UK to slovenia/Croatia

[orpine]

I was interested in an October trip to Slovenia/Croatia.

Any suggestions for how to get there quickly and cheaply, ideally with a sleeper?
There seem to be lots of routes. The primary one that keeps coming back on Loco2 is via Zurich, where there's then a direct sleeper that passes through both countries (and on to Serbia). Cost is about £150 each way total... The sleeper portion is only £30! So really - how do I get to Zurich cheaply?

Seat 61 says to go via Munich but that sleeper arrives at 5 or 7am (depending on which country we end up in first) - and I'm struggling to find it online...

Train to Venice and then ferry across is mostly out as they (ferries) don't seem to like running that late in the year.

Suggestions? Thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[burns20]

Hi Orpine,

London to Ljubljana or Zagreb can be done as possible at the prices shown below:

EST9014 London St Pancras 0917 £41.00
Paris Gare du Nord 1247

TGV9215 Paris Gare de Lyon 1423 £22.00
Zurich HB 1835

EN465/15 Zurich HB 2040 £27.59 to £55.89
Ljubljana 0812
Zagreb 1045

------------------------------------------------------------------------

EST9126 London St Pancras 1058 £41.74
Brussels Midi 1405

ICE17 Brussels Midi 1425
Frankfurt Hbf 1727

ICE725 Frankfurt Hbf 1754
Munich Hbf 2107

EN499 Munich Hbf 2336 £34.33
Ljubljana 0559
Zagreb 0837

Please email us at:

enquiries@railadventurestravel.org.uk

...for more information and assistance in booking your journey.

 

[philjo]

I went to Slovenia by train last year but stayed 4 days in Switzerland on the way out.
It was cheaper to book eurostar separately and TGV paris to Basel via SNCF - the train goes to Zurich so the same train as you need for Zurich.

I was only going as far a Jessenice so used the daytime trains - Railjet from Zurich (booked in euros using Austrian railways website is cheaper than using the swiss site in swiss francs) and stopped in innsbruch overnight (Ibis hotel lift goes into the station concourse).

coming back I stopped 2 nights in Salzburg then used as DB london Special for Salzburg via Munich & Brussels to St Pancras for 119 Euros 1st class.

 

[30907]

Check seat61 for advice as usual.

IIRC you can book the München-Zagreb sleeper online at www.Bahn.com. sorry, false memory, you can't .

From the UK you'd split en route somewhere in Germany. However, Philjo's option of daytime trains gives you some spectacular Alpine scenery as far as Slovenia.

You could consider doing Köln-München overnight, though it's a short night. Or you could use the Köln-Wien sleeper and then go via the Semmering route - however reports say that the second class sleepers are rather cramped.

 

[DEE-DE]

Munich/Zuerich-Zagreb is a global fare only on the Sleeper when travelling from/to Germany/Switzerland, so I don't think you can book it online. The exact fares for this are in DB's Sleeper train conditions of carriage (might be German only, but I can translate, am on mobile though). One issue with the Sleeper there is that you get a rather short night particularly when only going to Slovenia.

I did Germany to Zagreb on the EC through coach from Frankfurt a few years back and can confirm the Alps were really quite scenic. I really liked the Slovenian countryside.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Sparnight fare is 39 euros to Croatia or 29 to Slovenia. Add: Couchettes 6 places 13,00
Couchette 4 places 20,00
WL T3 22,00
WL Double 33,00
WL Single 77,00

You can find all fares from page 52 here: http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/agb/cnl/mdb_192599_2015-02-18-bb_nz_2015.pdf

 

[orpine]

Thanks for the replies, some interesting information.

Does anyone know if, assuming I get a sleeper ticket on the zurich to zagreb, it's a non-flexible, couchette (for just £29.50!), can I get off at the earlier Ljubljana or Jessenice stations (the tickets to them are the same price) if my plans change? Or are they as ... difficult out there was National Rail is with Advances?
Same for the return - if I buy from zagreb but get on at Ljubljana for instance...
Anyone know? Thanks.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Thanks for the replies, some interesting information.

Does anyone know if, assuming I get a sleeper ticket on the zurich to zagreb, it's a non-flexible, couchette (for just £29.50!), can I get off at the earlier Ljubljana or Jessenice stations (the tickets to them are the same price) if my plans change? Or are they as ... difficult out there was National Rail is with Advances?
Same for the return - if I buy from zagreb but get on at Ljubljana for instance...
Anyone know? Thanks.

I am 99.9% certain nobody is going to stop you alighting earlier than you ticket states, so you could jump ship at Jesenice or Bled or Kranj or Ljub.

There is even a good chance they would let you continue with the same ticket, unless it is specifically ruled out. (only not, of course, as a couchette).
The grippers tend to be much more flexible in such areas IMX.

Coming back, I think the same would hold too - only issue might be if, on leaving Zagreb, the gripper/couchette attendant or whatever noticed you had not turned up, he might offer your bunk to someone else, esp if the train is well loaded.

you could enquire - see
http://www.slo-zeleznice.si/en/passengers/contact

HR railways also has a site, and a contact address.

If in Slovenia, you might want to do the Pragersko - Hodos line (at least some of the way) - it is being electrified now, but one or two passenger trains, including the one train a day to Budapest, still have GM diesels. Quite a thrash, eg up the banks between Ormoz and Ljutomer, and north of Murska Sobota for the middle 15 - 20 km. I don't know if Slovenia uses these diesels on any other passenger turns.

It's a bit out on a limb (unless you go to Hungary) - or you can get a few trains into Croatia (Cakovec) from Ormoz if you don't want to go back to Zidani Most (for Zagreb). The Sava Valley route (Ljubljana - Zidani Most and beyond) is also quite spectacular around places like Trvbolje and Zargorje.

EDIT: Ah, I see you are planning for October. not a problem, I should think, unless you are heading back during the Oktoberfest. That might attract a decent crowd travelling to Munich overnight.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I see the Trieste-Ljubljana route is still closed for reconstruction after the ice storm 18 months ago.
Does anybody know what the reopening prospects are?
I'm hoping to travel that way to Ljubljana next year.

 

[burns20]

For current times between Villa Opicina and Ljubljana please see the link below:

http://m.slo-zeleznice.si/sl/potniki/slovenija/vozni-redi/Vozni-red-po-relacijah-2015