Because you wisely have chosen to do different regions of the country justice, I would only suggest dropping Zadar (go there in the future when you explore northern Dalmatia). Instead, add some time to Slovenia or the northern part of Croatia. I hear lovely things about Varazdin. Lots of castles in that area I believe.
http://croatia.hr/en-GB/Destinations/Regions/Cluster/Central-Croatia?ZHNcOCxwXDQy

Do consider Lake Bled. I was there in 2006, only for a couple rainy days and still think it is one of the prettiest places I've been. I took a train from Bled to Ljubljana, as I recall it was probably a commuter train because we seemed to stop at every little station in between and it took just over one hour, not sure how long it would be by car.

Plitvice is wonderful, you won't regret stopping there. I wish I could contribute more to the itinerary, but I meandered south from Zagreb (just saw the train station there) to Dubrovnik and didn't explore the northern portion of Croatia.

I will say my time in Croatia was one of the most pleasant trips I've taken and I'm always encouraging people who say they are mildly interested in exploring that area of the world to definitely do it, I'd certainly like to get back there again.

Enjoy!

yorkshire: I hear lovely things about Varazdin. Lots of castles in that area I believe.

You know, I thought about that originally... the Lonely Planet book seems to like it there, too. Of course, they like Zadar as well. But that's a good thought, and I might just tweak the plan a tad. Thanks.


LCI: I looked it up, and Lake Bled is only about an hour drive from Ljubljana... seems perfect for a daytrip. Hope it doesn't rain for us!

> Day 1 – Fly into Zagreb. Get a car. Drive into Slovenia and probably stay in Ljubljana.

If this is what you do, be sure that the car has the necessary "vignette" for Slovenia. As I understand it, it is critical for assessment of fees for using the roads, and if you are caught without one, the fine is LARGE.

Ljubljana is lovely and well worth a day IMO.

> Day 2 – Daytrip from Ljubljana to… somewhere else. Is Lake Bled too far for a daytrip?

Lake Bled is only an hour or so from Ljubljana and is a perfect place for a day trip. I will note, however, that I thought Bled deserved a full day, which would give you time to visit the castle, take a boat to the island, walk around the lake a bit, and visit beautiful Vintgar Gorge.

Lake Bohinj is maybe 1/2 hour away from Lake Bled and is also a lovely place to visit, even if for only an hour or so.

> Day 8 – Drive south to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Enjoy scenic splendor. Spend night at one of the local hotels.

Make sure you have the time you want for hiking in the Plitvice Lakes National Park! When I was there, the rangers offered "standard" options of 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours and will work with you to tailor options to your interests. I had already worked out a plan for a 6 hour hike which actually took me closer to 7 as I recall, partly because of crowds and partly because I took SO many photos!

> Day 12 – Explore Zagreb, see the sights

I'm glad to see someone plan to explore a bit of Zagreb, which I think is vastly underrated. Do note, however, that many things close for part/all of Sunday and Monday, so plan your time accordingly.

> Zadar or Varazdin

Such different options! I enjoyed both. Both have universities, with the sense of liveliness that often accompany that status. Both have enough infrastructure to support tourism, but seemed to have few tourists, and neither felt like tourism was its raison d'être. The old towns of each have pedestrianized cores with cafes and shops and churches etc. I'm not sure I can articulate the differences that I experienced, but I'll try.

Zadar's old town has a range of things from Roman times onward to very recent installations. (But unlike Pula, the Roman ruins are quite limited; I'd say they are more accurately described as remnants and traces than as ruins.) It has architectural elements from many eras, and showed influences typical of that part of the Croatian coastline.

Varazdin, in contrast, bore the clear mark of its Austro-Hungarian roots. And that's evident in the foods, too - with schnitzel being more common than fish. When I think of Varazdin, I think "charming." When I think of Zadar, I'm more likely to think "interesting."

I don't think you'll go wrong with either.

Hope that helps!

Lake Bled is easy to do as a day trip from Ljublijana and another poster has already mentioned all the things to do there. I might give Lju. another night as the city itself is worth a day to explore.

FWIW, I really enjoyed Rovinj and wished for more time there. We did it as a day trip from Opatija. The remains of the Roman amphitheater in Pula was really fascinating to me.

This why I love Fodors. This is exactly the sort of real, experiential feedback that you can't get from guidebooks!

Thanks to all for sharing your valuable insights. This is definitely helping!

I second kja's advice of buying a vignette for Slovenia. It's basically a toll sticker for the motorways and costs €15 for 7 days. If not provided with the car, make sure to buy it in Croatia or at the latest at the very first petrol station right after the border. There is a €150 fine if caught without one.

Great tip. If it's not provided with the car, do you know if they sell them at the airport?

I don't think they sell the vignette at the airport.

But once you get out of Zagreb airport, and before you enter the highway, find a gas station (within Croatia) and they sell it.

