Slovenia & Croatia May 2013 Part 2

Craig, we returned this June from a similar itinerary - Motovun, Rovinj, Trogir, Korcula, and Dubrovnik (we skipped Slovenia for Krakow and Budapest). It took a while to locate an "ideal" rental but we settled on Sixt with a return in Dubrovnik and only a $200 one-way surcharge. Roads were great; signage was good; we had an iPhone GPS and a backup Michelin map. With our car we made easy day trips to Porec and Pula. Getting over to Korcula was a little tricky - we avoided the madness of Split and drove south making an easy 15 min crossing. IMO the extra planning, etc to get over to Korcula was not worth it. Every activity on Korcula was avail from the coastal towns and cities - bikes, snorkel, swimming, sailing, etc. I would have liked to stay a day or two in Opatija but there was so much to see. As you can see we skipped Lake Bled and Plivtice - the coastal sights and UNESCO Towns we our top priorities. Isteria and Trogir were stunningly scenic; and, Dubrovnik was an enchanting big city. Check out my reviews on TripAdvisor for lodging and a few restaurants. And, don't hesisitate to follow up with more questions or a private message. Ciao,

The weather will be nice in May, the late winter/early spring rainshowers will have gone by then in Slovenia, everything will be green and the streets and the outdoors will get filled with locals trying to enjoy the nice weather as much as possible.

Thanks Craig. I would be interested in knowing how you made the journey to Korcula. Did you go by ferry or boat or private boat transportation? I was thinking of dropping the car in Split / Trogir and boating to Korcula and then on to Dubrovnik by boat as well. I am going the first 2 weeks in May so maybe services are more limited. Also when did you notice the cruise ships starting to show up in Dubrovnik? Craig

Dejan, I am happy to hear about the weather. How long do you recommend I stay in Ljubljana and Lake Bled? What about places to stay? Thanks. Craig

Craig, Our brief visit to Korcula came about a bit of whim ... short version of a long story: while in Motovun we decided to skip Mostar before Dubrovnik, leaving us with an extra day/night. A friendly innkeeper at the Butterfly Home B&B in Budapest recommended a side trip to Korcula - sounded good on the surface but oh those details. IMO, the car ferry out of Split was a goat rodeo (long lines, limited days, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!) - so we punted and headed off for two peaceful days in Trogir. A helpful soul in Trogir helped us locate the 15 min. car ferry from Orebic to Korcula. Perfect, no reservations, two an hour, etc.! Orebic does require a car to get out to but it was easy for us. The Korcula adventure was fun but no essential for an economies of time perspective. I much preferred Rovinj or Trogir to Korcula and could have added my extra night to those smaller cities or even to Dubrovnik (our two night stay only scratched the surface of "things to do" in Dubrovnik). OBTW - in Dubrovnik a car is NOT needed and an impediment; in our case, with a 10 euro parking space we enjoyed using the car to get to airport.
Have fun!

Since I will be traveling in Croatia early to mid-May and transportation is more limited is it worth it to make the extra effort to try and go to Korcula and then on to Dubrovnik or should I skip the Korcula experience and continue on down the coast and save some more time for other places????? Thanks Craig

We were all along this route in May of this year. FWIW, we got a LOT of rain and really stormy weather on the first half of the trip (mid-May), from Bled to Rovinj and Motovun, so I would not count on warm sunshine all the time (we got some of that, more towards the end of the trip). We loved Trogir and Korcula, didn't care much for Split or Hvar. Tastes vary. We spent 3 nights in Dubrovnik, but really only spent 2 1/2 days there (one day we did a day-trip to Kotor, which was great). Hope that helps.