Transit between Croatia and Slovenia

Posted by john (columbus, nc) on 12/13/16 04:47 PM

At the end of our time in Croatia in May we will be leaving Rovinj (at time have rental car) with a destination of Ljubjana. Has anyone taken the ferry from Rovinj to Piran and then rented a car there? Or would the better option be to turn the car in Riejeka and catch the bus? The plan is to visit Ljubjana for 2 nights and then be in Lake Bled for 2 nights and we will need a car for driving the Julian Alps. We will then catch the train to Salzburg. If anyone could help with the order and details it would be appreciated.

Thanks

Posted by Dejan

Slovenia

12/13/16 10:31 PM

470 posts

As far as I'm aware the coastal ferry only runs in the summer. As an alternative consider the bus from Rovinj to Koper. You can rent a car in Koper or take a local bus to Piran/Portoroz, where there are a few rental offices, as well. Consider driving straight into the Soca Valley from the coast, then crossing Vrsic Pass and visiting Lake Bled and Ljubljana. Alternatively, take the bus from Rovinj straight to Ljubljana, rent a car there and then visit Bled and the Julian Alps.

Posted by john OP

columbus, nc

12/25/16 12:48 AM

294 posts

Great information ....thank you.

Posted by David

Seattle, WA, USA ☔️

12/30/16 05:05 AM

6788 posts

We were going the other direction, but found a way to make it work. This was about 5 years ago, but assuming the elements are still in place (which you will want to verify) it could probably work in the other direction.

We were coming from Slovenia in a car we rented in Ljubljana. We drove our "Slovenia car" as far as Portoroz, ans dropped it there (this was the closest-to-the-border that I could find a car rental agency). We took a small bus from Portoroz to Porec (about half-way between Rovinj and the Slovenia border - Porec was the closest-to-the-border I could find a car rental agency in Croatia). We picked up our "Croatia car" there, and drove on to Rovinj (then after a couple days, with a side trip to Pula, across Istria and then further south into Croatia). This little car switch with a bus connection saved us a large car rental fee (I vaguely recall the savings being around $600). It consumed about half a day.

Cheers.