3 nights before and 7 nights after Best of Adriatic Tour - itinerary advice

With 7 days Albania might be a stretch unless you make that the goal and head straight there. But to do that you go past a lot of good stuff worth stopping for. Montenegro is one of my favorite places in the world. I love Bosnia and Herzegovina as well but for different reasons. Medugorje is sort of on the way to Mostar, but you tour does Mostar so maybe you do Medugorje then circle back south and head towrds Montenegro. Enter throught the high country then head to Ulcinj near the Albanian border then work back north to the Bay of Kotor. So much good stuff along the route. That would allow you to rent a car and drop if off in Dubrovnik, but to be honest I would rather have a driver and outside of Croatia they tend to be a bit less expensive. One of the advantages of the Balkans (outside of Croatia) is the lower costs allow you to have a nicer trip.

None of that was very helpful, because its not easy working from very little, which is why I sent you a PM.

We rented a car in Dubrovnik and drove to Dobrota where I rented a flat. It’s very close to Kotor but outside the tourist zone. We had a blast for a week, exploring the bay, driving into the mountains, eating great food. The city of Kotor can be swamped when a large cruise ship is in so get the schedule. One of the best days ever was this: https://www.montenegro4sail.com/

If your wife wants to go to Medjugorje because she (or you) is a devout Catholic who believes in recent miracles, great. If not, don’t waste your time going there.

Maybe I am missing something, but doesn't the tour go to Lake Bled? Also, keep in mind that renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another will come with a hefty fee.

Why not just fly directly into Zagreb, spend a couple of days and then take the Flixbus to Ljubljana? I take flixbus all the time - it is a good way to travel this region.

Good points. Thanks
The tour goes to lake Bled but it’s not over night.
And if the weather is bad, that’s it.
Experienced heavy rain on our one day lin Lake Como on Italy tour.. sunny next day as the tour is leaving.
I found out an inflexible tour schedule is not always good.

Plus it would give us time to decompress.
Flight arrived time is 7:30 pm and we might be jet lagged. About 1/2 drive from airport to the lake.

Car rental pick up and drop off same location is pretty reasonable.

You asked about churches and monasteries. Here are two nearby in Montenegro and one … well maybe off topic, but also nearby in Montenegro.

Ostrog: https://youtu.be/oo9nd8FZG1Q?si=K-nZ0TmI2LbHovB2
- A good place for lunch nearby:
https://youtu.be/0fdbD9upFP4?si=JdMQ2d56GQxumdlt (nice hotel too).

And of course, Our Lady of the Rocks: https://youtu.be/l_6btlihVCw?si=iKjLzrlUfAgacSJL
- And a good place for lunch nearby:
https://youtu.be/oa5_oJc-j4Q?si=uxXjpp8mXUJGwqjS (nice hotel too).

Tara River Canyon. Okay, not a church, but certainly a place G-d is proud of: https://youtu.be/9aGMZB8hB5Y?si=1tEteGsaJidgHMg9
- And of course, a good place for lunch nearby:
https://youtu.be/wGuRybkymEI?si=ZN7OlKuQssswilR0 (nice hotel too:
https://youtu.be/5QhSY9uWkrY?si=1fywd3f11Iac8qct)

And here is a way to see it:
Day one drive to along Kotor Bay to Kotor.
Night one Kotor
Night two Kotor
Night three Stari Bar
Night four Tara Canyon
Night five Tara Canyon
Night six outside of Podgorica with a local family
Day seven; fly home out of Podgorica (you could make a later in the day flight out of Dubrovnik as well).

It's always disappointing when a sightseeing day turns out to be very rainy, but Lake Bled (the lake) is really very small. You can walk all the way around it in 2 or 3 hours. Although it is very picturesque, it really isn't comparable to Lake Como, which is nearly 20 times its size.

Ugh, no way you can fly right into Zagreb is there? It’s usually the cheaper airport so outside chance you can convince the airline if you call.

Heading to Bled is not a bad plan, but the same issue about weather applies. Also, as you outline you’re not really spending extra time there if you’re heading to Zagreb. However, Ljubljana is basically equal distance from the airport. Ljubljana is such a great town, staying there is never a bad option. And getting to Zagreb from Ljubljana is a much simpler proposition. I’m so glad you’re trying to squeeze Zagreb in, it’s really underrated imo. On the flip side, Zagreb is a very easy airport hub, so if you feel like you might return to the area it’s easy to add in the future. Idk, tricky all around but none of it is crazy. You’ll just need to make a choice. Bus Connections between Bled-Ljubljana and Ljubljana-Zagreb are pretty frequent and easy, you could avoid renting a car for this.

