We are traveling with one of our sons and daughter-in-law this October. We already have flights and are looking to cover as much as we can in about 10 days. Between reading forums and RS books, I have the following itinerary but would like input. Our traveling style is to spend a day or two in cities doing walking tours, guided tours, people watching while having a beer in the afternoon at a cafe and nice but not fancy dinners. Usually not big museum visitors. We are early risers and are planning to rent a car once we get to Croatia to avoid steep drop off fee.
Monday, 10/13 Travel from Venice to Rovinj. Would like recommendation on best way to get from Venice to Rovonj. Looks like ferries between Venice and Rovinj will have shut down already.
Rovinj, one night pick up car.
Ljubliana, one night. Lake Bled side trip.
Plitvice Lakes, one night, half day in park.
Split, drop car, 2 nights. Kids fly home .
Hvar, one night. Take ferry from Split.
Dubrovnik, three nights. Side trip to Montenegro?
Fly home early on Thurs, 10/23
I know this is a lot of moving but we are struggling to eliminate any of the stops. Thanks in advance for recommendations.
Posted by
Indiana
1041 posts
Split was my least favorite spot in Croatia; highly overrated in my opinion. I would drop that and spend another night on an island. I can't speak to Hvar, because we chose Korcula instead. We did a one day private tour from Dubrovnik to Montenegro and enjoyed that. If you are still seeking accommodations near Plitvice, I highly recommend Zrinka House. One of the best B&Bs we have ever had the pleasure of staying at during our travels.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
3263 posts
These six overnight destinations in just ten days would be too much ground to cover for me in just 10 days.
I don’t think the ferry to Rovinj is going to work out for you in October. If you cut Rovinj, you can take a 3-hr express bus from Venice to Ljubljana. Stay two nights so you have time to actually see Ljubljana and take a daytrip to Lake Bled the next day. It’s a bit more than a one-hour bus/train ride from Ljubljana.
(With a car for one day, you could work in the Škocjan Caves near Divica and PIRAN, a Venetian town that would substitute for Rovinj).
Then take the 2.5 hr bus/train from Ljubljana to Zagreb, Croatia where you can pick up a rental car (www.AutoEurope.com) and drive 1:45 to Plitvice Lakes National Park for an overnight there.
Split is a 2.5-hr drive from Plitvice. The main attraction is Diocletian’s Palace which can be seen in a day. You don’t absolutely have to overnight in Split if you can catch an afternoon ferry to Hvar or Korcula. If you do stay over in Split. the ancient town of Trogir- just 30 minutes away by bus- has a Venetian fort and other Venetian architecture.
From Split, I would recommend Hvar. It’s a one-hour catamaran ride from Split and has a castle above the medieval city center. If the beach days have ended from rain or the notorious Bura winds by the time you arrive, the ancient city of Stari Grad is fascinating and is a 30-minute bus ride from Hvar Town.
You then can continue to Dubrovnik from Hvar by Krilo or TP Line fast catamarans if you leave the car in Split.
From Dubrovnik, the Lokrum National Park on Lokrum island is just a 15-minute ferry ride from Dubrovnik’s Old Town port.
I would save Montenegro for another time because you have enough for this trip.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
23258 posts
I looked and I cant help. Getting your start in Croatia is the tough part. I would bite the bullet and take a flight with a stop to Dubrovnik and work norht to Zadar then stop. Do it up really right with all the good stops and activities. Montenegro? No. I prefer it to Croatia but with the time you have ... just wait and do it right in the future.
Posted by
1204 posts
I was going to suggest exactly what Kenko said. I second that itinerary 1000%. At a minimum, cut Rovinj. I was just there, and if you’re not taking advantage of the swimming (and you don’t have time) it won’t be materially different from Hvar.
Posted by
2 posts
Croatia is bigger than you think with 2 to 3.5 hours driving from city to city! if its your first time, fly in, get a car and do what and as much as you want! We drive cuz we live in Germany, to Istria area. Thats alot especially if you wan to relax and joy small local cafes and find things OPEN! There are so many islands there too! Good luck and maybe Sept would be better? we go to one resort for 7 nights and drive 1 to 1.5 hours around. yeah 1 night overnight is ok as well. There is SO SO much to see, slow down and soak it in! watch some Youtube videos about Croatia! the best. Good Luck!
Posted by
Zagreb
12 posts
There is nothing wrong with your itinerary, it is a bit busy but that's fine.
There are four buses a day Trieste to Rovinj on Flixbus and three buses from Mestre train station to Rovinj. Other lines might have more buses as well. Last bus from Trieste leaves at 14:50, that is same bus from Mestre at 12:25. There are no later buses. Ljubljana to Split is a bit difficult even via Plitvice, and if you are going to visit Bled I would just stay by Bled and spend a morning in Ljubljana. You do not need to get to Plitvice before dark on the night before you visit the park so you can make the most of that day. That is most out of the way part of your journey. You could even skip Ljubljana and add a day somewhere like Zadar.
The islands will probably start to be in off season mode by mid to late October. Ferries are off season from end of September. If you go to Hvar, you may want to look in to the one daily catamaran from Hvar to Dubrovnik. This would mean you drop the car in Split. Korčula is easier to "drive" to since the car ferry is very short and frequent even in off season.
Rovinj is sometimes even bigger tourist attraction in Croatia than Dubrovnik, I do not know why you would cut it. I do not know why Split would be overrated. It is second largest city in Croatia and there is more going on than just tourism, it is the hub for Dalmatia and has a lovely old town, Diocletian's Palace is lovely, and Riva is perfect for people watching.