Ljubljana-Venice Rail Update
Earlier this year, a convenient, fairly popular and reasonably quick Ljubljana-Venice route was sliced from the timetables. It was Trenitalia that wielded the scalpel, choosing to use the tracks in the late AM hours for local traffic.
So now the only option with a reasonable departure time is routed north through Villach, Austria (where you change), and then back south via Udine. Aesthetically, it’s a much nicer ride; the downside is that the old 3 hr 20 min trip is extended to just under 5 1/2 hrs. Another upside is that you arrive about two hours earlier than with the old option, opening several more options if you’re connecting onwards from Venezia-Mestre.
Dep Ljubljana 08:05 – IC 310
Arr Villach Hbf 10:00
Dep Villach Hbf 10:37 – OEC 31 / EC 31
Arr Venezia Mestre – 13:18
Arr Venezia Santa Lucia – 13:30
With at least seven day advance purchase, price is as low as 15 EUR one-way. Much less than the cost of parking your car for an afternoon in Venice.
Ljubljana-bound from Venice:
Most practical is the same route with a mid-afternoon departure, travel time 5 hrs, 4 min.
Dep Venezia Santa Lucia 14:44 – EC 30
Dep Venezia Mestre 14:56
Arr Villach Hbf 17:40
Dep Villach Hbf 18:04 – IC 311
Arr Ljubljana 19:48
If you don’t mind a much later arrival, you can leave Venice in the evening, no change, and spend less time traveling (4 hr 24 min).
Dep Venezia Santa Lucia 21:27 – EN 241
Dep Venezia Mestre – 21:40
Arr Ljubljana 01:51
Some more info on the SLO Rail site. As always the first place to look for connections in all of Europe (EU and non-EU) is Bahn.de.
venice-s-lucia, originally uploaded by pirano.
Hi!
There`s a bus service every day from Ljubljana`s main bus station to Mestre. Departure at 08:15, arrival at 11:00.
Bye …
Pero
Wednesday, 29 October, 2008 at 15:06
Thanks, I’ll catch up with the bus schedules one day. I have a strong bias towards trains.
pirano
Wednesday, 29 October, 2008 at 23:30
There is another convenient option: train to Sežana, bus Sežana-Trieste (there’s an on-line schedule) and from Trieste you can get a train to Mestre every hour!
If you need some links, write me!
Ciao
Tanja
Saturday, 15 November, 2008 at 16:04
@ Tanja – thanks! What’s the link for Sežana-Trieste bus schedule?
pirano
Saturday, 15 November, 2008 at 16:40
Hi,
I started searching for this after reading the last comment. There is indeed an experimental line running 6 times a day betwen Sežan and Trieste – the schedule is currently available off:
http://www.triestetrasporti.it/ttspa/pages/ita/pages/Depliant_Ts_Sesana.pdf
Anthony F. Camilleri
Sunday, 14 December, 2008 at 23:58
[...] quick note of thanks to this post at cafe piran which made me discover the Sezana – Trieste bus [...]
Ljubljana to Venice by Train and Bus | Anthony F. Camilleri's Blog
Friday, 19 December, 2008 at 12:00
“There`s a bus service every day from Ljubljana`s main bus station to Mestre. Departure at 08:15, arrival at 11:00.”
Is there a bus that runs from Venice to Ljubljana?
T Y Chu
Wednesday, 4 March, 2009 at 05:28
Yes, same bus as mentioned above, leaves Mestre station at 11:30, arrives Ljubljana by 15:00.
pirano
Thursday, 23 April, 2009 at 20:44
I just found out a bus leaves Mestre train station at 11:00 and a minivan leaves the same station at 11:30. The one way bus fare is 25 euro. Bus company web site is http://www.drd.si
T Y Chu
Friday, 24 April, 2009 at 02:08
Thanks! The 11:30 departure I mentioned is that mini-bus, same one which leaves Ljubljana at 8:15. A friend took that one a few weeks ago and it does fill quickly so advance ticket purchase is highly recommended.
pirano
Friday, 24 April, 2009 at 12:15
Considering the inconvenient schedules, would renting a car in Venice and driving it to Ljubljana be a good option?
Andrew
Tuesday, 5 May, 2009 at 16:24
hi i am arriving at trieste airport on the 3rd febuary at 22.15 then i want to get a train to ljubljana can some one send me some information about the times please thanks
rita
Tuesday, 13 October, 2009 at 14:34
hey can anyone tell me how to book the bus tickets with DRD? Can get the web page into english but the order form is in Slovic. Cheers!
catherina
Wednesday, 21 October, 2009 at 17:09
I solve the problem by sending them a email with my name address and telephone number and the date for the ticket. Their email address is avtobusniprevozi.drd@siol.net
They sent me a email confirming the reservation.
T Y Chu
Wednesday, 21 October, 2009 at 19:51