Croatia/Slovenia Itinerary help!

Ay, carumba. Where to begin... First, don't count your arrival or departure days, no matter what time your flights arrive/depart. You'll be a wreck on your arrival day and will not be at 100% on your actual Day One (which is what you list as your Day 2). By my count you really have what, 10 full days there? I recently did a trip that covered most of what you have listed (but we had a bit longer), so I have some recent, relevant experience. I tend to travel very quickly - most here would say too quickly. 1. What you have listed for "Day 2" can be driven, but you won't see any of these places. You need to spend a day in Lake Bled (otherwise why go - to drive by?). Looks like you won't have any time for Ljubljana? Your "Day 2" really takes 3 days if you're going to actually see any of these places: a day in/around Bled (most people would say it's worth 2 days), a day in Ljubljana, and a half day to get to the caves, see them, and move on to Portoroz. 2. If you're planning to rent a car in Slovenia and drop it off in Croatia, budget accordingly, as the rental agency will smack you with a huge "drop-off" fee (I was quoted around 600 Euros for the fee alone). 3. Having been through your Day 3 towns, I'd skip the Three P's and just spend the day in Rovinj. 4. Rovinj is worth a day, Pula can be done in 1/2 a day but isn't exactly "on the way" to anywhere, we did it as a side-trip (day trip) from Rovinj. We didn't stop in Opatija. 5. Plitvice can be done pretty well in 1/2 to 3/4 of a day. 1 full day there is more than enough. We did both lakes in about 5-6 hours (walking slowly) and had our fill. Rick says you can do them both in 2 hours but you would need to be an Olympic sprinter to complete it in that time. (continues....)

6. I'd skip Zadar unless you have some good reason to include it (it was OK but in retrospect I wish we had used that time elsewhere). We really liked both Sibenik and Trogir. 7. We were a bit underwhelmed by Split. We spent 1 day and 1 night there and felt like we would have easily seen all we needed to in 1/2 a day. Split was packed with cruise ship tourists and didn't seem to offer anything special, beyond the few bits of Dioclesian's palace (admittedly, those bits were interesting, but they just weren't that extensive). I'm sure others love Split but for us it was kind of "meh". 8. We took the ferry to Korcula (via Hvar; Hvar underwhelmed us). Loved Korcula, glad we spent 2 nights there. Don't know about Neum. We went through Orebic on our way from Korcula to Dubrovnik, and Orebic looked like any other small village, I did not see anything there that looked worth stopping for (maybe I missed it?). 9. You should check the ferry schedules v-e-r-y carefully. Some ferries run on a greatly reduced schedule in the "off season" and some stop running entirely. We were there in May and it was considered "off season" (high season was June 1 - ? probably sometime in September). The low season ferry/bus schedules can really limit your mobility. 10. Didn't go to Budva but we did do a day trip to Kotor from Dubrovnik (rented a car for the day). Awesome, don't miss it. Try to go on a day without cruise ships if you can. Overall, I think your plan is almost do-able (we did something similar with just a little more time), but you have some days with way too many things crammed in. Need to be more realistic about that, and figure out how to get around (I don't think 1 car is possible without a crushing fee - we rented 1 car for Slovenia, another for Croatia).

PS: the thing that screams out at me about your itinerary is that you never seem to spend more than 1 night anywhere (maybe 2 nights in Dubrovnik at the end). That's going to be both exhausting and it's going to severely limit your ability to actually experience any of these places. These are great places, but a drive-though-quickie-look then hit the road again does not let you actually enjoy any of them - these are places where you want to sit and have a glass of wine and a nice meal, relax, stroll, and unwind. I don't see any time in your itinerary for that. As I said, I tend to rush through trips, too, and we definitely had some one-night-stands on our trip, but not every place. On a trip with a very aggressive pace, I try to alternate 1 night stands with 2 nights in a town, or go for 2-3 one-night stands followed by 3 nights someplace nice so we can catch our breath (and maybe wash our socks). I'd suggest looking for a couple of places to cut (I know, I know...) and dialing down the pace a little to give you the chance to sprinkle in two-night-stands in a few places. Give yourself an extra day at the beginning of the trip (a day in one place) to recover from the flight (Bled and/or Ljubljana are perfect places for that). If you really want to hit all these places, add a few more days to your trip so you can slow down a little. Otherwise by about Day 4 you're going to be grumpy and all worn out and each day you'll be more toasted and blurry. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Hi there! We recommend Penzion Mayer in Bled and Marina Portoroz for accommodation. Also dont forget to visit Vintgar Gorge near Bled, awesome! Greg and Rona

Thank you very very much for all the feedbacks! David I added one additional night at Rovinj and Korcula so I can catch some breath. We really don't want to feel rushed. Are those good locations to spend an additional night in? Thanks!

