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Transportation from Bled to Ljubljana

We will be wrapping up the RS Best of Eastern Europe tour in Bled. I have reserved one night in Ljubljana after the tour (would like to spend more time, but we have obligations at home). What is the best transportation option?

I have reserved GoOpti from Ljubljana to Venice for the flight home. Is this a good option for a short hop like Bled-Ljubljana, or are there better alternatives? We would like to split after the provided breakfast. It will be a Sunday. I don't want to make reservations in advance because I don't know what our time frames will be on that day.

Posted by
26840 posts

I am not sure about the frequency of buses between Bled and Ljubljana on Sundays, but I made two round-trips by bus in 2015. And there are definitely taxis in Bled. At the time of my trip there was a van-taxi that tended to show up at the Bled bus station (that's the stop closest to the lake) shortly before the Ljubljana-bound bus was due in. The driver was trying to fill seats in his taxi at 7 euros per person, so I don't think a taxi for two people would be exorbitant unless costs have increased greatly in the intervening years.

In addition, I think it's very unlikely you will be the only folks on the tour wanting to head to Ljubljana, so you may have an opportunity to split the taxi cost with one or two others. Previous RS tour members often mention on this forum that their guide helped people with on-going travel arrangements.

This is all by way of saying that this is not something you need to be concerned about, and a shuttle like Go-Opti--even if it serves that market--would be overkill.

Posted by
16893 posts

I took the bus last time I was there. Your guide or hotel staff can show you the closest stop. Sunday schedules look fine (in May) with departures at 10:00, 10:30, or 11:00, then more after lunch from 13:30: https://www.ap-ljubljana.si/en/.

Posted by
5687 posts

I have always found the Slovenian bus website a little challenging. This one might be a little better specifically for this bus:

https://arriva.si/en/timetable/?departure=Bled&departure_id=137171&destination=Ljubljana+AP&destination_id=138922

You can check for a specific date too e.g. a Sunday.

It's also possible to take the train back, but you have to get to the Lesce-Bled train station a few km from the town of Bled. Or...take the train from the tiny Bled Jezero station across the lake from the town and connect at Jesenice to a train back to Ljubljana. (I have taken the train back to Ljubljana doing it this way.) The bus is more direct. (I prefer trains when possible.)

Posted by
144 posts

The same Arriva bus from Bled to Ljubljana stops at the Lesce-Bled train station. Stop is called Lesce ŽP.

So either get off there for the train to Ljubljana or stay right on the bus. Piece of cake.

Happy travels.

Posted by
4616 posts

We were just in Ljubljana , and the bus to/from Bled worked out nicely, about 1 hr 15 minutes each way.

We also used GoOpti from Ljubljana to Venice Mestre train station. It was a shared van, picking up other folks, and we were very specific about the time we needed to arrive at the train station [we did add extra time. ] The GoOpti service worked out well, and arrived at the stated time.

Posted by
5687 posts

Although GoOpti has a great reputation (still haven't had a chance to use them), there are now more options from Venice to Ljubljana than before. FlixBus has regular bus service to Ljubljana now, even from Marco Polo airport. There's also a Slovenian company called Nomago running buses now. So there are several direct buses a day. You can also take the longer train connection now via Trieste.

When I first traveled from Venice to Ljubljana in 2009, there were few good options - the only one I think was the DRD shuttle service! I'm glad there are so manymore options now.

Posted by
475 posts

Our group of 4 hired a taxi driver (van) and she drove us door-to-door for 50€, this was 2-years ago

It was pouring rain and we figured for such a short distance (1-hr by vehicle) let's bypass the schedule fitting and possible confusion of the train/bus and just get into town.