Ljubljana to Padova

Carol, you could certainly take GoOpti - I used them last fall to get from Ljubljana to Venice Marco Polo Airport (about three hours). It's probably half of that to get to Trieste. But you could take GoOpti all the way to Venice Mestre station and then take a quick regional train from there to Padova. You could take GoOpti all the way to Padova, too. I myself would think like you and want a shorter van ride and a longer train ride to Padova, so going through Trieste makes some sense, just more uncertainty. GoOpti charges less if you can be flexible on your times - and if you are taking a train from Trieste, you'd probably want to take a fast Frecciarossa...which costs a lot less if you book in advance, but if you miss it, you can't just take the next one.

Taking GoOpti directly to Padova would be simplest - if you don't have to be there at a specific time. If it's a lot cheaper to take it to Venice Mestre for some reason (since probably more shared ride passengers would be traveling there from Ljubljana,), you could just take a cheap regional train (no need to book in advance) from Mestre on to Padova.

Frlixbus does run direct buses to Treiste from Ljubljana, but you do have that uncertainty. I took one to Trieste from Ljubljana a few years back, and it was about an hour late, so I could not have relied on it to make a specific train connection.

If you love trains, you could take the train all the way from Ljubljana to Padova, but it would take an hour or two longer, and you'd have to change at least once, maybe twice.

Why not take GoOpti from Ljubljana to Padua? It’s direct meaning no transfers required.

Andrew: My analytical mind went through ALL the options you outlined...so it was good to have it be "confirmed" by someone else. Thanks! And I also appreciate your sharing of your personal experience using the FlixBus, so that eliminates that mode of transportation.

And...yes, doing Go Opti all the way (hotel to hotel as suggested by MaryPat also), would be most convenient, but the trip could take 4 ¼ hours. That's a long time to sit in a van....and what if we had to use the toilette?

There is a direct train Trieste to Padova that leaves at 13:27, which we can also book First Class AND choose our seat, so thinking that is what we will do. We do have Senior Cards, thanks to someone (was it Carol now retired?) who posted about it last year...so cost-wise it wouldn't be that much more + we would have freedom of movement.

Plan to arrive in Trieste about 2 hours early, in case Go Opti runs late + we could at least walk around Trieste and/or get something to eat on board the train.

If you are willing to give yourselves a layover in Trieste of a few hours, then even the FlixBus would probably be OK. At worst you would miss your train in Trieste if really late but there are plenty of others; you wouldn't be stranded and not get to Padova, right? GoOpti would be fine too, of course, and it's not a long ride, but it does cost more as I said the less uncertainty you are willing to accept. If FlixBus gets you there at 11:27 or earlier, I'd be completely comfortable with that. If you were taking say a train early evening, I'd be much more worried about the connection and getting stranded.

I don't recall if there are luggage lockers at the Trieste train station (probably are). You can walk from there to the main square on the water in 15-20 minutes as I recall. You could turn it into a longer day stop if you like and explore more of Trieste. I spent one night there and didn't exactly fall in love with the town, but it's worth seeing for sure. There's an easy hike you can do, the Strada Vicentina (aka Strada Napoleonica). It's more of a stroll with great panoramic views down on the ocean. (You have to take a bus to get between the train/bus station and the end points of the hike.) But, if you built in more than two hours to do that, then if you are late you would not miss a train but would have to cut your time short at worst.