Celje lies roughly in the centre of Slovenia, just off the A1 motorway roughly halfway between the capital Ljubljana and the second city Maribor.
From Ljubljana the journey by train takes around one hour and twenty five minutes when using a direct train; changing at Zidani Most is not advised. It's better to take the direct service if possible.
From Maribor the train journey takes between an hour and an hour and fifteen minutes depending on how many stops are made. Some services on this route stop at Lasko and Sentjur.
The train journeys to Celje from both of these cities is pretty exciting with some wonderful scenery including the rolling hills around Slovenska Bistrica south of Maribor and the dramatic crags and riverside views between the capital and Celje.
By bus the journeys from both cities to Celje takes around an hour and twenty to an hour and forty minutes depending on the number of stops. I especially like the bus ride from Ljubljana to Celje because you spend a stretch just before Celje with hop farms on either side of the road!
No matter which direction I travel in I always find that the travel scenery is as important an aspect to my trip as reaching Celje is.