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Itinerary help SOS! Slovenia, Istria, and "Zadar replacement."

Hello everybody,

I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure out this stage of my itinerary and could do with the wisdom of some less-frazzled, more-traveled heads. ;) There is too much to see in too little time, and my two "want most to see" places in the region (Ljubliana and Zadar) are inconveniently far away from each other. I need some help committing to an area and then settling on specifics.

I have eight days on my own between the end of RS tour (Nice) and needing to be in Trieste by 9 July (meeting friends for a short cruise, so no sightseeing after the 9th). I've wanted to see Ljubliana for a long time, and Trieste sounds like my kind of city (lots of history, museums, overlapping cultures, good food), so this sounded great. But I also really want to see Zadar, which also ticks all my history-traveling boxes and has the Dalmatian coast). I could do both--fly to Zadar from Nice, spend a few days there, and then make my way north, but that seems too hectic and too much time on planes and buses (the ferry schedule from Zadar isn't cooperating and I won't be renting a car).

I know the answer to this (very much not tragic dilemma) is to skip Zadar and stick to points north. I would like a day or two at a quieter (not urban) coastal spot. I know that Croatia and "Slovenian Istria" (is that an actual term?) offer lots of possibilities, but I'm having trouble actually picking places. Perhaps because this will be my first trip since Covid, and possibly my last trip for a while, I'm feeling extra stress to "get it right." Also, if this makes sense, I'd like a place with a bit of a "history/culture" tourism infrastructure (museums, well-established day or walking tours, etc.). I don't know enough about the area to really "interpret" it without help, and multiple private tours aren't in the budget.

Apologies for sounding so scattered. As I said, this is driving me crazy and as it gets closer, I'm getting more frazzled and finding it even harder to commit. Thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Posted by
26831 posts

I wonder whether GoOpti makes runs as far south as Zadar and, if so, how affordable it might be to use that company to shuttle you from Zadar to Ljubljana.

Or since you can give yourself a couple of days or so in coastal Trieste before you embark on the cruise, you might consider hitting Zagreb (rather than Zadar) on this trip. Zagreb's a very nice city with a bi-level historic center and lots of museums, and it's nicely connected to Ljubljana by both train and bus. Zadar could be part of another trip (I know you said there might not be another one soon) that includes Plitvice Lakes National Park, Split, Dubrovnik and maybe an island or two.

Posted by
3777 posts

I’ve been to Zadar and it isn’t as interesting as Zagreb. Or as large. It’s probably my least favorite city along the coast. Zagreb has much more to see and do, although many of the museums in the lower town weren’t open or renovated since the earthquake. We were last there in September 2021 and no work had even begun yet. I would check their websites. You could also visit Rijeka, Lovran, Volosko, and Opatija, which are only about an hour from Trieste. Also, in Solvenia you can relax a few days on the coast at Piran. Koper is a port city (containers) and not very interesting.

Posted by
26831 posts

I liked Zadar when I spent the night there in 2015, but I was basically in transit from Kotor to Zagreb, so I just had part of an afternoon and part of the next morning in Zadar. I don't know that I'd have found more than a day's worth of stuff to do there if I'd stayed longer, even walking around slowly. But then again, I'm not much interested in pre-20th-century history.

Posted by
293 posts

Thank you for your suggestions! I'm feeling a little calmer about this now. I think I will leave Zadar for another time (hopefully not too far in the future and orient myself northward toward Zagreb and its museums--perhaps I'll do a short trip to Rijeka for a dose of coastline.

Caroline

Posted by
3039 posts

Zadar is a very small town, with a little of interest, but not really much. I'd not be all that adamant about seeing it.

You can use FlixBus to get from Zadar to Ljubljana, however. It's $28, but is an 8 hour trip.

The better choice is Zagreb, which has a lot of great museums (which may not be open). We've been 4 times, and there's always something going on. It's a 3 hr train ride from Ljubljana.