rialtogrl - Good to hear from you! You were very helpful in our planning. I think you actually added Montenegro to our thinking. We are actually staying at Guesthouse Anita, right on Put I Bokeljske Brigade. It's right across from the Bay! We've been enjoying Kotor. I went for a walk to Old Town last night and we have been taking it easy today. Walked to the Mall for groceries and saw the side street that takes you down to the River Gate. It seems a lot less crowded to enter Old Town that way, so we will do that later this afternoon. After a busy tour, it has been great to kick back in our room and watch all the action from our balcony. We stayed in Perast for a night, I know you had told me it was kind of boring, but it didn't matter because it rained so hard we didn't leave our room all night. Dinner was potato chips and chocolate wafer cookies. We did have a very nice long lunch at D'Jardin on the water the next day. After eating, enjoying a coffee, we saw one of our tour members walking down the street! Such a surprise. I mean I know we are only 2 hours from Dubrovnik and that's where our tour ended but we had no idea Mark was hanging around. It was one of this very nice travel related coincidences.

Plitvice Lakes - After our afternoon in Opatija, we headed to Plitvice Lakes. Arrived at about 5:00PM in the rain. We've been fighting rain this whole trip, the rain is winning by the way, or have been in cloudy days. However, I'm going to see that as a positive vs being in 100 degree weather. Staying at Hotel Jezero which is a state run hotel and the only one that accepts groups according to our guide. Tina has said that the state run operation is little strict and less flexible, for instance tonite for dinner, we had to sit at the table with the Yellow napkins please. When we actually got into the dining room I can see the rational, it's packed with different groups jostling for the food. A lot of food, cafeteria quality but plentiful. The hotel has these different wings and it's easy to get in the wrong wing because they don't seem to connect from each other, you have to come back to reception to get your bearing. So we are in the Green wing. So, Green wing, yellow napkins, got it!

Many of you have been to Plitvice Lakes. I wish these photographs could do it justice, but I'm not Ansel Adams. We had feared it would be muddy but it wasn't too bad. There are a ton of steps and a ton of people. Tina, again our trusted guide got us up and out early and started from Entrance 2 and shuttled us to the end first. Brilliant, by the time we ended at the Beginning or Entrance 1, it was packed and we were on our way out the door to our next adventure.


The fabulous Hotel Jezero. It had it's charm, just wasn't charming.

So, here's a map of the park. Entrance 1 at the right is where most of the tours start and the groups are dropped off. We grabbed the tram at Entrance 2 and took it up to the top at ST-3. Top Left. So when we started there weren't that many people.

Smaller, maybe even one of the first waterfalls. We all ooh'ed and ah'ed and Tina said, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Ok, ok I see what you are talking about, they are getting bigger and more impressive. This might be Veliki Prestavac if you are following along on the map.

After you get through the Upper Lakes you get to take a nice boat ride to the Lower Lakes. Sorry about the guy blowing his nose! I thought it would have been edited in post production.

Ok this is the Money shot. The Big Waterfall, Veliki Slap.In the middle of the picture, you can see all of the people in line to get down to the bottom of the falls, which I did. But the best view, IMHO, is up on the trail. Unfortunately this is also the first place most of the tourists stop after coming into Entrance 1.

This picture is out of sequence, it shows the river, how beautiful and a boat in the distance.

Almost the same view of Veliki Slap but cropped so you can see the line of people heading to the bottom of the falls. The trails are fairly narrow and there are lines of people paying no attention to anything but themselves, stopping in the middle, holding everyone up. Endless selfies, the love couples who can't go single file because it will destroy their young love. Tina said it was alright to elbow people, in fact it might even be a life learning experience for them.

This is a picture of a walk way made from pieces of wood. I thought it made a good picture.

I’m really enjoying your trip report and absolutely love your sense of humor (“Buildings with ancient Rolex” -&#128521.

It’s also fascinating to read about the Rick Steves tour. Like many others here, we’re in our 70s and have been dedicated diy-ers for all our trips but we’re talking about “someday” doing a tour as well. Not there yet, but it’s getting closer, though, like Aidelaidean, the thought makes me cringe! I do see the many advantages and you definitely do cover a lot more territory than we do on our trips, as we tend to be slower travelers (and getting more so, as the years wear on!).

For instance, we were 3 weeks in Croatia in September 2021 (during the pandemic when traveling was opening up for those of us in the US) but never got to Slovenia or Montenegro. Rovinj was one of our favorite places, too, by the way.

We did have mostly warmer, sunnier weather (though with an occasional downpour!) and were fortunate to see Plitvice on a gorgeous day, though the main waterfall was much lighter, though we had no crowds to speak of.

Thanks for the grand tour! It’s fun to follow!

aha.. so you are staying in Dobrota. I guess when you say "river gate" you mean walking along the bay and then up the street to get to Kotor. It is a very nice walk and there are some good cafes there. Bummer about the dinner of crisps and wafers. Just because I would be bored in Perast does not mean everyone would!

