3 nights in Slovenia

There are three buses from Rijeka to Ljubljana on June 6: one leaving at 8:15am and arriving at 10:31am, another 1:30pm - 3:32pm and the last one 3:30pm - 5:46pm. Depending on which one you take you either have two or two and a half days in Slovenia.

With the short amount of time you have, spend one day in Ljubljana and one in Lake Bled. If you take the first bus from Rijeka, you can conceivably see Ljubljana on the arrival day, leaving you with one free day to visit Lake Bohinj, in which case it makes sense spending the last two nights at Bled. Alternatively, the first and the last bus from Rijeka also stop at the Postojna Caves. You could take the early bus, see the caves and then take one of the many buses or trains from Postojna to Ljubljana, see Ljubljana on the second day and Bled the next. In that case, it would probably be easier to just sleep in Ljubljana for all three nights.

Lake Bled is an hour or so from Ljubljana. There are plenty of connections between the two places. Provided your transportation to Venice doesn't leave too early, it's possible to stay at Lake Bled on the final night as well. That said, how do you plan on continuing to Venice? There is no direct train anymore, just a bus service (Flixbus), shuttle services (DRD and Go Opti) and a bit of a convoluted train journey involving several changes and a historic tram in Trieste.

Another thing to consider: I'm not sure how important it is to you, but generally evenings at Lake Bled are calm with not much going on, whereas Ljubljana has a lovely riverfront that is bustling in the evening. If you're the sort of travellers that prefer to go out for dinner and drinks in the evening, Ljubljana may be a better choice.

In addition to rather frequent buses between Ljubljana and Bled, there is often a taxi hanging around the Bled bus station, looking for folks wanting to save a bit of time on the trip back to Ljubljana. I don't remember the exact charge (perhaps 7 euros?), but if the driver is able to fill up the cab, it will be only a very few euros per person more than the bus. There's nothing wrong with the bus, but since your visit is short, you might find it worthwhile to save that 20 or 30 minutes (or whatever it is). Unfortunately, there don't seem to be taxis at the Ljubljana bus station trying to put together a carful of folks wanting to go to Bled. It might still be worthwhile to check on what a cab would charge you.

I shared a cab from the Bled bus station to Lake Bohinj, and it was reasonable for the distance covered; I believe it was 9 euros per person in a cab with 4 passengers. The trick is to know whether you are potentially going to take a taxi, so you don't buy a bus ticket too early and end up discarding it. The taxi probably won't show up at the bus station very long before the bus is due to depart.

In general, I found taxis in Slovenia to be a real bargain. The Ljubljana tourist office told me something surprising: In the city, you will save money by calling for a taxi rather than grabbing one on the street. I think it's something to do with when the meter starts running.

Ljubljana is definitely worth some extra time, so you wouldn't go wrong by staying there and day-tripping to Bled/Bohinj/etc.

The Ljubljana bus station is quite near the train station and about 1 km. from the edge of the old town. There is sometimes a line at the ticket counter; you can't show up 5 minutes before bus departure time and be sure you have time to buy your ticket. I don't think buying on the bus is an option. The fellow selling the tickets last year spoke very good English, as do most of the young folks in Slovenia, so you should have no problem communicating. I believe the tourist office had copies of the bus schedule for Bled to hand out; in any case, it was very helpful. I'd definitely buy the Venice ticket ahead of time. There's no reason not to do it on the day you arrive in Ljubljana. I'm always just a bit nervous about a sell-out when dealing with buses that cross borders.

thank you!
Regarding the busfrom Rijeka to Ljubljana, what is the name of the company? Howfar in advance should I be purchasing tickets?? should Ibe purchasing tickets

The first and last bus of the day are operated by Autotrans Rijeka, whereas the 1.30pm bus is operated by Panturist. I sourced this info and the timetable from the Ljubljana bus station website, www.ap-ljubljana.si

Both companies seem to offer online ticket purchase on their respective websites. I would advise doing so, even though the bus is unlikely to be full.