Looking for travel tips: Croatia and Slovenia late April – early May 2026

The trick with the coast is that it scales up with demand. April is a month of low demand. So, you’ll see things like little to no ferry service, restaurants may be closed, etc. Most coast towns thrive on the good weather and swimming, and without that they can be pretty thin. Like, there’s a big difference between a small town in Tuscany in early shoulder season and a Croatian coast town at the same time. These are summer destinations for the most part. Logistically, this region is spread out. All your major tent poles are about 2-3hrs travel between them. This makes transportation as a tourist a little tricky. Intercity bus service is good (but again may be more limited in April), train is basically non-existent or a downgrade. Rental car can be very useful, but that’s another layer of hassle/complexity (though driving is pretty easy here.) As first time Euro travelers, you’ll have to decide how much that impacts your decision making.

That you’re coming from Italy colors my thinking a bit, because there’s nothing wrong with more time in Italy. I would include time in Venice (especially if you haven’t already) and use that as your launchpad east. There’s good bus connections to Ljubljana from Venice, along with other services like GoOpti. Ljubljana is an easy place to spend a few days. Great vibes, stuff to see, and good food. It’s fine living, but you’ll also get a good sense of its Yugoslavian past. I recommend the (poorly named) Communist Walking Tour for a great overview. Lake Bled is an easy day trip from Ljubljana, and imo about what it’s worth. It will definitely be too cold for swimming there. Check out Slovenia Explorer, they run day tours out of Ljubljana that may interest you.

Adding on from there: Zagreb would be an easy addition. I think it’s highly underrated. Plitvice national park always gets my vote. You can connect Plitvice from Zagreb en route to Split, and get a taste of the coast there. Split seems to be a divisive destination, some people just don’t care for it. But for you, it’s a city and that means if the weather’s not great you have some options versus being stuck in a small town. If the weather is good, Trogir is a small coast town nearby you can see as a daytrip. There may also be some ferry service to Hvar. Split and Zagreb have airports (Zagreb is a good hub) and may serve in getting you to Paris.

Croatia will be open in April. Some smaller islands will not be, some late opening restaurants may not be, you will not miss them. It is good time to visit.

Ljubljana and Bled are easy enough to add in with northern Croatia trip, either from Opatija, Istra, or Zagreb. Oddly it is difficult to get from northern Italy to Croatia, especially in off season. There are relatively infrequent buses, and generally car rental fees will charge high one way drop off rates. It will probably be easier to get from Trieste to Ljubljana than to Croatia.

Ljubljana is small and you won't need much time there.

If you are flying to Paris you will want to have your final stop be near Zagreb, Split, or Dubrovnik airports.

Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia are all in Schengen, so border crossing is now like driving from one state to another in Australia. Still prepare to have your passport, sometimes the borders are staffed, mostly if there are immigration concerns.

You will still probably want to take a look at "larger" destinations on the coast such as Rovinj, Opatija, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik. I'd recommend Split for a week at that time since there will be the most things to do. I do not know why people say it has a mixed reputation, and then Dubrovnik for a couple days because it is beautiful, but expensive.

Thank you so much for both pieces of detailed feedback. We’ve been so indecisive, but after reading your messages and watching some videos on Croatia, we’ve now both agreed to save Croatia for another trip.

For this journey, once we leave Italy, we’ll head up through Central and Eastern Europe, eventually making our way to Paris. We’re currently deciding between two route options:

Bologna – Salzburg – Vienna – Prague – Paris, or

Bologna – Rothenburg – Nuremberg – Prague – Paris.

As first-time travellers to Europe, any further tips or recommendations you might have—whether it’s transport, places to stay, food, or must-see spots—would be really appreciated!

Thanks again for helping us shape this adventure.

That’s sensible, honestly. The Balkans are a tough nut to crack, and will make a great future trip.

As for your new itinerary… sorry but that’s up to you :) Ok, out of the two I might pick the first. Rothenburg and Nuremberg are kind of similar. Salzburg-Vienna-Prague makes a logical line, and overall you’ll be able to experience a range of cultures. Salzburg is a great “second city” which are the types of cities/towns that are often more enjoyable than their capitals.

