a trip to coatia and slovenia

Old Aug 21st, 2007, 07:30 AM
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a trip to coatia and slovenia

Hi, I am a travel lover from hong kong, a very small city of China. I will be flying to Venice on Sept 26. My destination are Coatia and Slovenia. To save money, I chose to take extra transportation from Venice to Coatia and then Slovenia which is more cheap. (The flight to Coatia is very very expensive)
Can any one tell me what kind of transportation I can take and do you have some suggestions on the trip which I can spend time with. I will have about 17 days for this trip.
Thank you very much.
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Old Aug 21st, 2007, 08:56 AM
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Hi, We flew into Trieste, Italy which is on the border with Slovenia and almost with Croatia. It's a 2 hour train ride to Venice from there and it's got a great city center with a beautiful Piazza and terrific restaurants. We rented a car from AutoEurope at the Trieste airport and made sure they knew we were taking the car into Slo & Cro. We didn't have the time you have, only 1 week, so we spent a few days driving around Slovenia, using Ljubljiana as our base. Then we moved on to Istria in northern Croatia and spent time going to some hilltowns inland and the coastal towns. Loved them all. My favorites were Lake Bled in Slo. and Rovinj in Istria. If I could have I would have stuck with my 1st week just like I did it, but then go on to, 1st, Plitvice Natl. Park (with the lakes) and then move on down the coast and see the islands, Split, Dubrovnik and if you can, daytrips to Montenegro or Bosnia. You shoud be able to find some great trip reports here. Good luck. BTW, We returned the car to downtown Trieste at the end of our trip and took the train to Venice. 2 hours, very easy.
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Old Aug 21st, 2007, 09:31 AM
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Zwho, thank you very much for your prompt response. You gave me an idea of how to travel within these two countries. I must take this information for my reference. However, I am the only one who can drive, therefore, I will not choose driving as a way of travelling becos it will be too difficult for me. So which country do you think I can spend more time on, Coatia or Slovenia? And I will definitely find some information about the places you have suggested like Bosnia or Montengero. Thank you very much again.
Does anyone who would like to share their experience in these countries, please do by posting a message to me or email me directly.
Thanks again.
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Old Aug 21st, 2007, 09:49 AM
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I would like also to know which station I should depart in Austria if I take the train and what station I should arrive in Coatia? Other than driving and taking train, will there be other means of transportation to get to Coatia from Vienna?
Thanks for the information.
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Old Aug 21st, 2007, 09:55 AM
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Fongfong - are you arriving in VENICE or VIENNA?
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Old Aug 22nd, 2007, 05:47 PM
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I am arriving in Vienna. I will stay for two or three days and then try to find the best way to go to Croatia. However, I know that Slovenia, which is also my destination, is a bit near to Vienna. So what would you suggest to me? Going to Slovenia first and then Croatia or vice versa? Thank you very much
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Old Aug 24th, 2007, 09:33 AM
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Hi Fongfong,

I looked at www.whichbudget.com to see if there are inexpensive flights from Vienna to Croatia and see that SkyEurope has some low priced flights. There is one on Sept 29 to Zadar for 19 euro all in - it is some super special fare. I do not know anything about that airline, but it is pretty cheap and would get you into Croatia! They do not fly into Slovenia, so you will need to get around from Zadar by bus or car.

Are you also flying back out of Vienna to get home? I looked to see if Sky Europe had a flight from Dubrovnik but I do not see any October flights.

Why don't you also look at www.europebyair.com to see if you can find some inexpensive flights or passes.
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Old Aug 24th, 2007, 07:19 PM
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HappyCheeseHead,

What a nice suggestion! thank you very much and I'll have a look at it.
In between, do you live in the region nearby?
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Old Aug 24th, 2007, 07:35 PM
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Dear HappyCheeseHead,

I have looked at the website you suggested to me. It is really cheap to get a flight from vienna to croatia with whichbudget.com while the air fares are quite expensive if i use europeby air. What is the main difference? Is it the airline company? Is the difference significant to my consideration? Thank you very much for your reply and it really help.
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Old Aug 25th, 2007, 08:50 AM
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Hello Fongfong,
No, I am nowhere near Austria or Croatia, although I have been to both.

I am sitting here in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, talking to you, in Hong Kong, about a trip to Croatia. Ain't the internet grand?

Sky Europe is a budget carrier in and of itself. Whichbudget is a website that lists various routes that various budget carriers fly, you then go to the airline to book. Europe By Air does a similar job of listing flight routes for individual airlines (and not necessarily budget carriers)and you can book thru them but you can also buy flight passes (99 dollars US, not sure how that works out price wise for you in Hong Kong) that you can use for to fly on different airlines.

