suggestions for itinerary - Alps + beach (Croatia?)

With just 10-13 days, I think it makes better sense to limit your trip to just Slovenia and Croatia, so Option 2 seems better to me.

I'd recommend staying in Ljubljana and visiting Bled as a day trip. You might also consider skipping Zagreb, not because it's not worth visiting, but just because your time is limited. Maybe if you can get closer to 13 days, you can include Zagreb.

Have you been to Plitvice? If not, an overnight there followed by a morning visit to the park is definitely worth squeezing in.

Neither itinerary has you visiting Hvar or Korcula. Do you plan to do that as day trips from Split? I think you'd enjoy staying on the islands more than daytripping there.

So my suggestion would be something like this:

0-3 nights Zagreb
3-4 nights in Ljubljana (day trip to Bled; also consider a day trip loop through the Julian Alps)
1 night Plitvice
4 nights Hvar and/or Korcula (all in one place, or divided between the two)
2 nights Split, then fly home

I suggest arriving in Split and heading directly to the islands, then going back to Split afterwards so you can fly home from Split without having to travel there first.

I considered Plitvice but it seemed hard to get to/out of the way, so thought it best to take a cheap flight from Zagreb down to Split. I figured we might sail to Hvar or Korcula - are both worthwhile? Alternatively, we could fly to Dubrovnik as the airport is right near Cavtat (beautiful) with a day trip to Mostar. I have a tendency to over plan trips so am trying to not do that this time.

Hi Brenda, It really depends on what you are interested in doing and seeing. There's no right or wrong or best itinerary. There are a lot of options and with the time you have you will need to make some decisions about what to see and what to miss.

Of all the places I visited in Croatia and Slovenia and Bosnia (I had three weeks), it's really hard to say what my favorites were or what I'd cut out if I had to cut the time roughly in half. Plitvice and Mostar are two places I would not skip.

You did say you want some time to relax on the beach. I thought the beaches on Hvar were nicer than on Korcula. There is one beach on Hvar that is actually sandy. Most of them are rocky. I'm not sure what it's called, but if you start in Hvar town and walk to the end of the Riva, past the Franciscan Monastery (which you should stop in and see), and keep going for maybe a quarter mile, you'll come to this nice beach. I also hired one of the boat taxis to give me an hour tour around the area. It's the most beautiful crystal clear water I've ever seen. The boats look like they're floating in midair. Also some fabulous restaurants along the Riva in Hvar.

But I also had one of the best meals of my entire trip in Korcula, at a restaurant called Nonno.

Have you considered renting a car? It will allow you to see more. Makes it pretty easy to get to Plitvice, which is pretty much on the way between Ljubljana and Split. If you fly into Zagreb, rent a car there, then you can drive to Ljubljana and do the Julian Alps loop and go to Bled and then Plitvice and the drop the car in Split before you catch the ferry to the islands.

Firstly, you need to work out if you have 10 or 13 days, as this will impact on your options. Austria is better for a winter visit as there are more winter flight options here.

Mostar and Ljubljana are geographically at opposite ends of your trip - if you don't want to think yourselves too much, you may want to visit one or other. Lake Bled in the height of the summer is far too busy for my taste, but good in early June or September. I would opt for Mostar over Slovenia, given your timescale.

When are you travelling?

I would limit my time in Zagreb, unless you have longer, but it's your holiday, not mine!

Ljubljana is a small compact city and can be seen in a day - have a day trip to Lake Bled from here, so 3 nights Ljubljana allowing a day to get there.

Ideally, to visit Plitvice, it would be best to stay. the night before, so that you can get in early when the park opens.

Split - there is plenty for at least one full day looking round here and another for a day trip to nearby Trogir.

Personally, if you have the time, I would head to Hvar for 3 nights for your beach time - I prefer to stay in Stari Grad or Jelsa to Hvar town - just as charming, but without the partying masses and the noise. Much of the accommodation has a 3 night minimum stay and opt for an apartment rather than a hotel, of which there are plenty - see Trip Advisor rentals or Booking.com, not Airbnb for the best value.

The joy of Croatia is having the time to look round places properly and take in the local life, not dash around with single night stays everywhere, which sounds what you are looking for. Remember that with public transport, it will take approximately half a day to travel between most locations.

Here's another alternative idea: How about flying into Venice? If I'm not mistaken, there are direct flights from Philadelphia. You could rent a car there, drive into the Julian Alps, visit lakes Bled and Bohinj, visit Ljubljana, then make your way down to Istria and spend a few nights at a northern island, such as Losinj, Rab or Pag and make your way down to Zadar before returning via Plitvice. You could still simply drive down to Sibenik or Split and go to Brac or Hvar, but I wouldn't do that with less than 13 days. With 10 days, I'd stick to the north or the south, not both.

