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Northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia Late September/Early October

Posted by (Mozambique) on

Hi everyone

I will be traveling from the 25th of September to the 4th of October, covering northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. These are the options for my itinerary:
Option 1
- 25th Arrive in Milan at 11h05 a.m local time, travel to Mantova by Train
- 27th early morning Mantova to Ljublijana by Flix Bus
- 28th stay in Ljubliana
- 29th book a tour to Plitvice, or go to Plitvice via Zagreb an Back
- 30th lunch time, bus (train?) to Piran
- 1st Piran
- 2nd Piran - Rovinj
- 4th Rovinj to Venice
Option 2
- 25th Arrive in Milan at 11h05 a.m local time, travel to Mantova by Train
- 27th early morning Mantova to Rovinj by Flix Bus
- 28th stay in Rovinj
- 29th Rovinj - Piran
- 30th lunch time, bus (train?) to Ljublijana
- 1st Ljubliana
- 2nd Ljubliana
- 3rd book a tour to Plitvice, or go to Plitvice via Zagreb an Back
- 4th Ljubliana to Venice

I am however, finding conflicting information about the routes Lujubliana - Piran, Piran to Rovinj, Ljubliana to Rovinj, as far as public transport goes.
Questions:
1. Which of the itineraries you find better and easier to move around?
2. Is Plitvice doable on a one day trip from ljubliana? Or is a tour a better option?
3. Options for transport (public) between Piran/Rovinj/Ljubliana?

Sorry for so many questions, but I need to finalize all my bookings and I cannot find precise info
Thank you all in advance

Posted by
27910 posts

I don't think there is any rail service to Piran. You'll need to use buses in and out. The same is true for Rovinj.

Especially given the lack of convenient rail service once you leave Italy, I think you're trying to get to too many towns. Every change of hotels is likely to cost you at least half a day. I would probably skip either Piran or Rovinj. I took a bus from Ljubljana to Rovinj back in 2015, and I assume service is still available. Rovinj works as a base for visiting Porec, Vrsar and Pula. It's harder to get to the inland villages without a car, but as of 2015 there was a once-a-week Inland Istria bus tour on Wednesdays.

Taking a day-trip to Plitvice is not recommended because the park is absolutely overrun during day-tripping hours. You'd be marching in lockstep with mobs of other visitors along the walkways. The way to really enjoy the magnificent park is to spend the night there so you can enter the park when it opens the next morning. There have been some reports of decent conditions in the park late in the afternoon as well. There is a new ticketing procedure this year; buying a ticket in advance is the only way to guarantee you'll get into the park. However, we haven't yet had a report from anyone who has been turned away--which is why you don't want to be there in the middle of the day.

My philosophy is not to totally trust bus schedules obtained from any source other than the departure bus station, but for preliminary planning I have used BusCroatia.com in the past. There may be a better website.

Posted by
2 posts

Thanks for the reply.
Actually I do not intend to visit any other towns, so Rovinj and Piran are for me the chosen ones. From the schedules I looked at, Mantova to Ljubliana takes 7 hours by flix bus, leaving at 7h05, meaning I would have at least from 15h30 on the 27th, plus 28th. Ljubliana to Rovinj on Flixbus, leaving at 05 am takes 3h50 hours, meaning I will arrive there at circa 09h00 am, having all day to see rovinj, plus the 2nd.

My main concern is Rovinj - Piran (as from Ljubliana to Piran I did not find a bus on the 1st-3rd), and knowing what the best options are between my two schedules

As for Plitvice, thanks, I guess I will have to sleep close to Plitvice, or maybe take a night bus to Zagreb, stay there, and next day early morning go to Plitvice
Thanks a alot for the help

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