October in Slovenia, Croatia, BiH

I've travelled in the area you are planning to explore and I'd like to help, but I don't know what the ETBD Eastern Europe tour is. Please explain.

Anita: ETBD = Europe Through the Back Door, the name of Rick Steves' business.

Thanks, Mike, for the clarification. I thought terminology would be unsderstood, but may have been too familiar myself. For Anita, you can find more tour info at http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours/eastern-europe/eastern-europe-tour . For specifics, we end our formal tour on Mon, 1Oct2012 in Bled, travel at our whims after that, ending in Vienna for the flight back to USA. Does that help with context, for additional advice and suggestions? I have even just thought of maybe ending by flying into and staying in Bratislava instead of Vienna before the return flight to Seattle.

Don, I know your trip is a ways off, but I hope you post a report afterward. I've not been to that part of Europe, but it is at or near the top of my list for the near-term. I'm envious.

I think the idea of renting a car in Zagreb and ping it in Dubrovnik is a good one. If you don't want to drive, you could take a bus from Zagreb to Split, perhaps stopping at Plitvice Lakes for a night along the way. Split is probably only worth a couple of nights. Try to stay right inside Diocletian's Palace. We really enjoyed Base Rooms (http://www.base-rooms.com). She only has 3 rooms so you would want to book early. Then you could take a bus from Split to Dubrovnik. It's about 5 hours down the scenic coast on a comfortable, modern bus. I have not been to Mostar or Sarajevo, but would highly recommend a day trip to Montenegro. The Bay of Kotor is one of the prettiest places we've ever seen. If you don't have a car, you can take a bus tour (Atlas). This is a gorgeous part of the world, with wonderful people. I know you'll enjoy it!

We rented in Zagreb and dropped off in Dubrovnik in September. We went into Bosnia (and Slovenia), too. We used Hertzyou can drop off right by the Ploce gate at the south side of Dubrovnik's city center. There was no drop off fee. I would get a car for the itinerary you wantall those transportation connections you list sound like a hassle. The only thing I would say is that compared to Slovenia, where we spent the first week of our trip, driving in Croatia was less well signed, there were fewer TIs along the roads to help with directions, and the distances between the usual tourist stops are longer. It wasn't bad, it just got on our nerves.

For Charlene, thanks for the www.base-rooms.com web link for Split. I've checked it, and it does look good. Checking Google Maps, it's certainly in a great location, too. And hearing about a 5 hour bus to Dubrovnik is good news, since it looks like the ferry run ends sometime in September, so not available for us. For Christy (side note: Are you going to the Edmonds discussion on Jan 20??), the driving success sounds encouraging. Multiple bus and train connections are problematic, but a car is a nuisance in a big city and even some smaller towns, so there's a trade. We've had a car for our two visits to Europe, so this might be our first time without one. Apparently signage is "good enough", since you're safe at home again. Driving into BiH doesn't seem an option for us, since we fly from there and don't want the drop charge outside Croatia. I'm still looking for opinions on dropping Split and adding a night each in Mostar and/or Sarajevo and/or Vienna. I might ask that and more at a consultation session this month at ETBD Intergalactic HQ in Edmonds.