kit

Hello,

Some members of my family are spending some time together in Verona in May, and then we are splitting up. They are heading west and I am a bit unsure how to spend the next five days by myself. I need to depart from the Zagreb airport back to the States and will be launching/departing from Verona. It will look like this:

Verona -- leave Saturday morning for (possibly) Llubljana and Zagreb
Zagreb -- leave for LAX Wednesday morning

I found a van company https://www.goopti.com/en/ that drives direct from Verona to Llubljana, Slovenia, which I thought would make a nice stopover. My thought, then, was to to take the train down to Zagreb.

I have not been to either of these cities -- or countries -- so might be missing something obvious and would appreciate your advice. For reference, I have been to Venice a few times already and to many places in northern Italy. I need to depart from Zagreb, so that part is non-negotiable. I just need to figure out the days in between Verona and Zagreb.

My impression is that people like these two cities (Llubljana and Zagreb), so I am okay sticking with this idea, but if you have ideas for how to split the 4 days or recommendations on transportation or hotels, I am all ears. Alternatively, if another town or city is a must-see, I am game to hear that, too.

Thank you!

Andrew

Your plan sounds fine. I absolutely loved Ljubljana, but it's small - two nights there is about right. Neither city really has an abundance of rewarding sites, but Ljubljana is lovely and charming but. To me, Zagreb was not. Ljubljana was the kind of place I loved spending extra time in, just because it's a neat place. There's nothing wrong with doing two and two in each city as you suggest, though that wouldn't be my preference.

My personal preference might be to spend three nights in Ljubljana and only one in Zagreb (take the early train to get in to Zagreb early enough to see the main sites), but do a day trip say up to Lake Bled from Ljubljana. Just a thought.

kja

No bad choices here, IMO -- just difficult ones!

I agree that Ljubljana is absolutely charming! It is small, so depending on your interests, a night or two might suit well for the city itself. You can visit Bled as a day trip from Ljubljana, or spend a night there. (I couldn't have done everything I enjoyed in Bled in a day trip; other people meet their interests quite nicely in the time afforded by a day trip.) You can also visit the spectacular Skojan Caves by public transportation from Ljubljana.

I thought Zagreb sadly underrated -- I gave it a bit over 2.5 days and could easily have enjoyed more time there. To each his / her own!

Of course, you have other options, too -- for example, Varazdin and Cakovec in Croatia, east of Zagreb. I enjoyed both, but suspect that their appeal is a bit more limited than that of Ljubljana and Bled.

Bottom line: It really depends on YOUR interests. I recommend that you consult some good guidebooks, perhaps at your local library, to see what most captures your interests. Enjoy!

neckervd

You may check
Vicenza, Aquileia, Miramare castle, Postojna caves, Skocjan caves, Lipica stud, Piran, Porec, Rovinj, Brioni, Pula, Rab Island, Plitvice Lakes
Buses to Zagreb from all mentioned Croatian places
http://www.aferry.de/atlas-kompas-fa...campaign=ferry Venezia - Istria
http://www.venezialines.com/
http://www.brioni.hr/en-us/prijevozp...ziapadova.aspx
http://www.florentiabus.it/eng/orari-firenze-sofia.asp

kit

Thank you for the reassuring replies. This means I am not so far off the mark. I will dig deeper into these places you mention -- I did not consider I could make it to Bled -- and keep at it for a bit. I'll fine tune some questions and probably be back for more. I sincerely appreciate you replying. Thank you!

Andrew

If you want another angle (just to make your decision more complicated!), and you'd like to visit a beautiful seaside town, you could train from Verona to Trieste, then take a bus to Piran, Slovenia, a delightful little town:

http://www.europeinpictures.com/piran-slovenia

then take a bus back to Ljubljana.

kit

You are not helping, Andrew

Gorgeous photos.

Andrew

(Thanks!)

As much as I loved Piran, it is a tiny town, so not much to see. I visited at the end of September, when it was warm and sunny and still warm enough to swim. (I did.) You probably can't swim there in May - and what if it rains? At least if it rains in Ljubljana there are museums and things to do. (I should mention that I've had at least a day of rain on EVERY one of my three visits to Ljubljana, in the spring and the fall!)

And it is a few extra hours on a bus to get to and from Piran - more complicated than simply going from Verona to Ljubljana.

But if you love seaside towns, Piran is an option!

ohja

Don’t miss the two top attractions of Slovenia Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle.
Totally amazing experience..

Amazing video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW6XmnLG3_0

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/slovenia...-3312LJ_POS-id

http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/home/