Thanks so much for the further feedback. Honestly it gives me so much more confidence to plan a great trip!

Bologna – Salzburg – Vienna – Prague – Paris, or
Bologna – Rothenburg – Nuremberg – Prague – Paris.

Nothing wrong with either, but if this is your first trip, I would save secondary cities for another trip. And I would save Bologna, and I really loved Bologna, for a two week trip to Italy and save the 8 or 9 hour trip to connect it to Central Europe. I would save the reconstructed cities of Rothenburg and Nuremberg for after you have seen the real things.

So that means I woud do Paris (5 nights) - Prague (3 nights) - Vienna (3 nights) - Budapest (3 nights). Then if any of those light your fire return and, for instance, spend two weeks in Austria and see all the secondary cities. The nights are my personal idea of minimums. If you do the reverse order you do 4 nights in Budapest and 4 nights in Paris (the extra is for the jetlag). And Prague to Paris you fly on a discount airline cause the train is just too long; again, for my taste. My nights I think come up one short of your time available. So add that night to the city that lights your fire the most or spend the night in Cesky Krumlov on the way between Prague and Vienna (personally I would add it to Budapest but ...... thats me).

Yes, I added a new city. In part because its the most beautiful and interesting capital city in Europe and in part because of the location and to reach it later trip would be more difficult (mostly for that reason). Favorite Tourism Video of Budapest https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared Anthony Bourdain describing how visually pleasurable Budapest is https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=aa0c19KaJHEtabkX

Oh, and you were wise to not do Croatia on the first trip to Europe.

Mr E, funnily enough I was just thinking tonight, why not just fly from Italy to Prague and go from there. I can see though probbaly best to fly italy to Budapest, onto Vienna, Prague (fit in Cesky somehow) then fly to Paris. Your thoughts?

Mr E, love your advice and I believe this will work much better for us:

Tokyo — 2 nights

Munich — 2 nights

Castiglione D’Orcia — 4 nights

Italy (city TBC) — 3 nights

Budapest — 4 nights

Vienna — 3 nights

Český Krumlov — 2 nights

Prague — 4 nights

Paris city — 2 nights

Seine River cruise — 7 nights

Amsterdam — 4 nights

One night is enough it Cesky Krumlov. Just get an early transfer (CK or Bean Shuttle) to CK and a later one after lunch the next day on the way on to Prague.

There is a reason that this is such a common tour. It works well time wise, it explores three different cultures and the three cities (Budapest, Vienna and Prague) are as different, but interesting and beautiful as three cities can be. Of course Budapest is the best of the bunch ....

The Central Europe part works like this

• Bologna to Budapest nonstop on Ryan on Sunday or Tuesday or Thursday.
• Four nights in Budapest
• Morning train to Vienna about 2.5 hours
• Three nights minimum in Vienna
• Morning CK Shuttle to Cesky Krumlov
• One Night minimum in Cesky Krumlov
• Late afternoon CK Shuttle to Prague
• Three nights minimum in Prague
• Nonstop flight to Paris (there are four airlines that do it depending on the day of the week)
  

Or you could start in Prague and go south. Just depends on the best airfares and connections to Bologna.

That's so good thank you!!!!! So then w can pick up an extra night in Paris by having one in Cesky.
Mr E what bookinmg platforms do you recommend for train and shuttle transport?

