Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

SLOVENIA 443

hotels have at least one room
equipped for wheel chair users,
however, this is less common
in the lower-category hotels.

ARRIVING BY AIR

The easiest way to reach
Slovenia is to fly. The Slovene
national airline, Adria Airways,
has direct scheduled flights
from London’s Gatwick
Airport to the Ljubljana Air port
at Brnik, situated 26 km
(16 miles) north of the capi tal.
In addition, budget airline
easyJet flies several times a
week from London’s Stansted
airport to Ljubljana. There
are no direct flights from the
US and Canada to Slovenia,
but there are several one-stop
options involving a change of
flight in Amsterdam, Frankfurt
or London. A regular bus
ser vice runs daily from the
Brnik airport to Ljubljana
bus station until around
8pm. A privately operated
minibus shuttle ser vice is
also available, which runs
till slightly later.

RAIL TRAVEL

The Slovene railways run a
smooth service. Ljubljana
stands at the centre of the

rail network, offering fast and punctual services to destinations such as Maribor, Postojna, Koper, Ptuj and Bled. Mountainous areas such as the Triglav National Park (see pp436–9) and the Soča valley (see p431) are not served by train; however, they are well connected by bus. Within Slovenia, trains fall into three categories. The InterCity Slovenia (ICS) trains currently serve the Ljubljana– Maribor route. InterCity (IC) trains offer a relatively speedy connection between major towns, while P (potniški), or “passenger” trains, are the slowest, stopping at every station en route. Some of the older potniški trains have hard seats and no air condi- tioning; however, standards of comfort on all other trains are very good. Ljubljana is a good starting point for onward travel to Central Europe, with daily trains from the Ljubljana Train Station to Vienna, Budapest, Zagreb and Belgrade.

TRAVELLING BY BUS

The Ljubljana Bus Station serves most destinations in Slovenia. Major towns and

cities have frequent departures, although smaller destinations may only have one or two buses a day. Time table infor- mation regard ing bus services is available on the bus station’s website. Buses are comfortable and ticket prices reasonable. International services also run daily to Belgrade and Sarajevo.

TRAVELLING BY CAR

Slovenia’s well-surfaced roads are uncrowded and well signposted. In order to drive here each vehicle must display a windscreen sticker or vinjeta (vignette), which can be bought from petrol stations and newspaper kiosks. A six-month vignette for a car costs €35. Ljubljana’s central location means that a drive from here to anywhere else in the country can be completed in two hours or less. Two-lane highways run southwest from Ljubljana to the Adriatic coast, and east to Maribor. Note that mountain roads, especially the Predel pass and the Vršič pass in the Triglav National Park, may be closed in winter due to harsh weather conditions.

Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

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