We (my husband and I) are planning a 45-day trip to Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy this Sep. and Oct. We will fly into Dubrovnik and fly out of Rome (flight tickets have already been bought). We will rent a car in Split for the road trip in Croatia and Slovenia and return the car in Rovinj, from where we will take a ferry to Venice. (This way, we would also avoid returning the car in a different country.) We post the itinerary since we still have some questions, and your comments/suggestions will be appreciated!
Note: The trip is primarily based on Rick Steves’ itinerary with added days and our own adjustments.
(1) We considered visiting Mostar or Kotor from Dubrovnik and decided to leave them out for a future trip to Bosnia and Montenegro to delve deeper to those two countries.
(2) We’ve been to Milan and Lake Como during our previous trip to Switzerland, so they are excluded from this trip.
(3) We would need at least a week to visit the Dolomites, so we will leave Dolomites for future trips (likely visiting Dolomites from Munich).
(4) We enjoy nature, culture, and food, but we rarely drink alcohol and are not into wine.
Day 1-3: Dubrovnik (3 nights, 2.5 days)
Day 4-5: Korčula (2 nights, 1.5~2 days) On Day 4, morning in Dubrovnik, afternoon ferry to Korcula.
Day 6: Hvar (1 night, 2 half days) On Day 6, morning in Korcula if needed, afternoon ferry to Hvar.
Day 7-8: Split (2 nights, 1.5 days) On Day 7, Tour to the Blue Cave & Green Cave from Hvar and afternoon (or early evening) ferry to Split.
Day 9: Zadar (1 nights) Pick up a car in Split, drive to Zadar, visiting Krka NP on the way to Zadar.
Day 10: Plitvice Lakes NP (1 night): Morning in Zadar, drive to Plitvice Lakes NP and enter the park in the afternoon.
Day 11-13: Lake Bled (3 nights, 2 days): on Day 11, morning in Plitvice, afternoon drive to Lake Bled via Ljubjana.
Day 14: Kobarid (1 night): drive through Julian Alps.
Day 15-16 Ljubjana (2 nights, 1 full day): on Day 15, continue driving through Julian Alps to Ljubjana.
Day 17: Koper(?): Drive to Skocjan Caves, also visit Lipica Stud Farm and Predjama Castle.
Day 18-20: Rovinj (3 nights, 2~2.5 days): visit Opatija and other hill towns; return the car in Rovinj.
Day 21-23: Venice (3 nights, 2.5 days): on Day 21, morning ferry from Rovinj to Venice (7:45am-10:30am); (I did check croatiaferries.com and there are ferries available on that day).
Day 24-26: Cinque Terre (3 nights, 2.5 days)
Day 27: Lucas (1 night, 1.5 days) Pisa & Lucas
Day 28-30: Florence (3 nights, 2~2.5 days): On Day 28, morning or most of the day in Lucas.
Day 31-32: Siena (2 nights, 1.5~2 days): On Day 31: morning in Florence if needed.
Day 33: Assisi (1 night, 1 day)
Day 34: Orvieto (1 night, 1 day)
Day 35-38: Sorrento (4 nights, 4 days) On Day 35, visiting Naples on the way to Sorrento; on Day 36, day trip to Capri, on Day 37 & 38: Amalfi Coast.
Day 39-44: Rome (5 nights, days): on Day 39: visit Pompeii on the way to Rome. Remaining 4~4.5 days in Rome.
Day 45: Fly home from Rome.
Questions:
(1) Any comments/suggestions on this itinerary?
(2) Is Koper the right city/town to stay overnight for Day 17 when visiting Skocjan Caves? Any other better choices?
(3) Is it easy to return the car in Rovinj?
(4) For Day 27, should we stay in Pisa instead?
(5) We will be in Sorrento of Almalfi Coast in mid Oct; it should still be shoulder season with many businesses open and activities available, right? If not, we could remove Sorrento and distribute those 4 nights somewhere else, or maybe adding back Mostar and Sarajevo?
(6) Do we need more time somewhere along this trip? Are there places we should spend more time?