Can't Decide?

Either way you're going to be spending too much time traveling from place to place and not enough time seeing anything. If you're really committed to one or the other, do the second one because it's a little less travel time.

If you have any flexibility around where you start and end, how many place you visit, and how many days you have, please add that information in a comment and I or any of the others on this forum who've been to this part of Europe can help you come up with something better.

You have ten nights. Here's how I'd do it (yes these are my personal preferences):

Ljubljana (3 nights - including day trip to Bled. Optional rental car for one day)
Train to Zagreb in morning. Explore Zagreb, pick up car late afternoon, drive to Plitvice
Plitvice (1 night)
Split (2 nights)
Sarajevo (2 nights)
Drop car in Dubrovnik when you arrive
Dubrovnik (2 nights)

Still a very rushed itinerary, but it sounds like that's what you're determined to do.

Three nights in Ljubljana isn't much given that the first day is your arrival day and the third you'd be leaving early for Zagreb. You really have two full days, one dedicated to Bled. If you can't get a good flight into Ljubljana, try Venice with a transfer to Ljubljana (about 3 hours).

No, I didn't care for Zagreb much, but it is worth half a day at least. Opatija to me was a charmless old Austrian spa town with big old villas and expensive cars and would seem like a wasted diversion of two nights. I enjoyed the waterfront area, but I explored that in an hour, which is about all the time I spent in town. I stayed a night in nearby Lovran and enjoyed the seaside walk along the Lungomare, but I would't waste two nights going out of my way to do it.

I'm sorry I didn't clarify; these are two different coach tours & wondered which I should choose. We cannot do a drive holiday!

Thanks all,

Jean

I liked Zagreb a lot more than Andrew did, but I also like Berlin, Budapest, Barcelona...You can't go everywhere on a short trip. Figure your first day is pretty worthless from a sightseeing standpoint. A one-night stop in Zagreb gets you nothing, really. But so would a one-night stop in Venice if the idea is to position yourself for a transfer to Ljubljana the next day.

I agree that both of your original itineraries have too much time in transit. I wasn't impressed by what I saw of Opatija as I passed through it, and nothing I've read in guide books has made me consider it an important stop for me. Sarajevo, I think, is a lot more interesting, but it adds considerable time to the itinerary.

Then I'd do the one with Sarajevo for sure over the one with Opatija - no comparison. I'd much rather be in Zagreb for two nights than in Opatija for two nights as well.

FYI, I found driving very easy in Croatia and Bosnia.

100% agree with Andrew, if you are choosing between two coach tours, the first itinerary is far superior.

Hopefully while you are driving from place to place, there will be a guide or tour leader who can tell you about things of interest and background history on the places you are going.

Enjoy!