Stuck in planning Slo-Cro trip for this September

It’s been many years, but we flew into Venice, rented a car there, drove it to Slovenia for several destinations (including Piran, Ljubljana, and Bled), then on to Croatia. Locations there included Zagreb, Plitvice, and Split. Dubrovnik was not part of that trip. We finished by driving back to Venice and turning in the car, and stayed a few nights before heading home.

It is doable with a bit of moving around. Here are a few thoughts past Slovenia (which is gorgeous). So far you have 7 nights in Slovenia, leaving 10 nights for Croatia. I would return the car in Ljubljana and take the bus to Zagreb, where you stay a night and rent your next car the next morning.

1 night - Zagreb, then drive to Plitvice
1 night Plitvice, see the park, then drive to Split and return car
2 nights Split, then ferry to island of your choice (I love Korćula)
3 nights island, then ferry to Dubrovnik
3 nights Dubrovnik, fly home

There are other options, of course. You could cut Split to 1 night and Dubrovnik to 2 nights to leave more time for a couple of islands. All a matter of how much moving around you want to do. I kind of like staying in fewer spots and taking boat trips out during the days.

This forum is the best. Thanks for your encouraging replies, Cyn and TexasTravelmom! Our reluctance to spend much time in the car would probably get in the way of the loop to and from Venice, Cyn, although it would avoid the rental car drop off fee. And we have seen Venice, though Venice is certainly worth a return visit. Always interesting to hear the itineraries of others nonetheless.
TexasTravelmom, your point about dropping the car back at the Ljublijana Airport is something to consider, since that opens up options for buses and even GoOpti shuttles into Croatia. Thanks for the recommendations to visit Korcula from Split too.

While it's doable, I think it's a real shame not to have time in lovely Ljubljana. I'd happily chop off southern Croatia--which could be combined with Montenegro/Bosnia on a later trip--in order to include Ljubljana.

it's not usually easy to get to Slovenia by air; it's much easier to fly into and out of Croatia. I'd want to see Ljubljana on this trip, while I was already in the country.

For the Croatia segment, after Zagreb and Plitvice, I think you should spend 2 nights in Split.

Then take the morning ferry to Vis for your 3 island nights. On our visit several years ago, we stayed in the main town (Luka), where the ferry arrives. You can rent a car or scooter and explore the island. Be sure to visit (or even stay in) the pretty little fishing village of Komiza. On a sunny day, you can catch a boat from Komiza to the blue cave in Bisevo.

You’ll want to spend your last night in Luka, as the ferry to Split leaves very early in the morning (5:30 am?) , to get workers to their jobs. The ferry docks around 8 am & there was a bus to Dubrovnik leaving around 8:30, so we just walked across the street & boarded a bus. Very easy, but check schedules beforehand.

In Dubrovnik we changed buses and continued on to Cavtat. We love Cavtat — love sitting by the harbor at sunset with a glass of wine, watching the yachts dock. It’s just a short (20 minute?) bus ride or 30 (?) minute water taxi to Dubrovnik. It’s also only about 10 minutes from the Dubrovnik airport, for your flight home.

From Cavtat you can take boat excursions from the harbor, or you can book a bus tour to Montenegro. The town is small and walkable and even had good gelato when we were there!

When I visited Croatia and Slovenia (and also Bosnia) for three weeks, I flew into Zagreb, rented a car at the airport, and immediately drove to Ljubljana. I know getting off an international flight and immediately jumping into a rental car for a 2+ hour drive isn't for everyone, but it worked well for me, and then I was able to return the car in Split after visiting Slovenia, Istria, Plitvice, Sarajevo, and Mostar. From Split I visited Hvar and Korcula and finally Dubrovnik, traveling by ferry. I didn't get to visit Zagreb, but with 3 weeks or less, you just have to make some compromises.

You could fly into Zagreb and stay there a few days, then rent a car to drive to Ljubljana. But 14-17 nights is quite a bit less than the 21 I had, so I'm not sure what would work best for you. At least this avoids the heavy drop-off fee for the rental car.

All that said, what you're looking at doing is definitely feasible in the time you have. It's a bit challenging logistically, but reasonable for the amount of time you have.

