18 days in Croatia - trying to do too much?

You have lots of great destinations on your list, but if you don't cut back, you will not avoid what you say you want to avoid.

Even if you figure out how to string together these locations efficiently, you have 9 destinations and 18 days, which won't feel like you have time to "just relax and enjoy your trip." And that's true even if some of the destinations are daytrips or waystops.

If you fly into Dubrovnik and out of Zagreb, that's a good plan because you can pick up your car on the day you leave Dubrovnik, and drop it in Zagreb, avoiding a fee for picking up in one country and dropping off in another.

Personally, I would skip Istria on this trip, even though it's delightful, because it's not convenient with the rest of the places you are going.

Here's a possible itinerary:

Dubrovnik: 3 nights
Mostar: 2 nights
Trogir: 2 nights
Sibenik: 2 nights
Plitvice: 1 night (and visit the park the next morning before moving on)
Ljubljana: 4 nights (with a day trip to Bled)
Zagreb: 3 nights

This gives you at least 2 nights everywhere except Plitvice, and gives you several longer stays so you can do the relaxing you want to do. I counted 17 nights, but if you have 18 or even 19, you can look at where to add additional days or stops. For instance, consider a stop in Split or a day excursion (or even overnight) to Hvar or Korcula or another island.

Best of luck working out the details. You will love Croatia and Slovenia!

Lane has given you great ideas and a workable itinerary. While I love Istria, I agree it’s an outlier unless you budget 3-4 nights. Other random thoughts: Trogir and Sibenik are not that far apart. You might schedule 3 nights in one or the other, maybe whichever is more convenient for visiting wineries in the area. It is even possible to stop off at Sibenik for the afternoon on the way from Trogir to Plitvice.

If you DO decide to include Istria, definitely consider cutting nights in either Trogir or Sibenik, adding in Lane’s extra night, and steal one from Zagreb for 4 nights.

The potential for lots of walking (maybe not hiking since much of what you have listed are cities, except Plitvice) is everywhere. So if wineries are your next interest, you should identify which of those you want to visit and work your stays around those for the most convenience.

Lane gave you a nice itinerary but I would just tweak it a little. I would stay in Split, not Trogir. Trogir is a very small town and an easy day trip from Split. You can take a bus or ferry, each is about 1 hour.
I would take one night away from Ljubljana. Even with visiting lake Bled, one full day is sufficient.
Add that extra night to one of your 2 night stays to make it a 3 night stay, which is always better and relaxing.

I took a really good tour last September with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) called "Crossroads of the Adriatic." No Sibenik or Trogir, but it included all the other places you want to go, and more, as follows:
Dubrovnik 4 nights (including daytrip to Montenegro)
Sarajevo 3 nights (with a stop en route for a few hours in Mostar)
Agriturismo kind of place in northeast Croatia, 1 night (this was really cool)
Zagreb, 3 nights (including daytrip to some interesting rural places nearby)
Opatija, Croatia 2 nights (with a good hike in Plitvice National Park en route, and an excellent optional daytrip to Istria from Opatija -- no wineries, but beautiful hilltowns and truffle hunting demo)
Ljubljana, 3 nights (including Postojna cave en route, and a daytrip to Lake Bled).

This may give you some ideas about an efficient route. Of course achieving all this in 16 nights is a lot easier with a dedicated tour bus and knowledgeable guides, with all the stops prearranged, than it is on your own.

I agree with Barbara's tweaks! I wouldn't stay in Trogir or Sibenik. Trogir is small, and there aren't many restaurant choices. It's only a 30-minute drive from Split. And Sibenik is one hour from Split. I would take the 4 nights from Trogir and Sibenik, and spend all 4 nights in Split. Split is a very pretty city located right on the water. And unique, too. It was built around Diocletian's Palace. We had a lovely private tour with Maja Benzon, recommended by Rick. We loved just walking around, exploring, and having drinks on the Riva. Many restaurants to choose from. We enjoyed the Ethnographic Museum.

