Landnett

I am planning a trip with two friends that originally included Croatia as the main portion and ending in Venice. I then started reading about Bled Slovenia and thought it would be a good side trip as long as we were in the area anyway. My concern is that we are trying to do too much and will feel like we touched a lot but didn't really get to enjoy anything.
My concerns are that we won't have enough time to enjoy Bled and then we will be rushing back to Rovinj. And then we will be pressured to arrive in Venice in the evening and have only the next day and evening in Venice before leaving the next morning.

Is Bled a worthwhile side trip? Any opinions or advice on the itinerary below?

Here is the itinerary I am considering:

Day 1 Arrive in Dubrovnik 10pm
Day 2 Spend the day in Dubrovnik
Day 3 Take the ferry to Hvar and spend the day and overnight on Hvar
Dav 4 Take the ferry to Split and pick up the rental car and drive to Plitvice Natl Park
Day 5 Another day in Pltivice Natl Park
Day 6 Drive from Plitvice to Bled, Slovenia (not sure where to stay overnight here)
Day 7 Drive to Rovinj Croatia and overnight in Rovinj
Day 8 Spend the day in Rovinj
Day 9 Drive to Trieste and dump the rental car, take the train to Venice
Day 10 Spend the day in Venice
Day 11 Early morning flight home

Andrew

Wow, I'm dizzy from all the moving around every day! I personally do think you are doing too much - but some people like to maximize what they see on a trip and don't mind being in a car or on a train half the time. Personally, not my style. I like more time to absorb a place.

Oddly, the one thing I WOULD cut down is Plitvice. It's a wonderful park, but I really don't think you need two nights there. You could spend 6-8 hours there one day and most likely get your fill - unless you are fanatical about hiking or national parks. I'd take the 2nd night there and put it in Dubrovnik myself.

Didn't get to Bled, but I loved Ljubljana, Slovenia. But I tend to love cities. I skipped Bled because I had heard mixed things about it - some people love it, others think it's a bit overrated.

Dropping the car in Trieste will probably cost you a pretty penny. Try to drop the car in Croatia instead if you can manage. You can perhaps drive to Zagreb, top the car, and then train/bus on to Bled, then back to Venice that way. If you stop in Llubljana, you can night train back to Venice or take an express bus from Ljubljana to Venice (Mestre) in the morning.

bobthenavigator

Far too much--keep the trip in Croatia and drop it in Zagreb.

nicolos1

Landnett,
I'm also dizzy and I haven't had that much to drink. Forget Bled and stick to Rovinj and then Trieste, and Venice.
Nick

monte07

After Plitvice head to Rovinj, and from Rovinj visit Lake Bled like a daytrip. In return visit Trieste, which is on your way down. Drop the car in Rovinj, and from Rovinj take the ferry or bus to Venice.

yorkshire

You will enjoy it a lot more if you slow down. For example, look at Day 3--have you looked at what time the ferry leaves and how long it takes? You might not be getting as much time in Hvar as you think. My favorite days in Hvar were spent walking along the coast and going over to the Pakleni islands to find my own little beach. Moving from place to place is time consuming and tiring, when you could be relaxing and having fun.
As much as I love Plitvice, I might leave that out too, unless you drive from Split or Zadar to Plitvice and then to Rovinj.

Midnightsun

I'd agree with most of the posters and advise you to slow down. If you really want to see Venice, give it a few days. The Venice in one day experience exposes you to lots of crowds and doesn't give you a chance to soak up the very wonderful ambience of the place, which you will do by wandering through and losing yourself down the small calles after you've hit the major tourist attractions.

We haven't traveled in Croatia, so I can't comment on that, but we loved Slovenia and the five days we spent there were not enough. Lake Bled was lovely and relaxing, so I'd give it a positive vote. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Toplice, which was fairly pricey (about 220 Euros maybe), but we had a room on a top floor with a lovely view of the lake and the castle, which certainly made it worthwhile. Near Lake Bled is Radovljica, a small town which is seemingly being groomed as a future "charming tourist stop." It isn't (or wasn't in 2008) quite there yet in terms of signs, amenities, but it was certainly a charming place to explore for a couple or three hours. Where else can you find a beekeeping museum?

Also very worthwhile is the trip through the Julian Alps, which can be done as a loop starting either in Lake Bled or Ljubljana and returning to either one. This takes you through lovely scenery, places described by Hemingway in "A Farewell To Arms," to a town with a World War I museum that won an award a few years ago as Europe's best small museum, to a Lippanzer Horse Farm/B&B if you venture off the main highway a bit, and culminates in a wild ride through tunnels and valleys with your car on a flat bed train if you choose to by-pass the last 40 km of slow winding road (we did because it was late in the day) and take the Bohinjska Bistrica car train to get back to Lake Bled. Rick Steves has an excellent section about taking this loop through the Julian Alps in his book on Eastern Europe. He does it in a day but says it could easily be stretched to two days, and I would recommend that. It was the unexpected highlight of our trip in Slovenija.

