Help with itinerary and islands for Slovenia/Croatia in July

Wow, that's a lot of one-night stands. If it were my trip, I'd try to minimize those a bit and would consider this itinerary, instead (assuming you'll have a car): Day 1: arrive; overnight Zagreb Day 2: drive to Bled; overnight Bled Day 3: day trip to Kobarid (should be a very scenic drive); overnight Bled Day 4: afternoon drive to Ljubljana; overnight Ljubljana Day 5: Ljubljana; overnight Ljubljana Day 6: early a.m. drive to Skocjan caves then on to Rovinj; overnight Rovinj Day 7: Rovinj/Istria; overnight Rovinj Day 8: Rovinj/Istria; overnight Rovinj Day 9: afternoon drive to Plitvice; overnight Plitvice Day 10: Plitvice; overnight Plitvice Day 11: early a.m. drive to Split; overnight Split Day 12: transfer to island TBD; overnight island Day 13: island; overnight island Day 14: transfer/drive to Mostar; overnight Mostar Day 15: Mostar; overnight Mostar Day 16: drive to Dubrovnik; overnight Dubrovnik Day 17: Dubrovnik and/or day trip; overnight Dubrovnik
Day 18: Dubrovnik and/or day trip; overnight Dubrovnik Day 19: leave... This itinerary is still jam-packed and will keep you hopping, but at least it eliminates most of the one-nighters. You may even want to consider cutting something out completely to make a more leisurely pace, but it depends on your travel style. Good luck!

Hi Jerry, We didn't have time to visit any islands, and weren't in Croatia at a time of year when it would have been ideal (March). I would, however, try to choose one that is geographically compatible with your itinerary to minimize time spent getting to/fro. I forgot to mention a few places we stayed that we really liked (all found in the Rick Steves book, I believe): Bled: Garni Penzion Berc (they have parking) Split: BASE Rooms (not sure about the parking situation) Mostar: Villa Fortuna B&B (they have parking) Dubrovnik: Villa Ragusa (no parking that I'm aware of, but you may be dropping off the car when you arrive in Dubrovnik? Also note that VR is located quite a few steps up from the main drag (Stradun) in Dubrovnik, but steps are hard to avoid entirely in Old Town)

Thank you for your help. Yes I knew it contained many one night stands but I didn't want to back track. You have some good ideas. Thanks Which island would you stay on?

Your choice of island depends on what you are looking for and when you'll be there. Hvar is fairly large and busy. With a car, you could drive around the island and stop in smaller towns. You didn't mention when you're going, but in July-August Hvar will be very crowded and expensive. Hvar has a lot of night life, if that interests you. Korcula is smaller, with a pretty walled town and some fairly good beaches that you could drive to. Vis is another option; it's the smallest of the three. Very quiet, and not very many tourists. It has a big yacht harbor. Good food. You could leave your car in Split and just stay in the main town of Vis. Or you could bring your car and stay in Komiza, a very pretty little fishing village on the other side of the island (maybe 20 minutes away by bus, although the buses aren't real frequent). From Komiza you can take a boat trip to see a Blue Cave (similar to the one in Capri). There are other islands as well; these are the only ones we've visited.

Your itinerary is fairly spread out for one night in each location. Don't forget to factor in driving time between your locations. We are going in July, here is our itinerary: July 20-July 26 arrive in Venice (through Zurich) Venice Padua Verona Vincenza (we are staying in venice the whole time, making day trips) July 26-28 Bled, Slovenia July 28-30 Ljubljana, Slovenia July 30-Aug 1 Plitvice National Park, Croatia We might stop in Zagreb first to take a look around... Aug 1-3 Split, Croatia Aug 3-5 Hvar/Korcula Aug 5-8 Dubrovnik, Croatia Aug 8-9
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