Croatia/Slovenia Itinerary Help - 14 days

Have you checked the cost of dropping the car in a different country? It might be quite high ($400-$500).

7 stops in 14 days. That's a bunch. Why not go from Kobarid (which I am unfamiliar with) and make a base in Ljubljana, doing day trips from there? In 14 days, it would be good to do 4 stops. That would give you a lot more actual tourist time.

First of all, be prepared to pay a one-way drop fee for dropping a Croatian car in Slovenia when you depart. It may not be that bad if picking up the car in Zagreb - check into it, though, so you aren't surprised. (Try Sixt for rental cars for multi-country.) Compare prices for renting the car in Zagreb and returning it there vs. returning to Ljubljana, to see what the extra cost will be.

(You could avoid this fee by flying into/out of Zagreb or Ljubljana - but it may not be a big cost. I'd want to know though.)

Opatija was worth about an hour of exploring, but it wasn't my kind of place: too much conspicuous wealth. I much preferred charming little Rovinj, which is small enough to explore in just a few hours but a lovely place to come back to at night after you are out exploring. You could detour between Rovinj and Piran by stopping in a few of the hill towns on the way. FYI, some borders between Croatia and Slovenia down't allow non-EU passport holders to use them; be careful if relying on your phone or a GPS to guide you to a small border crossing.

Kobarid isn't really "in the Julian Alps." It's down in the Soca Valley. It has a well-regarded WW I museum, but that may not interest you if you aren't into museums. Otherwise, it's a tiny town, not especially charming but nice enough. There's a nice waterfall close to the town. I spent a night there (I wanted to see the museum) and it's not a bad place to stop but I wouldn't go out of my way to stop there.

Unless you want some sort of back-to-nature experience - a tourist farm or something - there's really no reason to stay in the Julian Alps area. Most people drive up (coming from Kobarid) up through the mountains and down the Vrsic Pass for the views and the drive. (The drive down the Vrsic Pass consists of many hairpin turns, but I have no trouble driving it; I went the other direction,, starting in Bled.) Driving from Piran through Kobarid and looping around (clockwise up into the mountains down the Vrsic Pass) and on to Bled is very easy to do as a day drive, without rushing. This drive is well described in the Rick Steves Croatia/Slovenia book.

Trieste is well regarded by some, but I found it just another noisy Italian city (it's not a tiny town). It's worth a stop for sure if you are passing through, but I'm not sure I would go out of my way to see it. Some would. You'll have to read more about it and see if it's your thing. You'll probably have no issue driving the car into italy (not a controlled border between Italy and Slovenia; you might drive into Italy without realizing it). FYI, if you rent the car in Croatia, you MUST by a vignette driving pass at the Slovenian border!!! Otherwise, you risk a steep fine if caught driving on the highway without it. You can buy a vignette at a gas station at the border maybe on either side.

I would spend a little more time in some of the towns between Bled, Ljubljana, and Logarska Dolina. A couple of beautiful towns in the area include Skofja Loka, Radovljica (which is close to Bled). The drive between Skofja Loka and Bled, up through the mountains via Jamnik and Kropa is really beautiful - I highly recommend it as a scenic detour. On the way Logarska Dolina (which I haven't seen yet), you might stop in the town of Kamnik (which I did visit) another charming little town - not much to see, just a pretty town.

Andrew H, thank you for the response. The price difference for dropping the car off in Slovenia vs back in Croatia actually isn't terrible ($140). It sounds like the best is to do more of the day tripping and staying in the same place longer may be the better alternative. We were just hoping for a little less back and forth driving. Is it worth a nights stay near the Skocjan caves or in the Soca Valley area to cut down on long driving days? Is parking in Ljubljana difficult? Thanks!

Ljubljana is not a big town. Parking probably should be arranged with reference to your hotel. We stayed at Hostel Cjelica, which is a prison from communist time, now converted into a hostel. A fun place. They had parking.

I agree, $140 isn't a big one-way fee, so I'd probably do it too. Stopping for a night in Kobarid would still make some sense - it's not a bad town, and you might want to see the nearby Slap Kozjak waterfall anyway. There's another town I passed through called Štanjel in the Karst region that's pretty cool, maybe more quaint than Kobarid - maybe too much of a detour from the caves.

Ljubljana has huge pedestrian-only areas so you need to work around that (there are big parking garages around the perimeter that may not be far from your lodgings). But aren't you planning to drop the car as you arrive in Ljulbjana anyway? It's a fairly small, walkable town. Sixt's city office is at the train station (northern part of town, fairly easy walk from the center).

I just posted our three weeks in the Balkans with a portion very similar to yours.

We loved Rovinj--it's just visually spectacular. We enjoyed both Skocjan and the Lipizzaner farm: you have to be a little careful with lines and tours to make both work readily in the same day. We did the Julian Alps from Lake Bled. You should stay in the Alps if you want to do many hikes. We did not do Logarska.

Enjoy!

I did a similar 16 day trip in the fall of 2017 to Zagreb, Lake Plitvice, Opatija, Porec, Piran, Trieste and on into Slovenia. As the only driver, I also wanted to reduce the "back and forth driving" and opted for hauling suitcases for several 1 night stays, which I would normally avoid.

Day 3 staying in Opatija vs Rovinj: I was glad, after a long day at Plitvice - we couldn't tear ourselves away! - that we stayed the night in Opatija, then drove the next morning to Pula, then Rovinj, staying the night in Porec.

Is Trieste worth a visit?

One advantage of staying in Trieste is that Lipica is only 15km away, and Skocjan a further 13km. While further from Piran, they are still an easy day trip, as would be Trieste if you decide to go. We had intended to visit both Lipica and Skocjan in the same day, but again lingered to wander the grounds viewing the horses at Lipica and opted to visit Skocjan the next day. Check Lipica schedules carefully if you want to attend a (not daily) training session to see if you can visit there and Skocjan in the same day.

is there an issue if we drive into Italy with a rental car?

We rented in Zagreb and drove into Trieste, making a day trip from Trieste, Italy to Lipica, Slovenia (after purchasing the Slovenian vignette!) with no issues, barely realizing when we crossed into or out of Italy on the smaller roads to Lipica. You may wish to confirm your rental insurance in Italy, as coverage may differ due to Italian laws.