Itinerary review for my upcoming trip.

Hmmm. I hate to say it (really I do), but this itinerary seems to be a bit overly ambitious. And this is coming from someone who tends to roll "hard and fast"! This just seems to be even more than we would bite off at one sitting, and we have no children in tow.

As painful as it may be to hear, I would strongly consider eliminating one stop along the way. And without eliminating at least one stop, I just don't think seeing Plitvice would even be possible.

Although this idea is still pretty aggressive, one thought is to start in Krakow for 3 nights, get to Prague for 4 nights (or vice versa), then fly Prague to Dubrovnik on SkyEurope Airlines (they seem to have direct flights) for 4 nights, rent a car and spend the next day driving to Plitvice for one night before ending in Zagreb for the night before you return home. It's still a lot of ground to cover, so maybe this idea isn't even ideal. A pickle, indeed.

Let me ask this: out of the 4 countries, which one (if any) would you consider dropping?

Before I sign off to think about this some more, I'd like to add that driving in Croatia is a snap, the main roads (and many secondary roads) are in excellent condition and towns are well signposted. But I have not driven in the other countries (and have actually never been to Hungary, but have visited the other cities on your list), so that is in the realm of someone else's expertise...

Hi!
I like the idea of just doing Croatia and Slovenia for this trip--even with that itinerary you might consider flying Croatia Air from Zagreb to Dubrovnik.

I really liked Ljubljana with a day trip to Lake Bled, Dubrovnik, Split, and Trogir. We didn't get to Plitvice Lakes National Park but it sounds like a great destination as well.

Sharon

I would drop Croatia. 13 days with a 3 year old in tow will be plenty for Budapest, Krakow and Prague. This also gives plenty of time to add day trips into the mix. Plus traveling time between each city is long and if you drive it would be nice to have time to stop in the towns between.

So would it make sense to:
1. Only do Croatia and Slovenia?
OR
2. Stick with my orignial itinerary but FLY instead of travelling by bus/train.

This is to reduce travel time so my 3-yr old also has a good time.

We did Warsaw – Krakow – Eger – Budapest – Vienna - Prague one year and Slovenia - Croatia/ Lake Bled – Julian Alps - Karst Region - Rovinj - Plitvice Lakes – Trogir - Split – Hvar - Dubrovnik the next.

The frist trip was easy by train and the 2nd was great by car. You almost seem to be mixing apples and oranges by trying to do both.

You can see pictures and details of our trips at: http://gadtravel.blogspot.com/

I agree with all the suggestions for a less ambitious itinerary. You're spending a lot of time just getting from one major city to another. In addition, you're traveling among diverse cultures and I think at the end of the trip, all the countries and languages and people will be an indistinct blur. I also like a mix of big cities and more rural destinations. I suspect your 3-year old might like that, too. My suggestion would be to limit yourself to one or two countries. I've never driven in Hungary or Poland, so I can't comment on the driving conditions there, but driving in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Croatia should not be a problem for you. If you don't usually drive a stick shift, remember to order an automatic transmission. Best of luck.

So after discussing your valuable feedback with my wife, here's what we came up with. Basically, we just decided to visit Croatia, Slovenia and (maybe) Montenegro.

Day 0: Fly out of US.

Day 1: Arrive into Zagreb. Spend the night in Zagreb.

Day 2: Sight-seeing. Late Afternoon train to Bled. Spend the night in Bled.

Day 3: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Bled.

Day 4: Rent a car for a day trip around Julian Alps. Spend the night in Bled.

Day 5: Late morning bus to Ljubljana. Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Ljubljana.

Day 6: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Ljubljana.

Day 7: Morning train to Zagreb. Afternoon bus to Plitvice. Spend the night in Plitvice.

Day 8: Sight-seeing. Evening bus to Split. Spend the night in Split.

Day 9: Sight-seeing. Evening bus to Dubrovnik. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 10: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 11: Day trip to Korkula. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 12: Rent a car for day trip to Herceg-Novi/Kotor. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 13: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 14: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Dubrovnik. OR Fly to Zagreb. Spend the night in Zagreb.

Day 15: Leave for US

What are your thoughts? Do you think this should be manageable with a 3-yr old?

Regards,

D

Wow, this is quite a departure from your original plan! Although you will still be covering quite a bit of ground, logistically it makes a lot more sense to stay contained to these two countries (and they happen to be two of my favorites). It is also a well-thought itinerary, so kudos!

I would, however, suggest taking one of the nights in Dubrovnik and adding a night to Split. This way you could get to Split in the evening on Day 8 (as long as the bus timetable from Plitvice cooperates) and then spend the entire next day there instead of having to hop another bus for Dubrovnik. Additionally, you could take a day/late afternoon bus to Dubrovnik and enjoy some of the beautiful coastal scenery. Or you could add 2 more nights to Split and plan on day-tripping to an island from there or to Trogir. Either way, I think 2 full days in Dubrovnik itself is plenty unless your objective is to spend a lot of time relaxing on the beach.

