Into Ljubljana and Out of Dubrovnik

Hi Joan, I flew into "LJU" and out of DBV a year and a half ago. If you have an extra day in DBV you can take the day-long Monte. tour which is FABULOUS!! You can email me directly at worldtraveler100@hotmail.com. Kerri

Joan, I am also taking the Rick Steves' Adriatic tour in September and just recently booked my flights. I am flying through Frankfurt as there are direct flights to LJU and DBV from FRA. But they were not cheap!

Hi Joan,
I took this tour last summer.
I highly recommend the day trip to Montenegro after the tour. I loved it! We rented a car which I think would be better than taking a tour or hiring a driver. There's a fabulous restaurant about a quarter of the way around the Bay of Kotor mentioned in Rick Steves book. Make sure to have plenty of time to explore both Perast and Kotor.

We flew into Ljubljana. I think that going from Venice to Ljubljana would be very nice. Or if I were to do it again, I'd plan to have 3 to 5 days in Slovenia before the tour and I'd visit some of the sites that are not on the tour - the tour just wets your appetite to see more of Slovenia. (One couple on our tour stayed at a farm, rented a car and explored the beautiful country.)

Have fun!

Joan - Keep in mind that the train trip from Venice to Ljubljana is slow (7-9 hours) and requires multiple changes. I've done it from Ljubljana. It wasn't difficult, just a long day of travel.

My boyfriend and I travelled from Ljubljana to Venice a couple of weeks ago, so the reverse of your possible trip.

Unfortunately the direct Casanova day train has now been stopped and the direct night train which takes a few hours arrives very very early in the morning. Instead we took the bus to trieste from ljubljana (1 a day) and then the train to venice (they go about once an hour and many do not require reservations) It took about 5 hours and we had a great view along the way. The other option we had was to change trains in Villach, Austria, which would have also taken about 5 hours.

Check out www.slovenia.info for bus and train info, search for trst for trieste.

Because we were using frequent flyer miles, we flew into Gatwick, then took Easyjet to Ljubljana. Then we flew home from Amsterdam. We were able to find an inexpensive flight from Dubrovnik to Amsterdam on British Air. It is often cheaper to fly into major European airports( London, Munich, Frankfurt etc) and then take discount airlines to and from Ljubljana and Dubrovnik. YOu just need to carefully research which discount airline fly where, and book far in advance to get the cheap flights.

Hi Joan,
Two years ago my husband & I flew into Venice (via Frankfurt) on our way to Ljubljana. We spent 1.5 days in Venice (we had been there before, but in the dead of winter), then took the train to Ljubljana. Our train left Venice @ 9:30 am, arrived in Ljubljana @ 1:50 pm, with no train changes. We stopped at the Slovenia border for passport checks, etc., but it was a beautiful train ride. You'd have to check on the current train schedules, but we found it a great way to get to Ljubljana.
After visiting Slovenia & Croatia on our own, we also flew out of Dubrovnik (to Frankfurt), and found that wonderful also.
I'd highly recommend going into Venice and out of Dubrovnik if the train connections are as convenient as they were two years ago.
We absolutely loved Slovenia and Croatia, and you can email me if you have any other questions. (We rented a car in both countries - the roads were fantastic and well-marked. I know you will be on a tour, but for other readers of this post considering travel options...) ENJOY!

Joan, My husband and I are also going to Croatia in Sept. A website that is extremely helpful in finding out which budget airlines fly where is www.flylc.com It will save you much time and is very simple to use. Ashley