We are traveling on our own in Slovenia and then meeting up with the RS Village Italy Tour in Padua, Italy. Can anyone offer advice on the best way to get from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Padua, Italy without renting a car? The Flixbus offers a direct 4 hour bus ride at a good price. Please share any comments on any experiences traveling with the Flixbus company. And if Flixbus is recommended should we get our tickets ahead of time? This trip is about 6 weeks away. This is one of the last remaining logistical detail of our upcoming trip and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Arcadia, CA
584 posts
Hi Sally, I have not used Flixbus but I can recommend Go Opti. I checked and they do go from Ljubljana to Padua. I used them last year from Trieste to Ljubljana and was very satisfied. I booked the cheapest fare, it depends on if you're the first person picked up in a town and you sit in the van while they pick other people up. I figured that way I got to drive around a city and see that much more of it! However, in my case, there were only 2 of us that day at one pickup stop and no more stops before heading to Ljubljana. The driver was very nice and informative too. I would definitely use Go Opti again.
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
We have not used Flixbus, but after looking at convenience & positive reviews for GoOpti, we are booked for a shared ride in a few months from Venice to Ljubljana. It's a 2.5 hour ride.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7054 posts
I use something like Flixbus between DC and NYC. Works very well for me. I would have no issue booking Flixbus, it's an established company and the fares are very competitive.
Posted by
Seattle, Washington
682 posts
We just recently used FlixBus in France and we wouldn’t hesitate to use it again for a four hour ride. We’ve also used GoOpti in Italy and Slovenia and it was far more comfortable a ride than the bus. All things being equal, I’d choose GoOpti over the bus any day.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
The four hour FlixBus ride is probably easiest. I took it from Ljubljana to Trieste last May. The bus ride was fine, just delayed. (I'd guess you would be going through Trieste and Venice on the way to Padua so maybe the same bus I took.) The bus arrived more than 45 minutes late. I'm glad I had the FlixBus app on my phone, because there isn't much of a bus station at Ljubljana, and through the app they let me know they were late but still coming! Then at the Italian border we stopped for 20 minutes for security check as border police checked our passports (mostly non-EU passports including my US passport).
You'd also have the option to take a bus from Ljubljana to Treiste (about 90 minutes) and then a train (direct?) on to Padua. Because I dislike long bus rides and love trains, this is how I might do it. If leaving in six weeks, you'll just miss(?) the resumption of direct train service between Ljubljana and Trieste that's supposed to start up again in June.
GoOpti does have a good reputation, but I've never used them.