Help: Salzburg - Slovenia/Croatia - Budapest - 9 days - TOO MUCH?

It is too much to be able to enjoy it. Drop at least one of your destination. Which one depends on the season you will be there.

I read this post after responding to your other post regarding going to Istria or Slovenia. Now that I see this one, I more enthusiastically encourage you do go to Ljubljana, as it is more central to Salzburg and Budapest. Also, don't forget to factor in the drive time from Salzburg to Ljubljana. It's a long, and slightly stressful drive (the road through the alps is narrow with steep edges). I wouldn't say it's dangerous and wouldn't discourage you from doing the drive, it's just a long one that requires slow driving. Good luck planning!

I affirm what Jordan says.... we arrived in the lake bled area after dark and found signage to be small and largely not illuminated......we had a FABULOUS visit, but the drive was a tad stressful. paragliding and hiking easily available in lake bled.....plus those little wooden dollies you ride down ski hills in the summer........

Take a look at Rome2rio.com to get an idea of travel distances, means of transportation, and then decide if your plan is too much. There's so much o do in each location, you may decide to narrow it a bit.

Thanks, all. We will be traveling the first of August. The thought for Croatia was more raw coastal area to explore, hike, and kayak with great views, but seems we could get the same-ish experiences in Slovenia, just without the coast.

And the other thought was the drop the Alps. Just can't decide which destination to cut. We don't want to spend a lot of time traveling to for similar experiences (ie Slovenia/Croatia)

Its a pretty spread out trip for so few days. Budapest is the biggest stretch I guess and 2 days is sort of minimal for all the effort to get there. If Budapest is important then you might want to look at some wilderness experiences in the High Tatras of Slovakia in lieu of the Alps and try and pull your trip more to the east. I love the Tatras and here you can hike and ride the rapids all within short trips of some pretty spectacular castles and wonderful towns and villages. Then train to Vienna and Budapest. 5 years ago it was Croatia, this year it seems to be Slovenia, I suspect in a few years it will be Slovakia that's on everyone's list.

I agree with trading away coastal Croatia for more quality time in Slovenia; you won't run out of things to do. Don't forget the unusual beekeeping museum in Radovljica.

Actually, in thinking about it, I would trade away Budapest and Salzburg. You have a good trip up the coast to Slovenia and the territory seems to fit your activity desires. I would add it Montenegro and Bosnia to your trip. I love Budapest (sitting there right now), but save it for when you can combine it with something in the same general location: Prague, Vienna, Krakow, Romania, Slovakia, etc and you will get more bang for your buck.

I won't comment on Croatia/Slovenia since I haven't been there. If you've not been to Budapest before, then going for 2 nights (1 full day) is hardly worth the travel time to get there. Save it for when you have more time - I think you need at least 4 nights (3 full days) to make it worthwhile. If you've been there before then forget what I said.

As much as I love Slovenia, I wouldn't agree with the previous posters that you can substitute Slovenia over Croatia. While Slovenia has plenty that Croatia can't offer, Croatia has the Adriatic Sea, coastal culture, and Dubrovnik,none of which have comparisons in Slovenia. If you can, I'd recommend trying to go to both Slovenia and Croatia. I've never been to Budapest, but based on where it's located, I would skip it this trip. I'd also probably skip Salzburg because there's so much to see in Slovenia and Croatia and it sounds like you've only got 9 nights. Perhaps check out RS's book on Slovenia and Croatia and it will give you a good idea for how much time you feel like you would like to devote to that area.

I was in all 3 places in October. My 2 favorites were Slovenia and Budapest. For the food, things to see/do, but mostly for the people.

if you like the outdoors and food then Slovenia is the place for you.
Great hiking and delicious food. In Ljubljana take a food tour, cheap and great food.

Budapest is a great city as well, lots to do and also very good food.

Croatia we liked but not as much as the other two, we will have to go back one day and try it again, cause we did not fall in love this time.

If you have 9 nights i would spend 5 in Slovenia, 1 in Ljubljana, 2 in Bled and 2 in Bovec/Kobarid
You definetely need a car for Slovenia, but super easy to drive there and distances are short.

And then i would drop the car and train to Budapest.

If you want help with hikes or anything else, you can PM me.

Martine, you mentioned the good people. Bottom line, its the people that we meet along the way that makes or breaks a trip for us. I enjoy Budapest because since my first trip here more than a dozen years ago I have felt at home and welcomed. If you can get past the strange language, the scared buildings and just look attitudes, norms and quality of the people; then Budapest reminds me very much of my memories of culture and life in the U.S. in the 60's and 70's and maybe that's why I keep returning. Read my last post here https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/itinerary-for-3-days-in-budapest

What isn't really mentioned above, is that Slovenia does have a coast and Piran is a real gem that should not be missed. One of the best reasons to visit Slovenia is its diversity. Ljubljana is a lovely Austrian-feeling town with a nice riverside culture; Lake Bled is a beautiful Alpine region; the coast, Piran, is a lovely Mediterranean/Venetian town (buy salt and olive oil there!). When we were in Slovenia the first time, it really surprised when we crested a hill on the way to the coast and the entire geography/trees, etc changed immediately. It was like we went from the green alps to the tile roofed/olive grove Med.

When we have been, we have used Ljubljana as a base and made days trips all over the country. The country is so small, and if you have a car, you can get pretty much anywhere in the country in about 1.5 hours.

My suggestion would be to base yourself for 4 nights in Ljubljana, makes days trip to Lake Bled, Piran, the caves, Ptuj, endless possibilities.

Bottom line - you can have Istria (Piran) and Slovenia.

All of this said - you should be sure to get back to Croatian Istria at some point as it is absolutely gorgeous.