Love your photos of Plitvice! We visited the Upper Lakes first, too. We were there in the late afternoon of our first day so it wasn't terribly crowded. Then we visited the Lower Lakes the next morning. We were on the trail by 9AM so again it wasn't terribly crowded. But I remember that when we left, around noon I think, all the tour buses were there and it was very, very crowded.

So nice that you are spending a lot of time in Kotor. Do you now have a rental car? We loved Perast, too. We hired a driver for a day from Dubrovnik, and we visited Budva, Kotor, and Perast. Perast was our favorite.

Progol - I completely get what you are saying. We were one of those crowds with our "whispers", our little boxes with earphones. Once we were in New Zealand and met a couple from Mumbai, and as it happens in New Zealand, South Island, we were on the same path, meeting at the same points some times a couple of days apart. So we always stood and chatted for a bit and then a bus or two would pull up and each couple would run for our cars to get out of there!

Slower traveling is what it's about and this wasn't slow travel, but boy did we experience a lot in 14 days. I would love to spend 3 - 4 days in Rovinj and find a little coffee bar hidden away. Or even the town of Bale which had nothing to do...perfect. I wish the museums of Zagreb had been open. But, here is the deal, as you are, we are in our 70's, all knees and hips are Original Manufactured Parts, they could go at any time. So there is something to be said about experiencing a lot of stuff that you might not get to see. I would love to say I will be back to Slovenia and Croatia next year, but the bottom line is that there are other places on our radar.

Yes we are temporary Dobrotans or is it Dobratians! Is that a thing? Yeah we didn't go through the main gate we took the left on the other side of the Mall before the canal and then down into town. I actually didn't know we were headed toward what the map says is the River Gate, but all of sudden there is not was. Funny that we went to "The Mall" today, like out of a high school movie, but I guess Kotor deserves a mall as much as anyone. So many places to eat here. Really enjoying walking around the Old Town. One disadvantage of Guesthouse Anita is that we are right down the street from the Youth Hostel or Drunk Hostel as we have dubbed it.

Yes Karen, we rented a car. I've driven in a few countries and started driving a stick in my first car but I have to admit I was a little nervous. Made it out of Dubrovnik, used rialtogrls suggestion of MACK car rental, got up to the "highway", one lane, and never really got out of 3rd gear! So that hasn't been too bad. Kotor is crowded but I parked at our accommodations and won't get back into until we leave. Glad you had a good time in Plitvice, it really is a wonderful place.

Split!! I have been waiting for Split the whole trip and I will have to post at least two sets of pictures. So, after Plitvice Lakes we loaded up around 12:30PM and headed toward Split. On the way we stopped at a trucker's restaurant for lunch. As it was told to us, the owner, who had been a truck driver could never find a decent place to eat so he created a restaurant that truckers could stop. Also all of the tour groups, and all the local cops! Kind of a cafeteria line, Tina was explaining what all the options were as we went through the line. It was funny about 75% of us ordered mashed potatoes. Tina thought that was funny,"What's with the mashed potatoes?" It's American that's what! Most of us grew up on meat and potatoes, risotto is for communists! The food was real big portions but probably our blandest meal on the trip. The big attraction was that the owner found a bear cub and had raised it and now it was in a pretty large pen behind the restaurant. The bear paid no attention to us whatsoever.

Rolled into Split about 4:00PM, it's pretty industrial looking on the outskirts, kind of like an oyster, the outside of the shell is pretty rough, but the pearl is on the inside. We were staying about a 20 minute walk from the Riva, so early evening we walked into town to get our bearings, past City Hall, ( there was a outdoor concert) through Old Town, and down to the Venetian Citadel where some of us dropped off laundry. We were then set free to roam about. The next day we had an excellent tour from Maja Benzon a local guide and she took us through Diocletians Palace. Which looks nothing like a palace. I spent a good hour arguing/ discussing with a friend of ours that there is a "palace" in Split. She didn't see a Palace in Split, I must be mistaken.

Da' Bear

Pretty big guy, hasn't missed too many meals. I won't get into the politics of a pet bear. Dogs used to be wolves, now we make them rollover for treats.


Concert in front of City Hall


Crypt outside of Jupiter's Temple or now St John's Baptistery

Detail of one of the walls of the baptismal font. Maybe a rich guy standing on a peasant.

Entry to Cathedral of St. Domnius. Originally Diocetian's Mausoleum but converted to the Cathedral when the Christians took over. Diocletian had killed Bishop Domnius, so who's laughing now...no one, they're all dead

Door to the Chapel.

Inside the Chapel

Detail of the Chapel

More detail

Detail of one of the benches for the choir

Second set of photos of Split


You will see these singers around.They sing acapela and it's really beautiful. Amazing harmonies. Hello Darkness my old friend


This is underneath Diocletians Palace. It was originally used for storage. Once the Romans were vanquished, other people moved into the Palace and used this for a dump. So it contained a lot of archeological information...and apparently a lot of poop.

Another section of the basement. If you are of my generation, this is where the kids would have been sent when the adults were playing cards and drinking beer.


