The Country
It seems that getting to certain tourist attractions in Slovenia isn’t that user friendly, especially as there doesn’t seem to be any public transport integration at any of the railway stations outside the main cities. Don’t let this put you off though as there are still options to get to places you just have to work a bit harder for the reward.
Train Travel
Slovenske Zeleznice (SZ) operate the national rail service, throughout Slovenia; also offering many cross border trains into neighbouring countries. Slovenian Railway timetables are available on their site to download as PDF’s. You can also plan your trip online.
A comprehensive list of both passenger and freight operators in Slovenia can be found on the helpful Railfan Europe website’s Slovenia page.
Note (as at summer 2014) that train services on the Ljubljana – Postojna – Koper line are currently mostly operated by bus due to severe ice storms in early 2014 resulting in a lot of damage to the overhead power lines. It is expected that this operation will continue through 2015. The timetables on the SZ site are up to date to reflect this and show buses/trains as appropriate.
Train times and Tickets
Booking tickets for travel within Slovenia can be done at most SZ stations. If you only require reservations for either Interrail, Eurail or railway staff passes then this can be done via phone to the DB office in London.
If choosing to use an Interrail pass, either for just within Slovenia, or to pass through Slovenia, all the relevant details on the passes, including the different types/lengths of validity available, can be found on the InterRail website.
For those travelling from outside Europe then the Eurail Pass is your ticket to Europe, details of which can be found on EU Rail’s website.
Finally travel in Europe can be made a lot simpler by using the very, very, helpful smartphone app courtesy of Eurail. This app is available both online and offline and is always up to date (well it has been for the countries I’ve used it in; including for any planned engineering works); for me it was an essential part of my travel in Europe. This app is linked to the Hafas system, which countries like Germany, Austria & Switzerland use for their train planning online tool. Eurail has done what the individual countries haven’t though and made it available offline.
For the Rail Enthusiast
A comprehensive list of Slovenian Locomotives by their respective railway system can be found on the Railfaneurope website’s Slovenia page. This also explains a bit the various operators of the network and how they have amalgamated over the years.
An SZ system map is available from their website. A detailed map/atlas of the South East Europe & Turkey Railway Systems, which includes Slovenia, is available from European Railway Atlas. A comprehensive railway atlas of Italy & Slovenia (in German only), which includes route kilometers, is available from Schweers & Wall.
As an introduction what more can I say; this was my honeymoon! During which we planned to visit Austria (Salzburg, Vienna & Graz), Slovenia (Ljubljana, Bled & Postojna) and finish up in Zagreb, Croatia; the latter being a cheaper and better place to fly home from more than anything else. Of course there would be Read the Rest…
This is an extract from a multi-country report to read the full report use the following link: Multi Trip Switzerland – Slovenia – Croatia – Hungary – Germany August 2014 This trip was a week specifically to do Slovenia & Hungary: Having been bowled for doing Slovenia earlier in the year when the storms hit Read the Rest…
As an introduction what more can I say; this was our honeymoon! During which we planned to visit Austria (Salzburg, Vienna & Graz), Slovenia (Ljubljana, Bled & Postojna) and finish up in Zagreb, Croatia; the latter being a cheaper and better place to fly home from more than anything else. Armed with Interail tickets and Read the Rest…