From Zagreb to Ljubljana

The highway from Zagreb to Ljubljana

Originally, the plan was to take a bus from Zagreb to Trieste, and from Trieste take a train to Venice. But, considering the shorter travel time from Ljubljana to Venice, which will only take about 3 hours, we opted for a one night stay in Ljubljana. This would also mean that we got a chance to see a bit of Slovenia.  

The drive through rolling hills and beautiful countryside from Zagreb to Ljubljana took about 2 hours. We crossed the boarder without much problem and as usual, our kind and accommodating driver suggested a detour to Otočec, a place located half way between Ljubljana and Zagreb. The nearest town is Novo Meste but we didn't make a stop there. 

Otočec is famous for its romantic thirteen century castle on a small island in the middle of the Krka River. The area is very serene and calm. It was a great pleasure walking around and the view of the castle from the bridge was pretty amazing. Around the area, there are several hotels; the five star Grad Otočec Hotel, guest houses, tourist farms and car camp. Hence, Otočec is never short of places to stay nor activities to do.


This little place gives us the first impression on what to expect in Slovenia. It is indeed a beautiful country needless to say. I've read about Lake Bled but unfortunately, we don't have the time to go. We walked around the area for a short while but what a shame, we had to leave as we wanted to arrive in Ljubljana as soon as possible. It was a haste, trying to do everything in a day but I don't want to miss Ljubljana either. 

I called everybody to get on the bus and requested Mirano to proceed to Ljubljana. Everytime when I look at the pictures of Otočec again and again, I felt so thankful to Mirano for taking us there. Here are some of the stunning pictures of Otočec.