Add more to Lake Bled and see the first part of the loop from there? Then perhaps head to Bovec for 3-4 nights and see the rest of the loop from there? I realize this is hard to answer without knowing bus schedules, but I'm just trying to determine how many nights we need to steal from our Italian itinerary.

We know we can't see it all, but we're looking for a nice taste of the country. Something tells me it won't be our only visit.

As ever, how long you spend depends on what you want to do in each place so I would research that before deciding (apologies if that's obvious but not sure what you want to do). I think I would say that Mostnice Gorge and Soca Trail would be my favourite hikes in that area but there are many others and we've only done a small number. Lakes Bled and Bohinj are about 40min apart by bus. I've read that some prefer Kobarid to Bovec but we'd return to Bovec I think.

A few logistical points - the train goes from Bohinj Bistrica to Most na Soci, with tunnels for a fair bit of it, and is more direct than bus (I believe that some of the roads in that area are suitable for cars but not buses due to poor road surfaces). Also, when we visited Bovec, there were no buses to Pod Log Mangartom (maybe they run in July and August but I'm not sure). We did consider hiking there but we had heavy rain and parts of the path sounded a bit dodgy for me (check Outdoor Active). I suspect there are also no buses via the Predil pass (but I've never looked). If Vrsic pass is closed (it's only open seasonally to buses when no snow or ice) then you may need to backtrack to Bled to catch a train or bus, or head to Nova Gorica by bus or train. When we visited, there were no buses between Kranjska Gora and Tarvisio but it's not far by taxi to get over the border and pick up an Italian bus.

I'm not certain I've understood your map correctly so if there are other places which you plan to visit that I've missed, just let me know. Do you plan day trips from Ljubljana? Enjoy yourselves!

Thanks dreamon, very helpful. We'll probably do a few day trips from Ljubljana, but plan to cut back there and allot more time for the loop I posted. We're just not sure how big the area is and how much time to allocate. I obviously need to do more research, but thinking maybe four nights Ljubljana, 3-4 in Bled and possibly four in Bovec or elsewhere, with day trips from both.

I think I failed to mention that this is part of a 6.5 week trip, we're just extending the time in Slovenia, at the beginning of the trip, Sept 16 on.

PS - I hope you're able to take your upcoming trip.

Thanks, Mel. I think your plan of 4/4/4 would be fantastic. Some would do it faster, a few who prefer slower travel slower but I think it could work very well. It's a small country so distances are not huge but you can judge travel times using transport timetables and hiking times from the hiking websites and books. Transport is good but not like you're used to in Switzerland.

Make sure to try prekmurska gibanica, a delicious layered cake and my favourite.

One thing I love about Slovenia is that their national heroes are a poet and an architect, not a politician, militarist or religious leader.

Mmmmm...cake. Now you're speaking my language.

Mel, I'm going through our old Slovenian Trip journal. We were @Vintnar for its 120th anniversary. My notes for there include:
'Vintgar Gorge open 8-7. Cost 4 euros. Take the 9am or 10am buses from Bled ('blayd') to the village Zasip (hamlet=Muze) then climb to chapel inc. path thru forest to gorge entrance. Hom summit. Waterfall Sum 16m tall'.

Bohinj ('baw-heen')=great on full moon nights; Triglav (tree-glahv-- ie three heads)
Book Recco: 'The Julian Alps of Slovenia' by Justi Carey and Roy Clarke.
Good luck to you folks!
I am done. the Slovenians