11 Day Croatia/Slovenia Itinerary

Though I cannot answer your two specific questions, I have been to Plitvice, Ljubljana and Lake Bled. I would recommend a night (or two) in Lake Bled. It's stunning in the mountains.

Whatever you do, it is an excellent choice to go to Croatia and Slovenia.

I spent about 3 weeks doing the same areas plus a few more a year and a half ago. Your trip looks good. Definitely go Mostar and Kotor. Interesting drives through recent battlefields and quite scenic (If you had more time add Sareavjo). If you can go past Lake Bled 20 minutes and drive up the road in Mount Trigliv Park. The top is breathtaking, similiar to the Dolomites. Ljubljana is a wonderful city. In all of Sovenia the people are incredibly nice too.

Yes, this is quite rushed. But if that's your travel style, go for it.

I would suggest though leaving for Plitvice a day early from Split and spend a night in Plitvice. Try to get there by late afternoon the first day you can see part of the park that day and part the next morning. The way you have it planned, you'll arrive in Plitvice at the worst possible time, when the trails are mobbed with tour groups. If you stay at one of the overpriced-but-convenient hotels in the park itself, you get to enter the park the second day for no extra fee, if you have the hotel stamp your ticket from the first day. Staying at a park hotel is just easier - you can leave your car in the hotel lot and walk right into the park. I'd get in by 7am the morning you would be there (with my itinerary) and spend a few hours exploring before it gets crowded. (It may be too late for June 2023 to book a park hotel now, though.)

Plus otherwise, that 6/14 day in Split is kind of dead. Split is OK, but once you've explored Diocletian's Palace (which is mostly open with restaurants, shops, and sobe (apartments/B&Bs) occupying the remains), there isn't really a whole lot more to see in my opinion.

I love, love, LOVE Slovenia...but you might save it for another trip where you can do it more justice and focus this trip on Croatia + Mostar + Kotor. Then you won't be so rushed and you could add a few nights on an island (I would recommend Vis).

Was just at Plitvice. And it is not even the season yet. The difference between getting in the park early (opens at 0700) and later is huge. HUGE! I cannot stress that enough. The boardwalks are narrow. Not only is the scenery better observed before the crowds, the entire experience is SO MUCH BETTER. Again, I cannot stress this enough.
Even arriving early you will have to walk back, against the traffic, and it is a pain. Like I said, this is in the shoulder season too.
People will have dogs and children and strollers on these boardwalks. Not all boardwalks have handrails. There are a lot of steps. It is even a long way from the parking lot to the entrances. Oh yeah, the parking problem. Another reason for early.
I cannot imagine the regular season and not arriving early.
We stayed at House Ana. It is on a side road south of the park. 3km to entrance 2. The road is lined with nice guesthouse. It was more or less empty at end of April. Our host says that during the season all is full and you cannot get lodging for 20k around. And, even with this scarcity of people at the moment, the boardwalks were still crowded later in the day.

Otherwise your trip is too rushed anyway.

I have to agree with Andrew. Head to Plitvice the afternoon before you plan to enter the park - and then do so early. When I went, Plitvice was NOT crowded and the boardwalks were tricky - I thought at the time how bad it would be if I had been there as treemoss describes. And while I agree staying in park is probably better, it is completely doable to stay just outside the park if budget is a problem since you have a car..

I suggest dropping either Mostar and Kotor or Slovenia and substitute an island stay. All are worthy destinations but getting to an island will not be as simple as getting to the others on a futures trip. Kotor and/or Mostar fit easily with other locations. And you could spend an entire 2 weeks in Slovenia. But getting to Croatian islands requires you to return to Croatia (which you might do also).

Car: don’t pick it up till you are ready to leave Dubrovnik. If you drop Kotor and Mostar, you could even ferry to Split and not need it till you head toward Plitvice (save some money).

Just thoughts.

banksy7 if you do drive to Slovenia with a Croatian rental car, remember that you need to buy a Slovenian vignette driving pass. You need it to drive on the Slovenian highways or risk a stop fine to be caught without one.. (In Croatia, they use tolls instead.) You can buy them online now I guess:

https://evinjeta.dars.si/en

I’ll say it - this is too much. Do Slovenia another time.

I agree with Andrew and TexasTravelMom about spending a night in Plitvice. Arrive in the late afternoon to visit, for example, the Upper Lakes. Then enter the park early the next morning to see the Lower Lakes, or vice versa. You don't have to stay at a park hotel. We stayed at the Plitvice Miric Inn just outside the park. It is lovely, and the breakfast buffet is one of the best I've ever had. If you stay outside of the park, you will have to pay for the second day at Plitvice, but I think it's worth it.

If you do stay overnight at Plitvice, you will have to drop something else unless you leave for Plitvice on June 15 as planned. If you keep your itinerary as is, June 15 is a very long day and you will be at Plitvice during the busiest time of the day.

