3 Week Balkan Trip- Itinerary Help, Please
 

We are a family of four (two teenagers), reasonably experienced travelers, planning a Balkan trip for the beginning of June next year. Food/wine, sightseeing, hiking/outdoors are among our travel interests. We are not beach people.

Our international flight arrival/departures are set in stone at this point (arrive Vienna, depart Zagreb).

I am looking for any helpful comments/insights regarding the tentative itinerary I've sketched out below. To my eye, it seems like a busy schedule (particularly the first few days) with a lot of moving around, but since transit times don't appear to be excessive, I don't feel like we are sacrificing quality time. If I'm misguided, please enlighten me. If there are any destinations we should consider eliminating or any must see destinations I've left out, please share those thoughts as well.

I am especially curious if anyone has any insight as to where the most convenient spot to drop off the rental car would be after our time in Bosnia, before we head to Korcula. It seems to me that Dubrovnik would work, but if there is another location that would be superior I would absolutely like to know about it.

Thanks in advance.



Day 1: arrive Vienna- sleep in Vienna

Day 2: flight Vienna-->Dubrovnik; day in Dubrovnik; sleep in Dubrovnik

Day 3: day drip to Kotor (either hire driver or rent car); sleep in Dubrovnik

Day 4: drive to Mostar (rental car); sleep in Mostar

Day 5: drive to Sarajevo; sleep in Sarajevo

Day 6: Sarajevo; sleep in Sarajevo

Day 7: drive to Split/Dubrovnik/Ploce?- drop off rental car; Ferry to Korcula; sleep in Korcula

Day 8: Korcula; sleep in Korcula

Day 9: Ferry to Split; sleep in Split

Day 10: Split; sleep in Split

Day 11: pick up rental car; drive from Split to Plitvice; sleep in Plitvice

Day 12: visit Plitivice early morning; drive to Rovinj; sleep in Rovinj

Day 13: tour Istria by car; sleep in Rovinj

Day 14: visit Skocjan Caves (am) and Lipica stud farm (pm) on way to Ljubljuan; sleep in Ljubljuana

Day 15: Ljubljuana; sleep in Ljubljuana

Day 16: Lake Bled; sleep in Bled

Day 17: Vintgar Gorge/Lake Bohinj/Savica waterfall; Sleep in Bled

Day 18: Julian Alps drive; dinner at Hisa Franko; sleep in Kobarid

Day 19: drive to Zagreb; return rental car; sleep in Zagreb

Day 20: Zagreb; sleep in Zagreb

Day 21: flight home from Zagreb

Your trip is full of 2 day stops. But if you are OK, I am OK. Change Days 2-7 to make trip less busy at front end, eliminate backtracking to Dubrovnik, eliminate need for car at front end, Korcula better reached from Dubrovnik than Split
Day 1: arrive Vienna- sleep in Vienna

*Day 2: Fly to Sarajevo, sleep in Sarajevo

*Day 3: Sarajevo; sleep in Sarajevo

*Day 4: Train to Mostar (scenic) ; sleep in Mostar

*Day 5:Early am Bus or Hire Driver to Dubrovnik; Sleep in Dubrovnik

*Day 6:Day trip to Kotor; sleep in Dubrovnik

*Day 7: ; Ferry to Korcula; sleep in Korcula

Day 8: Korcula; sleep in Korcula

Day 9: Ferry to Split; sleep in Split

Day 10: Split; sleep in Split

Day 11: pick up rental car; drive from Split to Plitvice; sleep in Plitvice

Day 12: visit Plitivice early morning; drive to Rovinj; sleep in Rovinj

Day 13: tour Istria by car; sleep in Rovinj

Day 14: visit Skocjan Caves (am) and Lipica stud farm (pm) on way to Ljubljuan; sleep in Ljubljuana

Day 15: Ljubljuana; sleep in Ljubljuana

Day 16: Lake Bled; sleep in Bled

Day 17: Vintgar Gorge/Lake Bohinj/Savica waterfall; Sleep in Bled

Day 18: Julian Alps drive; dinner at Hisa Franko; sleep in Kobarid

Day 19: drive to Zagreb; return rental car; sleep in Zagreb

Day 20: Zagreb; sleep in Zagreb

Day 21: flight home from Zagreb

IMO, dugi_otok has given you a much more efficient routing.

You're spending a lot of time in transit for relatively little time in any of these locations. If that's your preference, and if you're OK with skipping all the wonderful places you won't be able to fit into this itinerary, then you'll see some wonderful things.