Eric, yes, both Rovinj and Korcula would be ideal places to kick back, unwind, and savor the place - perfect for recharging your batteries. However, that's true of many (most) of the places on your list. However, if you really don't want to feel rushed, I still think you need to take a cold, hard look at your plan, because I think you may feel quite rushed if you stick to it. Be careful not to just make a list of places you plan to drive through rather than places you will stop and enjoy. It may seem like a silly exercise, but I would suggest re-creating your list, but include only the places you plan to spend time, and allocate how much time you expect to spend in each, adding how much time it'll take to get to your next spot. While it's true that the distances here are not great and the roads are good, there aren't always direct, efficient routes between some of these points (eg getting to/from Plitvice requires some zigzagging) and in many cases you will be on 2 lane roads that twist a lot, so you may need more time to get there than you first guess (use viamichelin.com for accurate estimates on "how long to drive" each leg). Be sure to figure in the inevitable time you will spend every time you move (gather your stuff each morning, check out of your room, get to the car, find your way to the correct road, do the drive, make a wrong turn or two, get lost briefly a couple times, find your destination city, find parking, wander around looking for your room, get checked in, wander around looking for a place to eat, etc.). Those things consume a significant chunk of your time, even if you're practiced and efficient. On any "one night stand" you have to account for that time or risk having that be how you spend your trip.

How about a revised list specifying how much time you plan to spend somewhere, travel time & all overnight stops... Note, some of my times listed are just numbers I made up (I didn't go there/do that); you should definitely apply your own numbers after research. Day 0: Fly LAX to LJU. After arrival, walk around Ljubljana, stay awake until after dinner. Sleep Ljubljana. Day 1: Morning in Ljubljana, pick up car, drive to Bled (>2 hours). Afternoon in Bled. Sleep Bled. Day 2: To Vintgar Gorge (time?), hike (time?). Back to Bled (time?). Sleep Bled. Day 3: Drive to Skocjan (2 hr?), tour caves (2 hr?), drive to Portoroz (1.5 hr?). Sleep (Portoroz?). (how exactly are you planning to get from Slovenia to Croatia? don't ignore the stunning rental car drop-off fee; public transit options across the border are surprisingly limited and can have a major impact on your schedule - you'll need to figure this bit out well before you solidify your plans) Day 4: Rovinj. Sleep Rovinj. Day 5: Day trips to Pula & Opatija (this will probably take a full day, w/driving). Sleep Rovinj. it doesn't make sense to me to drive to Opatija for half a day then drive back to Rovinj to sleep; your next stop is Plitvice and you will be going right by/through Opatija on the way. Day 6: Drive to Plitvice (~4-5 hours). Hike part of the park (afternoon). Sleep Plitvice. Day 7: Hike a bit more of the park (start early morning), depart by noon. Drive to Split (~4-6 hrs) with short stops in (maybe) Sibenik and Trogir. Sleep Split.
Day 8: well, you get the idea... I'm a firm believer that, especially on a "tight" trip like this, it's critical to nail down details EARLY to make it all work. Good luck!

I haven't been to Croatia or Slovenia at all. But, in addition to David's wonderful and specific replies, I have a general one. Are you SURE you are up to getting in a rental car and driving a few yours, after a massive flight from the US west coast to Ljubljana (involving at least one and possibly two plane changes)? Jet lag affects everyone differently, and for me, it's different on every trip. If you aren't willing to chance it (and I wouldn't be), you need to plan your first night in Ljubljana - cutting further into your days to see other places.

