Train or plane from Ljubljana to Venice?

We actually drove a rental car between those locations, but we were going from Venice to Ljubljana, and then heading to Croatia before returning to Venice.

For a direct Ljubljana-Venice connection, what’s your price-versus-time preference? Planes move faster, but require more lead time for check-in and security. And reaching historic Venice involves taking a train on the causeway anyway, as the airport’s on the mainland.

It's quite possible you won't find any non-stop flights between Ljubljana and Venice (check skyscanner.com), which would probably drive up the cost of flying as well as make the travel time longer than ground transportation.

May I suggest a third option? Several posters here have been happy with the shuttle service provided by GoOpti. I haven't used them, nor have I tried to connect Ljubljana and Venice.

As for the train, if you opt for the shortest route, I believe there's a missing link along the way, between Nova Gorica and Gorizia Centrale, where one would take a bus or taxi. Routing yourself through Trieste, while physically a longer trip, might be faster. You can explore rail possibilities on the Deutsche Bahn website, though it will not show you fares.

You can take a look at the options Rome2Rio comes up with, but do not trust the fares, travel times or frequencies you see there. Keep drilling down to find the name of the transportation company providing the service and go to its website for accurate information.

Rome2Rio suggests that a bus might be the best public-transportation option. I used a bus to travel from Ljubljana to Rovinj, Croatia back in 2015, and it was very comfortable.

This question comes up often; you'll find earlier posts on this topic in the Slovenia forum, I believe. Unfortunately, options may have changed with COVID-19.

Hi Michelle,

As mentioned up thread another option is GoOpti.com. We can highly recommend their transfer service. We used their shared ride service from Venice to Ljubljana 2 years ago. Our driver was on time & cordial. The van was clean and comfortable. We also had a 15 min. convenience break along the journey. We spent 4 delightful nights in Ljubljana.

And reaching historic Venice involves taking a train on the causeway anyway, as the airport’s on the mainland.

Sorry, Cyn, no trains from Marco Polo airport to Venice. The train line is several kilometres north of the airport and there is not a convenient link.

Airport to Venice is bus to P Roma (preferred) or Alilaguna (most def not in any way preferred - its horrible) or water taxi (very expensive).

The train from Ljubljana does arrive right in Venice at the Ferrovia.

Thank you all. Very helpful!

I also suggest looking into the bus option. Looks like there are several a dat, taking less than 4 hours and costing less than $40 per ticket. We took a bus frim Croatia to Venice and it was very comfortable. We used Rome2rio to direct to the best bus company option.

I also took a GoOpti from my hotel in Ljubljana to the main piazza in Venice at the end of the causeway (and a major vaporetto stop). It was quite easy; driver was safe; van was comfortable. Total 3 hours transit, which included a 15" break at a rest stop.

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Ljubljana/Venice

Above will show options for the journey.

Skyscanner.com shows flying involves at least one stop and almost 5 hrs, and then you would still have to get from the airport to Venice itself.

Bus actually seems to be the best choice.

If you have the time, you should consider a stop in Trieste along the way.

Another recommendation for GoOpti. I used this service last year from my hotel in Ljubljana to Piazzale Roma in Venice. Great door-to-door service for about 20 euros per person with luggage. Reservation all done via website or mobile app. The earlier you reserve the lower the price. Confirmation txt one day prior to pickup. Clean, safe and efficient transport!

And we used GoOpti from Ljubljana to Trieste (where we stayed a few nights) and then train on to Venice.

No direct flights, it is a short distance. There are trains running between Ljubljana and Trieste Centrale, from where you can continue on to Venice. There are also direct buses to Venice or you can use GoOpti as others have suggested, if it manages to survive the pandemic...

For yet a different option, there is a ferry that goes from Piran Slovenia to Venice but only on certain days. I took it from Piran to Trieste, which is much closer. Piran is a lovely and interesting coastal town with a well preserved medieval core about 90 minutes from Ljubljana.

Another vote for GoOpti. Had we been able to go through with our Oct. 1st Rick Steves tour of Croatia and Slovenia this year, we would be flying into Venice and spending a couple of pre-tour nights there. GoOpti was the way we were going to get to Ljubliana for the start of the tour. I read lots of great reviews.

We used GoOpti April 2019 [a lifetime ago, it now seems] and were very happy with them. The door-to-door service was especially nice. The drivers were courteous , spoke English well, were prompt, and very helpful.

We used MyDayTrip last September from Venice to Rovinj, Croatia. Similar is possible from Ljubliana to Venice. I believe MyDayTrip is much more expensive than GoOpti for one person for their 'standard' fare but the costs become more similar if comparing with a private GoOpti and if there are more people. There were three of us. We also considered taking a ferry out of Venice but having just taken a rough sail in June in Greece the year before decided not to chance it : ) Read several comments on the web that ferry service in that area is not as reliable as it used to be; difficult to verify.

We had hours to talk with the driver which gave us one local's perspective. We value those opportunities on a trip. We considered stopping at Aquileia en route which would have been perfectly fine with the MyDayTrip format but would have added more time and expense since Aquileia is somewhat off the main highway.

We took the bus from Venice airport to Ljubljana. The bus company was Nomago. Very nice, clean, comfortable and with restroom on board. It was a nice three hour bus ride. Highly recommend.

I am very grateful for all the feedback! Thank you, my fellow travelers!!