Although my experience was 9 years ago it may still be relevant. We had the greatest of difficulty finding a car rental company that would allow us to take a car into Croatia from Italy. We eventually had to travel by train and then bus from Venice to collect a car at Treviso airport. This was not an isolated occurence as the problem has been vented fairly regularly since then on this forum.

I hope you are doing the French buy-back program--that would work for you. Driving in Florence is not advised.

Bob, what is the French buy back program?

Frances, we live in the Paris region and will use our own car. Shouldn't have any problems going between theses countries.

Thanks for your input.

Given your own car, the point is moot.

Should be quite a lovely trip! To comment any further, I would need to know something about your interests.

hi kja!

this will be a first time visit to all of the places on the list, so we would mostly try to do the must-sees.

Interests: historic places/buildings/ruins, nature, hikes/walks, spend time with the family seeing new things.

The beach is not a priority for us, but we would probably spend a few hours on the beach here and there.

Not sure where to base ourselves in the Split region. We do not mind changing hotels everyday if it makes sense for the itinerary.

Not sure about Venice neighborhoods either - is there one we should focus on for hotel? I have made preliminary bookings in the San Marco area but could change that if I find something nicer (trying to keep it below 200€/night for 5 people in Venice - very difficult...)

We did a very similar trip this past September and had a wonderful time! We live in Verona and thus we also had our own car.
First let me say that Ljubljana is beautiful and is one of my favorite European cities. I highly suggest it!
If you have not already made reservations and/or are not deadset on staying there, Rovinj is not the best place to stay if you have a car. You will have to leave the car outside of the city and pay. I see you are there for several days so it could get expensive. Plus, it is a little town so a daytrip should suffice. Porec is a great place to stay (yet another beautiful city), as you should be able to find a place where you can also park your car (free in most cases) and is a good base for daytrips to Rovinj and Pula. Can I also suggest, since you have a car, the hilltowns of Istria? One day is enough to do a little tour and they are gorgeous! You might want to consider another night in Plitvice as I can guarantee you will be very TIRED after a day of exploring the park (which is BREATHTAKING by the way!) and a 3-4 drive might be tough.
Split was just okay. To tell the truth I was a bit disappointed. Diocletian's Palace is nice to see, but other than that I didn't find it a very nice city. One day there is enough in my opinion. We stayed just outside of Split (costs much less) on Ciovo Island in a little apartment and loved it - a couple of days to relax on the beach after all that driving! There is also a ferry from there to Split which would save you from driving into Split (in any case it is just about 40 minutes in the car, but a bit of a headache - we were there out of season so the ferry wasn't running)and you won't need the car in Split anyway. If you would like information on where we stayed in Porec or on Ciovo Island I would be happy to share the information with you - also a couple of great restaurants in/near Porec.
Happy travels!
Paige

I'm one of those who loved Split - I found it lively and energetic and parts quite beautiful. Not everyone does.

I also loved my time in Mostar, which I found breathtakingly beautiful, even with its reminders of war. If you go to Mostar, I recommend staying overnight - its one of those places that is much nicer after day-trippers have left.

Re: Florence - I love art, and found a first visit of 5 days there very busy and just barely sufficient for my interests. Many people spend considerably less time there.

Thank you both for your input!

hereinitaly, I would love to have information on where you stayed during your trip, in Porec and on Ciovo Island and the other locations as well.

In Slovenia, did you only lodge in Ljubljana or did you change lodgings during the stay?

Great info on Rovinj and parking. I do have a preliminary booking in Rovinj with free private parking. Could it be depending on neighborhood? Did you daytrip to Rovinj from Porec by public transportation? I like the idea of Poric and the hilltowns of Istria, will look into it.

Where did you stay in Plitvice? The closest hotel (Plitvice hotel) is already fully booked for our summer dates (!) so I have made bookings in a nearby apartement, a little expensive for an overnight stay, I would love to find an alternative.