Also, keep in mind that everything pretty much shuts down in both Zagreb and Ljubljana on Sundays, so it'll be important not to book your trip so that your sightseeing days fall in those cities on a Sunday.

A website I found helpful when planning our trip was CroatiaTraveller.com

Lastly, I wanted to reiterate that this current itinerary looks good to me, someone who has never traveled with a child, particularly a child on a few long-ish bus rides. So what do I know? :)

I am just seeing this thread and looking at your original itinerary, I think it is easily doable. Given how much time you have, I would almost stick with your original plan.

Only suggestion is you don't need 4 days in Dubrovnik. However, if you want to do Plitvice lakes you should be able to fit it into those 4 days.

Check out Croatian airlines as they usually have decent fares for travel within Croatia itself. Hence, flying DBV-ZAG may be reasonable.

You might want to change your final night in Bled. There is basically one road through the Julian Alps so you would be back tracking to return to Bled. You could easily spend a night in the karst area of Slovenia and visit the caves there, and then return to Lyublyana.

Some modifications to the itinerary: added Trogir, shifted base from Bled to Ljubljana, and modified sight-seeing activities in Dubrovnik.

Day 0 [mid-September]: Fly out of US.

Day 1 [Saturday]: Arrive into Zagreb. Spend the night in Zagreb.

Day 2 [Sunday]: Sight-seeing. Late Sight-seeing. Late Afternoon train to Ljubljana. Spend the night in Ljubljana.

Day 3: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Ljubljana.

Day 4: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Ljubljana.

Day 5: Morning bus to Bled. Sight-seeing. Late evening bus to Ljubljana. Spend the night in Ljubljana.

Day 6: Rent a car for day trips around Julian Alps. Spend the night in Ljubljana.

Day 7: Morning train to Zagreb. Afternoon bus to Plitvice. Spend the night in Plitvice.

Day 8 [Friday]: Sight-seeing. Evening bus to Split. Spend the night in Split.

Day 9 [Saturday]: Morning bus to Trogir. Sight-seeing. Evening bus to Split. Spend the night in Split.

Day 10 [Sunday]: Sight-seeing. Evening bus to Dubrovnik.

Day 11: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 12: Rent a car for day trip to Kotor or Mostar. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 13: Day trip to Korkula. Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 14: Sight-seeing. Spend the night in Dubrovnik.

Day 15 [Friday]: Leave for US

Open Questions for my itinerary above:

1. Is it easy to get a car seat for my 3-yr old from the car rental company?

2. Is it true that I can be stranded in Plitvice because the buses to Split can be full and therefore not stop in Plitvice? How do I get around this?

3. Is a day trip to Korcula worth adding to the itinerary?

4. I am inclined to make a day trip to Mostar rather than Kotor for the following reasons. What do you think?

5. Kotor is like mini-Dubrovnik, but Mostar is culturally different so it will be a nice change.

6. The drive from Dubrovnik to Kotor even though beautiful, is fraught with hair-pin bends, so I am a little reluctant to drive. My wife suffers from motion sickness.

7. Am I spending too much time in Ljubljana and Dubrovnik, and less time in the other cities?

Thanks,
D

I think that you've made some good modifications--Ljubljana is a good base and it's easy to rent a car in Ljubljana to go to Bled and the Julian Alps (not sure about the car seat but you could e-mail to check.) I don't think that you're spending too much time there.

Your itinerary still seems hectic for traveling with a 3 year-old. The parts that seem to be potentially problematic are: 1) the bus trip to and from Plitvice Lakes (though I haven't done it the book describes it as "tricky.") 2) a day trip to Korcula could be difficult as the ferries don't run every day. Check the ferry schedule here: Jadrolinija Ferry

If you want to go to Korcula I'd look at staying a couple of nights.

With a 3 year-old you might consider taking the ferry from Split to Dubrovnik (or vice versa) so he/she has more space to move around. The ferry is a nice way to travel.

Here's the website for Croatia Airlines to check flights from Zagreb to Dubrovnik.

When we went, we flew from Zagreb to Dubrovnik and then took the ferry to Split.

Hope I haven't confused you too much! Just some things to think about!

Sharon:

Yup, I did consider a ferry from Split to Dubrovnik, but the problem is that the ferry leaves at 7AM. That would be terribly inconvenient for my wife and son...and both of them love to sleep late! :-)

Thanks for your advice.

Definitely pick Mostar over Kotor for a day trip. I enjoyed both, but Mostar is such a moving experience that will have you thinking a lot about the fragility of peace and the challenges of living side by side with those who are different. I visited Mostar as a long day trip and really wished I had stayed the night there, it was so interesting.

So sorry to hear that you are not visiting Poland on this trip. I just returned two weeks ago from my second visit. Amazingly beautiful country, warm loving people, and 3 Polish dollard (zlotys) to the US dollar, so visiting is cheap. Driving is a breeze, beautiful sights in and surrounding Krakow. Hotel Nawierzynka in Wieliczka (UNESCO World Heritage Salt Mine with fabulous carvings) caters to children with a playground, Tigger ande Winnie the Pooh playhouse. Poland is a beautiful country, and Krakow is charming for all ages.