Notes: 1) I have no problems with cars. I took a car thru Croatia and Slovenia. Very convenient. Especially for PL. 2) PL is a one-day thing. We REALLY enjoyed it, but 2 days is too much. 3) I'm with David on Split. Not that big of a deal. We didn't go to Rovinj and the Istria peninsula. You are doing Dubrovnik, so that means that Split is on the way. for us, it was a destination. 4) Our big regret was 1 day only in Ljubljana. It's a fun place. Put more time there.

It's probably criminal to try to add something to this itinerary, but Predjama Castle is one of my favorites in all of Europe. Just my opinion, but I consider it a must see in Slovenia.

Thank you so much for all the helpful inputs! David, looks like I've got a lot of work to do and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to cross the border. It looks like I might be able to catch a bus from PORTOROZ to Rovinj. Angela, the castle looks AMAZING! I'm definitely going to add it to my list! Thank you very very much!

We did indeed take a bus from Portoroz to Rovinj. We dropped our "Slovenia car" in Portoroz, took the bus to Rovinj, then picked up our "Croatia car" a couple days later (these are, I think, the two towns closest to the border with car rental agencies). It worked out fine for us, but it almost didn't. You'll want to check the bus schedules very carefully. When we were there (May 2012), the bus only ran 2 times a week - miss the bus, and your schedule may crash. We were able to make it work with our schedule, but it required us adjusting things a bit to ensure we hit Portoroz on the right day (in May, I believe the bus ran only on Fridays and Sundays - you should definitely check the schedule for when you're there). We were there, on time, and ready to board, and we still almost didn't make it on to the bus: we were expecting a bus station (Grayhound style) where we could buy tickets, and a full-size bus. When we arrived in Portoroz and asked the unhelpful lady at the TI for the bus station, we were directed to a bench down the street. There was no station, no place to buy a ticket. We were told by others milling around to just wait and but the ticket when the bus arrived. When it did, it was much smaller than we had expected (maybe 18 seats), and to my surprise, most of them were already occupied when the bus pulled in. There were several other people waiting and of course they stepped in front of us. We got the last 2 seats. If there had been one more local (or one more seat already occupied) we would not have made it on, and we would have been stuck there for several days waiting for the next bus (actually, I would have tried to take a taxi, but it I'm sure it would have been quite expensive). Bottom line: have your self together, nail down the bus schedule really clearly (and have a Plan B to cross the border in your back pocket).

BTW, we stopped briefly at Predjama Castle. It's definitely a cool-looking castle, but from what I've read the inside is not terribly impressive and not really worth going in. We just stopped for a brief photo opp on the way to nearby Postojna caves. I figured that we would do one of the two big caves: Postojna or Skocjan, not both. We decided to do Postojna because we could swing by Predjama Castle on the way (it's about 10 minutes away by car). Even though I had the impression that Skocjan would have been a better cave, we picked Postojna because it worked better on our tightly-scripted itinerary (similar to yours). The cave is impressive, although in a bizarre, Disney fun park-esque way (it's a weird cross between a subway and Space Mountain, with a few hundred Chinese tourists along). I'm glad we went but it was pretty surreal. IF you're going to Skocjan, then by all mans swing by Postojna Castle (we only stopped for 10 minutes, that was enough to get a look from outside and take the photos). But if you're not in the neighborhood and time is tight, it wouldn't be a tragedy to skip it.

David, I got a quote from Sixt.com and it only cost about $600 to rent a car for the entire trip! (2 weeks) I can pick up the car from LJU and drop it off at DBV and the price includes the drop off fee. This would solve a major road block! Most of the other companies that I checked will charge close to $1000 for the same deal. I just want to share that information! Thanks! Eric

Eric, that is a pretty snazzy rate considering the multi-country return. We've had good service with Sixt, too (although not in Croatia/Slovenia). I agree with Angela that Predjama is a super cool castle, and wholeheartedly agree with David and James that it is not worthwhile to go inside. I'm cheap (although my husband prefers the term "frugal") and yet inexplicably paid to go inside Predjama. All I can say is save your money, as the wow factor of the place is most definitely the free view from outside (although truthfully, I feel that way about most castles). I'd try to see it, though, as it is pretty unique and in the general area of where you'll be. And we stayed in Opatija when in Istria and it's a great little town, and all, but not that unlike many of the other little towns along the water. So I wouldn't knock yourself out trying to see it on the day you drove down to Pula unless you found yourselves with a few hours to kill and a desire to just bum around a bit.