I just want to chime in again to say that I'm finding the Lonely Planet Croatia book to be very useful, informative, concise and well-ordered. Thumb's up from me!

UPDATE: We are much closer to a finished plan now, thanks in part to our Fodors friends (thanks again!).

We've got the air booked, and most of the accommodation lined up as well... but we're still trying to decide on the best place to stay at the end of the trip in Zagreb (after we've ditched the car).

The Pansion Jagerhorn is a homey place located right in the heart of town, just south of the funicular, and it gets good reviews... but is that necessarily where we want to be, location-wise?

There's another small place about a mile due west (Camera Felice) that's half the price. It looks a little basic, but in a nice way. Any thoughts?

Good plan!
You are wise to not go further south---save that for another 12 day trip. Try to hit the caves east of Ljub. if time permits.

From the maps on their Web sites, I think I'd be much happier with the location of the Pansion Jagerhorn than the Camera Felice. If you stay at the Camera Felice, I think you would spend a fair amount of time getting to and from the places in the city you want to visit. The location of the Pansion Jagerhorn seems to me to be VERY good for exploring Zagreb - easy access to both upper and lower towns, to museums and parks and restaurants, and to public transportation - so you'd be within walking distance of just about anything you're likely to want to visit in the city and close to public transportation if you want to go anywhere outside the city.

Hope that helps!

Thanks, bob... and happy birthday!

kja: Thanks. That's pretty much how I saw it, too. We're definitely not averse to walking, but at the tail-end of a trip I'm thinking that a convenient central location is worth a premium. And it gets dynamite reviews, too.

I'm really starting to look forward to this trip, folks. And we haven't even posted all of our pictures from the last trip yet!

We'd love to hear about your itinerary in Istria. (We are also considering staying at the Jagerhorn in Zagreb, fwiw.) We're definitely planning day trips to Pula and Porec (husband loves history), and I'd love to explore inland Istria a bit. We'll be staying in Rovinj at the Villa Tuttorotto.

Hi truly. There really is a ton to do in Istria (at least, according to our Lonely Planet book!). Besides Rovinj and Pula, we're looking forward to seeing & exploring some of the islands off the coast, the Limski Fjord, Motovun, Porec, Bale, and places further afield like Labin, Pazin, Buzet and probably a daytrip to Cres Island (taking the car-ferry over from Brestova).

P.S. I posted our overall trip plan in response to your post in Plavi's thread, fyi.

My wife and I did almost the same trip last September. The weather in
September was perfect there were very few tourist compared to August. We flew into Split and stayed 2 nights in Trogir which was wonderful. We then stopped at Zadar on our way to Plitvice Lake. Stayed the night and hiked the park the next day. Then on to Opatija for the night then on to Rovinj via Pula. Stayed 3 nights in Rovinj. We toured the Istria hill towns on our way to Lake Bled for 2 nights. Spent the day in Ljubljana on our way to Zagreb for 2 nights and flew out of Zagreb.

Five nights in Rovijn may be a little too much. Other than the Amphitheater Pula did not have much. It was a little dingy. I wouldn't go out of my way to go to Zadar. Trogir was much more interesting and not that far from Zadar. Plitvice Lake Park was amazing. A half a day to explore and hike were enough. When in Istria stop in Motovun if you like truffels and bring some home. Be careful when driving to Slovenia if using a GPS. We followed a route to a border crossing that was for locals only and were unable to get through. We had to double back to another international border crossing. Lake Bled was beautiful and Ljubljana very interesting with great architecture. We really liked Zagreb.. lots to do and see. Great architecture . A very under rated European city. We stayed at the Palace Hotel and liked it. Very old world European, convenient and recently renovated. ,

Have Fun!

Add Groznjan to your list of Istrian towns to visit. It stood out as very charming and artistic. We stayed in Rovinj and also visited Buje, Motovun, and Pula; the latter did not thrill me either.

Good to know, thanks to you both!

Plitvice Lake Park was amazing. A half a day to explore and hike were enough.

We really like to hike, so I'm kind of glad we're planning a full day there. But I'd like to get an early start the next day so we can spend as much time as possible in Zagreb.

Pula...did not thrill me either

Our guidebook calls it a "workaday town" aside from the Roman sites, so I was starting to wonder. We'll go swimming instead!

I love Slovenia! We lived there for 4 years and I completely agree with the suggestion of dropping Zadar and spending more time in Slovenia. Bled and Bohinj are must sees, but also try to get into the Soca River Valley (Bovec and Kobarid). The Julian Alps are fabulous and great for hiking too. I also adore the Logarska Dolina area and the Gorenska Brdo area (if you like wine!) Postojna or Skocjan caves are very interesting and it one of you is a horse lover, Lipica where they breed the Lipizzanner horses is pretty cool.

Rovinj has small town beauty that is hard to match, and its whole world is tourism. Pula is bigger and is described as "workaday" because it doesn't depend solely on tourism, ordinary Croatian people going about their business, give this town a very "real" feel.