CENTRAL EUROPE
TRANSPORTATION BASICS
Flights. Find them on Google Flights and book them from the airline. There is nothing wrong with Ryan or Wizz, both do a good job. With both watch the permissible size of carryon luggage and look at what each ticket option permits. It can be a bit complicated.
Taxi from Budapest Airport to Town or the Express Bus. Really depends on where you are staying, how much you are carrying in luggage and how much you want to walk when you get there. The taxi will be about $30 cash or credit card. The Taxi stand is outside the arrivals hall. Very nicely run, clean and safe and honest taxis. https://www.bud.hu/en/passengers/transport/airport_transfer_and_other_services/taxi Follow the signs for the Express bus. It is about $7 cash or credit card…. You can buy when you buy your travel card (read below) or you can pay at the door. Oh, if you are over 65 do nothing, its free. https://bkk.hu/en/travel-information/airport-express/
Budapest to Vienna train are MAV https://jegy.mav.hu/ AND OBB https://shop.oebbtickets.at/en/ticket?cref=oebb-allgemein Check them both and buy the cheapest. Always get a reserved seat. I might suggest that the trip would be a little nicer in first class if its in your price range. There is another train company as well, called RegioJet, and they can be less expensive, I am just not as excited about the station they depart out of. But its okay https://regiojet.com/ . Whoever you use, download their app and store your tickets there. Much easier to present on the train that way. I wouldn’t worry about train tickets until about a month prior.
Vienna to Cesky Krumlov and Cesky Krumlov to Prague there are two shuttle companies that I am aware of. The only one I have used or know anything about is CK. But both have been in business for a decade or more Bean Shuttle https://www.beanshuttle.com/ AND CK Shuttle https://www.ckshuttle.cz/

BUDAPEST: I am just an extended tourist in Budapest and its the only place I have spent enough time to be helpful beyond a few basics. So, I leave the rest of your trip to others.
Hotels in Budapest https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/rs-forum-favorite-hotels-and-their-cost
Budapest Restaurants https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/restaurants-in-budapest-revisited
Activities in Budapest. This going to be out of date but you can see the things to track before your trip. I will update it when dates begin to be published for next year. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/dec-thru-june-25
Public Transportation. You can download the BudapestGo App where you can buy tickets and it has a map, like GoogleMaps where you can plan trips and it shows the times for the trams, metro and busses and the stop locations with great accuracy. For the tickets I am an old foggy and prefer a paper ticket instead of buying a pass on the app. Easier to show when asked. You can get that at the airport when you land at the BKK office in the arrivals hall of the airport. With four nights the 72-hour pass will probably come up short, but the 15 day pass is only a few dollars more, so ask for a 15 Day Pass. https://bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/15-day-budapest-pass/ About $18. If you are over 65 everything is free, buy nothing. Just show any ID with your birthdate if asked (doubtful anyone will ask).

CONTINUED
Cash, well on this trip you will need three currencies if you believe in carrying cash. Its a debated topic. I always carry enough cash to get through an event if the CC machines go down or the place doesnt accept cash. So, in Hungary it will be "Forints". The rate today is such that rounding off 1.000 ft = $3.00 but that is probably going to change before you come. But do look for some sort of easy estimation like that. In Cesky Krumlov and Prague you will need the "Koruna" (crown) currently 100Kč is about $5, but again, it will change before you get there. For all of the rest you need Euro. I would get some cash, but not more than $25 in each. Dont worry you can always find a way to spend it on the way out of town. Get it from any bank ATM when you arrive. In Budapest when you pick a hotel or short term rental, I can tell you the closest ATM. Otherwise I suspect that your trip will be 100% accessible with a credit card. Of the Central European Trip destinations the cheapest will be Budapest, followed closely by Prague .... Vienna will be considerably more (but worth it).
Weather that time of the year can be cool, so bring a few layers. But rarely COLD. Rain isnt a terrible thing in Central Europe and when it does rain its generally short lived and fairly light.
You are going to 3 great musical capitals, take advantage of that. Book those tickets early. Budapest we have the Opera, Operett, Linzst Academy, various Church Concerts (remarkably good which surprised me), Hungarian House of Music, and I like the Opus Jazz Club. Also book the Parliament tour in Budapest way far in advance as it sells out.

Finally, you should repost in the General Europe forum with the names of the cities in the title so you get a lot more help.

Hi Mr. E,

Just wanted to say a huge thanks for all the time and effort you've put into replying to my endless itinerary ideas! Your advice has been beyond helpful—honestly, I don't think you realise just how much easier (and more exciting!) you've made planning this trip. From transport tips to Budapest gems, it’s all gold. You've saved me hours of Googling and second-guessing.

Really appreciate it—you're a legend!