maltasr

My son and I are talking about making a trip to our homeland which would be the area now known as Slovenia. In checking schedules, it looks like the Star Alliance may be the best and quickest way to get there. Looks like SFO-FRA or MUC and then on to Ljubljana on the Slovenian national airline known as Adria. Can any of our seasoned travelers offer advice on this routing and on the service, reliability, safety of flights on this carrier which apparently didn't exist until recently? Are there better connections/carriers to this city? Could I use my Star Alliance (United) miles on Adria Airlines? Any recommendations on Ljubljana hotels? I doubt we'll find any Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton Hotels there. Thank you and a Merry Christmas.

Miles Hunter

Depends on when you are traveling. For Star Alliance I would go with Swiss SFO-ZRH and then on. Longish wait in Zürich but probably the most comfortable way to go and less subject to chaos in winter.

maltasr

Sorry, should have specified a time frame in original post. Would probably be Spring or Autumn. And we're not limited to Star Alliance. Most of my miles presently are with AA, but I don't see any service on BA between LHR and Ljubljana and I don't see any other One World partner carrier that would get us there.

MichielR

Your only full OW itinerary is through Helsinki and then AY to LJU.

Adria (JP) flies to LJU from LGW but that would give you a LHR to LGW connection.

JP is a nice little airline, member of *A, so *A through ZRH, FRA or MUC is your simplest connection.

manneca

I flew into Dubrovnik and out of Lubljiana last May through FRA. Used Adrina for the Lubljiana flight. It was fine. The miles never posted, though. I asked CO for a mileage credit. The one from Croatia air posted, but not Adrina. I never followed up.

no more lurking

Adria is a fine little airline, being based in the balkans the last 10 years I have flown them many times. The pope even flew them during his visit years ago (there is a sign in the plane he flew). Easiest transit would be via MUC or ZHR. Most of the equipment is either the regional jets or AB 320. From MUC I think they fly mostly the embrars and its a short flight too. No wories with Adria. the Airport in LJB is small and until the recent expansion was my favorite airport. * Allence miles can be used as well.

no more lurking

I stayed at the grand hotel union last september. centraly located, staff was very nice.

jbcarioca

I would, if I wanted OW, take AY. AY is an excellent airline (great flat beds in Business, if that is a factor) and Helsinki is a very easy and congenial transit place.

Another option that often has less layover time is to fly into Trieste (TRS) rather than Ljubljana. It is less than 100km away on excellent highways and usually takes me less than an hour. That said, there's nothing wrong with Adria if you choose it.

For luxury hotels my personal favorite is about 45 minutes outside Ljubjana. http://www.relaischateaux.com/en/sea...aurant/otocec/ It is stupendous with a location on a small island with a great restaurant and delightful staff.

If you want to stay in the city my favorite is Hotel Antiq, very well named and in a superb location also. http://www.antiqhotel.si/

You are from one of my favorite destinations in Europe. Mrs jb and I often go there and have travelled all over the country numerous times. It is a delightful place to be.

manneca

Stayed at the Grand Hotel Toplice at Lake Bled (maybe an hour from Lubljiana). Old hotel. We wandered in during a rain storm. They had no twin rooms, but cut us a deal on two doubles. It's right on the lake. A bit old, but I enjoyed it.

GodOSpoons

Ditto on Adria, though it's a relatively short flight from the German gateways, so it's hard to really be all that miserable. I personally prefer UA New C > LH C > UA Old C > UA E+ > UA E- > LH Y, but book according to preference.

There are two hotels that I can recommend and which you choose depends on your preference. If you want old school charmish and convenience, try the Grand Hotel Union... it's in the old city, right off the pedestrian area. If you want more of a modern European bistro hotel vibe, hit the Austria Trend Hotel Lljubljana (formerly the Domina Grand Media Hotel), which is attached to the city's upscale Casino and a short, inexpensive cab ride away from the old city.

Timothy

Don't forget to buy a bottle of pear brandy... I am staring at my bottle--complete with full pear inside the bottle--right now.

mecabq

I was there in September. I flew Adria in from IST and out to CDG, and can echo the comments here; it's a fine, basic airline for short trips. I really didn't find the experience much different from other European short-haul services, e.g., TK, OS, LO.

Interestingly, I stayed one night each at the hotels mentioned by GodOSpoons, the Grand Hotel Union (Executive) and Austria Trend. I would recommend the former, being in probably the best location in the city.

The Austria Trend closed its casino, apparently shortly before I arrived. I had to learn this from the front desk, because the banners were still posted in the elevators and throughout the hotel. Other than that, the hotel was OK -- the restaurant and bar were attractive. Another hotel that I passed in my wanderings that looked interesting was the Hotel Lev, which does have a small casino in the basement.

hdogan

Hi maltasr,

I fly something like 50 segments a year with Adria, *and* make 2-3 trips to SFO a year, so let me spill a few bits of wisdom


That is correct. Go for either SFO-MUC or SFO-ZRH, and then with Adria. If I were you, I'd avoid FRA like plague.
You can also consider routing to ZAG, it's 100 miles away and sometimes flights are much cheaper. TRS is an option too, but usually more expensive, and they can have some awkward departure/arrival times.


Ljubljana is almost exclusively served by Adria. There are a few other flights; AF to CDG, OK to PRG, TK to IST, and maybe a few more, but vast majority is operated by JP.

Regarding JP, you couldn't be more wrong:
Actually, Adria airways is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2011. It has been a Star Alliance member since 2004, and operates a pretty young fleet of exclusively jet aircraft: CR2, CRJ and 319. Their services, in my experience, are just fantastic: Never had a flight cancelled, never had a bag lost, always reasonably on-time. The staff is always courteous and accommodating, and although they have lowered their soft product a little lately (e.g. you get just a bottle of water and a small pastry in Y on <45 min flights), they still run a great operation!


Absolutely!


You have already been recommended the Union, which definitely has the best possible location. Regarding Union, take note that it's actually two hotels next to each other (Union Business and Union Exclusive, IIRC). The Exclusive should be a better one, so take care when booking.

Mind you, Ljubljana (as well as Slovenia in general) is a small, quaint city, and a day or two will be enough to see all of it. There's a bunch of other beautiful places in Slovenia too, and I'd definitely recommend taking a trip to the Bled lake (with a visit to the castle built on a cliff overlooking the lake) and Postojna caves and Predjama castle there (built partly in the cave system).

If you'll be staying in the region a while, you should consider visiting some nice sites in Croatia too (heh, I have to be at least a bit patriotic ). Most of it is a few hours' drive from Ljubljana.

GodOSpoons

Amusing about the casino... the web site is still up, but hasn't been updated since March, and the Hotel site still refers to it. Best yet, they market themselves as certified "Very Clean." That's awesome.

And ditto on the Grand Hotel Union two hotels thing... the executive side is far nicer. My only hesitation on the hotel is that it seemed a bit worn when I stayed there, but it was five years ago and they may have cleaned it up in that period.

Timothy

I loved the city... sadly only had a few days there, but I look forward to coming back some day.

ramolnar

I stayed in the Grand Hotel Business in July, for a conference. The Business side underwent renovation this year, so it's much closer to the Executive side in quality. They both use the same breakfast room, so you can get the very full options with either. I wouldn't hesitate to take the Business side if there was a substantial price difference.

Another hotel option is the Best Western Slon. It's also got a good location, and the people who stayed there had nice things to say.

hdogan

Cakes at the ice cream shop on the ground floor are absolutely fabulous!