suzyQ2

I've read the forum topics and have checked the US to Croatia/Slovenia airfares. Here's what I'm thinking right now and would be happy to have input from the forum.

We (2 healthy seniors) have 2 weeks to travel.

US to Ljubljana
possibly Lake Bled (train/bus?)
train to Zagreb
drive to Plitvice
drive to Split (return car)
ferry to Korcula
ferry to Dubronik
fly to Zabreb
return train to Ljubljana
return to US

Mostar & Kotor sound interesting but I'm not sure we'd have time.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

kja

That could be do-able, but:

(a) why fly into and out of Ljubljana? Look for open jaw options so you can avoid backtracking.

(b) what are your interests? Knowing something about what YOU hope to see and experience is critical to commenting on itineraries for Croatia+. There are some places -- like Zagreb and Split -- that are truly high priority given some travelers' interests, and very low priority for others.

© when would this trip occur? Certain ferries don't run year round, and some towns are more or less "shut down" during off season.

suzyQ2

That's for your help. I looked into flying open jaw but it seems to be more expensive for me in the long run. B/c bus & trains are fairly inexpensive in Europe they seemed to be a better value, even if we have to backtrack.

I should have said that we are going late September-early October. Also, after further investigation, the ferry ride from Split is not going to work. I can't see ferry times & prices right now on their website b/c there's nothing listed after September but the distance is too far.

We're interested in scenery, architecture, old towns, history museums, etc. Seeing Split & Dubrovnik are very high on our list.

Again, thanks!

yorkshire

It seems like too much for 14 days at quick glance. Write down a list with how many days you wish to spend in each place to see if it works for you.

http://www.croatiatravel.com/ (for airfare)
I have paid the same for open jaw as round trip several times--are you sure it won't work?

Here are some resources you may find useful, including the ferry providers. The ferries are only slightly reduced in off-season.
http://www.jadrolinija.hr/
http://www.krilo.hr/en/
http://www.gv-line.hr/raspored.php?linija=3&lang=E

http://www.buscroatia.com/ consolidates the bus lines, but I am not sure how comprehensive it is. What I usually do is google "name of town" and "bus station" to pull up the official bus provider. Autotrans is one of the main bus companies, and their website will certainly come in handy: https://www.autotrans.hr/en-us/home.
Note that in some cases, the bus takes a ferry, so if you are searching for ferries from Korcula to Dubrovnik for example, you can take a bus.

http://croatia.hr/en-GB/Homepage (comprehensive tourist board website, with links to local tourist boards--another good resource)
http://islands.zesoi.fer.hr/ (a lovely description of the islands)

bilboburgler

don't miss out on Trogir

Andrew

Don't underestimate the time to get from Dubrovnik back to Ljubljana. There is no train, just a long bus ride - or a bus back to Split and then a long train to Zagreb, then another train to Ljubljana. I'd highly recommend flying out of Dubrovnik or Split to somewhere you can open-jaw out of like London or Paris. (Fly into Venice and take a bus to Ljubljana if that helps on the inbound.)

There are easyJet flights out of Dubrovnik but probably not in October. Croatia Airlines does fly from Zagreb daily to most European cities and occasionally from Split and Dubrovnik to many of those same cities.

There is year-round catamaran service between Split, Hvar, and Korcula if that helps. There is a bus between Korcula and Dubrovnik.

What you could do is:

Ljubljana
Zagreb
Pick up the car
Drive to Plitice
Drive to Dubrovnik
Drop the car
Bus back to Korcula (or ferry if running that day)
Catamaran to Split
Fly out of Split

(This is how I did it a few years ago though I added a few stops between Plitvice and Dubrovnik e.g in Mostar which I would recommend if you have time.)

Croatia Air may have weekly direct flights between Split and other cities in Europe; I chose Paris. I spent a last few nights in Paris and then flew home from there. In my case, Croatia Air canceled my direct flight to Paris as the very last minute and re-booked me on a very early connecting flight to Paris with a change in Zagreb - a big pain but it worked.

suzyQ2

Thank you, everyone! I will follow up on your suggestions!

xyz99

I second the suggestion to fly out of Dubrovnik. Flying open-jaw should not add much (if anything) to your air fare, but you will save at least 1 day, if not 2.