Planning help! Slovenia, Croatia, Sorrento

Posted by jenbarrett7 on 04/20/24 12:29 AM

My husband and I are planning a trip for this July. We will be in Slovenia for a week with 3 nights in Portoroz and 3 nights in Ljubljana. We plan to do Lake Bled, Vintgar Gorge, Predjama Castle, and Postojna Cave. Anything else we should definitely do?
Then we are thinking about heading to Croatia for a few days. This is where I need the most help.

Where should we go if we only have 4 days?
How do we get from Ljubljana to there ^?
Must sees?

I know 4 days isn’t enough time. Just trying to get a taste.

Then my parents are flying out meet us with our kids in Sorrento. So how do we get from wherever in Croatia to Sorrento?

For reference: we’re early 40’s, it’s our 20th anniversary, we enjoy being active, but also like good food and wine!
Thank you!!

Posted by joe32F

Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂

04/20/24 12:59 AM

11185 posts

easyjet has a direct Split-Naples flights, but not daily.

Lauda air ( marketed by ryanair) has Zagreb-Naples flight, but not daily

You have a challenging puzzle to solve .... good luck

Posted by Barbara

Brooklyn, NY

04/20/24 01:44 PM

3856 posts

I would try and stay north, maybe go to Istria. From there you could take a catermaran to Venice. It might be easier to get to Sorrento while in Italy.
If you go to Istria, most people stay in Rovinj, but Poreč is just as nice and also has a catamaran to Venice from its coast. They sail on Tuesday, Thurs, Fri, and Sun @ 7:30am.
From Rovinj they sail Monday, Wed, and Fri @ 7:45 am.

Of course, you could stay in Zagreb for the time and take a day trip to Plitvice Lakes or other places nearby. Then fly to Naples as suggested above. You can take a bus or train from Ljubljana to Zagreb.

I’ll throw another idea out there, stay in Ljubljana for the entire time and take your days trips slowly.
You could save Croatia for another trip when you have more time.

Good luck with your planning, it isn’t always as easy as others say.

PS Look at croatiaferries.com for all connections from Croatia to Italy. They also go Dubrovnik to Bari, Split to Ancona.

Posted by Bill

Lubbock, TX

04/20/24 03:52 PM

402 posts

I think the thing to prioritize with a Croatia schedule is how to get to/from your location. You already have Sorrento booked, and the only place in Croatia you can easily get to Naples from is Zagreb. Zagreb is an easy train ride from Ljubljana. You can also fly to Naples from Split or Dubrovnik, but getting there from Slovenia will take forever. Also, both Split and Dubrovnik will be packed in July. Another possibility depending on how much you want to move around is train to Zagreb (2 nights), fly to Split or Dubrovnik (2 nights), then fly to Naples to get to Sorrento. From Naples you can take a transfer service to Sorrento or take the train from Napoli Centrale. 4 nights in Zagreb might be a lot, since I don't think there's enough there to fill up that many days, but it depends on how you prefer to travel.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

04/21/24 12:23 AM

27155 posts

I would not under any circumstances day trip to Plitvice National Park. It is a beautiful place, but it gets utterly blasted during day-tripping hours to the extent that the experience is seriously degraded. Either spend the night there (seeing part of the park late on your arrival day and the rest of it early the next morning) or hold off until you make your next trip to the area.

Ground-transportation links between Slovenia and Croatia are fairly sparse, but there's reasonably frequent bus and trains service betweeen Ljubljana and Zagreb. Zagreb is a very nice city, but it's not on the coast, which is where most people want to go.

However, since you'll be in Portoroz it would be most logical simply to cross between Slovenian Istria and Croatian Istria. I imagine there's some form of bus transportation from Portoroz to a place in Croatia. If not, a taxi to a town with onward bus transportation shouldn't be terribly expensive.