7 days enough for Venice, Trieste and Slovenia?

[pinotnow]

DS1 only wants to be away for 1 week. The only flights I can see are a very late flight out to Venice so no time at all there on that day. However, flight home is also late so we would have that final day. We're quite central so I've looked at other airports and it's no better. Also looked at other destination airports and it's a lot more expensive.

So it would be 7 days essentially. I would like a couple of days in Venice, a day in Trieste and the rest in Slovenia. Obviously final day would also be Venice. Is this enough? For a similar cost I could add 3 days on (flights would be same times) but that obviously makes the holiday overall more expensive and ds1 may not agree to it. Should I reconsider or does current plan seem ok?

Frankly, no. We did this same route last year. We had been to Venice 4 or 5 times before, so didn't have long there, but still took 2 weeks altogether.
You probably want minimum 4 nights in Venice, for a first visit.
Trieste needs at least 2, preferably 3, nights.
For Slovenia, minimum 2 nights in Ljubljana and 3 at Lake Bled. Plus any other places you want to see.
Don't rush! It's no fun if you're constantly moving on to the next place.... take time to sit in cafes and potter around back streets. At Bled, enjoy cycling, walking, swimming and boating.
It's a holiday.... relax!
Do make use of the railway connections between the various places - they're excellent.

Trieste is lovely, to be fair. Although now Italian, it used to be Hapsburg Empire, so it looks like Vienna..... on sea! Quieter and cheaper than Venice, but still worth visiting.

I agree - it’s a lovely place. Just a lot of bouncing around for a week. I did a similar trip - started in Ljubljana and lake bled, few days in trieste for a conference for my husband and then ended in Zagreb. Had maybe 10 days for it but we didn’t have kids yet.

"I'm not sure I buy into this notion that a full country must be visited in one visit, particularly when it's not hugely onerous to travel to."

The op is the one who named specific cities for Italy and then just said "Slovenia" rather than Ljubljana or Lake Bled. People are responding to the op's proposition.

Are you planning to hire a car and drive or use public transport? I was assuming the latter which means timetables are a limiting factor, as is allowing time to get to stations ahead of the departure and getting tickets etc. Plus longer journeys to make other stops. If you're driving yourself obviously you'll have more flexibility.

If you had a full day by Lake Bled you could do the castle, a lap of the lake and walk up to the viewing point, maybe a gondola to the island.

It is a very beautiful place.

But the OP asks if she has enough time.

Enough time for what?

To have a nice holiday that's a couple of days in a city and the rest of the week in a nearby lakeside area. Yes, of course.

Enough time to think she has seen everything there is to see and do in both Venice and Slovenia so she won't feel the need to go again, absolutely not.

To have a nice holiday that's a couple of days in a city and the rest of the week in a nearby lakeside area. Yes, of course.

Yes, this is my aim. I just hate arriving at places late in the evening as it seems like such a waste but that is what Ryanair has decreed.

We'll be hiring a car so can be pretty flexible with timings once we leave Venice. Does anyone have experience of driving over there? I've driven on the continent but not Italy, which having lived there for a couple of years does terrify me, but that was in the south so hoping the north may be a bit calmer!

@pinotnoir One year we flew to Verona, picked up a car and drove up and had a week in the Italian alps, then drove back to Verona before training to Venice to get the ferry to Croatia. Roads were large and easy to navigate, much less hectic than driving in the south. But we did nearly miss our train because traffic on the motorway on the Saturday morning was horrendous, we were queuing for an hour more than we needed to, so just be careful with journey planning.

I’d do Slovenia in a week or Italy in a week. What about flying in and out of Verona and getting the train to Venice and Padua? The station is handy for No1 Vaporetto route into Venice via the Grand Canal. I’d save Slovenia for a separate holiday.

@5foot5 Predjama genuinely astonished me.

I will never hire a car in Italy again, they are crazy drivers (who also drink and drive).

We were lucky enough to be staying in accommodation near Predjama and our hosts showed us a walking route so we could get there on foot. It really stands out in my memory as an unusual place.

I live in Trieste and it has a great airport- train or bus takes +/- 30 minutes into the centre. Ryanair does Stansted-Trieste twice a week IIRC, so you could use the city as your first and last day.

We have a lot of niche museums if you have special interest in 1st/2nd WW trenches or underground shelters (also the Risiera, but maybe not for young teens), maritime history, literature etc but you need to do your research. Otherwise you can just walk around the city soaking up the atmosphere and visit the Miramare castle. The beautiful grounds are free but the castle is a bit underwhelming. Travelling by car you’d be better off parking in one of the and going on foot as the city streets are narrow and the drivers are crazy!

For a week I’d say do 2 out of 3. Trieste would be a good flying mini break (lots of Irish visitors do that, again with Ryanair).

*one of the multi storey car parks

just searched Monday to Monday 20-27/7 on Ryanair. £248 per person…gulp.

I'm planning a similar trip next year but want to transfer by train where possible. I have no desire to drive in Italy!

Two days is plenty to get a good look around Venice if you just want to stay in the central parts and not visit the outlying islands. Then one day each in Trieste and Ljubiana. They are very small cities. With travelling in between that still gives you time for at least a day trip to Lake Bled. There are other parts of Slovenia that are very scenic too.

Obviously it depends what sort of things you like to do. For example I like walking around new places, not spending hours in every single museum there is.

I wouldn't bother trying to get to the coast in Slovenia on a short trip.

A couple of days in Venice is plenty. You don't have to be doing mad dashes to see everything in the city and surrounding area. You can just chill and enjoy the atmosphere. It will cost an absolute fortune to be there much longer.

As for Slovenia, it depends what you like to do on holiday!