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Slovenia, Croatia and Budapest itinerary & transportation

Posted by (South Carolina) on

We have just started planning a trip to Slovenia, Croatia and Budapest for the mid-September to mid-October timeframe. We will have approximately 30 nights. We are limited to flying one airline and their partners due to points. Looking for advice/changes to our tentative transportation plan. (We would also consider reversing the plan below by starting in Budapest and ending in Ljubljana)

Tentative Plan:
Fly from the U.S. to Ljubljana; rent a car for our time in Slovenia
Drop the car in Slovenia and travel to the Istria area in Croatia and pick up another car
Tour Istria, drive to Plitvice Lakes; drive down the coast heading towards Dubrovnik
Fly from Dubrovnik to Budapest (via one of the regional carriers, since our airline has no partners for this route, nor any from Split)
Fly from Budapest back to the U.S.

My questions regarding this plan:
1) Where do we drop off the car in Slovenia, and what are our best options for travel to Istria? *Travel by bus for this section of our trip is not an option for us.
2) Once in Dubrovnik we do not want to have a car. Should we drop the car somewhere near Split, and if so, where? Ferry to Dubrovnik with stops on one or two islands? Which islands would you suggest and can they be toured without a car? Local bus for the islands is fine.
3) Airline recommendations for Dubrovnik to Budapest?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Posted by
8312 posts

Lot Polish Airlines is your only pick for flying, and they start seasonal flights on June 7th. You'll have to check to see if they're still flying that route in October.
Dubrovnik has a huge number of airlines that fly there seasonally. The rest of the year, very few flights go out of there on a regular basis.

Posted by
809 posts

Piran or Koper would probably be the best place to drop your car. Which one depends on which company you're using, of course, as well as your transportation options to Istria. Rovinj or Pula will be the easiest destinations for public/private transfers. Check Go Opti for your options there. For example, you can go from Koper to Rovinj or about 15 euros. It might be a bus or a minivan. We kept our car from Zagreb, through Slovenia to Istria, Plitvice, and then dropped it in Split. It was more expensive to drop it off on the one-way, but not excessively so. That might be a better option for you if you want to avoid busses.

Our our trip last fall, we kept our car until we got to Split. We dropped the car at the airport and took a taxi to town, and that worked very well for us. After our few days in Split, we took the hydrofoil to Dubrovnik, via stops in Hvar and Korcula. We didn't get off at the islands, but it was nice to see them coming into the dock. The service was reasonably priced and a very good way to relax for a few hours en route to Dubrovnik. However, your time frame will require some planning. The hydrofoils are still running at that time, but not nearly as often. In mid-September, when we left Split, there were only 2 choices: 7 am and sometime in the evening which would have had us arriving in Dubrovnik after dark. We chose the 7 am (you need to be at the dock around 6:30), and while it was early to get going, it turned out quite well for us.

Posted by
27908 posts

In case it helps: There is rail service between Zagreb and Ljubljana, taking about 2-1/2 hours. Buses are more frequent and take about the same amount of time.

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