How to get fropm Dubrivnic back to Lhubljaba

Lee, I'm not sure if you can find a direct flight. But what I do know is that you can take a quick one hour flight from Dubrovnik to Zagreb and then catch a direct train to Ljubljana from there. We did the opposite route (sort of). We were going from Bled, Slovenia to Dubrovnik, and this was the best way for us. We flew with Croatia Airlines (we flew twice with this airline and it was nice) and it was only $60/each, one way, and we booked this rate directly through the airline. Also, Croatia Airlines has a shuttle from the bus station in Zagreb to and from the airport (about $6/each?). From there, it is a quick tram ride (#6 I think?) to the train station. So I would explore this option...

I was looking into this tour at one point too, and my assessment was that these were two impractical and expensive cities to fly into/out of (at least from where we live) which seems to defeat the purpose of taking a tour. Easier is flying into/out of Zagreb, at least from the west coast if you can tack on little time on either end, you might find that those days pay for themselves if you travel through Zagreb. You can fly out of Dubrovnik but it will cost you, money and probably an extra connection. Flights from Dubrovnik to Zagreb can be had cheaply.

Sorry, before someone corrects me I do realize that you are in Wisconsin. Maybe it would be easier to get a good flight from where you live, I don't know. We fly out of San Francisco and have found those airports to be difficult with two connections and very high fares.

There are a lot of ways to make this work. And why not go open-jaws? Why the focus on Delta (not the world's worst airline, but certainly not one of the better)? You have many options. I'm planning a similar trip in May 2012, (into Ljubljana and returning from Dubrovnik) and have already booked our tickets using Frequent Flyer miles, with great connections. We're going Seattle > Frankfurt nonstop on Lufthansa, connecting to Adria Airlines (which sounds perfectly nice) Frankfurt > Ljubljana. We will work our way south, ending up in Dubrovnik. Return flight is Croatian Airlines (again, sounds perfectly nice) Dubrovnik > Frankfurt, connecting to Lufthansa non-stop Frankfurt > Seattle. My out of pocket cost for this? About $100 taxes and fees per ticket (plus 60,000 United miles), per person. Not too shabby. I did my homework and I know not everyone can manage it so cheaply, but there are plenty of decent options out there. Look for a reasonable ticket to/from a nearby big regional hub (Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, etc.) and grab an inexpensive connection to/from your actual destination and departure cities. Don't waste time and money returning to your arrival city just to catch a return flight. Ljubljana and Dubrovnik are both major tourist destinations and are well served by enough regional airlines (which connect to dozens of long-haul international carriers) so you have many options.

We took the Best of The Adriatic tour this year and after searching seemingly endless possible options both round trip and open jaw, ed a round trip flight into Zagreb. Good train service is available from there to Ljubljana. We flew one way on Croatia Airlines, booked directly, from Dubrovnik to Zagreb. Croatia Airlines was quite nice - no complaints, and Zagreb was more than pleasant.