We did the opposite direction last month - from Trieste to Rovinj. I could not find a car rental company that would allow us to pick up in Trieste and drop off in Dubrovnik - and many wouldn't even allow the car to visit Slovenia or Croatia so you should check that out.

Crossing the borders is easy and fast - however there is some kind of cross border license the car requires so don't assume the border guards won't care. We had to show our license when we crossed through Bosnia and into Montenegro.

We enjoyed Trieste - however with only two days in Rovinj you might want to extend that to 3 and do the drive around the mountain villages.

Pula is also lovely and you can easily spend a day there.

Frankly I'd skip Pula and go to both Trieste and Plitvice. We were not greatly impressed by Pula though the Roman amphitheater is very well preserved. And agree with Elizabeth_S that you should spend some time in the inland hilltowns. Don't miss Groznjan.

You know that driving to Trieste you'll drive through a little stretch of Slovenia. Slovenia requires a vignette for its motorways (a toll sticker for your windshield which costs 15 euros, buy at a gas station). The fine is from 300-800 euros if you're caught without it. And I suspect they're pretty vigilant around the Italian border.

Also both Slovenia and Italy require an International Driver's Permit, a translation of your driver's license. In North America you can get this for about $15 at your local AAA/CAA office.

So, upon further thought, maybe save Trieste for another time. Or take the bus.

Is there a direct bus between Rovinj and Triest?

Pat

Re bus - yes there is one - maybe more.

Re Rovinj - if you need a nice place to stay we recommend the Apartment Aurora. It's a 5 minute walk to the old town and has lots of free parking, which is important! The owners are lovely; it has free wi-fi and they have several different configurations (2 bedroom to regular room). We stayed for 4 nights last month.

http://www.apartmaniaurora-zoran.hr/index_en.htm

We're going to be in the Rovinj/Pula area originally for 3 full days and 2 nights. We were just thinking about 2 full days in Rovinj/Pula and then one day in Trieste instead.

Never even thought about Trieste or did I know much about it until a friend of mine told me he's been there a few times. So this is a last minute suggestion only. Online the distance from Pula to Plitvice is basically the same from Trieste to Plitvice.

As far as allowing the rental car go across countries, my friend who has been to dubrovnik 5 times now and always goes to Montenegro and he has told me over and over that he doesn't get the rental car that allows you to cross the boarder. It costs about 150 more dollars, so he says he just takes his chances without paying the extra money. He told me the boarder guards look at your paper work to make sure it's your rental, you are legally allowed to drive, but they do not care what so ever if the rental car company wants you to cross that boarder or if insurance will cover it. But sounds like I'm hearing something different here?

My international driving permanent has expired, so I would have to get another one, which I'm pretty sure I can get it done the day before leaving. But it's just another hassle and then the sticker is another hassle.

Is there any way to avoid toll roads or not really?

http://www.slovenia.info/?faq=199&lng=2

wanttogo, here's the bus schedule Rovinj to Trieste: www.saf.ud.it/cms/data/pages/files/000057_resource1_orig.pdf

And to the OP, if you take the small local roads, you don't need a vignette. However, they would be slower.

As far as contravening your rental car contract, that's your choice. But what's the penalty?

The border guards might not care whether the insurance would cover you if you cross the border with the rental car but don't you care?

Note: this thread is marked Cyprus, not Croatia. I assume you meant Croatia but the drop down menu did not record the choice properly.

When I picked up my rental car from R&M they told me I could go across any border without any issue. I asked a few times about Slovenia and Italy and they told me over and over that there wasn't any extra charge and that there isn't any issues. They told me all their rentals have the documentation to cross the borders.

When I was in Rovinj I was told not to get the sticker for the highway in Slovenia and only use the local roads, since it only adds an extra 5 to 10 minutes.

At the end we decided not to go to Trieste, because everybody kept telling us that there wasn't anything really special in Trieste compared to the Croatian Coast, except locals go there for shopping.

Hi Elizabeth S
- Can you tell me how much the taxi was from Rovinj to Trieste please? I'm considering doing this in June.

The New York Times just published an article about Trieste, one of the most interesting and enjoyable cities I've visited in Italy (I live in italy).

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/travel/01trieste-italy.html?scp=1&sq=trieste&st=cse

Ummm, going into a foreign country without appropriate driving licenses and car insurance is an almost incredibly bad idea.

Let us assume that you have a perfect driving record. You are assuming that everyone else on the road is equally skillful. This is a bad assumption.

Let's assume that your car gets dinged. How will you invoke your insurance coverage without a police report? From a country you weren't supposed to drive in?

What if the worst happens and there is an accident involving injury or death? The chanceds of your being allowed to leave without proving financial responsibility are somewhere between zero and none. A Balkan jail? An Italian jail?

As to your anecdote about your friend driving into Montenegro, I am reminded of when my children used to say, "But all my friends do it!!" My response was, "If they all jumped off the roof, would you do that, too?"

Trieste is a wonderful, little city. The drive from Trieste to Pula is beautiful and there are many worthwhile places to stop, including Porec, Rovinj and Piran. Going into Slovenia or Italy is not an issue with a car rented in Croatia. Typically, it is only the other direction as Italy and many western European countries have the outdated notion that Slovenia and Croatia are like the wild west and dangerous. Clear it with your car company but I would be extremely surprised if it was a problem.