Hi all,

I am looking at train and bus options for Ljublana to Zagreb in late June. I'm having trouble finding a place to purchase train tickets online (I believe they should be around 20 Euro or less). Do you all know where I could book these tickets?

I was also wondering if bus tickets are just as good. Is there a preference between bus vs. train? They seem to be getting to Zagreb in the same amount of time. I was thinking of booking on GetByBus. Does anyone have experience with this site?

Thank you!

For the train, just go to the station the day before and buy tickets. You can even do it the day of your journey. Its a very pretty journey.

You can also check out goopti.com for shared transfers. Haven't done the bus, so can't comment on that.

Thank you for the advice! Our trip doesn't have much wiggle room so I was definitely hoping to book everything in advance. For anyone who's done the bus or drive - is the view from Ljublana to Zagreb also nice on the road?

For train info on booking your own tickets check www.seat61.com - trains are always more comfy than buses and you can see out windows better and get up and move around. General train info on what to expect BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

I am not sure if you really want to do this. I did the reverse(Zagreb to Ljubljana) on a train in May. I wanted train to make my trip simpler - hop on and arrive in the destination. I bought the ticket because I did not have to transfer during my journey where I can’t understand the local language. This is what happened on my trip.
The conductor put all Ljubljana passengers in one car. Train arrived the border of Croatia and Slovenia. Exit/Entry border protocol of all passengers. Now we were in Slovenia. Train started moving backward to another track. In short distance later we were told to transfer to another train. The train traveled another short distance. Then we all were on a “chartered” bus. The bus traveled to another train station. We now were transferred to a local commuter train that took us Ljubljana “main” train station. Why all these move? I had no idea. They never explained in English. Someone here might know the reason. Maybe train tracks under repair/replacement?

What surprised me in the Ljubljana station is that passengers are expected walk across the tracks once arrived in the station. Obviously there are not enough trains to make walking across tracks dangerous.

Could be. Did you ask another passenger? Many Croatians and Slovenes speak some English. Some conductors may not. The agents at the train stations generally do speak English fluently, though I often write down station names anyway to avoid confusion.

I've never taken a train TO Slovenia, but I have taken trains from Ljubljana to Zagreb and to Rijeka and of course crossed the border each time. I didn't have an experience like yours - I think it must have been some issue. I never had get off the train - border agents simply got on the train near the boarder and inspected everyone's passport while the train continued to move.

Buses aren't always as expected either. Last year I took a bus from Ljubljana to Trieste. Even though there is no controlled border between Slovenia and Italy anymore (both are in the Schengen zone), our bus was stopped at the border and all non-EU passports were confiscated and taken off the bus so border police could check all of them. It took about 20 minutes. We didn't have to get off the bus, though.

Yeah, that's not uncommon. I was just in Portugal, and I saw the same thing at some Portuguese train stations. They have a little alarm bell that goes off at the pedestrian crossing (across the tracks) when trains are approaching but otherwise there is no gate or anything to stop people from crossing the tracks.

Re; tominrm's warnings: I did take the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana and it was quite simple -- I got on in Zagreb, I got off in Ljubljana. But that was some time ago, so maybe things have changed. And I've been in MANY places where one walks across tracks, so I don't remember whether that was the case when I arrived in Ljubljana or not.

@ tominrm: Thanks for sharing your experiences!

I guess I mentioned people crossing the tracks in the station because I saw one of passengers from the train tripped and fell on a track and needed to be helped with getting up. I know it is not a big deal crossing the tracks, but seeing someone falling over on a track was not good.

Yeah, that might be a little scary! Some trains don't actually stop at the Ljubljana station, either (e.g. freight trains).

You aren't supposed to cross the tracks at the station in Ljubljana, there is an underpass at one end of the platforms while the pathway crossing the tracks at the other end of the platform is for railway staff only (and indicated as such). However, it's usually used by locals as it's faster than taking the underground walkway.

The trains between Ljubljana and Zagreb are usually very simple and straightforward. There is no need to get off the train at any point and border controls are performed between the two border stations in each country, so the train does not wait at the border unlike the bus. Tom, it sounds like you experienced bus replacement services, probably due to either track maintenance or some unforeseen event.