Slovenia Itinerary

I can't comment on Trieste or anywhere in that part of Italy, but I think you're on the right track.

With 7 nights in Slovenia, I'd do 3 nights in Ljubljana, 2 in Bled, and 2 in the Soca Valley (maybe Kobarid). Piran is a lovely town, but I'm not sure it's worth staying 2 nights. I wandered around for a couple of hours and was ready to move on.

If you're committed to spending some time in Piran, do Bled as a day trip from Ljubljana, or do Ljubljana as a day trip from Bled.

Slovenia is one of my favorite European countries. It has so much natural beauty and the people were very friendly.

Combine Piran and Trieste, they are so close to each other it makes no sense to spend the night in both. Do Trieste as a daytrip from Piran or Piran as a daytrip from Trieste, whichever option is cheaper in terms of accommodation. You could also spend the night in Izola or Koper, they are inbetween Piran and Trieste, you may find better offers there as they are not as touristy. If you are food and wine lovers, make sure to stop in the Vipava Valley or Goriska Brda area on your way from the Soca Valley to the coast for some wine tasting or a meal at one of the numerous tourist farms there.

Lane suggested a good itinerary, I would just subtract one night from Ljubljana and use it to spend the night in Piran. If you wish to see just Trieste, you can easily do it on your way back to Ljubljana after spending the night in Piran. If you also want to see the Postojna or Skocjan Caves, it might be a good idea to spend two nights in Piran and then see them on your way back to Ljubljana or simply do them as a daytrip from Ljubljana - Postojna is better suited for the latter option as it is closer to Ljubljana.

Thank you both for your help! So if we spent two nights in Bled, then drove the Vrsic Pass to the Soca Valley, where would you stay in that area? Are either the Vipava Valley or Goriska Brda in that area? Then we would head to Piran/Trieste area before heading to Ljubjlana for the last two nights. And how many nights would you recommend in each place? Again, many thanks!

When I was there I stayed two nights in Kobarid. It's a small town, but it has two excellent attractions: a great World War I museum, and a historic hiking trail that includes a detour to a beautiful waterfall inside a cave.

There are a few other towns nearby. Tolmin has a gorge I visited (when I was there Vintgar Gorge was closed, but the TI in Kobarid said the one in Tolmin is even better, and it was really wonderful) and while I was driving through the town to get to the gorge I thought it seemed to have more services than Kobarid (more restaurants and places to stay). There are other options as well, but I can't tell you anything about them as I just passed through.

When I was there, we departed Kobarid, stopped in Tolmin to do the gorge (about an hour or 90 minutes), toured Skocjan Cave, stopped in Piran for a couple of hours, and then drove to Rovinj. It was a full day, but not rushed. If you're only going as far as Piran, you'd have plenty of time to make stops along the way.

Tolmin is larger than Kobarid and has more public services, but the general quality of accommodation and (especially) restaurants is much better in Kobarid, which is more hospitality-oriented. I'd recommend staying in Kobarid and visiting the Vipava Valley or Goriska Brda on the way to Piran. To put things in perspective, the Kobarid-Bovec area of the Soca Valley (the upper valley, as we call it in Slovenia) is about an hour to 90 minutes' worth of driving away from Goriska Brda and the Vipava Valley, which are both in turn another hour to 90 minutes away from Piran. All in all an easy three hour drive, leaving you plenty of time to see a couple of stops along the way such as the Tolmin Gorge, Kanal ob Soci, Stanjel, Skocjan Caves, etc. and have lunch in the Goriska Brda or Vipava Valley area.