Croatia itinerary
 

Hi everyone, I am planning a trip mid may to mid June 2015 for a month in Croatia etc. I would value your critic....fly in Prague, train to Vienna, train to Ljubljana, train to Zagreb. Transfer to Piltvice National Park. Would like to go on then to Rovinj - would prefer not to have to hire a car, can anybody suggest the most hassle free way of getting to Rovinj by public transport? From Rovinj, suggestions of best and easiest locations on the way to Dubrovnik. Possibly Hvar and Korcula? Thanks so much

Sorry, wanted to tuck in Lake Bled in there somewhere also!!

You may fly with _Adria airways from Prague to Ljubljana (fares start at 100 EUR).
Day trip Ljubljana - Bled and back.
Train or bus to Koper - bus to Rovigno - bus to Rijeka - bus to Karlovac - bus to Plitvice - bus to Zadar - Split .....

Or take a bus from Prague to Salzburg (Westbus) and then a train to Lesce-Bed - Ljubljana....

For excellent information about transportation options, I recommend the Rough Guide. I also strongly recommend that guidebook for your research on places to visit en route from Rovinj to Dubrovnik. Depending on your interests, Hvar and Korcula could be excellent choices -- but so could Split, Zadar, and MANY other locations. And even with a full month, you will likely need to be more selective than you think -- there is a wealth to see in Croatia!

Everything you mention can be seen by public transportation, although the spectacular Plitvice Lakes can be a bit tricky, so you might want to consider a rental car for just that one part of your trip. There are buses, but especially at that time of year, catching a bus FROM the Plitvice Lakes can be (or at least once was) difficult; maybe things have changed. It is well worth figuring it out, though!

Hope that helps!

From the research we did for our own trip last year the journey from Plitvice to Rovinj is not easy or quick and we actually abandoned it. There are day tours from Zagreb (and Rijeka I think) but never having done one I can't personally recommend it. From memory Plitvice to Zadar by bus is possible and then you could head south. Rovinj is a bit off your route so consider whether you would see similar towns further south.

"the journey from Plitvice to Rovinj is not easy or quick and we actually abandoned it."

But I think you can get from Ljubljana to Rovinj fairly easily, and then from Rovinj to Zagreb, and then from Zagreb to the Plitvice Lakes. I could be mistaken, but it might be worth investigating if Rovinj and/or other parts of Istria are a priority.

I'm not sure there really is anything similar to Rovinj south of Istria -- Istria bears the imprint of its Italian heritage; the Kvarner Gulf area is known for the remnants of its Austro-Hungarian resort days; and the areas further south show many other different influences, in varying degrees, depending on the specific regional history. That isn't to say there aren't many places worth visiting outside of Istria -- there are lots and lots of places worth seeing!