Venice Slovenia Vienna Itinerary

We are doing something similar ( Slovenia and Vienna) in September ourselves. I cannot make informed comments, because we have not been there yet (although we have been to Venice several times).

I will advise that if this is in early September, you will have difficulty with lodging at Lake Bled. It is the site of a World Masters rowing event from Sept. 4-10. Just about all of the lodging has been assigned to the race committee and can only be booked through them---some for the full week. Last time I checked (a few months ago) there were some places farther from the lake available, which might be OK since you will have a car.

I think this is a good itinerary. My first question, though, before I can give you advice, is whether the number of days and the starting and ending points are locked in (i.e. have you already bought your plane tickets?) Are you committed to including Vienna on this trip? Vienna is great, but it's a 7 hour train ride from Ljubljana, and it might work better into a future itinerary that includes Munich or Budapest or Prague or other parts of Austria.

I think you're hitting some great highlights of Slovenia and Istria, but if you don't have to get to Vienna, you could potentially enjoy a little more time in Croatia, seeing, for instance, Plitvice and Zagreb, or you could spend a day or two in the Soca Valley.

Just some things to consider. But if your flights are locked in, there's no real point in offering an alternative.

Looks like you've done your research.

You mentioned driving through the karst region. It wonder whether you would have time to visit the Postojna or Skocjan Caves on Day 10. Obviously, it depends on how much time you need to plan in Piran, and I have no information to provide on that point.

While in Rovinj I'd recommend a stop in Porec as well as Pula if you have an extra 2 hours or more. Porec has a very colorful (meant literally) historic district, whereas Rovinj's is mostly stone.

Istria is definitely worth more time, so if you drop Vienna because of the long transit time, Istria is where at least one of the days could go. I'd also want to see the interior villages of Motovun and Groznjan.

I am thinking their flight home must be from Vienna. There are 6-hour journeys between Ljubljana and Vienna if you leave at the right time.

I have traveled this area on multiple occasions. Here are my thoughts:

Take a 2.5 hour ferry from Venice to Piran. Skip Trieste entirely as there are so many, vastly more interesting and beautiful places in the area. Rent your car in Piran and after a day or two there, head south to Croatian Istria. With a car it will be easy to see Motovun, Vodnjan, Novigrad (a gem), Porec (my favorite) and Rovinj. I do not care for Pula as the historical center is very small and the rest of the city is noisy, busy and not that pretty. I do, however, really like the Kamenjak national park which is south of Pula. You could easily spend 4-5 days in this part of Croatia. After Istria, I would head back up to Ljubljana, maybe stopping at the caves on the way. If you base yourself in Lj, then it is easy to visit Bled for the day. Then head to Vienna by train, dropping the car in Lj.

When I did something similar, years ago, the bus from Trieste did not run on Sundays, and also some car rental offices are not open on Sundays. If Day 5 could fall on a Sunday, then confirm those details.

Thank you all for the valuable input and suggestions. If I may, please allow me to address the questions and concerns noted:

1. The trip will be mid- to late-September, so it should fall outside of the event in Lake Bled.
2. We have not locked in our tickets, so any or all adjustments are possible. I read in another forum the convenience of leaving for the US from Vienna, and all flights from the area we are seeing have stops in either Vienna or Frankfurt (farther north), so I thought it might be just as convenient to tour Vienna as well. We are open to other possibilities and suggestions. Is an overnight/sleeper car an option?
3. We looked at both the Postojna and Skocjan caves as possible sites along the way, but are also considering the Grotto Gigante while we are in Trieste. We were hesitant to book multiple cave trips. If you could pick one, which would it be?
4. Day 5 will be on a Monday, but that is great info to know. Thanks.

Please keep the suggestions coming -- we sincerely appreciate it.

Mark

Apologies -- I had one more question: If we drop Vienna in favor of more time in parts of Croatia, can someone advise me of the current situation with driving a car rented in Slovenia into and out of Croatia? I understand that there is a toll ticket required, and an international drivers permit is a very good idea as well. Are there any other potential "gotchas"?

Thanks.

Mark

Driving in Slovenia requires a toll sticker which you buy at the border. If you rent the car in Slovenia it will already have the sticker. In Croatia, you pay tolls at toll booths. An IDP is required by law, not simply a "good idea." Roads in Slovenia and Croatia are excellent.

Hi,

Based on all of the great suggestions, here is our updated itinerary. In all, there are six accommodation changes, but only two over-nighters. Please feel free to make suggestions for improvement, and recommendations for lodging and restaurants.

Day 1 (Thu) Arrive in Ljubljana late afternoon. Transport to accommodations; orient to city. Sleep in Ljubljana.

Day 2, 3 Tour Ljubljana. Sleep in Ljubljana.

Day 4 (Sun) Pick up car, drive to Lake Bled. Sleep in Lake Bled.

Day 5 Lake Bled. Sleep in Lake Bled.