Example, I bought a 99 US dollar pass from Europe By Air and used it to fly from Split, Croatia to Rome, Italy on Croatian Air. I also had to pay the flight taxes at the Split Airport (about another 40 US) so my total cost for the flight was about $140.

Purchasing the SAME flight direct from Croatia Air would have been $325 US. The passes can save money, especially if you can get a direct flight from point A to point B. Sometimes you have to use 2 passes and have a stop in an intermediate airport, which doubles the cost.

It is not always cheaper to get a pass. I flew from Zagreb to Dubrovnik (intracountry) by purchasing direct from Croatia Air - was less than 40 US per person. Please note I purchased my tickets WAYYYY in advance, so you may not find anything near as cheap, sorry!

I just mentioned going from Vienna to Zadar due to the extremely low fare that I found, and that the flight was still running late into the month. I don't see any Sky Europe flights in October at all.

Zadar is about halfway down the coast of Croatia. It may not make the most sense logistically. Perhaps you could start there, work your way down the coast to Dubrovnik and then fly Croatia Air intra country from Dubrovnik to Rijecka or Pula or Zagreb and start from one of those bases to see the northen part of Croatia and Slovenia. Then you could somehow find your way back to Vienna from there.

It is a lot to do in 14 days via bus. The permutations of all the travel options are enough to make one's head spin - good luck!
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Old Aug 25th, 2007, 10:46 AM
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HappyCheeseHead,

You are in a place which is more near than I expected.
I think I would prefer travelling by bus or train to taking a plane cos there is no flight flying from Austria to Zegreb or Dubrovnik.
Could you suggest me a website where I can find the train or bus information.
Thank you very much for your information and explanation. I've learnt a lot from you.
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Old Aug 25th, 2007, 11:32 AM
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fongfong, I understand your troubles with flying into Croatia because we had a similar problem with that last year. We ended up getting lucky and finding a great flight to Dubrovnik for a relatively low cost, but Croatia is usually very expensive to fly into.

There are flights from Croatia to Vienna, but you will probably have to use Croatia Airlines (http://www.croatiaairlines.com/) or Austria Airlines and the flights can be on the expensive side. Still, it may be worth looking into as they do have airfare sales.

Are you interested in driving? If so, you could fly (use kayak.com) or take a train from Vienna to Ljubljana, Slovenia and pick up a car to use for your travels to Slovenia and Croatia. You would have to drive back to Slovenia (to avoid expensive drop-off fees of dropping the car in another country) and then you could catch your flight or train back to Vienna. Driving in Croatia and Slovenia is very easy.

Unfortunately I don't have much else to offer for advice because we had a car. I think its easy to get around Croatia without a car (using buses and the ferry system) but I'm not sure about Slovenia. I would imagine there is bus service from Croatia to Ljubljana.

I know its difficult to get to, but Croatia and Slovenia are wonderful countries so the effort is definitely worth it!

Good luck and best wishes!
Tracy (chiming in from Charlotte, NC)
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Old Aug 28th, 2007, 09:30 AM
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Thank you very much for your advice. Other than transportation, could you suggest me some places worth visiting in 16 days exclusive for air flight.
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Old Aug 28th, 2007, 10:11 AM
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fongfong, we traveled during off-season (in November of last year) so we didn't make it to any of the islands. With that being said, here are some places that we visited and loved:

Dubrovnik - our favorite!
Trogir - lovely small town near Split
Split - Not my favorite but many others disagree
Verazdin - beautiful baroque town in Northern Croatia near Hungary border
Zagreb - Really enjoyed this underrated capital city

If you have time, I would suggest a daytrip to Montenegro from Dubrovnik. We had a private driver but you could also look into tour busses. Montenegro is stunningly beautiful and we loved the towns of Perast and Kotor.

In Slovenia we visited:

Novo Mesto - neat town but not too much there; we used it as base
Otocec - Lovely castle that makes for great pictures
Bled - Beautiful town on the lake
Ljubljana - Very charming capital city

Others have explored more of Croatia and will hopefully chime in with some suggestions. With your time, you should easily be able to see and do a a great deal without feeling rushed. I would look into visiting Plitvice National Park (it rained the day we were supposed to visit so we skipped it), some of the islands (Hvar, Korcula, Rab, etc.), and the towns on the Istrian peninsula (Rovinj, Pula, etc).