While in Split, we took the ferry to Hvar and spent a day there. We visited Trogir from Split. I personally think this will be a more relaxing trip.

I agree with Barbara about taking a night from Ljubljana. We had 3 nights there with a day trip to Bled. And felt that was sufficient. And perhaps spend 2 nights in Zagreb. So you could take those 2 nights (1 from Ljublana and 1 from Zagreb) and add them to the 2 nights that Lane didn't include (if you have 19 nights in total) to visit Istria. If you don't have 19 nights, then delete Istria.

I think 2 nights for Mostar is good. We didn't visit because we didn't have the time, and we didn't want to see Mostar as a day trip. It's a very long day.

All great suggestions and I'm beginning to see a plan come together!! I always fight the urge to pack so many things into a trip despite saying to myself, "I'm not gonna run myself ragged next time". This helps a lot and I appreciate the comments. I think the idea of staying in Split and day tripping to Sibenik and Trogir makes a lot of sense. The same with trimming the time in Ljbuljana.

While I love the look of the OAT Crossroads of the Adriatic, my wife absolutely hates tour bus rides and rigid schedules. She prefers (since I've been so successful planning every other international adventure - HAHA) that we try to stay on an independent path. I'm certainly willing to use that itinerary as a prospective pattern.

My plan was initially 3 days in Dubrovnik - does that sound adequate?

We spent 3 nights in Dubrovnik, and that included a daytrip around the Bay of Kotor with a private driver. If this is something you are interested in doing, I can give you the name of the company I used. I think 3 nights in Dubrovnik without a daytrip would be very relaxing.

BTW, what month is your trip? We were there in September 2019, and while it was crowded, it was not so crowded that it ruined our trip.

If Dubrovnik is your first stop, you don't need a car in Dubrovnik. We picked up our rental car the day we left Dubrovnik. We had 13 nights in Croatia and Slovenia. We didn't visit all the places you are visiting. I will give you our itinerary just so you can see how we structured our itinerary.

Dubrovnik - 3 nights to include a daytrip around the Bay of Kotor with a private driver
Picked up rental car the day we left Dubrovnik.
Split - 4 nights to include the daytrip to Hvar and 3/4 of a day to Trogir.
Plitvice Lakes NP - 1 nights - visited the upper lakes in the afternoon of the first day and the lower lakes in the morning of the second day.
Zagreb - 2 nights - we returned our rental car in Zagreb
Train to Ljubljana
Ljubljana - 3 nights to include a daytrip to Lake Bled. We rented a car for the day.
Flew home from Ljubljana

Hope this helps somewhat.

Thanks kmkwoo. That looks like it does a lot of what I had hoped for, including some relaxation time. Plus we would have a few other days to add on and explore a bit. I would appreciate the name of the company you used for the Bay of Kotor daytrip. I'd love to do that. We will be arriving April 20 so we hope the crowds won't be much at all. Late April through May is always our European trip just so we don't get crushed with crowds. Worked out well the last several years.

Hadn't really considered the train trip to Ljubljana but that might be one answer. The flight back to Munich from LJU is $1000 total for both of us, one way. So I'd need to keep Zagreb as our departure to Munich to catch our flight back to the US. I'll look into a roundtrip train arrangement.

Can you share accommodations you used and were happy with?

The company we used is Dubrovnik Driving Guide. The owner is Julija Antunovic.
www.dubrovnikdrivnigguide.com
dubrovnik.driving.guide@gmail.com

I found them on Trip Advisor, and I was very happy with their services.

I will have to get back to you later with hotel recommendations.

In Split stay at the Hotel Peristil. It is just inside the Palace walls, includes breakfast. It is a small family run hotel. It is steps from the Riva and ferry port to Hvar and/or you can ferry to Trogir. The bus station is near there also. We have stayed here 3x over the past few years.

