Nova Gorica is located approximately halfway between Ljubljana and Venice and forms a cross-border twin city with Gorizia, Italy. The two cities are connected by a cross-border bus and bikeshare program, and their centers are 30–45 minutes apart on foot. There are multiple events occurring in Nova Gorica during the same time as SinFonIJA, so it may be more difficult than usual to find accommodations. We are working to arrange crash space with locals. If you are interested in this option, please let the organizers know ASAP.
1) Trieste: The most convenient and closest airport for reaching Nova Gorica. This airport, located in Ronchi dei Legionari midway between Gorizia and Trieste, is connected by the G01 bus to the Gorizia train station (40 minutes, 3,80 EUR). Tickets can be purchased from a ticket machine by the bus stop at the airport. Here is a trip planner, you can look at times from AEROPORTO Trieste Airport to Gorizia Centro Intermodale Passageri. We will post the winter 2024 timetable when it becomes available. For getting from the Gorizia train station to Nova Gorica, see below.
2) Venice Marco Polo: Shuttle buses run every 10–30 minutes from the airport to Venice Mestre train station (17 minutes, 10 EUR). Tickets can be purchased following the instructions on the shuttle bus website. A direct train from Venice Mestre to Gorizia (2 hours, 16,45 EUR) runs every two hours, check the Trenitalia website for schedules. An airport transfer from GoOpti is a more convenient option, but should be booked well in advance. For getting from the Gorizia train station to Nova Gorica, see below.
3) Treviso: Shuttle buses run every half hour from the airport to the Treviso train station, from which a direct train runs every two hours to Gorizia. The trip on the shuttle bus and train can be purchased as a single ticket from Treviso Aeroporto on the Trenitalia website (2 hours, 19,55 EUR). An airport transfer from GoOpti is a more convenient option, but should be booked well in advance. For getting from the Gorizia train station to Nova Gorica, see below.
4) Ljubljana Jože Pučnik: Buses run every hour from the airport to the Ljubljana bus station (30 minutes), see the airport website for timetables. From there, buses run throughout the day to the Nova Gorica bus station, in the center of Nova Gorica (1,5–2,5 hours, 8,50–10,50 EUR). You can see timetables here. An airport transfer from GoOpti is a more convenient option, but should be booked well in advance.
For connections from Italy, search Trenitalia with Gorizia Centrale as your destination. For connections from Slovenia, search Slovenian Railways with Nova Gorica as your destination. The two cities have their own train stations, which are not connected by passenger trains. For international connections, see the Austrian Railways website. It is often easiest to find international connections with Udine as the destination; from there, it is a 20-minute train ride to Gorizia. For getting from the Gorizia train station to Nova Gorica, see below.
The Ljubljana bus station website includes timetables for international connections to Ljubljana. You may need to search for trips in two legs: first to Ljubljana, then from Ljubljana to Nova Gorica separately.
Nova Gorica and Gorizia can be reached by highway either from Slovenia (e.g. Ljubljana) or Italy (e.g. Venice, Udine). To drive on Slovenian highways, you need to have an e-vinjeta (virtual highway sticker), which can be purchased here. A 1-week sticker costs 16 EUR. In Italy, highway tolls are collected at toll stations; if you arrive from Italy and drive into Nova Gorica from Gorizia, you will not enter the Slovenian highway network and will thus not need a Slovenian highway sticker.
Nova Gorica: Buses within Nova Gorica are infrequent but free. Their schedules are not in Google Maps (although the locations of the stops are) and can be found on this website in Slovenian. A bus map can be found on this older version of the website. If you need a specific connection, it is probably easiest to just ask the organizers to help you plan.
Gorizia: Buses on the Italian side are in Google Maps and the trip planner here. Tickets cost 1,30 EUR and can be purchased from most newspaper shops; they must be validated on board.
International line: An international bus runs about once an hour from the Gorizia train station to the center of Nova Gorica. The route and timetables are available here. Tickets cost 1,30 EUR and can be purchased upon entering the bus.
Nova Gorica has a bikeshare program, which can be accessed on the Nextbike app. A map of bike docks can be found at the bottom of this site. There are also a couple of docks on the Italian side, by the main square in Gorizia (Piazza della Vittoria) and the train station. Bikes can also be rented for 5 EUR per day from the Nova Gorica tourism office (Trg Edvarda Kardelja 1, across the street from the main square of Nova Gorica).
The Gorizia train station is about a half-hour walk from the center of Gorizia and 45 minutes to an hour from the center of Nova Gorica. The walk is quite pleasant.
Many of the hotels in Nova Gorica are already unavailable for at least part of the time of the conference due to other events in the city. Booking.com has listings for hotels and apartments in Gorizia. There may be accommodations available outside of Gorizia and Nova Gorica proper, but these will be impractical unless you have a car. We are working to arrange crash space with locals and other alternative options. If you are interested, please let the organizers know ASAP.