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Seeking Advice for Slovenia Stops in Our April Itinerary etc

Thank you to this community for all the guidance that’s helped me get to this point with my itinerary. My final plans to work out are for Slovenia — we’d like a few nights in both Piran and Ljubljana but aren’t sure whether to do day trips from Ljubljana or hire a car and travel around. I’d love any thoughts or advice. Happy for any tweaks, the cruise and the wedding are things that were already locked in.

April
10 – Sydney → Tokyo
11 – Tokyo
13 – Munich
14 – Munich → Florence / Hire a car to drive to Castiglione D’Orcia
15 – Castiglione D’Orcia- wedding
16 – Castiglione D’Orcia
17 – Castiglione D’Orcia → Cinque Terre (via Pisa)
18 – Cinque Terre
20 – Cinque Terre → Bologna
21 – Bologna
22 – Bologna
23 – Bologna
24 – Venice
25 – Piran (bus)
27 – Piran
28 – Piran
29 – Slovenia....
30 – ?
May
1 – 5 Slovenia....
6 – Paris
7 – 13 Paris (Seine River Cruise)
13 – Paris → Amsterdam
14 – Amsterdam
15 – Amsterdam
16 – Amsterdam
18 – Home

Posted by
152 posts

Slovenia is beautiful and not difficult for driving. You need to decide where to go, based on your interests. The biggest issue is how to rent a car and not pay huge fees for dropping off in another country. From Piran, you could go to Trieste to pick up a rental car. Then drive to Ljubljana area, stopping at Skocjan Cave and Predjama Castle. We stayed in Radovljica for 5 nights for easy parking and access to hiking. We took the train to Ljubljana for a day and that was enough for us. We liked hiking at Vintgar Gorge and near Lake Bohinj. You could loop back through Kobarid and Tolmin, drop the car at Trieste, and fly to Paris.

Posted by
95 posts

Thank you so much for this great advice! We’ve decided to hire the car from Ljubljana and return it there, then fly out to Paris — much shorter and simpler than going from Trieste. I had a look at Radovljica and it looks absolutely delightful, so that might be the perfect place to stay and explore that region. Your tips about the caves, Predjama Castle, and the hiking areas have really helped us shape our plan.

Posted by
1266 posts

You can rent a car in Portoroz, which is the “glitzy” resort town next door to Piran. Your bus from Venice will likely stop here not Piran, and there’s regular local bus service (a 10 min ride) between them. Sixt has an office there. Europcar does more of a mobile team thing which is a little weird but just requires communication. From there, it’s a pretty easy drive to Skopjan and onward toward the Soca Valley. Consider a night or two around Kobarid or Bovecs.

That said, April is pretty early in the season. As much as I love Piran, you may find it pretty thin (and pretty dead I’d imagine) for 3 full days if you’re not swimming (which you likely wouldn’t.) Ljubljana on the other hand is a can’t miss city. You’ll enjoy it regardless of the weather. I’d tilt my days there if anywhere.

Posted by
152 posts

AJ, that sounds great. Another area you should consider is the Logar Valley. We cancelled our time there because of flooding in the area.