driving car necessary in Slovenia?
 

We are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Slovenia and Switzerland.
(1) Is driving necessary in Slovenia to do Llubljana, Lake Bled, and surrounding areas within 1 hour of Llubljana, or is this area easy to get by via bus, train, and tour (e.g., from hotel in Llubljana to Lake Bled?
(2) If car rental is highly recommended, how difficult is it to drive there? We would much rather not drive.

Any other tips about how to get around this area and recommended sights are appreciated. Also wondering what is best way to fly out of Slovenia and into Switzerland for hiking.
Thanks!

I got around by bus perfectly satisfactorily in Slovenia. There is an hourly bus from Ljubljana to Bled, and Ljubljana is a transport hub.

I agree with Nonconformist.

Consult rome2rio.com for likely transportation options -- just be sure to check through to the underlying websites for actual planning, as the main web page is not sensitive to seasonal variation.

The Rough Guide to Slovenia is quite good.

If you decide to rent a car (Slovenian drivers are a bit enthusiastic with their tempo, but otherwise driving is fine), within 90 minutes or less you from Ljubljana can reach at least these destinations (we have done so with our personal vehicle):

1. Maribor, a pleasant town with a castle and the oldest grape vine in the world on display. (We have friends who live in the town.)
2. Celje Castle (a romantic fortress perched high atop a hill)
3. Tromeja, the triple point of Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. Chair lifts can whisk you to the top, or you can hike (difficult) your way up.
4. Trieste, Italy and Lipica, Slovenia (the hometown of the famous Viennese Lippizaner Stallions)
5. Škocjan Caves

All places mentioned by 44travel can easily be reached by public transport.

Slovenia - Switzerland:
you may take a direct overnight train with sleeping cars, a day train along the direct itinerary or travel through the Dolomites with some stopovers.
For example:

Maribor dp 19.40 or Lesce-Bled dp 21.51 - Sargans ar 8.23 - Zurich ar 9.20
connecting trains/buses:
Sargans dp 8.33 - St. Moritz ar 10.58
Sargans dp 8.36 - Locarno/Lake Maggiore ar 11.59
Sargans dp 8.36 - Glacier Express - Zermatt ar 15.14
Zurich dp 9.35 - Lucerne ar 10.25
Zurich dp 9.32 - Interlaken ar 11.28
Zurich dp 10.02 - Zermatt ar 13.14

Maribor dp 6.22 or Lesce-Bled dp 8.13 - Landeck ar 14.31 - Zurich ar 17.20
Landeck dp 14.55 - Scuol-Tarasp ar 16.27 - St. Moritz ar 17.58
Zurich dp 17.32 - Interlaken ar 19.28
Zurich dp 18.02 - Zermatt ar 21.14

Lesce-Bled dp 10.03 - Landeck ar 16.31 - Zurich ar 19.20
Landeck dp 16.47 - Scuol-Tarasp ar 18.27 - St. Moritz ar 19.58
Zurich dp 19.32 - Interlaken ar 21.28
Zurich dp 20.32 - Zermatt ar 23.48

Lesce-Bled dp 8.13 - Toblach ar 13.54 - Ponte Gardena ar 15.39 - Bolzano/Bozen ar 15.59 - Merano ar 16.45
Toblach dp 14.10 - Cortina d'Ampezzo ar 14.55
Ponte Gardena dp 15.57 - Ortisei ar 16.25
Merano dp 17.46 - St. Moritz ar 21.58

neckervd, mostly true, though most of the destinations I identified are reached with public at cost to sightseeing time. Using the OP's requirements the public transportation timetables mostly fall outside of the "within 1 hour of Ljubljana" timeframe for the destinations I offered, ones we have considered interesting and reachable from Ljubljana with a car.

Using Celje as an example, the train/bus takes between 2:20 and 2:56 on rome2rio.com, and that includes walking for approximately 30 minutes to reach the castle, though one might be able to hire a taxi. Driving, meanwhile takes just over an hour, and one can park near the base.

For Trieste, it's 2:20 with public, and 1:22 with a vehicle. Adding Lipica makes the logistics with public even more rigid.

Mostly, we don't know how much time the OP is devoting to the Slovenian portion of their holiday; who is traveling; and what "surrounds" of Ljubljana they might be interested in. We're all just speculating, myself included.