Thanks to everyone who responded!
I have come up with this as my "mostly" final itinerary-
Dubrovnik- 3 nights
Korcula- 2 nights
Split- 4 nights- many day trips- Trogir, Omis
Vis- 3 nights
Plitvice Lakes Park- 1 night
THIS IS WHERE I AM STUCH-- I HAVE TWO NIGHTS-NOT PLANNED YET- Not sure if I should do Zadar or Rovinj or even somewhere else I haven't thought of
Ljubljana- 5 nights
Thoughts?
What about Šibenik or Zagreb?
Zagreb is an easy and logical choice if you’re headed towards Ljubljana. I really enjoyed it too, felt very underrated. Two nights in Zagreb would work nicely. Summer was lively, and it’s a cool place to walk around and explore. Lots of little, secret courtyards and passages.
On Mažuranić square, behind the National Theatre (a gorgeous building and a lovely walk) there was a local neighborhood food truck mini-fest with live music. Seemed to be happening regularly. Also, in the park directly behind the cathedral there was a super hip coffee truck outdoor lounge pop-up thing, with lots of comfy chairs in the shade. And Tkalicia (sic) street is always a pleasure.
Zagreb is perfect for a couple of nights. Easy to get a train or bus from there to Ljubljana.
I agree with everyone's recommendation about Zagreb. It is the most logical choice while being a wonderful and very interesting city. You can drive from Plitvice Lakes NP to Zagreb in about 2 hours. When we left Zagreb, we took the train (about 2.5 hours) to Ljubljana. Easy peasy.
And Zagreb is very different from Dubrovnik and Split architecturally and location wise. It's inland and reminds me a little bit of Prague, but smaller and much less crowded. So you get some nice diversity in your itinerary.
Also want to point out that you can visit Hvar as a daytrip from Split, if you are interested.
Having just come from Ljubljana (where the weather was pretty lousy), I would offer
that 5 nights is a lot if you expect to have lots of interesting things to see. You can
probably spend a day at Postojna Cave and the castle, but I think you'd get bored
3 days in.
On the other hand, if you want to sit at a cafe on the river and watch the world go
by, you can do that for months.
You could take 1 or 2 of those 5 nights and go to Bled/drive the Julian Alps and still
have time to enjoy Ljubljana.
Another thought, you might want to consider 2 nights at Plitvice depending on what/
how much you think you're going to do there. You definitely want to get an early start,
so if you get there midday from Vis and plan to spend the night after the hike, you
won't see as much as you would probably like. But, if your night is before the park,
that might work. Just keep in mind the drive out is not all on a 4-lane highway, you
will prob be tired after the hike, and you need to get to the rental car dropoff location
before they close or know you can drop the keys off in the office mail slot.
Plus, assuming you have a car, a must is to drive over to the scenic overlooks on the
side of the canyon away from the visitor centers. The paths are over by the Villa Nena
B&B, unmarked, but easy to find.