That routing does look more efficient. I really like the idea of being able to take the train between Sarajevo and Mostar. The main reason I chose to start in Dubrovnik was that flights VIE-->DBV are $90, whereas VIE-->SJJ are $200+. In the grand scheme of things though, the extra money may be worth it.

I have no idea how to interpret you comments. It sounds as if you are saying we would be going too many places, therefore we would miss seeing many wonderful places. Please elaborate, as I am genuinely interested in your thoughts.

Exactly -- and isn't that always the dilemma when planning a trip? You have very little time in the places you'll visit, and will be skipping many places in between them that some of us treasure. Some people want to see as many places as they can, even if it means seeing little of any of them; others want to see the places they do visit in some depth, even if it means skipping places they might enjoy. No right or wrong answer, just differences in approach.

Renting a car in BiH and returning it in Croatia will be a problem, so I would definitely try and avoid that. I'm glad that you're taking your children on a trip to Bosnia. I would definitely recommend hiring a tour guide while in Sarajevo, and ESPECIALLY Mostar to give you an in-depth look at what the city went through during the war. Unfortunately I don't have any recommendation, but maybe someone will chime in with one (I've seen her recommend several times. I don't need a guide as much husband is Bosnian :). Get off the beaten path, see the areas that still have bombed out building along quite street. Even get down to Blagaj if you can. The town still has many areas where you can see damage from the war, there there is a beautiful monastary, Blagaj Tekke, that sits on the Burka River right at the opening of a cave. It was built in 1520 and somehow got through the ware unscathed.

In Sarajevo, I was very impressed with the group tour and tour guides I worked with, arranged through the main tourist information office in the city.

I didn't use a guide in Mostar. The Museum of Herzegovina (Muzej Hercegovine) used to show an excellent short video about the Stari Most and war; I believe it still does, but could be mistaken about that.

Thanks again for the comments. Keeping in mind that I am very much in the earliest stage of planning, it is the time when I nearly always get too excited about all the places that seem worthwhile. My first attempt at an itinerary always seems to be overly ambitious. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who experiences this?

Honestly, it is Slovenia that I am most intrigued by. If I were to eliminate some destinations from my list, the first ones I would think about would be Kotor & Lake Bohinj/Savica waterfall. I would also seriously consider eliminating Dubrovnik, other than as a possible transit point from Mostar to Korcula. Given how busy it can be, With the hoards inundating the city, I'm not sure it sounds like our kind of place as much as many of the others on the current list. Please feel free to correct me if I'm way off base. If we do eliminate Dubrovnik from our plans, we could go straight to Split from Mostar and visit either Hvar or Brac, rather than Korcula. That would free up at least two more days and slow the pace a bit. Is it crazy to think about skipping Dubrovnik?

I thought Dubrovnik ws worth a quick look at least - lovely old town set dreamily against the sea.

I would recommend more time in Sarajevo. Also, Dubrovnik is beautiful and worth a look. If your dates are flexible check the cruise schedule to pick a less busy day.

Untitled Document

If Dubrovnik is "worth a quick"look" perhaps it could be seen as part of an in transit day from Mostar to Korcula? That would feel very much like checking a box, rather than actually seeing much of anything, but I can think of places we've been where an approach like that makes sense.

How does one check the cruise schedule? Are there one or two companies whose ships dock in Dubrovnik?

Use the link I posted. (The one that got translated by the stupid software to "Untitled Document".) There are multiple companies.

I'm sorry. I completely missed that.....

Dubrovnik is a visual feast to behold - even if just seeing it for a short time or better overnight - yeah lots of tourists but...

My first draft itineraries are also ridiculously packed – I usually end up visiting about half the places on my “trimmed” (not initial!) wish-list. ;)

Honestly, with the time you have, I wouldn’t try to go anywhere south of Split (and might not even try to go that far south). Yes, Dubrovnik is stunning, as is Korcula, and Kotor … but so are an amazing number of places closer to Slovenia, which seems to be your priority. I’d defer all of those more southerly destinations for a future trip, but then I don’t want to just walk through a place and move on – I like to spend some time exploring any of the places I visit. And I like to minimize time in transit relative to time on the ground. YMMV.

Lake Bohinj is a short distance from either Bled or Ljubljiana – you can decide about it once on the ground, assuming you give yourselves enough time for that area.

You might consider: Sarajevo (FWIW, I seriously regret giving Sarajevo only 2.5 days), train to Mostar (overnight), bus to Split, rent car to visit the Plitvice Lakes, perhaps some time in Istria, on to Slovenia, back to Zagreb in time to visit it before your flight.

