STRUGGLING on Croatia/Slovenia + more timing and schedule

Croatia and Slovenia are both breathtaking. Fortunately, Slovenia is compact and you can easily drive from Ljubljana to Lake Bled in 45 minutes. From Bled, It’s another 1:15 drive to Skocjan Caves or a 1 hour drive to Postojna Cave. You could easily start out from Ljubljana, stop in Lake Bled and continue another 30 minutes to Lake Bohinj which is actually inside Triglav National Park. Lake Bohinj is peaceful and uncrowded whereas Lake Bled is one of those overtouristed venues I like to avoid. I stayed in Ribcev Laz near Lake Bohinj and biked around the area with views of turquoise lakes and mountains.
From Lake Bohinj, it’s a 90-minute drive to Postojna Caves and a further 30 minutes to Skocjan Caves. ( Skocjan Caves are just incredible).
Skadar National Park is in Montenegro— not Slovenia or Croatia — and it’s a long haul far from anywhere else in your itinerary. Also, I’m not sure if you’re aware renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another country will incur the notorious “ one way drop-off charge” which can easily add up to one thousand dollars ( yes—$1,000)! to the rental car cost. You definitely want to research this before committing to an itinerary that might have this surcharge.
Europcar and Sixt are two car rental companies that will allow you to drive into Montenegro— for an additional fee. Note that there will be a delay at the border with all the paperwork reviews by border officials when you want to cross the border with a rental car.
Putting that issue aside for the moment— so you can relax on your anniversary holiday and not be stressed out by driving the entire time—I would suggest returning the car in Ljubljana and taking the 2-hour train to Zagreb.
From Zagreb it’s a 90-minute bus ride to Plitvice Lakes National Park ( PLNP). From PLNP it’s a 3.5-hour bus ride to Split.
Staying overnight at one of the government-run National Park lodges ( there are 3) allows you to buy a two-day admission for the price of one day to PLNP during the afternoon of the arrival day and again the next morning on check-out day. This allows you to see the park after all the daytrippers have mostly left on day 1 and before they arrive on day 2. It’s really the only way to enjoy PLNP without the crowds it’s noted for.
The best part of Croatia on the Dalmatian Coast is that you can take ferries or high-speed catamarans from Split to Hvar (1- hour by catamaran) to Korcula ( 90 minutes by catamaran) and then to Dubrovnik (2 hours) by catamaran.
The Krilo catamaran is the one to take.
www.Krilo.hr/en
www.AutoEurope.com
www.Skyscanner.com

I am a little confused also, so am trying to set an order to this.
Friday: arrive Ljubljana
4 nights (Fri-Mon) Slovenia
Tues head to Zagreb and rent a car

Then you have 9 nights in Croatia, with the final Wed. being wherever you fly from.
Thurs fly to London
Friday fly home.

An easy path would be Zagreb to Plitvice, Plitvice to Split (return the car), ferry to Dubrovnik (decide it you want an island stop on the way). There are all kinds of ways to do this, but maybe:
Tues night: Zagreb 1 night (and get the car Wednesday)
Wed night: Plitvice 1 night
Thurs & Fri nights: Split 2 nights
Sat & Sun nights: Island 2 nights
Mon-Wed nights: Dubrovnik 3 nights

You could also skip either Zagreb or an island stop and spread those nights elsewhere.

And are you talking about the Skadar Lake National Park that is in Montenegro? You don’t have time for that. But do go sometime!

Kenko - I am so grateful for your thoughtful reply! It sounds like Slovenia would be pretty straightforward to navigate, even if we based in Ljubljana and did day trips with the car. Lake Bohinj sounds like much more of our jam. I dont think I realized that the one way fee in a different country was so steep, so thank you for that! Sounds like we likely should just give the car back in Ljubljana and then get a different car in Zagreb to drop in Dubrovnik - a quick glance shows a $70 one way fee since same country, which I could stomach. Is Zagreb worth a night or two to explore? It's so tough since there's so many places to go.

We REALLY want to do Skadar if that is doable - I didn't want to make the title too long and forgot to include Montenegro in that title- but it sounds like theres an additional fee for that - is that a pretty hefty amount? I have no issue doing an overnight there towards the tail end before ending up in Dubrovnik.

Is the Dubrovnik or Split coastline much different than Korcula/Hvar? We live in FL so we are used to beaches (gratefully). Elevation/hiking is our thing when we are gone, but we appreciate amazing sights.

Texas Travel Mom - Thank you so much as well! I am tired, so I probably didn't write it out as clearly as I had imagined.

Is there any universe where you see Skadar being an option? We REALLY want to experience it if at all possible. Could we sub it for those island nights?

What would be your go to option for getting from Ljubljana to Zagreb? Is there a particular train or bus you'd suggest?

I'm a Zagreb fan. The city has a very attractive, bi-level historic center and looks quite different from Ljubljana (which is another attractive capital city). The last I heard many of the large museums in Zagreb hadn't reopened after the earthquake several years ago (I haven't checked that), but there are some nice, small museums in the historic district if you like that sort of thing. The Museum of Broken Relationships is a lot of fun.

If you make it all the way to Lake Skadar, I hope you'll be able to travel by way of the Bay of Kotor--though the driver won't get the full benefit of the fjord-like views there. That bay is one of Montenegro's top scenic highlights.

Lest there be doubt: The capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, is considerably less interesting than its name. Among the many more worthwhile towns in Montenegro are Herceg Novi, Cetinje, Kotor, Budva and Ulcinj. I'm not a fan of Perast, but quite a number of others here are.

