First timer

August can be unbearably hot and humid in most of the Mediterranean, you would want to keep to the northern Mediterranean as much as possible.

You could do: Catalonia (Barcelona) - Languedoc - Provence - Piedmont - Lombardy - Veneto - Slovenia (Ljubljana) - Croatia (Split).

Hi Suzanne, as you have posted here before, you know we are only lowly fellow travelers. Having such a vague jumping off point and asking us to make recommendations may be more than some have time or energy to contribute to.

As mentioned, the Med is hot in August, and of course, also at its most expensive. Your dollar may go further the farther east you go from Barcelona.

I like to look at rome2rio website for plotting routes and seeing travel options. I would enter 'Barcelona to Split' and see what cities/countries are enroute by train or bus. If any places look interesting, jot them down for an itinerary.
But research what countries are more expensive (Monaco, Switzerland), and look at some test price some Airbnb. Budget may depend on how you use AirBnB. Many European countries have locally owned 2 star hotels that are quite affordable for solo travelers. Pension, Pensione, hostal (not hostel). Booking dot com will offer these as well as b&bs as well as apartments and traditional hostels. As another solo traveler, even though hostels offer single rooms as well as bunk rooms, I generally find other lodgings for cheaper than a single hostel room.
Staying outside of primary tourist 'big name' cities, might help with budget.

I ran another Train itinerary that looks varied and interesting: Barcelona, Montpellier FR, Nice FR, Genoa IT, Milan IT, Option South to Rome, or North to Munich, then south to Zagreb, Split and extend to Dubrovnik.

Barcelona tends to have pretty moderate temperatures by summer-on-the-Med standards, but it can be humid. I was there during early August 2016, and I had several days in the lower 80s F that felt like they were close to 90F because of the humidity. I'd say it's not a great time of year for Barcelona. The same with the southern coast of France. Anywhere in France you have the issue that the French themselves may be on the move as well as the summer travelers from elsewhere.

With eight days committed to getting to, being in or departing from Split, that leaves you 13 to 20 days for the rest of the trip. Thirteen days would be pretty limiting, so I hope you can make it 20.

For a slow traveler, Barcelona needs at least 5 real (non-jetlagged) days. I had 9 days in the city itself plus 2 days in Girona and some extra time elsewhere in Catalunya. I didn't even see all that I wanted in Barcelona.

You could easily spend about 14 days in Provence and along the Riviera--even more if you include Languedoc.

But if you're going to Split (not the easiest place to fly home from, I imagine), I think you should see more of Croatia and Slovenia. Some time in the Dolomites would fit fairly well geographically with Slovenia and Croatia, and it would prevent your dealing with super-hot weather for the entire trip. You could fly into Milan and head east from there.

Thanx so much for the suggestions so far...gives me a great starting point and similar to what I’ve been thinking (including the expense and weather in August!!). The trip is based around my commitment in Split; however, I haven’t signed on the dotted line for that yet so postponing is not out of the question...though would prefer to “just do it”.

Thanx again:)

Hello acraven:). I didn’t see your post until I posted my reply...I love your suggestion as Slovenia is “bucket list” material, and less traveleling/more staying with your suggested itinerary. Going to do a bit more research on this.

Many thank you’s for this!

hi
l can't really comment on your itinerary because I've never been to the places you're going, but I will say I like to stay in as nice of a hotel that I can afford to start or end my trip, so I can pamper myself just a little, especially if I'm "traveling rough" for most other parts of the trip. Food for thought.

OK, you have to be in Split but otherwise I don't know about your itinerary and August. It sounds little bit masochistic. And AC is not everywhere like here. If I were in your shoes my itinerary would look something like this: Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Baltic republics, Switzerland. Of course not all of it but I would be choosing from these options. Nowadays I don't go to other European countries in summer. Central Europe used to be pleasant in summer. Now with global warming it's one heatwave after another. Southern Europe used to be hot in summer but not so unbearable like now. Well, Split will be little bit out of your way but what can you do?