Day 6 Drive to Vintgar Gorge; Drive through Julian Alps from Vrsic Pass to Soca Valley. Sleep in Kobarid.

Day 7 Drive to Groznjan, Motovun; late drive to Rovinj. Sleep in Rovinj

Day 8 (Thu) Tour Rovinj, Novigrad; drive to Piran. Drop off car late evening if possible, if not then next morning. Sleep in Piran.

Day 9 Tour Piran. Sleep in Piran.

Day 10 (Sat) Morning ferry from Piran to Venice (ferries only run on Saturdays in Sept.). Sleep in Venice.

Day 11, 12 Tour Venice. Sleep in Venice.

Day 13 Venice day trip (or more Venice). Sleep in Venice.

Day 14 Fly home.

Thanks to all, and apologies to Emily -- I didn't mean to sound glib re: driving laws. Please forgive me.

I think this looks good, except I would recommend adding a night in Rovinj and subtracting it from Piran.

Enjoy your trip!

To be sure there's no misunderstanding: Vintgar Gorge is something you see by foot; it's not a drive-by or drive-through gorge.

Porec is on the way from Rovinj to Novigrad and is a very colorful (though touristy) coastal town with a look that is totally different from Rovinj. As your trip is presently configured, I doubt that you'd have time to stop there (Rovinj takes a good while to visit), but I thought I'd mention that in case something changes along the way.

Thanks Lane and ACraven,

If we follow your advice, we could spend all of Day 8 touring Rovinj (which I love the idea of doing), and use Day 9 to tour one or perhaps two of three possible towns: Novigrad, Porec, and/or Piran. Given that we would have to be in Piran in time to drop off the car before the rental office closes, which of these towns would you choose?

How about visiting the Istrian hilltop towns on your way to Piran on Day 9 and driving through the Karst region on Day 7? From Kobarid, you can drive through the scenic Goriska Brda or Vipava Valley wine region, over the Karst and visit the Skocjan Caves before arriving in Rovinj.

In an earlier post Emily indicates that she has seen the three Istrian towns you're asking about (and seems to prefer Porec); I've only been to Porec so can't compare them. I can only say that Porec is very colorful and pretty, but--as in Rovinj--you'll be sharing the space with a lot of other tourists. Those two cities (and Pula) are linked by public buses. I think Novigrad may be more difficult to access without a car, in which case it is likely to be be quieter.

I overlooked your earlier question about the caves, which I'll now answer to the best of my ability in case you decide you have time for such a stop.

I've been to Postojna (a long time ago, but I discussed the caves with hotel personnel in 2015) and Skocjan. I've never been to Grotto Gigante. My take is that Postojna is somewhat more touristy (colored lights, for example), though both get lots of visitors. The lighting in Skocjan is fairly subtle and, being 63 years old at the time of my visit, I was often unable to discern the color differences to which the guide was alluding. Both caves are very impressive, and I'm confident most travelers would enjoy either one.

Edited to add: English is very widely spoken in Slovenia and Croatia, but I don't know that English tours at the caves run as frequently as Slovenian and/or Italian tours. That might be worth checking online so you know what to expect. I didn't have to wait very long for an English tour, but I may have been lucky.

I was going to suggest something similar to Dejan. The detour he's describing from Kobarid to Rovinj is beautiful. I also stopped on the way to visit Skocjan Caves. It was beautiful, but I found the tour itself (you have to visit on a guided tour with a huge group, and photography is strictly prohibited) to be unpleasant. If you have nice weather that day, you might prefer to spend it in the open air.

If you do that on day 7, spend all of day 8 in Rovinj as you said. It won't take all day to tour Rovinj -- you can do Rick Steves' entire walking tour between breakfast and lunch, including climbing to the tower in St. Euphemia -- but it's just a delightful city to relax in, enjoy a leisurely dinner in one of the restaurants overlooking the Adriatic, and also I recommend renting a bike and riding south along the shore until you come to a large park where you can have a picnic lunch.

Then on day 9 you could visit the hill towns on your way to Piran as Dejan suggests. I didn't make it to Porec or Novigrad, so I can't make any suggestions about those places.

I may be a bit biased since I am from the "neighbourhood", but to me, Porec and Novigrad are quite similar to, if less impressive than Piran and especially Rovinj. The tourist levels will also be about the same everywhere. While Rovinj does get a higher share of overseas tourists, Porec and Novigrad (as well as other towns on the Istrian west coast - Umag, Vrsar, Fazana, etc.) are still full of European holidaymakers, which almost exclusively arrive by car, so are not affected by public transport availability. With Mark's limited time frame, I would not want to repeat a similar experience too often, so focusing on Rovinj and spending the final night in Piran due to the rental car issue, while skipping Novigrad and Porec in favour of other, more different places is a good compromise IMO.

Thank you all -- you've given us a great deal to think about. Are there any lodgings or restaurants that, in your opinion, should not be missed?