Slovenian Journey - 2/3 weeks?? Help, please!

I can't really add much since you obviously did your homework well. Just a couple notes- I highly suggest you hike/walk the Vintner Gorge. It was a highlight for us, and I'd rate it much higher than the Castle, but the boat ride to Bled Island was nice. If you have to chose I'd still go with Vintner Gorge. Also, at Lake Bohinj there is a wonder hike up to a waterfall that we enjoyed. We are not huge hikers and our daughter with CP made it, but it was a bit of a stretch for her, but I'm sure you'd do fine.

Vintgar Gorge is currently closed due to a slide. Not sure it will be open by September.

crooney55, your pace is a little slower than my normal pace, but it might work great for you. Still, ivef nights in Ljubljana is kind of a lot, though, especially if you prefer the outdoors (I LOVE Ljubljana myself, but it's not very big). I see you have one long day for Ptuj and Maribor. I would plan other day trips just in case you get bored - but if you find yourself enjoying Ljubljana, don't take them. It's very easy to take a bus or train various places. Towns like Radovljica (really small), Kranj, and Kamnik are easy day trips by train (or bus). You could even do Zagreb in a quick day by train. No need for any advanced planning except to figure out the logistics (what are the bus and trains schedules?) Just make a list of day trips and how to get to/from each place - and have it at the ready, in case you need it.

GoOpti might be your best bet to get to Ljubljana, all depends. I've still not been able to use them. Depends on your starting point, time of arrival, etc. DRD offers daily pickups at scheduled times from Mestre train station and the Venice airports. FlixBus might have direct buses now too. You may even be able to take the train through Trieste now (direct trains from Trieste to Ljubljana were supposed to start again this month). The only downside of GoOpti (unless you want to pay $$$ for a private transfer) is their sliding pick-up time for shared transfers - if your flight arrives at 10am, you have to pick a range of times (say 11am-2pm) to get a good price, and they won't tell you til the day before what the exact time will be. If it is 2PM, then you have to sit around for four hours. If it is 11am, then you have to worry about your flight being late (or paying extra with GoOpti for some sort of "flight guarantee" I think). GoOpti might make more sense if you are already in Venice and can just go whenever they eventually say they will pick you up.

Rental car: NO NEED to go to the airport to pick up a car! Ljubljana isn't a big city - driving a car out of town is easy. The problem with a car in Ljubljana is the big pedestrian-only areas, so HAVING a car in Ljubljana isn't convenient, but driving out of town with one is not a worry. I've picked up two cars in Ljubljana: one last year from AvantCar and one a few years ago from Sixt. The Avantcar office is in the center of town just north of Preseren Square, and the Sixt office is at the train station. Ljubljana is small enough that you might be able to walk there with your bags (or take a taxi; sometimes these car companies will even pick you up). I've always walked from my lodgings in Ljubljana to pick up my cars. Again, driving out of town was easy. (Driving in Dubrovnik on the other hand was stressful - another story!)

You could drop your car at the end on the coast near Piran instead of heading back to Ljubljana. Options to get back to Italy? GoOpti. Public bus. Even a catamaran to Venice (seasonal). Rental car drops are likely at Portoroz or Koper. Piran is a delightful town to stay over night in and watch the sun set into the ocean. When I visited, I dropped my Sixt car in Portoroz and took the public bus to Piran. If you drive to Piran, you have to park your car at the big lot at the edge of town, because the town is mostly car free (maybe you can drive in to drop bags at the hotel - I think you might be able to). But I didn't have a car by the time I got there, so didn't have to worry about that.

Many thanks for your comments and suggestions! It's wonderful to know that we're - more ore less - on the right track. Now, I'll check on the Gorge, day trips from Ljub. and rental car options - and dream of going! A million thanks!!

