itinerary help for 4 days in Istria, Slovenia

Hi Rona, I'll try to take a stab at some of your questions here: WHAT TO TO: Istria has both coastal towns and interior towns to explore, with sights ranging from Roman ruins to traditional fishing ports. Without knowing your interests, and without having seen all the towns in Istria, it's hard to say what/where YOU should go but you might find the following webpage helpful as a starting point. You may also want to check out a few guidebooks on Croatia (Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, etc) for ideas: http://www.croatiatraveller.com/Istria/Istria.htm WHERE TO STAY: I would hazard a guess that most visitors choose to stay in a coastal town, such as Rovinj, Rabac, Opatija, etc. We stayed in Opatija and day-tripped from there, which worked out great for us. We visited Pula (another coastal town) but were glad we didn't stay there, as it didn't seem to be as charming as the other coastal towns and was a bit more industrial. CAR: we had a rental car, and I believe that will be your best bet for getting around because I understand the public transportation can be limiting. The website (above) also has a "Car Rental" link that lists various companies from which you can rent. We booked our car through AutoEurope.com, who is a consolidator and the actual rental was through National. I really like AutoEurope.com's customer service, which is why we always check them first for rates. Hope this helps as a starting point!

Thanks, Angela! This is quite helpful. We are interested in getting the flavor of Slovenia and the people there, as well as seeing mostly coastal sites. We are interested, too, in getting to Plitvice National Park, in Croatia, if that's feasible in the time we have. Best,
Rona

With your interests being more far reaching than just the Istrian Peninsula, I would suggest that if you were to base yourselves somewhere in Istria (then take day trips from there) that it should be on the northeastern part of the peninsula (such as the Opatija area). Not only would this give you access to the whole of Istria, but it would also make for a shorter daytrip drives to Slovenia and/or Plitvice. I would also suggest you add a day or two if you'd like to see Istria, parts of Slovenia, and Plitvice. Lastly, we were there in a March and the crowds/traffic were very light. The coastal roads of the peninsula are 2-lane, and I remember thinking on our trip that it must be really slow-going when the tourist season heats up. It's just something to keep in mind when planning out your days, that the travel times might be greater than the online maps suggest. Have fun!

thanks again, Andrea! Maybe we'll just stick to Istria this time, since we can't take more time .
Best.