I have understood that a lot of people are underwhelmed by Split (I think you are in minority, Kja). I am also starting to realise I might need more days for the area if I want to include say Mostar and Korcula. We may leave Split for the last day before taking the ferry to Italy(hopefully we can find parking somewhere near the ferry during the day in Split to do some sightseeing). If we decide to stay on Ciovo Island as you did, the ferry to Split sounds nice.

The whole trip will be during high season...

Kja, regarding Florence I am mostly concerned about where to base ourselves and if we will be able to drive to and from the city and find parking during sightseeing. Two full days (three nights) will have to do for this time.

Also, if we decide to include Mostar we will try to do an overnight. Do you have any suggestions regarding lodging?

Thanks again for the valuable input!

Driving from Ancona to Florence in July means lots of traffic issues along the Adriatic coast, so be prepared for delays.

Likewise, if you had planned to drive a coastal route from Lucca to France, you would also find lots of traffic, parking hassles in July. You might be able to solve that problem by exiting Italy west of Torino and driving over the mountains.

I can't really comment on your Slovenia/Croatia plans, but I tend to think it would be so much cheaper and give you so much time to actually see your destinations if for you take a train or flight to Venice, go to the Balkans by public transportation and rent a car there, then fly to Florence (or Bologna, Pisa, or Rome) and fly out of Italy back to Paris.

It's possible you've already seen the Dolomiti or have no interest, or the Italian Lakes and a whole host of other destinations along your driving routes where having a car is really an asset. But for Italy, every place you've chosen, the car is just a hassle, and you'll be spending long hours on highways, a lot of money on parking, etc.

If you are living in Paris, you can fly down to Florence for a weekend at some time other then July, when it won't be 90 degrees plus and packed walll-to-wall with tourists, inside its museums and out.

(Or if you really want to see Florence on this trip, go from Paris to Florence by air, take trains until you get into the Balkans, rent a car in the Balkans to tour the Balkans if the places you are going there are car friendly and other transport in lousy, but then fly back to France from the Balkans.

On Ciovo Island we stayed here:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/hr/apartmani-mihovilovia.en-gb.html?sid=2677e6bef99931e4d8b392c9da38f877;dcid=1
There is a really nice couple that runs the place; one day we bought fresh fish in the market in Trogir (at the "entrance" to the island - the island is attached to the mainland by a bridge), a small, but really beautiful old town. The owner of the apartments prepared the outdoor grill for us with wood so that we could grill our fish.
I don't know about summer rates, but when we were there in September it was VERY affordable!
This apartment we stayed in is a few km from Trogir, and a few km in the other direction there is the ferry that can take you to Split (in the town of Slatine). If you do
stay on Ciovo Island, you can get a copy of the current ferry schedule in the tourist office in Trogir when you are there.

In Porec, we stayed here:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/hr/partizanska-6.en.html?aid=311984;label=partizanska-6-sTlu0EqM4eIR*B8OUblg_QS18660990193:pl:ta:p1:p2:ac:ap1t1:neg;ws=&gclid=CJ7w6LD497QCFcZb3godRTQAjQ
Really close to the old town, free parking, newly remodeled, clean, and affordable.
If you are in Porec, I recommend the Sarajevo restaurant in the old city center. We loved the little Bosnian owner! Also, if you go down to the marina on the edge of town, there is a great restaurant - I think it is more of a "local" place - fresh, fresh seafood and great prices. There is another one just outside of town that I can't remember the name of, but I will get back to you with it - some of the freshest, most delicious seafood we've ever had - and VERY nice owners!

I might have mispoken on Rovinj. I was referring to the "old town," and actually forgot that there is a whole entire city outside of the old town! Sorry about that...

