Croatia - Istria or Slovenia

Having been to both Istria and Slovenia, I would recommend spending your 3 days in Ljubljana and Lake Bled. Ljubljana is an interesting city and Lake Bled is very relaxing. With a car, you could also visit Skocjan caves south of Ljubljana or Vintgar Gorge near Lake Bled. Istria is nice, but I think Slovenia is even better.

Spend a day at the caves in Slovenia. Well worth it. Spend a night in Postojna - vist Postojna, Predjama and if you feel adventurous Skocjan - you'll be glad you did.

Then head on up to Lju - 45mins.

I wasn't too fussed with Bled personally. Beautiful? Yes, beyond doubt. Touristy? Oooooh, yeah.

PS - driving in Slovenia is super easy,and Garmin GPS maps work great.

thanks for asking and thanks to all who replied - I've been asking myself this same question for months as I plan for a summer trip to croatia. 3 weeks - a couple of days in sarajevo/mostar, a little more than 2 weeks in croatia, then the last 5 nights in Prague.

We have heard so many cool things about Ljub/Lake Bled but most other things in Croatia we're tentatively planning on are down south in the Dalmatia area. Seems a shame to have our time in Croatia be so heavy in time down south, but I don't really feel like Zagreb/Istria is calling my name... just wondering Ljub/Bled is all it's cracked up to be. I guess we'll just play it by ear as we work our way north from Dubrovnik.

Last July I traveled by bus thru the Istrian peninsula. You should know that I love studying the Romans, and I always look for the UNESCO sites. The Roman arena in Pula is amazing. And, they hold concerts there with a variety of performers like Sting or operas. Check their web site. Also, I went to Rovinj, and Porec. Staying at Split, I took a day trip to Trogir (by boat), then a bus to Sibenik and back to Split by bus. From Dubrovnik, I took a bus to Korcula and returned by ferry. I also went to Herceg Novi, Montenegro for a day trip.

Enjoy!
AL

i agree with frank. last sept we started our trip in slovenia visiting lake bled area and walked vintgar gorge which i loved. we went south to predjama castle and skocjan caves which is less touristy than postojna and has a river running through. since you are going in shoulder season i dont think you will have horrendous crowds at bled. we then headed to istria: motovun, rovinj, pula. while motovun and rovinj are scenic and the coliseum at pula is impressive(i am a big fan of ruins) if i had to chose between istria and slovenia i would definitely pick slovenia. i wish we had been able to spend a couple more days in the mountains there.

Michael,
I would recommend hitting Plitvice Lakes and Slovenia on your way to Prague. you wont be sorry. Krka national park is also worth looking at.