Good luck!
Tracy
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Old Sep 2nd, 2007, 04:42 AM
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I was in Croatia last October which is the best time of year to go there. It's cheaper and still warm generally for most of the early to mid part of the month along the coast. The throngs of tourists are much thinner than in the summer time. There's an excellent ferry/ cruise ship system from Italy (Venice and Trieste) to Croatia. When I went I flew from the States to London and ended up taking a BA flight out of Manchester to Dubrovnik. I spent most of my time in Dalmatia. Dubrovnik is stunning. A bit touristy but beautiful. Eat at the Konoba Marco Polo. Some of the best food in town. There's also a stunning little vista on the south wall of the fortress that is simply marked "cold drinks". A great place to sip a beverage and watch the sun set. Take trips out to the islands if you have a chance. Lokrum island is just out in the bay and a nice place to hike. From there I took a bus to Korcula which is a smaller version of Dubrovnik and, at that time of year, a very quite little town. If you go there you must eat at the Konoba Adio Mare. Then I took a ferry to Hvar which is a nice little Venetian style harbor town. Some of the best wine in the country is made there and it's where the lavender farms are. From there I took a ferry to Split. Some people like Split. It wasn't my cup of tea. It's a large, dirty, port town with only one interesting feature (the Diocletian Palace) and that can be seen in a couple of hours. There are surprisingly few places to eat in Split, but I would recommend the Restoran Sarajevo. From there I took a bus to Trogir. A great little town with lots of wonderful food and an outdoor market that shouldn't be missed. From there I took the bus to Zadar. There's really not much to see there. Again, some people like it, I didn't. From there I went to Zagreb which is a great city. Lots of wonderful museums. Then I took the train to Budapest, spent a few days, and flew out of there. If you find yourself in Croatia on October 8th it's Croatian Independence day which is not a bad time of year to go. This year I'm going again in October. Starting in Vienna and working my way through Slovenia to Istria, the Kvarner gulf, down to Dalmatia again, and out through Mostar and Sarajevo. General pieces of advice and know how: (1. Almost everybody under 50 speaks great English, but it's always nice to know a little polite Croatian. (2. Stay at private rooms (sobe) as much as you can. They are cheap and a good way to get to know the people. (3. The tourist offices know everything about the area particularly good advice about getting from one town to the next. The ferry schedules are more limited that time of year and are pretty complicated without a little help. Buses are often the best way to get around. Driving can be quite scary along the Adriatic Highway.(4. The seafood is great. So is the sir (cheese) and prsut (ham). The meat leaves a bit to be desired along the coast, but it's better inland. The wine can be very hit and miss (much of it tastes corked). Whites are often better than reds. The beer is pretty good. (5. Croatians pride themselves on being rather stoic so they can seem a bit standoffish at times, but they are all quite hospitable and wonderful people. They are the perfect hosts. They give you exactly the advice you need and then stay out of your way until you ask them for more advice. Once they get to know you they are quite friendly and warm. They have a wonderful tendency to break out into song at fairly random times. (6. Of the Catholic countries that I've been to Croatia is the most Catholic. They practice a very old world style of Catholicism. Be very respectful going into churches, dress appropriately, and keep in mind that not everything is going to be open on Sunday. (7. Beach is a very loose term in Croatia. Most of them are gravel or just an outcropping of rocks that go into the ocean. Very few natural sand beaches. You need to wear water shoes (not just sandals). There are lots of sea urchins. (8. Croatia is the safest place I've ever traveled. You should always watch out for pickpockets in the tourist areas, but there is no violent crime to be heard of. You can generally walk anywhere at night without any problems. Even into dark little alleys. (9. If you go hiking anywhere just check with the locals to make sure there aren't any land mines near by. They generally have a good idea where they are and have marked them if they are anywhere in the area. Southern Dalmatia isn't too bad for this (there's a little bit around the hills in Dubrovnik), but up between Split and Zadar apparently can be a little dicey in spots so ask the locals where not to go if you want to walk off the beaten path.
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Old Sep 4th, 2007, 10:01 AM
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really really thank you to you, Patricksfolly. You wrote me a lot of useful information and you didn't mind to spend so much pages to let me know more about the places. I think all of us should share our experience and photos of Croatia. What do you think?

fongfong
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Old Sep 4th, 2007, 10:10 AM
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I see that you just mentioned pictures. If you are interested you can feel free to check out my pictures on Croatia and Montenegro. Just click on www.kodakgallery.com/tracybates and pan down until you get to the correct photo albums.

I hope you are having much success in your planning! Have you decided how you will get to Croatia or Slovenia yet?

Tracy
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Old Sep 4th, 2007, 10:11 AM
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Also, I am attaching the link to my trip report, as that also may prove useful. Happy planning!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...t=0&searchText

Tracy
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Old Sep 4th, 2007, 10:22 AM
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Bookmarking to read along!

DH and I just decided to take advantage of an opportunity to go to Croatia/Slovenia for 8 days at the end of October - a little short on time, but it came through work so we just decided to go for it and add an impromptu trip.

I am especially interested in the restaurant recs!


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