Itinerary Feedback: Croatia and Italy

This looks like a pretty good outline for starters. A couple things to note:

Plitvice is really wonderful. Your concerns are appropriate if your little ones are walking on their own - there are no guard rails on most of the boardwalks, so an excited toddler who is not restrained could easily run right off the edge and into the water. That said, it's a very special place, so...I can't help but wonder if there might be a way to deal with this (I'm sure there are plenty of families with toddlers who go there every year - how do they manage it?).

Note that ferry schedules are highly seasonal - outside the "highs season" roughly early June through end of August) ferry schedules diminish, some ferries stop running entirely. Check carefully to be sure any ferries you're counting on will be running when you need them.

Depending on your route, you will probably find many, many more/better options flying out of Milan than Florence.

Looks like a very practical itinerary: the first-half, being faster than the second-half.

Towards the end of your Croatia portion, you may want to be flexible and allow a night or, two to spend in Slovenia. Some friends have expressed a bit of exasperation at what they perceived as a lot of sameness when traveling up the Croatian coast. Slovenia can provide that break, you're in the area, it's an opportunity, just sayin.

3nts in Venice is more than enough for a first-time visit.

10nts total in Tuscany (4-Firenze + 6) is a lot of time. Will you have a car for this portion or, rely on trains? If car, perhaps renting villa, say outside of Lucca, which is between Cinque Terre & Florence; while Florence is 30-40min away by train. A villa around Siena would place you in the Southern-end of Tuscany and adjacent to Umbria.

I disagree that 3 nights is "more than enough" time in Venice. It is just enough. That's only two full days in the city. Less than that and you'll just be moving in lockstep with all the other visitors and will probably not enjoy yourselves.

Although 3 nights in Rovinj is doable, I think 4 would be much better. There are several other interesting coastal cities, plus inland towns like Groznjan and Motovun. You'll probably be moving rather slowly with the kids, and I think the extra day would be good.

Ten days is a lot of time in one region, so I think you could spare one day from Tuscany.

I haven't been to Krka so I can't say how well it will work with two young children. I don't think Plitvice would be a good idea. Even if you attack it smartly (spending the night before your visit near the park so you can enter at opening time), it will be busy during the latter part of your time, and it's true that most of the over-water walkways have no railings at all. Your youngest would have to be in a backpack-carrier, and I think a 3-year-old would be walking so slowly as to be an impediment to others. There is no "passing lane" on those walkways, which are bi-directional.

As I recall, the Venice catamaran leaves in the morning. (I think it's designed for day trippers to Venice, not day trippers to Croatia.) The good news about that is that you'd get a little more time in Venice (3 nights being barely enough for a first visit). The bad news is you have limited time in Rovinj, which is a delightful town just really small. You won't need much time to see it. In fact, you might consider stopping a night along the Kvarner Gulf near Rijeka and Opatija (but try a little town like Lovran), because of the beach options there that the kids might enjoy. There are beaches up by Rovinj too, but what are you really planning to do for three nights there with kids? I'm not sure I'd want to drag young kids on a tour of the inland Istrian towns like Groznjan (my favorite of the towns), but maybe you would.

I hope you give yourselves at least a couple of hours in Split to wander around Diocletian's Palace (mostly shops in the ruins but still pretty interesting). I really loved Sibenik, but it's not a town that's going to require tons of time either. And it's not so far north from Split that it breaks up the drive north very much, really. I guess you could stop at Skradin, take the boat from there up to the big Skradinski Buk (waterfall) at Krka, and then stay in nearby Sibenik. You could also just stay in Skradin depending on the timing.

I think a stop in Slovenia would be great - it's a wonderful, underrated country - but I don't see how you really have time.

Your itinerary looks wonderful. We were in Venice at the end of August before starting our RS Adriatic Tour in early September. I have to agree with another contributor to spend about 4 nights in Venice, especially with young children. We started out in Ljubljana Slovenia and enjoyed 4 nights. It's our newest favorite city! Very walkable, & pedestrian friendly. They also provide a free ride service called Kavalir. We spent a day in lovely Rovinj. It warrants a few days for sure. Have to say Korcula was our favorite island! Walkable, scenic, & small island. Very conducive for a family. A place to slow down and relax. We were there 2 nights, but 3 nights would be even better! As far as Dubronik, we enjoyed the 2 nights there. We toured the old city in the am. By noon the cruise ship crowd "emerged."

Enjoy your planning!

I appreciate the feedback so far!

A few responses:

• Slovenia sounds wonderful, but I do not think it is realistic for this trip.

• I'm going to consider adding a 4th day to Venice. I agree 10 days in Florence/Tuscany seems long. I supposed my goal with this is to slow down and really be able to enjoy Florence without rushing (maybe even allow some "rest" time). I'd also like to explore many of the hill towns but know that our pace will be slow with young ones and naps. I'm open to more feedback here.

• With how I am thinking the the itinerary, we would have 2 full days in Rovinj. I'm not sure how much we will really get out to explore this area so I'm not sure yet if we should give more time to this area.

Rovinj itself is relatively small. What I did via public transportation was take a bus to Vrsar (small hilltop town on the coast) and then on to Porec, a larger coastal city. Porec looks and feels very different from Rovinj. I did not go to Pula, not being a great fan of Roman ruins. If you don't want to drive, Groznjan/Motovun might not be very practical. I took a once-a-week bus tour into the interior in order to see those two towns on the same day. Otherwise, I think I would only have been able to see one of them by public bus.

With a car, you'd be able to get around a lot better, but I am clueless about the parking situation in Rovinj, Porec and Pula.