We, too, had decided to drive straight to Split after the day in Plitvice, but were absolutely exhausted and just couldn't do the drive. The place where we stayed in the park the night before didn't have any free rooms for that night (all of the hotels IN the park book up fast) so we drove a small piece just outside of the park (15 minutes maybe?) and stayed in this place:
House Prica
http://www.booking.com/hotel/hr/house-prica.en-gb.html?
sid=2677e6bef99931e4d8b392c9da38f877;dcid=2
Again, SUPER nice couple; offered us a taste of their homemade schnapps upon arrival, recommended a great, little nearby restaurant, and made us a wonderful breakfast the next morning. Like all of the other places, very affordable. It is MUCH more affordable staying just out of the park and is absolutely no problem to drive to the park for the day and then drive back to your hotel/b&b in the evening.
You might already be familiar with this site, but if you still want to try and stay IN the park, this is the site for all of the different hotels actually in the park:
http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=59

As far as Slovenia goes, we have actually made several trips there (just a couple of hours away for us). We actually did Ljubliana on another trip that we took. We stayed there a couple of days in a hotel just outside (walking distance) of the old, city center.
Nothing super fantastic in this hotel, but it was clean and affordable and had a great breakfast- no complaints.
www.booking.com/hotel/si/m-hotel.en-gb.html?sid=2677e6bef99931e4d8b392c9da38f877;dcid=1;srfid=0503209e21638dcf102006bea523a765dc04ce92X5

We have also been to the northeast corner, near Bled, and there is some of the most spectacular scenery I have EVER seen! We stayed in the picturesqe little town of Bovec at this place.
http://www.booking.com/hotel/si/alp.html?aid=304142;label=postbooking_confemail
This town is very big with outdoors sports (rafting, hiking, etc.) if that is at all of interest to you. We were there for the "canyoning," which was tons of fun!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyoning
We did an "easy" route which requires no special skills, rapelling, etc. - just walking, swimming, sliding, jumping...

I drove around in Slovenia and Croatia a number of years ago. It is hilly and the roads are winding. Expect a slow go. Stop at a roadside restaurant for roast lamb. You'll see the lambs roasting over a fire out front. Agreed, Ljubljana is a beautiful city.

> if we decide to include Mostar we will try to do an overnight. Do you have any suggestions regarding lodging?

Avoid the Kriva Cuprija - stay far, far away!

I've heard very good things from people who stayed at the Muslibegovic House. I only stepped in it to see it's public areas (which I thought gorgeous). If you sift through the info with an ear to what matters to you, and an eye to credibility, you might gather some useful info from TripAdivisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g295388-d806749-Reviews-Bosnian_National_Monument_Muslibegovic_House_Hotel-Mostar_Herzegovina_Neretva_Canton.html

Lots of great information!

golden, we are pretty set on driving to and in the Balkans. On the other hand we are not sure about going back via Italy or just do the loop in Croatia. We are doomed to go during school vacation so it is really hard to avoid the crowds. But you are right that Florence and Venice probably would be nicer in the spring time, weatherwise. Maybe we will save it for spring break 2014. I appreciate your suggestions and comments.

hereinitaly, thank you so much for taking your time to comment about your experiences and to post links! This is so helpful!

I think two nights in/around the Plitvice park is a good idea.

Great info on Slovenia also, will look into Bovec and surroundings. My daughter did a school trip to the Jura (France) two years ago, and that was the first time I ever heard of canyoneering. Looks a bit scary in the photos, but she loved it! Did you make reservations for that, or do you think it is something you can do on the spur of the moment? Also, did you take special equipment with you or did someone provide that on site?

kja, I take it you had a bad experience with Kriva Cuprija in Mostar? Thank you for the warning! I will definitely look into the Muslibegovic House.

Thanks again to all of you for you valuable comments.

We did our canyoning with these guys. Our guide (can't remember his name) was great!
http://www.bovec-rafting-team.com/eng/
We did make a reservation, but I don't think that it is actually necessary. Also, no special equipment needed - they provided us with everything we needed.

> kja, I take it you had a bad experience with Kriva Cuprija in Mostar?

Indeed! It wasn't the very worst stay I've ever had (which was in a dive, but at least a cheap one), but the Kriva Cuprija was, without doubt, the 2nd worst of all the places I've ever stayed.

I agree Split can be seen in a day the Palace and surrounding area. Take a ferry to Hvar the hotels are great and the island is really beautiful.