What is the quickest way to get to Lake Bled from Venice around noon on a Friday in September?
Should I go to Ljubljana first?
You can travel by train from Bled Jezero (near Lake Bled) to Venice, although you will change trains en route. This trip takes about 5 hours. Check the Deutshe Bahn website for train schedules. A couple of years ago, I traveled the route Venice - Villach - Bled Jezero, but it appears now the leg between Venice to Villach is bus rather than train. Don't know if this is temporary or permanent.
My wife went from Lake Bled to Venice. She left Lake Bled via Lesce train station...the one that is accessible via bus. She went through Villach and switched to a bus from there into Venice Maestre Station.
I took the train to Trieste Italy. I used the Lake Bled Jezero station. There is no bus that will take you to the Jezero station, and from old town it is a 40 minute walk. The path to the station is not marked. Take the trail around the lake. Behind the rowing center there is a "round about" stay on the north side of the round about and when you are walking westerly, you will notice a tarred path going up into the trees. You will know you are headed correctly if you see a set of a dozen stairs 20 yards further up the hill. It is a cute station once you are there and Rick is right, the station does not have an attendant present very often and the schedules are posted in the lobby which is only open at times when a train is scheduled to pass through. In my case, I traveled to the end of the line- Nova Gorca and then took a city bus over to the train station in Gorica, Italy and bought a ticket for the balance of the trip into Trieste.
Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up taking the train from Venice Mestre (after arriving from the states at the Venice airport) to Gorizia, Italy. Then I took a city bus to Nova Gorica, Slovenia, a few miles away. Then the train to Bled, where I met a couple on the train who gave me a lift to my B&B. It was very smooth, but HOT. Neither train was air conditioned, though the Slovenian train had windows that opened wide for comfort. Needless to say, my only encounter with Italy was quite negative based on the Italian train.
Jan