Croatia/Slovenia itinerary help

Candidly, it felt like Lake Bled was closer to the airport than Ljubljana. 2 days is perfect for Lake Bled, and, recommendations I've gotten is that you can't "tour" all of the Park in the Alps in 1 day(unfortunately, when we were there in June, the highway was closed after turn 8 because the highway was washed out) and you should consider staying halfway and continuing the next day. Then drive back to Ljubljana and drop the car (Hertz) across from the train station and enjoy the city and take the train to Zagreb and continue your tour from there, however, don't think you need 2 nights in Hvar. One final thought: get to Plitvice as early as possible and wear shoes with a good grip- it can be wet and slippery.

Do whatever is necessary to spend the night before your Plitvice visit in or near the park. You want to be there when the day-trippers are not. If you arrive mid-afternoon, you can consider getting a two-day park ticket; someone reported here that traffic in the park wasn't too bad in the late afternoon. It was truly unbelievable during my day-trip two years ago; I made the major mistake of arriving around 10 AM and waited in the ticket line for an hour. Then I shared the walkways with what seemed like thousands of people. It was like the photos I've seen of the Vatican Museums, but with water hazards. The park is wonderful if you time your visit well.

For your xtra night poss in Slovenia how about nr the lipanzaner Farm?
I realize it is not for everyone but I am sorry i missed it last yr.

For your xtra night poss in Slovenia how about nr the lipanzaner Farm?
I realize it is not for everyone but I am sorry i missed it last yr.

Why would you take a bus from the airport to Bled then rent the car there (is that really what RS recommends?) Why not just rent it at the airport and drive to Bled? Bled makes a good base (even if not a particularly charming one) for exploring the surrounding area, but I wouldn't want to base there without a car - and I wouldn't want to rent a car and drive right after a long overnight flight (if that's what you are doing?). I'd start in Ljubljana, get my bearings, then rent the car in Ljubljana and head for Bled.

You're right - you don't need a car in Ljubljana itself. Parking it is an extra expense.

(On the drive between Bled and Ljubljana: consider a scenic detour via the beautiful little town of Skofja Loka. The drive from Skofja Loka to Bled through the Jamnik and Kropa, through the hills (not the fast highway near Kranj) is very scenic.

Also, unless you don't mind paying a big one-way drop fee for the car in Dubrovnik, you're going to want to drop your Slovenia rental car in Slovenia and rent another car in Istria. You can take a direct bus from Ljubljana to Istria, or take a transfer service like GoOpti. Or drop the Slovenia car near Koper, take a relatively short bus ride from there to Istria, and rent another car there. Or take (what I did) take a direct train from Ljubljana to Rijeka and rent the car there. (I like trains and dislike long bus rides, a big reason I chose that option.)

Motovun wouldn't be my choice for a base for Istria, personally. I enjoyed my day visit to a couple of the hill towns (like Motovun and Groznjan) but wouldn't have wanted to spend a night there myself. Maybe some would. I much preferred the seaside charm of lovely Rovinj - but I love water.

Fifteen days to cover so much ground is going to be a rushed trip IMO.

As others have commented, why Motovun?

Staying at Plitvice the night before you go to the park is sensible. Split really needs a full day to do it justice as a minimum and it would be a pity to miss nearby Trogir, so another day here.

Hvar - most places have a 3 night minimum booking or you pay a significant premium for shorter stays. Given your tight schedule, you may want to consider just visiting as a day trip from Split.

You don't need a car in Split or in Dubrovnik, so I would consider returning the car at Split then take the bus or catamaran to Dubrovnik. A one way car drop between 2 countries is going to be expensive.

Jerry G - thank you for your feedback! Why would you recommend only 1 night in Hvar?

Acraven - thanks for the feedback! That is our plan, after reading the RS guidebook.

JS - thanks for the feedback! we haven't thought about that we'll have to look into this.

Andrew - thanks for the feedback! No, he doesn't we wrote it wrong. He recommends taking a taxi to lake bled then rent a car there. Thanks for the advice on the scenic route we'll definitely have to look into that. Due to convenience we are looking to just pay the big one way fee. We thought with the hassle of trying to get from Ljubljana/Bled to Motovun is not worth it.

We chose Motovun instead of Rovinj for a couple of reasons. One is because we will be spending 7 nights on the coast in Croatia so we figured it would be better to explore the interior of the country a little more. Also, we have read it has some "Tuscan" feel which we love. We have read there is great wine and food in this region Of course we can still do a day trip to Rovinj.

Jennifer - thanks for the feedback! We took the "2 week tour by car" recommendations from Rick Steves guidebook. To us we don't mind moving so much. We are usually very active when we go on vacation. We chose Motovun based on the reasons above. In Hvar we found a accommodation in RS book that has no minimum stay which is great. That was a plan regarding the car, we plan on dropping off the car in split then tasking the ferries the rest of the way.

I liked my quick visits to Motovun and Groznjan and am a big fan of getting away from the coast in beach areas like Istria, but I agree with the others' concern about basing in Motovun, especially for so long. I'm not sure what kind of food options you'll find there. I suggest some Goggling and TripAdvisoring to be sure you won't be limited to the most basic sotrrt of cafes. I don't know which of those towns I was in, but I bought a croissant at a bar/cafe and it came out of a sealed package with a pull date stamped on it (the horror!).

Thanks acraven. We will definitely have to relook into staying in Motovun and possible base ourselves in Rovinj. We will also have to look if there is a decent amount of restaurants in and around Motovun.

Motovun is the biggest of the hill towns as I recall. I do think there must be restaurants there - pretty sure I saw people eating here and there as I walked around (it was a rainy day). There's an annual film festival there - can't be a place without restaurants! I'd read some of the hotel/lodging reviews on TripAdvisor and read what reviewers say about the area where they stayed. I'd personally prefer to stay up in the town which means leaving your car below.

I did an edited version of RS's 2 week car tour (I skipped Istria because I didn't have 2 full weeks and I wanted to see both Montenegro and BiH). I think you have plenty of time to see all you want to see. It's a brisk pace but I actually found it more relaxing than other trips I've done at the same pace. I rented my car at the Ljubljana airport and drove to Bled, kept it for the two days I was in Bled and the Julian Alps drive I did (I did it in a day and thought that was enough time for me), then dropped it back at the airport before going to Ljubljana. I agree you don't need one there but if you're going to Istria I think you should start in Ljubljana then pick up the car and go to Bled.

I also traveled at the end of May this year and found the crowds at Plitvice, which I did as a day trip, not as bad as I'm assuming they are during peak season, based on the comments I see here. I did have a hard time imagining Plitvice being very enjoyable if it was more crowded, though, so avoiding peak season is key.

Enjoy your trip! It's one of my favorites.

Motovun is famous for its food!! NY Times, Anthony Bourdain have made pilgrimages there!

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/travel/croatia-truffles-istria-italy.html

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/travel/01bites.html

http://www.tasteofcroatia.org/articles/faces-places/anthony-bourdain-croatia

https://www.google.at/amp/www.frankaboutcroatia.com/wineries-in-istria-worth-visit/amp/

We always stay inland when we visit Istria. Best food and wine is there.

Thanks everyone for the help! I think we're going to stick with Motovun as a base and do day trips to explore the other towns in Istria. We're also thinking about adding our extra night to Ljublijana and doing a day trip through Logarska Dolina & the northern valleys.

Thanks again! Adam