Skadar National Park is a 3.5-hour drive from Dubrovnik, so it is doable and I think you should go there because it’s on the top of your list. As the adage says: “…..Let me do it now… for I may not pass this way again….”
While in Dubrovnik, take the 15-minute boat from Dubrovnik’s Old Town to the island just offshore—Lokrum National Park. You can easily spend a day hiking here because it has a 15th-century Monastery where the IRON THRONE from the Game of Thrones is now. After they filmed scenes here, HBO left the Iron Throne here for all to enjoy. You can not only see it at no cost— you can sit on the throne (!) and take some great pix of each other.

Lokrum has beautiful pine forests, beaches and a fort ( “Fort Royal”) that Napolean had built after he added Dubrovnik to his list of conquests. From Fort Royal you can get great pix of Dubrovnik just a few miles away in the distance.
Have a great trip!

Skadar National Park is a 3.5-hour drive from Dubrovnik, so it is
doable and I think you should go there because it’s on the top of your
list. As the adage says: “…..Let me do it now… for I may not pass this
way again….”

The sad thing is you pass through one of the most beaufitul contires without seeing the best of it. A country full of everything that the OP is looking for .... more so than Croatia I believe. Or at least with fewer tourists. See it if you need to or better wait until you can see the entire country.

I just cut and paste this from another thread as an example of what you will drive past and not see:

• Perast, 1 night here is sweet, and you can do a day trip to Kotor if you make it 2 nights. https://youtu.be/q2nckBnc7_M?si=CohK_4nsI6l7chEB
• Stari Bar, to visit on the way to Ulcinj, maybe not to stay. https://youtu.be/OBU56OT78fw?si=tzF65lSmOXSEpWKZ
• Ulcinj, 2 or 3 nights https://youtu.be/SBY7G9HHw5s?si=wjPy2V0P1mhua7Cs
• Tara River Canyon, 1 or 2 nights (Motel Tara MB) https://youtu.be/9aGMZB8hB5Y?si=NFKsf6YtGAX2uVCa
• Ostrog Monastery, 1 night (Hotel & Restaurant Sokoline) https://youtu.be/ixrJu6qv46M?si=WML9Hs2hOQCsKZwE AND https://youtu.be/miNV1FVK7qI?si=iZC_lViMUEk6JGI
• Budva: 1 night, Sure or 2 nights https://youtu.be/GF7hyxB8Xq4?si=re2lmDTm5pRNpioH

My husband and I went to Croatia for our honeymoon, and we loved it so much (and felt we missed so much with two weeks) that we returned three more times, and we'll definitely go again at some point.
The flights are booked, so to me, that means make a trip out of the places between the two airports because the most important thing to me is to maximize the time I have. If you really feel you will never ever get back, then put your dream spot to the top of the list (maybe fly from one of the northern spots if possible?), but I guarantee there are spectacular places in Croatia that you are going to pass right by.
What is it about Skadar that made it such a priority? Maybe some of us can suggest an alternative.

In response to ACraven about the museums in Zagreb, they are slowly reopening after renovations. If you are interested in any, I would check each one’s websites.

I have not been to Zagreb yet, so I have no advice to offer. With only 4 weeks for Croatia, I gave 5 nights to Slovenia instead and it got Zagreb’s time. Edit: plus I had a car the entire time. I am also no help with busses or trains.

Skadar Lake is beautiful and worth seeing. But so is much more in Montenegro. I would ask what your plan is once you arrive. Sometimes it comes down to practicalities. If you return your car in Split and use the ferries, you will need another car from Dubrovnik. An hour to rent (cause that is never fast), a 3 1/2 hr drive (probably doable), then 30 min to park in Virpazar, then a 2 hour boat ride, and return. Not my idea of an enjoyable day trip - plus the driver has trouble enjoying the scenery.

If it truly is a must see (and Kenko is right, we never know the future), then skip some of Croatia and plan to stay a few nights in Montenegro. acraven is right about Podgorica but I know a cute B&B between the lake and city - and an amazing winery right there. If you have 2 nights, you would have time to stop along the way as you drive the Bay of Kotor, then spend a day for lake and winery (or 2). Pick a spot to stop for a night on the way back (or there as desired).

OR stay a night on the way there, 2 nights near the lake, and fly to London from Podgorica if one way drop off isn’t too high or if you have a driver.

Maybe some variation of:
4 nights Slovenia
1 night Plitvice
2 nights Split
2 nights Dubrovnik
2 nights (one full day) near Skadar
1 night along the way back (you could skip this and add the night elsewhere earlier - just your priorities. Watch some of Mr. É’s videos.)
1 night before flight. (If you fly from Podgorica, you would have this night available elsewhere.)

That’s a lot of moving around.

We did a similar trip. We spent 2 nights in Ljubljana (bike tour was fun), then rented a car and spent two nights up in Kobarid to see the ww1 museum and take a white water kayaking lesson. We stopped at Lake Bled on the way. We returned the car to Ljubljana and took the train to Rijeka where we rented our Croatia wheels. From there we did all the visits we wanted - in our case, Rovinj, mountaintop towns, Plitvice, Split (where we paid to park that rental - Oh well - few plans are perfect), Mostar, Kotor and then returned the car in Dubrovnik to fly out, visiting Dubrovnik, of course, and doing both kayak and bike tours.

There was significant driving, I guess, but the train from Slovenia to Croatia took away one of the big potential drives.

2 nights (one full day) near Skadar

At least, cause you are going to spend 7 hours on the road and gawd knows how much on a rental. I would suggest if you are going to do such a thing that you hire a transfer service. And yes, the use of the Podgorica airport vs Dubrovnik makes a lot of sense. Then maybe you could stop in Ulcij or Stari Bar or ....... Croatia is beautiful. Montenegro is Croatia before the tourists found it.

Plitvice ......... dont even get me started. And Split? Okay, maybe in May before the drunk european university trustfund brats show up en mass..... maybe .....