This probably doesn't help with your itinerary, but in the interests of slowing down and seeing more of a few areas, I suppose I'd recommend three days at one spot in Croatia, three or four days with a base in Lake Bled or Ljubljana (they're close enough so you could do most things from either point) and three or four days in Venice.

kja

I don't mind keeping very busy when I travel - I do like to take advantage of every minute and every opportunity - but what you are proposing would be way too much even for me! You really aren't leaving yourself enough time to see things. I agree with Andrew that you could cut one night from Plitvice Lakes. You might want to consider cutting a few destinations. Good luck with your plans.

Landnett

Great input from everyone. My gut told me this was too much and now all of you have confirmed it. I just hope I live long enough (or have enough money) to see all the things I want to in my lifetime. But enjoying myself along the way is more important. My friend I am travelling with is suggesting Zadar, after reading up on it, so now I need to do some research on that as it hadn't hit my radar at all. I think Bled is going to be taken out of the itnerary so that there is enough time in all the spots we have in mind.

kja

I enjoyed Zadar, but not as much as the other places you are considering. What draws your friend to it in particular?

Landnett

She wrote the following in an email but I am not sure it is enough for an overnight. I wonder if there may be towns or stops that have more to offer. Her notes are the following:
"There are few very cool things in Zadar, and there is a 850 year-old tradition of crossing from the "old town" to the
mainland on little wooden boats...a short ride and cheap, as well as a couple of funky architectural things that we would want to see (Sea Organ and Sun Salutation..art projects unique to Zadar.) Zadar is also known for it's night life, so it could be fun. It's also a main starting off point for Plitvice."

kja

Zadar's Sea Organ and Sun Salutation (which is best seen after dark) are delightful. I didn't see the little boats, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. I found much to enjoy in Zadar - it has some good museums, fascinating churches, and interesting squares.

Good luck with your decisions!

julia1

Rovinj, and all of Istria, really deserves more than just a day. Its ethereal beauty is appreciated best when you can take your time, see it at various times of the day and night

Take a look at this: http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923403.html
And this: http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923406.html

Then imagine yourself spending a couple of days poking around the narrow streets and alleyways, sitting in the cafes, walking around the harbor: http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923480.html

... exploring the surrounding countryside, perhaps driving up to Motovun for an afternoon or evening:
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923480.html
... watching the mist rise from the valleys: http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p63534750.html

Lake Bled is a lovely spot, and there's plenty to do there if you have the leisure time available, but for a quick trip such as yours, you won't have time to do much more than take a boat out to the island and perhaps walk around the lake. These photos will give you good look at what you would see:

http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p62720372.html
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923420.html
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923418.html
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p62720376.html

Of course, there's nothing like being there yourself, but what you would get from a few hours there isn't much more than seeing the photos.

Same is true for Plitvice. Lovely place but not a lot to do in a short time except walk the path around the lakes. Here you go again:

http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923472.html
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923474.html
http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/p61923475.html

I recommend that you pick just a few places, ones that resonate with you for your own reasons, either because of physical beauty, cultural or historical interest, or whatever it is that turns you on - not just because you're in the area anyway. Otherwise you may return home feeling that you spent an awful lot of time chasing around trying to find the point of your trip, but it kept eluding you because you were too busy to slow down and look beneath the surface of the places you visited.

Mimar

Croatia repays slow travel, especially on the islands. It's like going back in time. As in Italy, you kind of miss the point if you rush through.

I don't think there's any place in Rovinj to drop a rental car. You can drop it in Porec or Pula. Maybe drop in Porec and take the bus to Rovinj. Then take the boat to Venice -- assuming you are not traveling in the winter.

jdtaylor

Plitvice is one of my very favorite places I've ever been - yet we stayed there just one night, and I would suggest that it would be satisfactory. We got there in the late morning, ate a lunch at the cafeteria-style restaurant at the state hotel (actually at a different hotel from where we stayed, because it was low season and not every facility was open) - and managed a pretty complete circuit around the lakes by dusk.

I've posted about this elsewhere, but supposedly Trieste Lines (a subsidiary of Ustica Lines) is restarting its summer Istria - Trieste hydrofoil service in May. No info currently on their website, but it was reported in the Trieste paper and there are some messages at this board:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...nj_Istria.html

I took it from Piran to Trieste a couple years ago (after dropping off a car myself) and it's a nice way to make that leg.

Jojonana

There is a place to drop off a car in Rovinj, just in near the marina.