Renting a Car from Venice Airport (VCE) and Driving to Slovenia and Croatia

Check with a couple of car companies who rent cars at Marco Polo airport - try Auto Europe - and see what their policy is on driving the cars into Slovenia and Croatia. FYI, if you plan to drive all the way to Dubrovnik, you'll have to drive through a tiny slice of Bosnia (the "Neum corridor") as you drive down the coast, unless you take a ferry around it. So you'll technically have to leave the EU briefly - maybe a no-no. If you rented a car say in Croatia this would be much less of an issue, most likely.

Consider the option of taking a bus or shuttle from Marco Polo to Ljubljana to start your trip. Rent a car for Slovenia if you need to. Then take the bus or train to Croatia - to Zagreb or Rijeka by direct train - and rent another car and drive all the way to Dubrovnik if you are planning to go that far; drop the car in Dubrovnik, then fly back to Venice at the end. There are a few direct flights from Dubrovnik to Venice - varies by the date. (Renting a car in Slovenia and dropping in Croatia usually incurs a steep one-way fee.)

Friends did this, no complaints. They loved Slovenia. Use AutoEurope as they will stand behind you if there are any issues with the rental.

We did that in 2004, when Slovenian and Croatian highways were brand new, a refreshing change from the roads in Bulgaria the week before! After flying in to the Venice airport (really thrilling views just before landing), we got our car and headed to Piran for the night. From there, visited the Skocjan cave, then on to Bled, then Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes, then Split. Didn’t go as far south as Dubrovnik, nor out to any Croatian islands. Don’t remember from whom we rented (maybe Europcar?) but car return was easy, and then we took a quick train ride into Venice proper for 3 days and nights with no cruise ship hoards. Sounds like things have changed in Venice in 15 years. Hope you have a great trip!

For driving in Slovenia your car needs to display a vignette. Buy it at the border: https://www.tolls.eu/slovenia I don't know if the other countries have such a requirement.

Are you planning to do this after arrival from a long international flight. That's a practice that's been been likened to impaired driving, and something that's generally not recommended.

Note that each driver on the rental form will also require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. While driving in Italy, you'll also need to be aware of the ZTL (limited traffic) areas which exist in many towns. Hefty fines for entering these areas!