RS Best of Adriatic: where did you fly into? AKA should we do Budapest?

We flew into Venice and took a Go Opti driving transfer right from Marco Polo Airport to the front door of our hotel in Ljubljana. It was inexpensive and relaxing after an overnight flight.

Coming home we flew from Dubrovnik to Zagreb and spent a day there. Zagreb is worth at least a day if not two. And from Zagreb you could fly to any number of places to continue your trip.

Hi Peggy, the Adriatic tour is excellent! I did it in 2023. I was in England & Wales ahead of time and flew from London to Ljubljana with Easy Jet.

I recommend arriving a day or two ahead to take the half-day tour of the nearby caves!

Hi Peggy,
We did the tour in 2023, it’s great! Flew into Ljubljana on AirFrance/Hop! from Paris (CDG). Flew out of Dubrovnik on Air France with an overnight at CDG and back to Minneapolis on Delta the next day. Enjoy!

Hi Peggy,

I did this tour 5 months ago...it's excellent by the way! I was coming from San Francisco, CA and flew United SFO to Munich, then a flight to Graz, Austria where I spent 3 nights. Graz is Austria's 'second city' and it was really lovely and gave me time to get over some jet lag. I took a direct train from Graz to Ljubljana and spent 2 nights there before the tour started. Easy train journey and really enjoyed all my extra time prior to the tour and helped me be ready for the busy tour schedule. Highly recommended! You'll have a wonderful time! If you can be in Ljubljana on a Friday night they have a wonderful 'Open Kitchen' in the square, tons of different food stalls, drinks and music, so much fun!

Best of Adriatic only hits two thirds of the best. I would consider extending the trip further south and possibly inland.

The easiest is further south into Montenegro. If nothing else, at least the bay of Kotor but the entire coast down to Ulcinj is worth the time. Think of Croatia before the tourists found it. Here is a good overview: https://youtu.be/hdOPWI2Ftgg?si=7k7N5V7leAVGbDO8 but I posted some location specific videos here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/montenegro/podgorica-to-dubrovnik-by-car There is also a good contact for trip planning in the region in this post.

More complex and time consuming but equally worth the time is inland a bit. Sarajevo is one of the most fascinating cities in the region https://youtu.be/bejCig2XoEw?si=iQftDlNSLFXOkR3B , or if you enjoy nature there is the Tara River Canyon and places like the Ostrog monastery.

Naturally I think my adopted hometown of Budapest is a brilliant idea and that works better with Montenegro than with Slovenia. To reach Ljubljana from Budapest its a crazy long train or bus or flight. To reach Budapest from Montenegro its a discount flight from Podgorica in about 80 minutes. Flights are on Sunday, Monday and Thursday. Podgorica is only a few hours from Dubrovnik if you just want to leave from Dubrovnik to Budapest .... or at least maybe stay one night in Perast on the Bay of Kotor. A good video on Budapest: https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?feature=shared AND Anthony Bourdain describing how visually pleasurable Budapest is: https://youtu.be/0nd9DuDGCz0?si=aa0c19KaJHEtabkX

I flew to Ljubljana to start this tour. Knowing what I know now, I'd consider taking Turkish Airlines to Istanbul, doing a free one night layover there, and then going on to Ljubljana.

Carol now retired, that's an excellent idea.

Okay Peggy, the work is done. We figured it out for you. You will spend a night in Istanbul on the way to Ljb. Then do the RS tour. Then four nights in Montenegro before catching a flight out of Podgorica to budapest for 4 more nights.

Haha! Wonderful! Thank goodness for all of you, my tour organizers. Now I’ll just need to start earning all that PTO! Thanks for all of the fantastic suggestions.

We did this tour a few year ago and LOVED it! We flew into Venice where we spent a few days. We also booked a GoOpti like someone already suggested and it was really easy and economical. Someone in our tour group flew into Ljubljana but headed up to Lake Bled and stayed in a hotel on the lake for a few days. I was quite envious of them after visiting Lake Bled! Depending on the time of year you go, if the weather is nice, this might be a fun option. On the tour I really wish we had had more time in Lake Bled. I guess it depends on how you like to start your tour. If you want to ease into things, Lake Bled might be a nice option. It's very picturesque and feels very "vacationy." If memory serves, it's only about 45-60 minutes from Ljubljana. Enjoy your tour!!

Now I’ll just need to start earning all that PTO!

We are sending a committee to talk to your boss Monday morning.