Travel to Ljubljana
Ljubljana has always had a strategically good position for traveling between Italy, Central Europe, and the Balkans. Nowadays it’s easily accessible due to a well-developed network of railways and roads. Slovenian airlines Adria airways supply flights for the Ljubljana airport, thus connecting the capital with many European cities.
Travel to Ljubljana by Train
Slovenia has a developed network of railways, connecting Ljubljana with Graz and Klagenfurt (Austria) to the north and Trieste (Italy) to the west. Ljubljana’s main train station, simply called “Ljubljana”, is within an easy walk to the city center. The website of Slovenian Railways (Slovenske Zeleznice) displays train schedules, also in English:
www.slo-zeleznice.si
The Ljubljana bus and train stations are located next to each other at Trg Osvobodilne Fronte (“Trg” means square in Slovenian). The two stations are located just north of the city center and a short walk from most hotels and attractions. The train station has a tourist information center, currency exchange, and left-luggage service.
Hub of Train System
Ljubljana is the hub of Slovenia’s rail system. Local trains run throughout the country – no point in Slovenia is more than 3 hours away. Direct international connections include Zagreb (2 hours), Rijeka (3 hours), Graz (3 hours), Salzburg (4 hours), Pula (4 hours), Venice (5 hours), Vienna (6 hours), Munich (6 hours), Budapest (9 hours),Belgrade (9 hours), Frankfurt (10 hours), Zürich (11 hours). Getting to Trieste by train is complicated because international train connections to Italy are rare. Train connections to Villa Opicina have been canceled (except for one-night train), so you cannot change to the tram to Trieste there anymore. A taxi from Villa Opicina to Sezana, however, is not very expensive and Train System connections from Sezana to Ljubljana are frequent. Expect to pay about 10 euro and it is highly advisable to prebook the taxi, as none will be waiting.
- Travel from London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras at 16:02 (15:32 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at 19:17 (18:47 at weekends). It’s then a 10-minute walk from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l’Est. By all means take an earlier Eurostar if you’d like to spend some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
- Travel from Paris to Munich overnight by the City Night Line sleeper train ‘Cassiopeia’, leaving Paris Gare de l’Est daily at 20:20 and arriving in Munich at 07:16 next morning. It has sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3-bed compartments, standard with washbasin or deluxe with shower), 4 & 6-berth couchettes & ordinary seats, see the photos & information below. More pictures & information about this City Night Line Train System.
- Travel from Munich to Bled or Ljubljana on a modern, air-conditioned EuroCity train, the “Sava”, leaving Munich at 08:27 and arriving at Lesce-Bled at 13:51 & Ljubljana at 14:31. An Austrian restaurant car is available from Munich to Villach (reached at 12:43), and a Serbian restaurant car is usually available between Villach and Ljubljana. However, don’t expect the Serbian restaurant to sell any hot food, just sandwiches, cheap beer, and coffee. If you want a hot lunch, eat early in the Austrian restaurant car. On paper, there are through coaches from Munich to Ljubljana, but in reality, you may have to make a simple cross-platform change of train at Villach. The station at Lesce-Bled is 4km southeast of Bled town, taxis are available for 10 euros or there’s a bus between Lesce-Bled station & Bled town every 30 minutes for 2 euros.