Best of Adriatic 14 days- Oct

I'll give a general answer. After taking 3 RS tours with lots of driving time, you can count on a bathroom break every 2 hours. The bus bathroom is for emergency use only. They know their audience and make sure there are plenty of opportunities.

Thank you! I figured we'd have timely breaks but for those "can't wait" times.

Hi Jodi - we were on this tour last October. We have been on lots of tours and this one is holding up to probably be my favorite, despite some crummy October weather. KD's remarks re bathrooms on the bus were right on. There are frequent stops and there is the one on the bus for emergencies. Like you, we expected some places to be closed since it was late in the season, but it didn't affect our enjoyment of the trip.

Regarding hotels -

Hotel Mangart - Bovec,
Hotel La Grisa, Balle-Valle, Istria,
Hotel Bristol - Mostar,
Hotel Jezero - Plitvice,
Hotel Globo Split - Split, and
Hotel Marco Polo, Korcula

We’ve been on 12 tours, not this one but some with long bus rides and I can think of maybe only two times of the bathroom on the bus being used. It’s a very cramped small space that you wedge yourself into. One thing we learned very quickly, if the bus makes a rest stop, make use of the restroom facilities because the next may be an 1 1/2 hours away.

Hi Jodi!

We went on this tour in April 2024. We loved it!!!

Here is a list of our hotels:

Hotel Mrak (Ljubljana)
Hotel Mangart (Bovec)
Hotel La Grisa (Balle-Valle, Istria)
Hotel Jezero ( Plitvice National Park)
Hotel Globo Split (Split, Croatia)
Hotel Kapetanovina (Mostar)
Hotel Liburna (Korcula)
Hotel Lero (Dubrovnik)

The bathroom breaks were every two hours and yes, the bus has a bathroom.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Emily

My husband and I were on this tour in the first two weeks of October, 2023. The weather was beautiful! We were able to swim in both Korcula and Dubrovnik, with the seawater so much warmer than what I've experienced on other trips to Europe at other times of the year. Take water shoes if you think you might enjoy a dip in the sea, because the beaches are very rocky.

Our hotel in Bovec was Hotel Mangart, and our hotel in Mostar was Hotel Almira.

Our Istrian hill town was the walled town of Motovun. If you stay there, treat yourself to a sunrise walk around the ramparts. This is a very small town and it only takes seven or eight minutes to walk around the entire wall. At sunrise I was the only one out. Watching the sun come up over the distant mountains provided a magical start to my day.

As far as other tips/comments:

You should consider arriving in Ljubljana a day or two early because it is such a delightful city and there are also some fun and interesting day trip possibilities if you want to venture out of the city. We took a tour that combined Predjama Castle and Postojna Cave. It was a small group tour by car. The driver, who was also our guide, picked us up at French Revolution Square, which was less than a half block from the tour hotel, Hotel Mrak. He then made two other stops to pick up his other 6 guests. The company was To Do in Slovenia. Our guide was wonderful.

On the RS tour, we had around 3 hours of free time in Lake Bled. The main suggested activities were taking a boat out to the island in the middle of the lake or walking all the way around the lake on the lakeside path. We opted for the latter and this was a very leisurely, beautiful stroll, one of my favorite activities on this tour.

We also extended our trip a little bit on the other end. We and two other couples from the tour took a day trip to Montenegro. The company was Dubrovnik Top Tours. After the final breakfast in Dubrovnik, we were picked up by our driver/guide and we had a wonderful 9 hour day with him, visiting both Perast and Kotor.

Thank you! I figured we'd have timely breaks but for those "can't wait" times.

We took this tour in 2023. I had one of those moments just past the border crossing on our return to Croatia from Bosnia. The bus stopped for me to use a toilet but told everyone not to get off unless they were desperate. About four people got off.

Turned out to be fortuitous because the trainee guide's passport had been left in the border scanning machine.

Thank you so much for the replies! This is SO helpful.

Vickie- thank you especially for the Lake Bled comment! I was trying to decide if a walk around the lake was doable in the allotted time and it sounds like it was. I was also interested in the caves/castle outside Ljub. My flight won't get in until mid-day the day before the tour starts (points reward availability) so I was going to see if it seems like something that can be done the morning/afternoon of the group meeting.

Jodi, We took our tour of Predjama Castle and Postojna Cave on the first day of the RS tour, as you are contemplating. We were picked up fairly early in the morning. I had been assured that we'd be dropped back off at the pick up spot by 3 p.m., and we were. We had time to freshen up, and even go to the cafe next door to the hotel for a drink and appetizer, before the tour's welcome meeting.

The walk around Lake Bled could have been done in an hour if we'd been hiking briskly, but we chose to stroll and stretched it out to two hours. (I took lots of photos.) We had time to get lunch afterwards.

In September of 2024 the Istrian hill town we stayed in was Motovun at Hotel Kastel. It was an amazing setting!

We've only been on four RS tours, but I've only seen the bathroom used once. They have always stopped often enough for me.

Hello ,

I took this tour in Mid September 2025

Hotel in Bovec was Hotel Mangart , we walked into town for an incredible very long group dinner where I ate an entire trout, served in its entirety. Delicious food all over Slovenia

Mostar was Hotel Kapetanovina, my room had a nice view of the town and the minarets lit at night was so atmospheric . It poured rain that night attempted to get out to see the bridge illuminated but it was quite a storm with lightning so... missed that.

Stayed in Bale at Hotel La Grisa.

It was a great tour with an incredible guide, Sanel.

Jodi, I took a private tour to Skockjan caves with a 10 o'clock cave entry ticket and a quick look at the Lipica horse farm on the day the group met. I made it back just in time for the meeting. Ran in right at 4. Traffic was bad getting back in to Ljubljana. If you go to Postonja caves those are not as far of a drive. The cave was out of this world.

These are so helpful! Thank you all.
I have a spreadsheet going with the hotels and Istrian town, just for some added research because I'm like that.
I'm sure that means we will stay at none of them :)
Looks like Mostar has the most variance on hotel.

It was a great tour with an incredible guide, Sanel.

We had the amazing Sanel, also. His personal story of surviving the Bosnian War is one I will never forget.

We stayed at the Mangart and the Almirante.
At Lake Bled a few of us did both the boat out to the island and the full walk around the lake, and still had time to grab a drink and a snack. I would discuss it with your guide to determine how much time you will have.

It was a great tour with an incredible guide, Sanel

We also had Sanel!