I have posted our itinerary before and would like to run it through before we make our final plans.
We don't particularly care for one-night stays, but this is the sort of trip where some one-night stays are needed.
Which of these itineraries look better to you?
ITINERARY ONE:
Zagreb – 2 nights
Plitvice – 1 night
Senj and Postjana – 1 night
Radovljica OR Lake Bled – 2 nights
Ljubljana – 3 nights
Logarska Dolina – 2 nights
Celje – 1 night (not mentioned in Rick Steves book, but have heard about it elsewhere)
Budapest – 5 nights
OR
ITINERARY TWO:
Zagreb – 2 nights
Plitvice – 1 night
Senj and Postjana – 1 night
Radovljica OR Lake Bled – 2 nights
Ljubljana – 4 nights (will likely include more day trips)
Logarska Dolina – 2 nights
Budapest – 5 nights
WHO WE ARE:
A family of five (my husband and I, two young adult children, and my father-in-law).
WHEN AND FOR HOW LONG:
Late May/early June for about 17 nights
TRAVELING INTERESTS:
We love combining cities with quieter countryside places and nature. For example, we have loved our trips to Tuscany and Rome; Provence and Paris; the Cotswolds and London; Barcelona and the Andalusian countryside. We rent a car for the countryside parts, and those parts of our trips usually end up being our favorite.
WHAT DOES NOT INTEREST US:
Since we live in a tropical climate and near the beach, beaches and the southern Croatian coast are not our priority.
Museums are no longer our priority. However, we will go if it truly interests us.
FITNESS LEVEL:
We can handle easy to moderate walks and hikes.
TRAVEL STYLE:
Between fast-paced and slow – sort of in-between
We prefer to avoid one-night stays. Two nights are much easier! Three are our favorite.
CAR RENTAL
The reason we thought of travelling by car is because flights are not direct from any of these places and trains take too long (or are not available) to get to the next destination. We are aware of the high rental fees when dropping off in a country different from the one you started in. Any insight on how to avoid or minimize these costs would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all so much.