My trips usually have a hook which I hang them off, but on this occasion there were two. The first was straightforward: my sister’s birthday celebrations in Lake Garda gave me both a time and a place to aim for. But the other was more vague: I had an Intercontinental Ambassador voucher for a ‘free’ night that had to be used by September. These only apply to the second night of a weekend stay, and even at half price, many IC properties are still prohibitively expensive in summer. I eventually settled on Ljubljana, as I had passed tantalisingly close to Slovenia on last year’s Lupine Race.
Since I was also signed up for 2025’s event in August, a couple of days overlanding felt like a good warm-up. Little did I realise that the name would be doubly-appropriate, as a heat wave hit this part of Europe with temperatures in the high 30’s. My journey would be made more challenging still by cancellation of the cross-border train, and my own ineptitude in nearly missing the first leg out of Garda…
The rail route seemed straightforward: a straight shot east from the lake to Venice; around the top of the Adriatic; then picking up a train to Ljubljana from Trieste. In theory, this is just six hours of travel, but the problem was timetabling. When I say a train to Ljubljana, I mean the train, as there’s only one daily direct service from Trieste to the Slovenian capital. With that setting off at lunchtime, there was no way to complete my trip in one day, necessitating an overnight stay somewhere along the line. It made most sense to do this in Venice – repeating a stop I’d made on The Albanian Connection – giving the following itinerary:
- Thursday 26th June 19:44 Peschiera del Garda – Venice Mestre 21:00
- Friday 27th June 09:51 Venice Mestre – Trieste Centrale 11:44
- Friday 27th June 12:52 Trieste Centrale – Ljubljana 15:37
Booking proved tricky: none of OBB, Rail Europe or Trainline would accept Friday’s plan, so I ended up with three separate tickets, one per train. Despite this, fares were cheap – the whole journey would be €66 in standard class, but I couldn’t resist upgrading the first and third legs for a mere €15 each.
As hinted, reality played out a bit different from the plan. I tracked the whole experience on Polarsteps, but problems began before I even left the UK. It seems the track between Trieste and Ljubljana isn’t actually open – although trains are scheduled and can be booked, you’ll be informed a week out that a rail replacement bus is required as far as Sežana. Where to find that bus, or what impact it would have on timings, was left a mystery to be solved in person…
Before that, though, I had to get to Trieste, and I almost fell at the first hurdle. My mistake was assuming that because the Peschiera del Garda bus runs from the station concourse, it would also stop there on the way back. Not only is this not the case, if you fail to disembark on Via Venezia you’ll be whisked 5 kilometres away to the village of Salionze. It took the kindness of strangers to arrange a taxi, which returned me at great expense with just enough time for the train to Venice Mestre. That was one of Trenitalia’s flagship Frecciarossa and my first class upgrade had secured me a solo seat in the business carriage – always a comfortable way to travel, and my stress soon melted away.
The next train was less impressive – a standard class only regional service that took nearly two hours to meander around to Trieste. Still, for £13 it’s hard to complain, especially as I had a set of 4 seats to myself most of the way. In Trieste I was alarmed to find EC135, the Ljubljana train, listed as cancelled on the departure board. Fortunately I was not the only would-be passenger, and overheard a member of staff directing others to the nearby bus station. There I managed to wait long enough at the wrong bay to miss the first coach up to Sežana; but I was far from alone in this error, and joined a busy second departure.
Sežana is just across the border in Slovenia, and it turns out that climbing up into the karst plateau can be achieved more quickly by road – it’s about a 25 minute drive, compared to the 57 scheduled for the train. This meant I could add “rail replacement bus” to the modes of transport I’ve used to first enter a country; and that we arrived with plenty of time to spare before the truncated EC135 was set to depart. Sadly it was not just the route which had shrunk, but the train itself: instead of finally settling in to first class luxury on ÖBB stock, what we were presented with was a small EMU with only standard class. The seats – thin, firm and fabric covered – were more reminiscent of a local bus, as was the speed: averaging a little over 25 miles per hour through the Slovenian countryside.
With disruption continuing, I hope anyone who stumbles on this post in search of how to achieve Trieste to Ljubljana by rail is reassured that it is possible. But it isn’t advisable; this is a rare occasion where I would recommend a coach instead! FlixBus operate services between the two cities several times a day, with a travel time of 90 minutes (half that of the train) and for even lower fares.