I say “perhaps some time in Istria” because, IMO, whether you have time for it depends on how much time you end up spending elsewhere. I adored Split (not everyone does) and think it’s a great base for day trips, but it’s also relatively easy to reach by air and would be a logical starting point for a subsequent journey to include Dubrovnik, Korcula, Kotor, etc. So it might make most sense to just visit it enough to get a taste and then more on, which might – depending on your allocations of time for other locations – give you a few days for Istria.

Hope that helps!

Kja,

I think your suggestions are very close to where I am ending up with this itinerary & I appreciate your input. I am always torn when planning a trip (If only you could have seen my initial wish list for this trip..... :-0) - see as much as possible vs. visiting few places and being able to experience those places more fully. One aspect that has a huge impact on the way we plan our trips currently is the presence of teenagers. If we aren't doing something (e.g. visiting a sight, finding a fantastic meal, going for a cool hike), they tend to want to sit in the hotel room and bury their noses in a device. And they whine. It makes the more leisurely approach much more challenging & it tends to push us more in the direction of an aggressive schedule. It may not be optimal, but I view it very much as a compromise. Thanks for your thoughts. I will share my thoughts as I work through this process.

And thanks to all who have contributed. It is much appreciated.

Well, I'm someone who travels by being on the move for every single moment on the road -- from the time from which I awaken until there is literally nothing else that I can do that day, and then I freshen up and have dinner and take a late night stroll and crash. But I travel solo, and it is certainly possible that the things that would interest you and your family won't take as much time as the things that interested me -- you need to consult some good guidebooks to figure out what your family might enjoy. FWIW, I found the Rough Guide much more comprehensive than any of the other half-dozen or so guidebooks I consulted when planning my trip.

"One aspect that has a huge impact on the way we plan our trips currently is the presence of teenagers."

Our children are 17 and almost-22 and we travel as a family quite a bit, but we don't always sightsee together. One thing we I always endeavor to do when travel planning is to include everyone; otherwise it's just "my" itinerary with everyone else following along. Often DH and I might want to catch a museum of particular interest to us, while the two of them see/do something that appeals to them, even if that means lying poolside back at the hotel on occasion. Keep in mind that June can be quite warm in the Balkans (we had 30° days last June on our holiday to Dubrovnik and Montenegro), so maybe time at the pool isn't such a bad idea.

Another alternative that we have employed on several occasions is to leave the teenagers at home. Seriously. DH and I wanted to explore Corfu a couple of summers past; the children rolled their eyes. We ate amazing seafood and explored a new part of the world, they pulled duty as free sitters for DDog. ;)

Here is the most recent iteration of our proposed itinerary. We've gained a day (decided to fly on to Sarajevo, rather than spending a day/night in Vienna) & worked it so we have a bit more time for several places. I've also incorporated the train ride to Mostar (thanks for the idea, dugi_otok) & made sure we don't have so much back tracking. It still seems somewhat busy, but this pace is pretty much the sweet spot we've found when traveling with the kids that seems to work.

Has anybody slept at Hisa Franko? It looks pretty cool and I would assume that guests get first crack at restaurant reservations. Anyone have any experience eating at Monte in Rovinj? Looks intriguing.

Thoughts?


Day 1: arrive Vienna- flight Vienna—>Sarajevo; sleep in Sarajevo
Day 2: Sarajevo; sleep in Sarajevo
Day 3: Sarajevo; evening train to Mostar; sleep in Mostar
Day 4: Mostar; sleep in Mostar
Day 5: hire driver to Dubrovnik; sleep in Dubrovnik
Day 6: Dubrovnik; evening ferry to Korcula; sleep in Korcula
Day 7: Korcula; sleep in Korcula
Day 8: Ferry to Split; sleep in Split
Day 9: Split; sleep in Split
Day 10: pick up rental car; drive from Split to Plitvice; sleep in Plitvice
Day 11: visit Plitivice early morning; drive to Rovinj; sleep in Rovinj
Day 12: Rovinj/Istria; sleep in Rovinj
Day 13: Rovinj/Istria; sleep in Rovinj
Day 14: visit Skocjan Caves (am) and Lipica stud farm (pm) on way to Ljubljana; sleep in Ljubljuana
Day 15: Ljubljuana; sleep in Ljubljuana
Day 16: Ljubljuana; sleep in Ljubljana
Day 17: Lake Bled; sleep in Bled
Day 18: Julian Alps drive; dinner at Hisa Franko; sleep in Kobarid
Day 19: drive to Zagreb; return rental car; sleep in Zagreb
Day 20: Zagreb; sleep in Zagreb
Day 21: flight home from Zagreb

Why hire a driver to go from Mostar to Dubrovnik? You can take a bus. I found it quite comfortable.