If you want to visit an island for a day on June 13, I think Hvar makes the most sense because it's a 2-hour ferry ride from Split.

When we visited Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro, we had 13 nights (you only have 11) but we didn't visit Mostar, which I am sure is very interesting and worthwhile.

One solution, if you can get hotel reservations at Plitvice for June 14, is to depart Split on June 14 for Plitvice. If not, see if you can get hotel reservations at Plitvice the night of June 15, and then perhaps drop Ljubljana from this itinerary. Otherwise, I think it's too much driving around.

FWIW, we loved Split. It's a beautiful city with an awesome location on the Adriatic. We hired Maja Benzon, recommended by Rick, for a 2-hour guided tour of Diocletian's Palace. We found the Ethnographic Museum very interesting, and we liked having cocktails on the Riva. We also visited Trogir for 3/4 of a day.

And we liked Zagreb, too. It's very different architecturally and has a different ambiance from Dubrovnik and Split. So you get a nice variety.

We also visited Bay of Kotor as a daytrip from Dubrovnik. While in Dubrovnik, be sure to visit War Photo Limited and have drinks or dinner at the top of Mt. Srd for some awesome views.

Thank you all for the replies! It has been very helpful. Unfortunately, the Ljubljana and Zagreb stays have already been booked with nonrefundable deposits so those are locked in. I am now thinking of this possible alteration:

6/8: Dubrovnik -> Arrive 8am. Explore city and relax.
6/9: Dubrovnik -> Beach early, explore city in afternoon.
6/10: Dubrovnik -> Day trip to either Kotor or Mostar or neither and relax for another day.
6/11: Hvar -> Ferry from Dubrovnik.
6/12: Hvar ->
6/13: Split -> Explore the city
6/14: Split -> Beach, Marjan Hill?
6/15: Plitvice Lakes -> Early AM leave for Plitvice. 4-5 hours in the park. Sleep in Ljubljana
6/16: Ljubljana -> Explore city
6/17: Ljubljana -> Lake Bled area day trip.
6/18: Zagreb
6/19: Fly home 9AM

I like the idea of staying overnight near Plitvice but I am struggling with what would need to be sacrificed. Currently, I am thinking that maybe we get on the road out of Split around 5AM to get to Plitvice around 730-8AM. I have Kotor or Mostar listed as a daytrip on 6/10 but either could be scrapped if it would cause too much stress. I currently have Hvar listed but that could potentially be substituted for another Island (Vis, Korcula). Hvar seems to be logistically the easiest to get to between Dubrovnik and Split and the nightlife aspect is appealing to us.

Rental car would be rented on 6/10 for the day and then 6/14 onwards (I would pick up a sticker for the Slovenia portion).

I think this still may be a bit rushed (especially the Plitvice/Ljubljana/Zagreb portion) but unfortunately I did not think that through when I made the reservations.

Thanks again,
Chris

I'll add to the chorus: You really, really need to change your approach to Plitvice. It's not really worth going there the way you plan to go about it. You need to forget the beach, etc., in Split on June 14 and head for Plitvice early enough to see part of the park that day.

I was lucky enough to see Plitvice twice before Croatia was discovered (in fact, back when it was just part of Yugoslavia). Then I returned in 2015 on a day trip from Zagreb and was horrified. Don't repeat my mistake. It's a beautiful place. If you can manage 2 or 3 hours late on June 14 and 2 or 3 hours early on June 15, you'll have a great experience.

I agree with acraven about June 14. You sacrifice the afternoon and drive on to Plitvice. That’s a no-brainer. You could also drive in the morning and have time in the afternoon, as several have suggested. I personally have only done a long day in the park, but it will take you at least 4-5 hrs there.

I’m in agreement with the others around Plitvice. If you sacrifice a late afternoon/evening in Split, I feel like you make both those days way more enjoyable. You’ll likely be getting an early ferry from Hvar, so you are looking at a full day, night and half-day in Split. That’s good coverage in my eyes. Folks seem to enjoy Split, but it still doesn’t rate much higher than a couple nights max from most opinions I’ve read on this forum. Doing Plitvice on an early AM drive and then driving onward to Ljubljana sound reasonable on paper, but I just see you being wiped out. How enjoyable of a hike at Plitvice and then evening in Ljubljana are you going to have? It is a long day driving that has the potential to negatively impact your last few days altogether. Not to mention, leaving that early kind of kills your night in Split too. Idk, the overnight in Plitvice seems to unlock a lot here.

Otherwise, I think you’ve improved the itinerary a lot, just by granting yourself some space and options. Those Mostar or Kotor day trips are long ones, and I think you’re wise to view them as options rather than commitments. Dubrovnik is the opener in a pretty whirlwind trip, be careful doing too much too soon.