This is how the Palace might have originally looked. The Brass gate would have been right up against the water.


Inside the Peristyle

General scene with old stuff!


You will see a number of Roman guards around who will happily pose for pictures for a few euros. There happened to be some young men with a soccer ball who were playing with the guards. If you look closely at the guard on the left you can see a soccer ball!

The Riva, this is the promenade where you sit and buy a coffee, pretend to drink it for an hour and watch all of the people go by. It's really a learned skill and we only lasted about a half an hour.

Lovely photos and thanks very much.

Is there really a Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb..that's a joke, right??? Pretty funny!!

I was in Ljubliana once when I was hitchhiking through Europe---Amsterdam to Dubrovnik if you can believe that!! We were picked up somewhere outside Venice by an Italian who let me do the driving in his Mercedes, to Ljubljana! Still Yugoslavia....boy do I feel old after writing this!!!!

Thanks again for taking the time to post and write all the text!!

ekscrunchy, yes, there really is a Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb! Sounds like you had an exciting and adventurous life. I wish I had someone to hitchhike around Europe with when I was younger. None of my friends at the time wanted to travel, and I wasn't confident enough to travel solo. Lucky you!

Tdiddy12, we loved Split, too! I think it's so pretty with its beautiful architecture, the Riva, the city built around and through the ruins of Diocletian's Palace, and its location on the Adriatic. We hired Maja Benzon for a 2-hour private guided tour of the Palace and Old Towns. She is so smart and so knowledgeable.

Maja was great! There is so much to see that it's great to have a guide, then we had the afternoon and evening to ourselves. Rick's hotel, Hotel Globo was about 20 minutes out from the Old Town, I made 4 round trips into and out of the Old Town on the full day we were there! Couldn't get enough of it.

Bosnia and Herzegovina - The land with two names. Apparently Herzegovina means the land of the Duke. I never really got a clear answer why two names? We were told it was simply that this country has two distinct areas. Either way, it was our first foray into this country. In the war Bosnia was right in the middle and maybe the most war torn. First it was one side against the Croats and Bosnia was aligned with the Serbs. Then the Serbs changed sides and everyone, Croats and Serbs were hating on Bosnia. This may or may not be correct so don't use it on your test for Central European history. Either way the most damage we saw from the war was in Bosnia.

STOLAC - After Split, we got an early start into Bosnia and Herzegovina. Just outside of the town of Stolac is a Necropolis, a bunch of old stones, fascinating. They are called the Stecak Tombstones and are a UNECSO site. This maybe one of the things we liked about the Rick Steves tour. I don't know how many tours detour into Stolac. Correct me if I'm wrong.


This is a detail of one of the stones. You can see horses on the bottom of the rock

This area is just outside of Stolac. There is also another site across the street and many more up in the hills

There is a person on this stone and it is seen repeated on a number of stones

Our guide Edo explaining the area

We saw a lot of this type of design and Edo said the long panels with a circle on the top represent how many children this person had. And when I say person, we are assuming it's a man.


Shot of the old castle

Another shot. I told Edo if they could somehow turn this into a B&B it would make a fortune. He said when he was a boy they used to go play around here. So jealous.

River view


After the visit to the stones and a walk through town we ended up here for lunch. I know this isn't a great picture, but I wanted to give them a shout out.

Lunch! This is a before shot, I have an after shot, but it isn't pretty

Our guide, Edo, was 8 years old when the Croatian army moved into Stolac. They were given 5 minutes to leave. They had to walk to Mostar with whatever they could carry. Edo's sister was 5 and she thought it was just the most fun ever! Not so much for Edo.

I�ve ejoyed your report, and funnily enough, came across your NZ report as I spent my weekend planning our trip to the South Island in March.

I actually forgot I did one for New Zealand. New Zealand is still our top destination. The colors you will see there are fantastic. I will have to go look up my Trip Report. As you can probably tell I'm a bit loquacious and love writing the trip reports.

We didn't visit Bosnia so I really enjoyed your report and photos. Good that you spent a night in Mostar. Many people visit Mostar as a daytrip from Dubrovnik, which didn't appeal to us. That's interesting about the 3 Presidents!

This is off-topic, but want to let you know that someone somewhere mentioned your NZ Trip Report. I just finished reading it. Lots of fun and helpful information. We are leaving this Monday for a 6-week trip to Australia and New Zealand. Spending 3 weeks on the South Island and visiting many of the places that you visited. I can't wait!

Karen - I'm so jealous, although I'm actually sitting on my deck with a cup of coffee looking out over a sunny day in Stari Grad, Hvar, so I can only be so-so jealous! LOL. You are going to have a blast! New Zealand is great, we've only done a little bit of travel in Australia but we enjoyed it. We had a couple from Sydney in our tour group! Have fun, I'm looking forward to your Trip Report.

Have a fabulous trip Karen, look forward to another superb TR and pictures from you in a couple of months! We haven�t been to Australia and New Zealand, perhaps end 2025, though my husband won�t be able to get away for more than 3 weeks.