To be honest, if your primary reason to go to Split is to enjoy the seaside, there is absolutely no need to go that far south. There are some excellent beaches in the north, too - the whole Kvarner Gulf is incredibly scenic IMO. The only "catch" is that you'll be sharing the beaches with European tourists, as Americans, Canadians, etc. have yet to discover them.

I was going to say the same thing - try flying to Venice, it's often inexpensive and the airport is rather quiet (planes land on time).
get on the train to Trieste - 1.5 hrs away - which is a wonderful city to spend a night at least and a gateway to many Slovenia/Croatia cruises and ferries.

I've flown into Venice to get to Slovenia before and will again soon. It does work pretty well. The last time, I took a shuttle bus directly from the airport to Ljubljana (look into GoOpti, but I used DRD). I am planning to go via Trieste next time.

I probably wouldn't rent a car in Venice unless you can return it in Italy at the end: otherwise, expect a huge drop-off fee in Slovenia or Croatia. Could be hundreds of Euros. Flying to Zagreb is in that case easier because you can rent a car upon arrival and drive to Slovenia, then return the car elsewhere in Croatia at the end.

Slovenia does have a small coastline and some nice towns. Piran is a real gem - I went swimming there.

Plitvice is really amazing and well worth any extra effort to get there. Between Zagreb and Split, you can take public buses to/from the park. There is also at least one service that will do a one day one way "tour of Plitvice" starting in Zagreb and ending in Split (or the other way around), though I have not used them myself. Easy to find with a web search.

But as has been pointed out here before, Plitvice gets a lot of tour groups and especially mid-day it can get unpleasantly crowded, even worse in the summer. So the ideal situation is to stay over a night and get into the park first thing in the morning when it opens (7am in season) and explore it for a few hours before the big groups arrive. Arrive late afternoon the first day, see part of the park that day, stay over, and see the rest the next morning. Otherwise, you can get the gist of the park in about 5-6 hours. The "one day one way" tour would be better off season; I probably wouldn't want to be in Plitvice mid-day in the summer, must be miserable with too many people.

FYI, if you skip Plitvice, there is a direct train between Zagreb and Split. It isn't a quick ride, but when you factor in time to get to the airport, arriving early enough to check bags, then getting from Split airport to the center of town, flying doesn't necessarily save a whole lot of time.

Wow, there is a lot of good information to think about here - thanks to all of you for your suggestions. FWIW, on our last trip to Croatia, I did consider flying to Venice but could not figure out how to get to Slovenia by train easily. So my understanding is that we could fly to Venice and take a train to Trieste? Venice airport is not a good memory because it was actually challenging for us to get in/out (dragging luggage on water taxis in the pouring down rain. Funny what sours a travel experience.)

I am actively trying not to overplan this vacation and leave room at the end for a couple days on the beach to relax. I'll check into Pirin. I chose Split only because I've heard it's supposed to be nice with beautiful water... I am not a beach person by nature but I do like to spend a few days on the water in interesting places (Cavtat was stunning, the water crystal clear) - but I wouldn't go out of my way just to swim somewhere.

thanks for all of your help!

Brenda

If you'll be flying back from Venice, too, then you could simply rent a car for the whole trip. Otherwise, it depends on your itinerary. The least-hassle option is to book a shuttle transfer with a company like GoOpti. If you're going to Istria, you could also take a train to Trieste and then a bus to Piran/Rovinj/Pula. There are regular buses from the airport to the Mestre (mainland) train station. No need to worry about the water taxis, you wouldn't be using them unless you planned on revisiting the lagoon.

Another beach/island option, instead of Hvar, is the tiny island of Vis. You reach it via ferry from Split. It has a little fishing village called Komiza that is absolutely gorgeous. There have been several recent threads on this forum about Vis that can give you more information ... look for one about a honeymoon.

We have taken the train from Venice to Trieste-- from there you could travel to Ljubjlana, then a train to Zagreb, a bus to Plitvice & then to Split. Ferry to Vis & back to Split & fly home from there?

Brenda,
I would second the advice of spending the night in the Plitvice hotel the night before your visit, also to enter the park early for your visit. You do have a choice of a shorter or longer "tour." I would take the shorter tour to avoid the "glut" of tour bus patrons totally blocking the boardwalks to take photos.
Pam from Bath

Thanks to everyone for your helpful comments. As it happens, turns out that my new job will be taking me to Edinburgh, Scotland, so my husband and I have decided to tour around the UK instead. We will definitely get back to Slovenia and Croatia, though, so this info is helpful for next year's trip.

Sincerely
Brenda