We are embarking on a 6 week adventure this summer with our two young children and will be going through Croatia and then spending a few days in Ljubljana. We had intended on driving over to Rovinj from Plitvice, and staying there for two nights before dropping the car off and heading up to Slovenia. It looks like we cant take the train up from Rovinj, and would need to drive to Rijeka first, drop car off there, and then get the train up. Is there really no train from Rovinj? We aren't opposed to driving up to Slovenia but from what I can tell, we can't drop the car off there. Has anyone tried to go from Rovinj to Ljubljana, and if so, whats the quickest way? Traveling with two young kids means we want the least amount of travel time possible. If it's going to be a lengthy amount of travel time, we may just forgo Rovinj all together and maybe do a few days in Mostar instead (earlier in our trip).
All advice appreciated!!
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Right - no train from Rovinj to Ljubljana.
Your options as I know them:
- drop the car in Rovinj, take a public bus to Ljubljana (about four hours direct once a day, I think)
- drop the car in Rovinj, take a transfer service like GoOpti to Ljubljana
- drive from Rovinj to Rijeka (just over an hour), drop the car, take the train to Ljubljana (I did this in reverse a few years ago. You may want to take a taxi from the rental car office to the train station or see if they'll give you a lift. I walked about 15 minutes from the train station to the rental car office (Oryx), but maybe you wouldn't want to with kids.
- take a bus from Rovinj to coastal Slovenia (e.g. Koper), rent a car, and drive the rest of the way - makes more sense if you would want a car in Slovenia too.
- drive from Rovinj to Ljubljana, drop the car there - assuming you rented with a company (e.g. Sixt) that allows it but charges a big one-way drop fee (maybe several hundred Euros).
I loved Rovinj. Mostar is nice too but very different. Both have small centers that are explored fairly quickly. Rovinj is perhaps less significant but more charming, a good base for exploring Istria. There are some things to explore as day trips from Mostar too. As much as I loved Rovinj, I'm not sure I would detour over there just for Rovinj and not for the rest of Istria.