Are there evening ferries from Dubrovnik to Korcula?

Ljubljana is, IMO, absolutely charming -- but 2 days there is a disproportionately long stay in comparison to Split (which easily deserves more than a day in and of itself and which is also a good base for several day trips). Similarly, your time in Rovinj seems high relative to the time you are giving other places. (I'm not saying it isn't worth that much time -- just that it seems disproportionate.) And have you considered the impact of jet lag on your time in Sarajevo?

When driving, I would want to be sure to be where I'm going before sunset, so plan on leaving the Plitvice Lakes in plenty of time to reach Rovinj, and consider leaving some extra time for wrong turns. And try to give yourselves at least 6 or 7 hours for the Plitvice Lakes.

This itinerary is, indeed, very fast paced -- and I say that as someone who travels very hard. But maybe it will work for you.

You don't need two nights in Mostar, and I agree with kja about the bus to Dubrovnik. Also, I gave Plitvice two nights and didn't regret it.

Thanks for the responses.

kja,

The ferry schedule I found looks like there are ferries that depart at 16:00 & 16:30 for Korcula from Dubrovnik, so not technically evening, but it would give us a chance to spend the bulk of the day in Dubrovnik....

I may try to tweak the schedule to devote more time to Split, but I don't know that I want to do that at the expense of Ljubljuana or Istria. My thinking re: Istria is that it would be halfway (approximately, anyway) through our trip and therefore, a good time to slow it down a bit. I am also excited about the idea that it feels more Italian and will be able to share that vibe with our kids, who haven't been to Italy. Plus, truffles.

I'm not too worried about jet lag, as it hasn't seemed to be too much of a problem for us on our prior European trips (returning home is a different proposition), though accounting for the possibility of some jet lag was part of my rationale for taking the evening train to Mostar. It essentially gives us another entire day in Sarajevo.

We are morning people, so my plan would be to get to Plitivice first thing (7am), which would ensure that we are able to spend as much time as we want and still be able to make the drive during daylight hours.

I do think our itinerary is pretty busy and may very well end up getting toned down as we get closer. But I want to see as much as I can!! ;-)

thursdaysd,

The reason for two night is Mostar is that our first night we will be arriving on the train from Sarajevo (which arrives in Mostar at ~19:00). By spending a second night, we have a nice leisurely day in Mostar, then off to Dubrovnik first thing the next morning.

Thanks for clarifying the ferries you are considering for going from Dubrovnik to Korcula -- those are the latest ones of which I was aware, and I certainly would not consider them to be "evening" ferries.

Sounds like you've given thought to how to make this trip fit your interests and preferences -- enjoy!

I'd add a day to Mostar, and visit Medjugorje, a fairly recently discovered Roman Catholic Pilgrimage Site, founded after an [apparent] sighting of an apparition of the Vigin Mary. It's a lovely 50 minute public bus ride up there from Mostar Bus Station [next to the train station]. A [pleasant, quiet place to stay @ 35 Euros a night inc breakfast is the Mozart Motel, less than a 5 minute walk from the Train Station.

Medjugorje is a really nice little town, a bit 'tacky tourist' in parts, but the atmosphere is electric, with 1000s of pilgrims from all over the World. I was amazed at how passionate many of these RC Pilgims are.

Plenty of pleasant easy walking routes.

We visited as interested sceptics, and left as interested sceptics.

Well worth a detour from Mostar, infact we went twice.

A little more on Mostar. There's much more to see than the Old Town, and a wander around is definitely worthwhile, and more than just a little humbling. Not quite on a par with Sarajevo, but they're different places.

The train journey in either direction between Mostar and Sarajevo is really like living a dream, wonderful. I'd take the early morning train if possible, while there's more likelihood of mist and rain to give the trip a bit more of a spooky feel.

You're missing out Brac and Hvar? The ferry trips from Split are worth a day trip alone. Takes just under an hour to Brac [Supetar], and 2 hours to Hvar [Stari Grad].

It's easy to get from Mostar to Split by bus. Have a look at Globtour website. Takes c4 hours, and a lovely drive. At least 1 rest stop, we had 2 on the way back to Split.

If you're going to Dubrovnik, then check out the Cruise Port Schedule first. The town can quickly become saturated with humanity, not my idea of fun.