In Rick's book the recommended 2 week trip by car has the reader land in Ljubljana and travel to Lake Bled right away. The traveler will then spend a day at the lake then travel through the Julian Alps by way of rental car, only to come back and spend 1 day and 2 nights in Ljubljana. What would be the advantage in doing this? As opposed to starting out with Ljubljana and picking up the rental car say on day 3 then traveling to lake bled and the alps and on to Piran.
Thanks.
Just do what makes sense to you. Last year we spent 3 nights in Ljubljana then picked up a rental car and spent 4 nights in Lake Bled, drove across the Julian alps stopping 2 nights in Kobarid. Then we went on to the coast for 2 nights in Piran. We then visited the Skocjan Cave and stayed a night nearby. Finally we drove to Ptuj for 3 nights, dropped off our car at the Maribar train station and continued our travels onto Hungary.
Everyone has their own interests and amount of travel time. The guide books give you a frame of reference.
Seeing the description for Day 2 - "relax at Lake Bled" - perhaps the idea is that it is a great place to recover from any jet lag. I wasn't there on my "day 2" (and don't suffer much from jet lag) but I can see how a walk around the lake and sitting by the lake enjoying a cream cake and the views might be a lovely day 2, post-flight experience.
You might get better responses if you posted this question in the Slovenia forum instead of the Croatia forum. The locations you are visiting are in Slovenia.
Rick's suggestion makes some practical sense - Lake Bled is near the airport anyway. If starting in Lake Bled and heading to Ljubljana later works in your itinerary, do it. If not, start in Ljubljana. I think starting in Ljubljana makes more sense if you plan to spend more than a day there - you don't really want/need a car in town so it makes sense to pick it up as you leave. It's a fairly small city that doesn't require a lot of time, though, but it's quite lovely.
If you drive from Ljubljana to Bled, I recommend the scenic detour via Skofja Loka and from there the scenic drive through the mountains via Jamnik and Kropa (instead of on the highway via Kranj). Beautiful views, lots of interesting little stops. Skofja Loka itself is worth a quick stop at least - nice town.