We rented 2 cars - one in Slovenia for about $165, another in Croatia for $150, so about $315-ish total for 2 weeks. No dropoff fee, but it did require us tweaking out schedule a little, plus a couple of bus tickets to connect them. We used gemut.com to arrange the rentals (I'd recommend them). Sixt in Slovenia and Orix in Croatia. The car and service with Sixt was quite good. With Orix the car wasn't as nice and the office was a little disorganized, but it was OK. You might be able to get a lower total cost, but I'd assume you are paying something for the privilege of dropping off in another country (whether they specifically call that out as a dropoff fee or not). You might try contacting an agency like gemut.com and see if they can beat the price you already have - there's no risk. If they can find you a much lower rate, you can decide if the savings are worth it to you or if the convenience of being free to come and go as you choose is worth the extra cost.

Hi Eric, There are 5 of us going to Slovenia/Croatia April 2013 and here is our plan. (never been to either country) SFO To ZAG Rent a car from ZAG for whole trip and drop car off in DUB. so we don't pay from drop off fee in another country though we will have to drive a couple hours when we arrive, though ZAG is cheaper for us to fly into than LJU 2 nights in LJU 2 nights in Bled 3 nights in Rovinj 2 nights in Plitvice 2 nights in Split 1 night in Mostar
3 nights in DUB DUB to SFO I have decided to skip the islands due to less complications. Diana

Thank you very very much for all of the replies! I've posted the finalized itinerary on top. How does it look now? Ideally I'd want to shave a day off the itinerary...does anyone have a suggestion? Thanks again! BTW David, I got a quote from Gemut.com and they were able to beat the price I found online by almost $100. Thanks so much for your suggestion! Eric

An additional question, would I be able to drive my rental car to Orebic, park there and take the ferry to Korcula. Stay in Korcula overnight, come back and pick up the car in Orebic? Thanks!

Finally booked my plane ticket and I've the latest itinerary posted on top. I'm super excited! We're also going to have our engagement photo taken for our wedding next year. Does anyone have a recommendation around Rovinj? Thanks again!

Rovinj itself is very picturesque and makes for great photo opps. Depending on the weather/time of day/lighting, there are good photo spots from just outside the "island" (it was originally an island, but is now connected to the mainland by a narrow ithsmus). Good shots of the town rising up with sailboats in the foreground from the far side of the harbor, also another good spot on the opposite end of the ithsmus - you'll see the "back side" of the town's buildings rising straight up out of the sea (both of these spots will be very dependent on sun angle and weather, if one doesn't work, try the other). Also some super pretty shots up on top of the town at the cathedral - can't miss it, just keep walking up. You'll need a good wide angle lens for that, I had trouble getting all of the campanile + the church in one shot, but if you can manage all that plus the two of you, nothing says "happy couple" better than a shot of you with a Venetian campanile with church in the background. Hope for good weather.

Re the Orebic <-> Korcula connection... I don't know if there's a formal ferry running this route - there may be, but might only be in high season, so you'll want to confirm the connection details. When we were there in May, we arranged a "transfer" from Korcula to Dubrovnik. It was about 3-4 hours, they put us on a small "water taxi" at the dock in Korkula for a short crossing to Orebic, put us on a small bus (~20 passengers) and drove us to Dubrovnik. I'm sure they happily take people both ways. Not sure about boat only part. I believe the agency we used for this was Korkyra Info (www.korkyra.info&#41;. Don't know about parking there, we were on foot. If you have wheels, check out "the great wall of Croatia" in Ston - it looked cool from the windows of our bus as we sped by. Finally - since you're spending a night in Trogir, I recommend this place for some the best Italian food I've ever had: Pizzeria Kristian - get the home-made pasta, it's incredible. Not fancy, but so good we ate there 2 nights in a row and wished they were open for breakfast on our departure day (I would have had the same thing again for breakfast - it was that good...and thinking about it now still makes me crave more). Have a great trip - I'm sure you will.

David, Thank you very very much for all of your helpful advice! I will definitely visit the Italian restaurant! :) Eric