RKogel

We are taking a two week mother/daughter trip to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. My daughter will be 22 (and just graduated from college - yay!!). We are both physically fit and want to mix in city's, hiking in the mountains, wine drinking and great food. Oh, a beach or two would be nice as well. We would love to hear recommendations. Our hope is to also take the Sound of Music tour.

Our plan is to start in Austria and end in Croatia. We are working on planes, trains and automobiles right now. Your thoughts are appreciated.

One more piece of advice please..... Staying in a hotel seems boring. We would love ideas about fun places to stay - hostels (if possible), B&B's, what else?

Any help you have to offer is appreciated. Thank you.

kja

Two weeks is very, very little for this area. I assume you are thinking Salzburg (since you mention the Sound of Music); from there to Dubrovnik is something on the order of 600 miles. If you want to visit Salzburg and do some hiking in Austria, you could easily want as much as a week -- and that wouldn't count Vienna or anything else in Austria. Slovenia can easily take a week or two. Croatia can easily take a month. And then there are all the delightful places close to any of these destinations.

In two weeks, you can see some wonderful things, but I think you would do well to seriously limit the area that you are considering. JMO, of course! OR you could commit to just sampling a few places here and there, which again could mean seeing some wonderful things, but with a high proportion of time in transit relative to time on the ground.

You can find a range of types of lodging on booking.com. If you do make it all the way to Croatia, many lodgings are "sobe"-- basically, rooms in an otherwise private residence. Some are quite wonderful, so don't rule them out.

isabel

Hotels in Europe are not like staying in a Holiday Inn in the US. They certainly do have boring chain hotels, but many are small family run places - some as small as a B&B with only 3 or 4 rooms, others larger with 20 or 30 but are still 'interesting' as they are in old buildings (that have been renovated) and run by families who care about their property and their guests - very unlike the experience staying in most hotels in the US. Look on booking.com and just look for places that are smaller and centrally located. The big chains are usually on the outskirts which is where you don't want to be anyway. But even some larger hotels can be 'interesting'. One of my favorites was a rather large hotel in the small town of Piran, Slovenia that had just about the best breakfast I've ever had. From my private balcony overlooking the main square I got to experience live music performances. I wasn't quite sure how I was getting to my next destination (which was in Italy) as the bus schedules were not what I expected, the owners called someone they knew and arranged a private transfer for me for 50€. The driver not only drove me (about an hour) to Trieste Italy, but then drove me all around giving me a tour of the area (for no extra money). And all this came from staying in a rather large 'hotel'. Don't rule them out.


I do agree with Kja that in only two weeks you'll have to pick and choose. What made you choose those three countries. Slovenia is fairly small, even so, even if you only gave it 4 or 5 days you'd have to limit yourself, and Austria and Croatia are much larger with many more 'worthy' destinations. I would at the very least limit yourself to northern Croatia - perhaps the Istria peninsula and fly out of Zagreb. And in Austria just do Salzburg and surrounding area (you could overnight in Hallstatt) and then head down to Ljubljana.

PalenQ

We are working on planes, trains and automobiles right now. Your thoughts are appreciated. >

For trains and buises some great sources: www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Check Let's Go Europe for a great low down on hostels and B&Bs! And a wealth of info - check it out of a library and bring it back or xerox the few relevant pages and take along and throw away.

fourfortravel

I agree with others who write that you'll have to plan your itinerary carefully. My DH and I spent ten days alone hiking just two areas of Tirol in July; to fit these three countries into 14 days might be overly ambitious.

Regarding accommodations, when we travel around Austria we tend to prefer Gasthof or Gasthaus, especially ones that offer half-board (breakfast and dinner). After a long day of hiking or sightseeing, sitting for a locally-sourced, seasonal meal is a treat.

Happy Planning!

Murph77

What time of the year do you anticipate undertaking this trip? I'm assuming Summer if you are interested in hiking, beaches and the outdoors?

My family and I enjoyed Salzburg but I wouldn't say there was that many beautiful hikes compared to other areas of Austria such as when we went to Innsbruck. Also, Salzburg is quite a long way north which means that you will be traveling some miles to get all the way down to Dubrovnik for example. Perhaps starting in Vienna might be logistically easier.

In Slovenia, we really loved Lake Bled in the Summer. Stay somewhere right nearby the lake and enjoy the swimming there in warm weather. Also, we really enjoyed some of the hikes to the north and, in particular, don't miss Vintgar Gorge (which you can actually walk to from town in about 45 minutes). Get there early and enjoy the hike through the gorge before the crowds get there and it gets too hot and then have a swim in the lake in the afternoon. Be sure to try some 'cream cake' whilst in Bled as well.

In Croatia, I think Plitvice Lakes National Park is a must do. Again, get there early to beat the tour bus crowd and you can walk as many miles there as you please. The place is truly beautiful though, we stayed in a farm-stay which was only 10 minutes walk from the "secret" Gate 3 to the National Park which also saved us a heap of time and hassle than having to deal with the other 2 main entrances.

Also, I know you didn't mention this mode of transport, but my family and I thoroughly enjoyed a "Sail-Croatia" cruise that was 7 days southbound departing and returning to Split. It went to Bol, Hvar, Korcula, Miijet, Dubrovnik and Marskarka. Don't worry, its not a traditional, massive cruise liner, its a very small, intimate, high class cruise with only about 20-25 passengers. There is no open-ocean sailing either, it is all within the protected channels of the Croatian islands so it's almost guaranteed to be dead calm. Heaps of good food and wine, a great sampling of Croatian islands and attractions and plenty of great swimming opportunities. Just make sure you go for one of their 'classier' options as they also do 'party' cruises! It was honestly one of the best trips we've ever done and the itinerary was just so relaxing.

I think your concept is sound but you just don't want to spend too much time commuting. Perhaps 3 nights in Vienna, 3 nights in Lake Bled, 1 night near Plitvice Lakes and then 6 nights for the cruise would give a great sampling of the area and a very memorable trip.

savo

Hello Murph,
I am new to this forum and find your generous advice quite helpful. We are joining some friends for a 'sail Croatia' trip in June. Similar to your described itinerary ( ours: Solta, Vis, Hvar, Brac - departs and returns Marina Agana). After the sail, my wife and I would like to add 3-4 days by land. Seeking your thoughts/suggestions - should we head up to Plitvicka and onto Pula and then Venice ? Or south to Dubrovnik and Montenegro ? My wife had this grand vision of flying to Greece for a few days, but it seems like a lot of added travel time for a short few days.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,
Jeff

Murph77

savo

Very useful feedback, thanks again for your thoughts !

PalenQ

OP could land in Munich - take train to Salzburg - then postal bus to Lake District just east of Salzburg then train to Vienna and day trip to Bratislava, just an hour by train - that would be a nice two-week trip - it's a long way by train to Croatia -I'd drop that for this trip.