Hi,
We're renting a car in two weeks outside of Rovinj @ Enterprise around 12pm and was curious if there were any recommendations on places to stop on the way to Plitvice (we're staying in Plitvica Selo). I see a few comments about Opatija for being a nice coastline.
Any comments about the drive, tolls, good places to stop for views, food, anything welcome
Thanks!
Opatija isn't a bad place to stop. I stopped there on the way to Zadar. I wouldn't say I loved Opatija - it's an old Austrian spa town with big Austrian villas and a pretty seaside park. It felt pretty glitzy and expensive. I think I spent only an hour there. If you want to spend more time, you can walk along the Lungomare - a long seaside walking path connecting towns. (I had already done some of that walk previously.
The drive between Plitvice and Rovinj is easy. I don't recall any tolls. I also stayed the night in Opatija - a great midway point - and enjoyed a morning walk on the lungomare.
Having just done this a few days ago, I’d ask how much time you have and what your interests are. In Istria, we stopped at Buzet, which has a silent, ancient old town surrounded by a small city. I’ve read that there’s a town called Dvrograd, about 20 minutes from Rovinj that’s an abandoned, ancient town. We didn’t have time to search it out, but if you do, please let us know how it was. I like Groznjan. It’s pretty and green, if a bit heavy on the truffle shops. Outside of Livade, there’s a restaurant called Konoba Dolina that’s very good. Continuing on the highway, we had one toll for 33Kn. From there we used google maps, which took us crazy out of the way, but if you’d like to see some war ruins (damaged, abandoned house with lots of bullet holes), try Plaski and Liska. Be aware that this route also covers lots of back roads, which can be very slow. This route also took us in the back way to the park, so we saw a lot of wooded hills, and had a few hair raising episodes with trucks on one lane roads hugging cliffs. Some people love that sort of thing.... Opatija was our overnight stop from Rovinj to Plitvice, but we didn’t do anything special there. It was easy to get to the “centar” where the big hotels are, but confirm yours has parking.
