geoseward

Will be traveling to Slovenia first and Croatia last part of trip in September. Is there such a thing as a "shoulder season" where there are less tourists in both countries in September?
Generally what is considered to be the busiest time of the year for both countries? Thanks

rialtogrl

I am not sure about Slovenia, but the high season in Croatia generally begins in mid-May and ends mid-September, with uber-high season in July and August. Things quiet down a bit after mid-September. Maybe not in Dubrovnik depending on the cruise ship schedule...

geoseward

thanks for the input

Cranachin

September is a great time to visit eastern Croatia, which is not on the list of most tourists.

The area around Osijek, Croatia's fourth-largest city, is the "breadbasket" of the country, and in September many of the crops (corn, sunflowers, and grains, among others) are being harvested (and raptors of various kinds are in abundance, looking out for rodents being flushed out of the harvested fields). It would definitely be worth having a car to drive around the countryside for a day.

A number of the surrounding towns and villages have festivals with traditional foods, dances, etc. I really enjoyed Ribarski Dani (Fisherman's Days) in Kopačevo (it was September 14–15 in 2013). In additional to fish cooked in traditional ways (Hungarian-influenced, as the border is not far away), there were folk dancers and musicians (of all ages and skill levels, some quite good) and numerous stalls with pastries, pepper products, and other foods, as well as crafts. And if you enjoy birding, Kopački Rit Nature Park is a good place for it.

This is also the area that bore the brunt of the violence during the war between Croatia and Serbia when the former declared independence from Yugoslavia. You can still see damage in places in Osijek, 20+ years later. It is even more apparent farther east, especially in Vukovar, which was pretty much destroyed.

There is a good highway from Zagreb; the drive takes around 3 hours. Otherwise, there is regular bus and train service. (In the past there was a decided lack of air service, but it looks like this summer/fall there will be flights to/from Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik, as well as London Stanstead.)

Exploring Osijek itself is worth a day. It has some interesting baroque and Art Nouveau architecture (and it was the site of a Roman settlement 2,000 years ago, although there's not really any of it left to see) . The university's music school offers frequent recitals, and the National Theater has productions as well.

If you want to see a different side of Croatia than most tourists see, September is a prime time to go there.

Andrew

Slovenia and Croatia are not all the same throughout. Croatia has a long coastline with a lot of warm-weather vacation activities that peak in the summer. Slovenia has only a tiny bit of land on the coast but it is largely the same there. Parts of Slovenia have ski season tourism too so obviously that kind of tourism peaks in the winter.

I visited Croatia in October 2009 and Slovenia in September 2011. You can read my trip reports by clicking on my name.

But I found September to be a fantastic time to visit Slovenia. The largest number of tourists I encountered were in Piran, a beautiful coastal town which was mobbed with tourists (very few Americans though) on a warm weekend day. But it was not bad - probably much worse in the summer.

I found mid-October a bit late to visit the Dalmatian Coast (Dubrovnik, Korcula, etc.) I'll bet September would be perfect.

dreamon

Never been there in September but when I did look into it - more than a year ago - all the budget flights finished very early September (e.g. Easyjet into Dubrovnik finished 4Sep). And ferry services reduce in early spring and late autumn as well. I was disappointed because I didn't want to travel during the heat of summer. Not conclusive evidence but I'd say that meant that tourism drops off outside of the summer period. We ended up going late May/early June and had a wonderful time (even though it was a wet year and it rained a bit). Ferry services were infrequent but we just worked around that.

rialtogrl

Great post Cranachin! Putting Osijek on the list.

Cranachin

Thanks, rialtogrl!

One thing that impressed me about Osijek was the coffee culture. There were loads of coffee bars—more than I would have though could be supported, often several side by side—but all of them seemed busy. (I'm not a coffee drinker, so I was glad they had tea and some wonderful hot chocolate, which was richer than what I am used to.)

I spent several weeks there for work and enjoyed being in the area long enough that I felt like I was starting to know it. People talk all the time about wanting to experience a place like a local, but it definitely requires more than a brief visit to even begin to do that. I'm glad I had the extended time.

geoseward

Thanks to everybody on their input. I am not a world traveler but the few times I travel it amazes me how many people who travel far more than myself have never heard of or much less used Fodor's. Feedback from fellow traveler's is invaluable.

apscoradiales

Yes, there is a shoulder season.
September is a great time in Croatia - hoardes of toursist are gone by that time, and some of the restaurants / hotels on the coast are shut down for the season by that time.

July and August are nuts in both places.
Don't go then.

May is gorgeous.