As for after, especially if you’re interested in Medugorje I think heading into Bosnia is a great choice. There’s some interesting stops between Dubrovnik-Mostar-Sarajevo that make for a long, though fulfilling day (and you’ll already have seen Mostar.) Sarajevo is one of the most interesting cities I’ve visited. Three full days here would be great. You could then drive to Montenegro for the last few nights. Depending on when you fly out of Dubrovnik, you probably don’t want to be in a position where you have to cross the border under any time constraints.

I just covered a chunk of this ground this summer. Look for my trip report for some details, and/or hit me up if you add Sarajevo. I would love to recommend some tour guides for you.

awrzesinski. I think the problem with Mostar is that her tour goes there. But maybe I am wrong.

Such excellent advice.
I am going to check with airline about changing arrival to Zagreb. Kind of wish I had more time to spend in the Julian Alps but April might be a little wintery for mountain hiking.

And thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about Sarajevo and Bosnia. Great advice also about not being under time constraints when crossing the border.
I like all the suggestions. Thanks 🙏

Obviously, I didn’t try and plan out all the stops, just the nights. But the stops include ancient hillside towns, olive plantations, wineries, mom’s home cooking, boat tours to caves and island monasteries and churches, prosciutto hanging houses, zip lines across canyons, maybe rafting, and spectacular views that cant be beat.

I love Bosnia. My goal is to return every year. Sarajevo is wonderful for a few days. Culturally it’s almost unique. Once you have gotten as far north as Sarajevo your choices become a bit limited. Yes, Travnik and Jajce are interesting, but they are hours from Sarajevo and with limited time, they also don’t have the impact that you will get in Montenegro. So why do I go to Bosnia? I go fishing in the area closer to Jajce. So that’s my end goal. If Rick hadn’t taken you to Mostar, Bosnia would be a little better trip.

TourMage, that’s Elvis, your driver. Elvis is a great driver and being a licensed tour guide in Bosnia, his customers in Bosnia get more than just a transfer. But as near as I can tell TourMage is Elvis and if he gets too busy, he has a couple of buddies that step in. Not really a travel company … yet and I wish him the best to get there. If you end up with him as a guide or as a transfer you won’t be disappointed, but for references I want to be more careful. I would go directly to Dijana. She works with him and might set you up with him if that’s what is appropriate or maybe with someone else if Elvis is busy that day, but you get experience in planning and putting together the best tour when you go with Dijana.

This is a beautiful part of the world and I'm sure you will love it no matter where you go. If you are looking for a driver in Bosnia, we used Taxi Pajo earlier this year- they were great and a lot less expensive than some of the other options we looked at: https://taxipajo.com/en/home/
We used them to go from Cavtat (outside Dubrovnik) to Mostar and from Mostar to Blagaj Monastery.

I really recommend Sarajevo, it's like nowhere else I've been- it really is "east meets west." We took the train from Mostar to Sarajevo which was really fun and had beautiful scenery. You can read more about it here if interested: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/sarajevo-to-mostar-by-train.htm

I know you already have a lot of options but if you are still looking for ideas, and it sounds like you like lakes, Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia is amazing.

The tour time at Lake Bled is quite short, so you have the option of walking around the lake or going out onto the lake in a boat. If you want to do both, and explore even more, going there on your own is a good idea.

I loved Mostar. I wish we would have had two nights there.

You can also take the train from Zagreb to Ljubljana. About a 2.5 hour ride and inexpensive.

Post tour travel ideas

Bare bones:
Dubrovnik to Sarajevo 2 nights
Sarajevo to Medugorge/Mostar 1 night
Mostar to Kotor 2 nights
Kotor to Budva 2 nights
Budka to Dubrivnik last night before AM flightv

Self drive and find local guides?

Dubrovnik to Sarajevo 2 nights Sarajevo to Medugorge/Mostar 1 night
Mostar to Kotor 2 nights Kotor to Budva 2 nights Budka to Dubrivnik
last night before AM flight

Budva and Kotor can be merged--Budva is a quick day trip from Kotor. You could maybe put another night toward Sarajevo, which I imagine has the most "sights" of the bunch.