In Dubrovnik try Bed+Breakfast Andio which is off the Main Street called the Stradun, or Dubrovnik Gardens, behind the Cathedral and 2 rooms have a kitchen, or Paviša Apartments, at the top of Ulica Zudioska, many steps but each room has a tiny kitchenette. We have stayed in each place at least 2x.
The owner of Dubrovnik Gardens also lives on the premises and is a tour guide.

If you need more help just ask.

In Dubrovnik, we stayed at Karmen Apartments, which I believe is now called Van Bloemen Apartments. There is a recent post here about this. It's in an excellent location right inside the walls, about a 5-minute walk from Ploce Gate. It is in a flatter area of Dubrovnik. You don't have to walk up the steep hills. There are about 4 or 5 steps to get into the building. We were 69 and 72 at the time, so similar in age to you. And I had just had hip replacement surgery about 4 months earlier, and I didn't have any problems with this apartment or anywhere on our trip. Marc, the owner, lives in the building so he is there to help in any way.
https://www.karmendu.com/

In Split we stayed at ID Regal Residence. There are 4 rooms on the 4th floor. Our room was very pretty. The price included breakfast at Bokeria Restaurant, just a one-minute walk away. Delicious breakfasts! The downside is that the building doesn't have an elevator so we had to walk up and down all those stairs to/from our room every day. So Barbara's suggestion might be a better choice. The Bokeria has an excellent reputation and is very popular. They serve lunch and dinner, too. Because we had breakfast here every morning, we didn't dine here for dinner. But I understand their dinners are excellent. So you might want to have dinner here some evening even if you don't stay at ID Regal Residence.
https://id-regal-residence.splithotels.net/en/

At Plitvice, we stayed at the Plitvice Miric Inn. It's a wonderful place to stay. Just 5 minutes from Entrance 2. The rate included one of the best breakfast buffets I've had anywhere. At the time they were offering delicious dinners for 20 euros per person. But I heard they might not be doing that now because of staffing shortages. We didn't stay at the hotels inside the park because I had read on several forums that those hotels are very outdated and the food is very mediocre.
https://www.plitvice-croatia.com/

In Zagreb we stayed at the Hotel Jagerhorn. Excellent location. Just a short walk from Jelacic Square - the main square. Our room rate included a breakfast buffet and there is a nice courtyard where you can eat outdoors.
https://www.hotel-jagerhorn.hr/en/

And in Ljubljana, We stayed at City Hotel. It's a large business hotel and is very well located. About a 5-minute walk to Preseren Square.
https://www.cityhotel.si/

Awesome!! Thanks so much for that! I'm gonna be busy the next few days checking out all the good leads. I appreciate you all sharing your experiences!

If you are still considering a day trip to Mostar, I can recommend Petar Vlasic of Dubrovnik Riviera Tours https://www.dubrovnikrivieratours.com/. On our recent trip, we took several tours with him. Petar is an absolutely fabulous guide; extremely personable, knowledgeable and communication with him before and during our trip was great. You mention being wine lovers. We took his wine tour of the Peljesace Peninsula which was very enjoyable. For your time in Plitvice, take a look at Zrinka House, which you can find on Booking.com. Zrinka and her daughter Barbara have a beautiful home with five star hospitality. Breakfast is delicious and they send you on your way with a packed lunch. We also stayed at City Hotel in Ljublijana, which has been mentioned previously. It was fine for a short stay. Location is good, but the breakfast area was a madhouse; room was very basic with poor lighting. You may enjoy Georgie Bistro in Ljublijana was one of the best meals we had on our trip. It is small, so a reservation may be necessary depending on the time of day. Enjoy Croatia and Slovenia!

Thanks TravelBug79! I have bookmarked both and will explore. Looking forward to a great trip!

We also stayed at City Hotel in Ljubljana, they had an easy in and out parking lot. A very quick walk to the city center.