You don’t mention how young/old you are. I say this because if you are young enough to have many travel years ahead of you, split the trip into 2. Why rush around and eliminate sights you want to see just to also be rushed in Croatia. If you include Piran, you will get your sea experience. Also, you don’t mention what month you are traveling. If it is the summer, Croatia is better a little off season as it can be oppressively hot during those months.

We return to Croatian every year to visit family, but for most people it is what I call a “one and done” country. Slovenia also is in that category. The scenery is mostly the draw here, and the sea. Other posters may disagree, but I feel there are so many other places in this world to visit, returning to these places wouldn’t be high in my list.

Just an FYI - http://plesoprijevoz.hr/. Bus info

I can't emphasize enough how much I appreciate hearing from forum members who have personal experience in these places. acraven, your points about Ljubljana are well taken and I am giving this serious thought. Charlene, you have been so generous with your suggestions. Your suggestions for Split and specific info regarding ferries/islands is of great help! Of course I'll check current schedules however it's tremendously helpful to have starting points, including Caveat. Lane, your suggestion to fly into Zagreb and drive from there really might be the most practical idea. I admire your stamina in taking on the car trip while jet lagged which is definitely too much for us, however we can look at spending the night somewhere, etc. Barbara, we are getting older every minute!! Ha! (mid 60's) Splitting the trip into two would simplify things a lot. weatherspark.com indicates that it may be pretty nice in Slovenia in September, so we would begin the trip there and finish in Croatia.... And it is a very big world, so far we haven't returned anywhere, even if we loved it.

We made a 3 week trip Sep 2013. Suggested: fly into Zagreb (2-3 nights). Rent car and drive to Ljub (2-3 nights). Lake Bled (2 nights -Vintner Gorge, castle, etc). Drive over Julian Alps to Kobarid (1 night - WW1 museum, Italian memorial). Next night near Skocjian Caves. Caves next morning and drive thru Piran to Rovinj (2-3 nights with day trip to Pula &/or Motovun). Drive inland to Plitvice (1 night - do park in afternoon maybe and next morning). On to Zadar with night on coast south of town. Drive to Split (we did day visit, stayed night south of town). (You could make a long drive Plitvice to Split and stay 1 -2 nights there). Then to Drvenik to catch car ferry to Hvar (2-3 nights in Hvar town). Ferry back to Drvenik then to Dubrovnik (2-3 nights - turn in car soon as parking is tough). Bus to airport. Or do reverse - into DBV, out of ZAG. Driving is easy. Just remember to get permit for Slovenia at first gas station after crossing border.

Larry42, good suggestions. The Drvenik car ferry is very helpful in particular. This itinerary hits all the highlights, thanks.

Elaine
If you plan to do both countries, I would recommend considering flying into Zagreb, renting the car there, seeing Slovenia, then eventually dropping the car off in Split. The one-way in-country fee was a little under $100 in my experience (vs about $500 for international drop off), and the cost of flying into Zagreb seems to generally be a significant savings vs Ljubljana. Although I was surprised at how small even the Zagreb airport was. We landed in Zagreb and drove straight to Ljubljana. It worked out fine for us to drive straight to Ljubljana, but the average person may prefer to overnight in Zagreb first. If you decided to focus on Slovenia, you could fly in/out of Ljubljana, and it would be no problem to drive your Slovenian rental car to visit Plitvice.

I became more and more enamored by Slovenia as I got deeper into trip planning. Originally we were going to skip Ljubljana all together. I'm so glad we didn't! We ended up basing there and taking day trips to Lake Bled and the Julian Alps. It's an adorable little town with good food options and a special feel. I would return in a heartbeat. It's a tough call, there are so many amazing places to see in both countries. We chose to do a whirlwind "see the main highlights" in only 10 days. It's not for everyone but I didn't regret it in our case as a family traveling with a college kid. Seeing your initial thoughts of 2 nights in Kranj and 4-5 nights in Logarska Dolina, I get the sense that you may enjoy slower travel plans (we didn't even make it to either of these places).

Muget, I’ve actually come to the conclusion that we will be happier just seeing Slovenia this trip and save Croatia for another trip. You guessed it correctly:We like a pretty slow pace. “See less and enjoy it more” works for us. By the way, due to high recommendations from you and other forum members, we have added a couple days in Ljubljana to our itinerary!
That said, I read your reply with great interest. It helps to have those who have “been there” to bounce ideas off. Thanks so much for taking the time to write this reply and happy travels!