I can only share from my 48 hrs in Slovenia, we rented a car at Venice airport, stopped at aquileia to see mosaics, it was. Amazing.
2 nights at mulej bled tourist farm. Highly recommended for their hospitality and a quieter locale w farm animals! We walked into town, took plinka to island, again, highly recommend. We walked all of the way around the lake, including up the hill to the castle. The castle itself I'd class as an "ok" attraction, but you can cash in yr castle ticket for a free drink w purchase at the restaurant. This was my best meal of the trip, great food, amazing views, nice waiters, good wine. Of course, lunch is cheaper than dinner, and if you are going up for dinner, make sure there is sufficient daylight to enjoy the amazing scenes looking at thte lake. We stopped at mystic garden (a small cafe) for cream cake and coffee, another 10+ experience. That was also a 10 miles day, including our walk from the farm.

When we left bled. I think it was Ljubljana we stopped at for an hr of walking around

Hi crooney55: I'll also be in Slovenia the first 2 weeks in September (flying in and out of Venice; perhaps taking Flixbus from Venice to either Ljubljana or Koper to pick up car). Staying at Lake Bohinj for 3 nights, 1 day/night driving Gorge (if open!), 3 nights in Logarska Dolina (hiking, biking, scenery), 2 nights in (undetermined) spa town, 1 night at Plitvice, 3 nights in Ljubljana. I don't have nearly the detailed plans yet that you do -- your trip sounds wonderful!

Both of your trips sound wonderful - we'll. be sure to check out both the mosaics and the farm in Bled. It sounds perfect t!!

WHen you’re in the Bohinj area go to dinner at Pri Hrvatu in Srednja Vas, about a 5 min drive from the lake. It was so good we ended up eating there every night. Hard to argue with perfection. If you like fish get the trout. You’ll be pleased at the prices too, as in all of Slovenia.

Thank you! The restaurant sounds wonderful - it's on our list!

As we too are leaving for a week in Slovenia in mid September, this is all great information for us also. Thanks to all who are contributing.

We love Slovenia and have been multiple times. Notable omissions are Piran and the caves. Spend more time around Bohinj than Bled. Bled is not that nice anymore and deserves a day to see the lake, take the photo and go to Vintgar Gorge. It is overrun with buses. I hope you have a reservation already at Hisa Franko!

Great itinerary. I'd try to find a way to fit Postonja and Predjama in there somehow. Both the Vintgar Gorge and the Vrsic Pass were closed to us when we were there last October. We also used GoOpti as a R/T transfer between Marco Polo and Ljubljana.

Just wanted to say we were at Vintgar Gorge on 6/26/18 and it was open. We didn’t go all the way through, but I don’t imagine it would be op en if there was a landslide? They must have cleaned it up fast!

Also, the outdoor WWI museum near Kobarid is worth seeing. Follow the directions on their website. People have reported having trouble finding it, but we had no trouble.

We spent 2 weeks in Slovenia last year and you have started with a nice itinerary and gotten a lot of great advice here as well. I will add my observations.
1. Rental Car: I agree that you should not go back to the airport. We rented when we came in and actually paid for parking on the outskirts of Ljubljana while we stayed 4 nights in the city center.
2. Ljubljana: If you can, stay there over a weekend, because they had lots of festivals and outdoor stuff going on over the weekend and it was really a blast. Also, we did a food tour there which was a fun way to sample different Slovenian tastes. Also, stay as close to the city center as possible.
3. Bled: I know everyone loves it, but I was not impressed. It was SO over-run. The highlight for us was our hike through Vintgar Gorge (But I see it could be closed). Bohinj is quieter and there is a lovely waterfall hike, Slap Savica, I believe.
4. Piran was a highlight for us. We just loved it's quiet pace and fresh fish and winding alleys. We stayed in an amazing rental with a balcony that overlooked the sea.
5. We really loved the caves. I would try to include one or two depending on your interest level.
6. Vrsic Pass: We planned on driving the pass over to the other side to our next accommodation in Triglav National Park and got all the way up to the top and found out it was closed and had to go a very long 3 hour detour around to get to Triglav. It was not a happy moment on our trip, so I would highly recommend figuring out whether it is open or not (there must be a way!)

Michele:

Bled: I know everyone loves it, but I was not impressed. It was SO over-run.

How "overrun" Bled is depends on the time of year you visit. I've been there in May and September. Most recent visit (May 2017) was not overrun at all. In the summer, I imagine it can be very busy. Yes, Bohinj is much more laid back.

I also loved Piran, too. A real gem.