We needed transportation from Lesce-Bled, Slovenia to Klagenfurt, Austria which is about 60 km away. The reason we were going to Klagenfurt was to catch a flight from Klagenfurt to Frankfurt, Germany. We searched thoroughly and the best option we found was a train from Lesce-Bled to Villach Austria, and then a connecting train from Villach to Klagenfurt. The train tickets were 16.8 Euros/person. That seemed like an awful lot of money for such a short trip, but we didn’t have a better option!
The tickets were “open tickets” so we could take any of the trains heading to Klagenfurt that day and the seats were unreserved.
First we had to get from the town of Bled to Lesce-Bled Train Station, which is a few kilometers away. We took the bus at 15:20 from Bled’s main bus station (which runs very frequently, check with the tourist office for the latest schedule) for 1.3 Euros/person and the ride was 5 – 10 minutes.
Our train was late and had not arrived at Lesce-Bled by the scheduled departure time. We panicked and hopped on the next rain that came along, but it was going in the wrong direction! Usually a train stops for at least a minute or two, but this one didn’t. As soon as we got on, it took off and a few moments later we realized that we were on the wrong train! Fortunately, the train attendant was kind and did not charge us for the free ride. Instead, he instructed us to get off at the next station and look for our train number, which would be the next train heading to Villach, an hour later, since we had just missed our train!
Soon enough we were on our way, going the correct direction towards Villach, our connecting station to Klagenfurt. Then, unexpectedly, the train attendant came to our car and informed us that there was a wreck on the track ahead and we had to get off at the next station and would continue by bus. Sure, enough, the train stopped and off we went, with the attendant leading us to the bus, which took us to the Villach Train Station. We lost about 30-40 minutes because of this and figured we also missed our connecting train to Klagenfurt. However there are frequent trains to Klagenfurt from Villach all throughout the day, as that train continues on to Wien. Even though we had these delays, we were impressed with the service. In India, we would have just sat in the train for hours until the wreck was cleared and if we were lucky, the train operators might have mentioned that there was a problem!
When we arrived in Villach our connecting train was also late, so we were able to catch that train and arrived in Klagenfurt around 20:00, which was about 2.5 hours later than our original scheduled arrival time! The ride from Villach to Klagenfurt is very beautiful and in some ways similar to Bled. We followed a emerald blue river for a good part of the journey with a scenic backdrop of wooded hills.
Once in Klagenfurt, we took the city bus 40, to our accommodation, Gasthof Schlosswirt, which was located very near the Klagenfurt Airport.
If you need a room in Klagenfurt for the night, we highly recommend Hotel and Restaurant GASTHOF SCHLOSSWIRT! Their service was excellent and they were very kind. We arrived late and hungry and even though the restaurant was already closed they made us a meal :). They also upgraded our room at no extra charge! The cost of room also includes breakfast, but that is their one weak spot. Very plain, with bread and some cold cuts, that’s it! But from here, you can either walk about 1.5 km to the airport or take the bus which has a stop right next to the accommodation. Tickets for the bus are 1.8 Euros/person and it takes you right to the airport.
Why Klagenfurt, Austria? Well, cheapo airline, Ryanair flies out of there to Frankfurt at bargain prices. However, what we didn’t know is that Frankfurt has two international airports! Frankfurt Main (FRA) and Frankfurt Hahn (HHN) and our flight with Ryanair was to HHN, and where is HHN? Well, it sure isn’t in Frankfurt! It’s at least 100 km from Frankfurt! So, while we may have saved on our flight, we would have to pay for a bus ride from HHN to FRA!