Venice car rental that will let us drop in Ljubliana or Zagreb, CR

Since the car would be licensed in Italy, someone has to go retrieve the car and bring it back to its home country. That is why the drop fee is so high and will be high for any one-way rental. If you want to reduce expenses it would be best to take public transportation to Slovenia and then rent the car once you arrive. Or plan on returning the car to Italy yourself.

What is your planned itinerary between Venice and Slovenia? Perhaps we can help out with alternative transit suggestions that would allow you to get to Slovenia and then rent and drop within the country, eliminating the enormous fee. The closest rental location in Slovenia would be on the coast, in Koper, Piran or Portoroz. If it isn't too much of a detour, you could consider taking a train to Trieste and then a bus to one of the three towns and rent there. Provided you weren't planning on doing any sightseeing between Venice and Friuli, you could easily rent there and then return in Ljubljana. Despite some minimal backtracking, the Italian border region is easily and quickly accessible by car from the Slovenian coast.

Hertz has a location in Koper about 300m from where the bus from the Trieste train station to Koper stops. Otherwise, there is a van that goes daily around noon from Marco Polo Airport to Ljubliana daily if you're interested. Dejan is an excellent source of information and his guidance for us this past June was terrific!

Anytime you drop off a rental car in another xountey you will pay a large drop off fee. Take public transportation to Slovenia or return the car the Venice.

Take DRD or GoOpti directly from Marco Polo airport (if you are flying in there) to Ljubljana and rent the car there.

Thank you SO much for your speedy and thoughtful/helpful responses to my query, I really appreciate it and hope to return the favor! I will look into the options suggested and hopefully have resolution soon.