In my opinion, Skocjan caves are far more spectacular than Postojna. To avoid bus tours, get to Plitvice for opening time.

Good to know. Thanks LittleVicky.

You'll be visiting a gorgeous part of the world. That's the good news. The bad news is that I think you are trying to do too much in the time you have available. I hope I'm wrong! Any chance of an open jaw flight so you don't have to back track?

> Day 1- 10:30am Arrive at Trieste, rent a car and go to Ljubljana
Day 2- Visit Bled and Triglav

Sounds to me like very little time for either Ljubljana or Bled.

> Day 3- Visit Postojna Cave, Predjama castle and Motovun (possible other hill towns if I have time)Stay the night in Lovran

I visited Skocjan caves rather than Postojna, and thought the Skocjan caves remarkable. Nonetheless, with so little time, you might consider skipping each of them. If you do go, remember that you will probably need several hours at the caves in addition to time to get there.

I spent just long enough at Predjama to see the castle from outside, having read that it wasn't worth the time to visit the interior. I don't know whether it would have been or not, but again, with so little time in the area, I'm not sure it warrants the time it will take to get there and back.

Are you planning to walk the Lungomare from Lovran? If so, you'll probably want to make sure you get there in time for your walk before sunset. For what it's worth, I spent (as I recall) about 2 hours on the walk from Lovran to Opatija.

So Day 3 sounds much too full to me. I could be wrong, but I think you'll need to trim your plans.

> Day 4- Visit Plitvice lakes and go back to Lovran for the night

Really? I think its close to 4 hours (one-way) from Lovran to the Plitvice Lakes. The stretch near the lakes had (as I recall) a lot of twisty, turning roads that didn't have good directional signage. The area around Rijeka was a nightmare during rush hour, but maybe you can avoid that. But even if you do, I don't think you'll have much time to enjoy the lakes unless you leave Lovran very early and return quite late.

Good luck!

I appreciate the points you brought out. I made sure to check the distances/times between each location. Ljubljana to Postojna is a 38 minute drive, Postojna to Motovun is about an hour drive and Motovun to Lovran is about an hour drive. That doesn't seem too bad. For day 4, Lovran to the Plitvice Lakes according to google maps is only a 2 hour and 36 minute drive. Will Rijeka's traffic be that bad in May?

In the past, I have found www.viamichelin.com to be helpful and accurate in the parts of Croatia I am not familiar with.
Nobody can predict what traffic will be like, but Rijeka, like any city, will be busy morning and evening.

I suggest you use viamichelin.com, too. Google Maps tends to be too optimistic regarding regular roads.

Regarding the plans, day 2 seems a bit full to me. What do you mean by Triglav? I'm guessing the National Park, which part? You need to consider that Bled will take the best part of a day on its own. If you plan on doing Lake Bohinj on the same day it's doable, but anything further away from Bled like Vrsic Pass or Kranjska Gora isn't.

I often use viamichelin, but also use mappy. They are usually very similar; when they differ, I haven't figured out when which one is better.

http://en.mappy.com/#p=itinerary_homepage