Help with Slovenia Itinerary needed

I've visited some but not all of these destinations. At first glance, I'd give a second night to Piran, so that you can relax after a few days of driving and one-night stops, and to have a leisurely day to enjoy both the town and the swimming beaches.

It does sound a bit compressed. I visited Bled last year, stayed 4 days and it wasn't a bit boring. 1 day is too short. There is a Bohinj lake just 15 km from Bled equally beautiful. There is also a Vintgar gorge a few km from Bled, and walk through it and through the hills to get back to parking was the highlight of our stay. See the film below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pL0CVKTzW0

Thank you Laura and mislavzoranic for your suggestions. I agree with you that an additional night in Bled and one in Piran would be better. I need to "reassign" days allotted to Croatia for these priorities. I may have to skip Mostar and/or make this trip a bit longer than 3 weeks.

mislavzoranic, the video you referenced was amazing!

Thanks again for your inputs.

Dennis

More days! Always good.

Consider staying in Villa Bled when visiting Lake Bled. This hotel overlooks the island with the church which is the iconic view of Lake Bled. Just down the hill from Villa Bled there is a boat dock where you can be rowed over to the island. It could not be more convenient. The villa was once a vacation house for President Tito.

Thanks Trinitony for your suggestion on Villa Bled. Now that I have a firm itinerary, I will be doing the research on which hotels, sobe, etc. I plan to use the RS book on Croatia & Slovenia, Lonely Planet, Tripadvisor, etc. I have a lot of research to do. :-)

For the most popular tourist destinations, I will be making reservations well in advance. Because we will have a rental car (and the flexibility it affords) for most of our trip, I'm not sure if I need to make reservations for all stops, or just make them 1 or 2 days ahead of arrival at a specific location. Any thoughts people have on this would be appreciated.

Dennis

Check to be sure you aren't going to hit a significant special event somewhere. (Google Ljubljana events or such.) I believe Ljubljana is quite popular as a weekend getaway for Europeans and suspect that budget lodgings may be tighter on Fri-Sun nights, but that is pure speculation on my part.

In August 2015 I found Rovinj (Croatian Istria) to be quite challenging for lodging and would suggest monitoring availability there if it will be one of your stops. In fact, I suggest that you go to a website like booking.com beginning in perhaps May and check on availability in your price range at each planned stop. Set whatever filters you want. How many of the hotels seem theoretically acceptable, and how many have availability? Check again periodically (more frequently as your departure date approaches) so you will have some warning if things are getting tight somewhere. Note that booking.com may show no availability when the hotel's own website still has rooms, but I think this is still a worthwhile exercise.

dennis.m: I'm not sure if I need to make reservations for all stops, or just make them 1 or 2 days ahead of arrival at a specific location.

We used this approach once in October one year and it worked well. But, as others have noted, local festivals can mess up these plans - don't try this in Munich in September, it's Octoberfest! So I would book hotels now for critical nights - first and last, plus any other that are in must-see locations.

I like your itinerary. Similar to my own except longer - lucky you!

FYI Lake Bled is having a large rowing regatta from September 6-10, 2017