Published on Jul, 2024
We used Istranka Tours for back to back shore excursions from Trieste then Koper and couldn’t have been happier. From moment one with the chat feature on their website, it was so easy to plan private tours to our specifications. They were warm and incredibly responsive, even on a weekend with a seven hour time difference.
Our private tours were actually cheaper for the four of us to take than the cruise line bus tour and we were able to add in almost double the stops. Our tour guide, Tjasa, (who we were lucky to have both days) was very conscientious about getting us back to the ship on time and even with some crazy beach traffic we were in no danger of missing tall aboard. When we arrived in Trieste port, she was waiting for us right outside of the dock. (Don’t look for the yellow umbrella, that’s only in Koper).
Tjasa was awesome. Trieste to Lake Bled is a two hour drive without traffic and it was clear that she knew the roads and traffic well. While my teens napped comfortably in the back, she kept my husband and I engaged with information and stories about everything we passed and about life with family and fiends living on the two sides of the Italian and Slovenian border, both back when the border was tight when it was Yugoslavia and again when it closed abruptly for COVID.
When we got to Bled, we had requested a plenta boat ride and it was all set for us when we got there. Tjasa didn’t accompany us to Bled Island (mostly because of parking), but dropped us off at the lake, stopped to point out the important sights and somehow predicted exactly how long it would take us to ride over, see the sights, and be back.
She was extremely flexible with our requests. The plan was for us to spend the second half of our excursion in Ljubljana, but when the family caught sight of castle bled up on the far cliffside, we requested to go there instead. Tjasa quickly pivoted, brought us there instead, walking us through the estate and giving us a very knowledgeable tour of the castle. Without her, I don’t think we would have stopped at the Print Works and that was my daughters favorite part of the trip.
Then, since we no longer had time to stop in Ljubljana, Tjasa gave us a driving tour through the capital on the way back, getting back with enough time that she offered to drop us in Trieste before we had to back on board,
Overall, I highly recommend Istranka tours and Tjasa. They were efficient, friendly, accommodating, kind, and knowledgeable. We had a wonderful day (and the next was even better).
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