Sorry, I see you are going from Plitvice TO Rovinj. In that case when you depart the lakes you drive direction Karlovac, get on the highway, then follow signs to Rijeka. At Rijeka you follow signs to Pula/Tunnel Ucka (not the coastal road), and you will turn off before Pula in Rovinj. Easy as pie.

Thanks for the information, Tracey. It sounds like you had a great trip!

Do you enjoy your trip to Trebinje, Bosnia or would you recommend skipping it and heading straight for Montenegro?

Thanks again for your help!
Laurie

Thinking about going to Croatia in September for 10 days with our 1 year old. Thoughts about how hard it will be to get there from the US/ease of travel with stoller/backpack, friendliness of locals to tourists with a baby/bringing baby to restaurants? Julie

Laurie,

The sidetrip to Trebinje was interesting. The town was pretty small and definitely not very touristy. We got some stares, mostly I think out of surprise because they didn't seem to see tourists in their small town very often. But the town was interesting in its own right. Its on a small "river" with a pictureque little bridge that goes over it, and their is a small historic center. We were only there for about 20 minutes though.

As interesting as the town was, it was more interesting driving through the very rugged Bosnia terrain. I have never seen terrain quite like it...very dry and mountainy with some interesting plant life. We passed through a town of gypsies, as our tour guide told us. My husband said that the terrain was intersting and varied enough that he almost felt like we were on another planet! So that in itself made the trip worthwhile. And popping over the mountain and seeing the Bay of Kotor down below as a delighful sight as well.

So all in all I'm very glad we took the sidetrip. Nikola asked us if we were interested when we were at the fort above Dubrovnik and he showed us where the mountain peaks in Bosnia were, just a few miles away. We started asking questions and he offered to take us on the way to Montenegro.

Tracy

Hi Tracy I have been following your postings. we are planning on visiting Croatia and Slovenia in May.. loved your photos.. Saw you just moved to Charlotte, we live in Greensboro !!

wlbox, funny you mention Greensboro because we just went there today! We were bored and looking for to do a daytrip so we headed over to Winston-Salem and then to Greensboro. We ate at that brewhouse (Nanny's, maybe, or something like that?) in the downtown area, and just walked around Greensboro for a little while. A very nice town! We are really liking Charlotte so far, although I do admit I'm still a little homesick, but its getting better with time.

I'm glad you enjoyed our pictures! You will love Slovenia and Croatia! We had such a good time; more so than I ever realized we would. I'm envious of you!!

Tracy

Thanks, Tracey. I think we will ask Nikola to take us on a trip similar to yours. I wiah he would email me back!

If I don't hear from him, I will telephone heim when we arrive in May. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Laurie

Hi Tracy

I just emailed Villa Adriatica to see if they have any availability for us. How much did they charge per night?

how did you get from the airport to this location? Where did you rent your car from and what location did you pick it up? so many questions!! thanks
Wendy

Glad you enjoyed Greensboro, it is a fun place to live. we really enjoy all the parks and hiking nearby.

Wendy, Villa Adriatica charged us 60 euros per night to stay in their largest room. The room itself was nice, with antique furniture and an ok bathroom, but it was the balcony (which, by the way, is shared with the room next door but huge) that was the best feature. We spent our mornings and evenings there just trying to take in all of the beauty.

As far as getting from the airport, Villa Adriatica offered to arrange for a cab for us for I believe 30 euro. This was money well spent because their is no sign letting you know where Villa Adriatica is; you enter it through a courtyard located behind a very non-descript wooden door. I don't think we would have been able to find it ourselves because I don't recall seeing any addresses anywhere as well.

If you don't want to take a cab, there is an Atlas bus that picks up after each flight that lands in Dubrovnik and will take you to the bus station just outside of Pile gate. From there you would just walk to the other side of Dubrovnik and find Villa Adriatica just outside of Ploce gate.

Don't worry....I had tons of questions as well so I completely understand! Croatia definitely wasn't the easiest trip I've planned, but so worth it!

Laurie, good luck getting Nikola! Hopefully we will check his e-mail. He does speak pretty good english if you wanted to call him, but I personally hate calling anyone overseas (I get all nervous for some reason) so I would rather wait for an e-mail as well.

Tracy

Thank you tcreath for the recommendation of Nikola. He did answer my email after a few days. So Laurie I'm sure he will reply to you soon.

Yes, Nikola did respond to me today. Tracey, he gave you a good deal, because he wants to charge us 300 Euros for the day!

Did you bargain with him to get the price of 200 Euro? Maybe he has just raised his prices for this coming summer.

Thanks again for the help! We are still considering taking the daytrip, even though its more than I wanted to spend.

Wlbox, if Adriatica does not have availability, you may want to consider Marc Van Bloemen's apartments. Here is the website: www.karmendu.com

They are perfectly located very near the harbor in Old Town. Very few steps to climb! The apartments are very nicely decorated with an artists touch. (Marc's wife is an artist) They are very nice people to work with. We really enjoyed our stay here last summer.

Laurie,

That does seem high, but now my husband is telling me that he thinks we paid more than 200 euro. To be honest I thought it was 200 euro but now neither of us remember for sure. I do know that the Hilton arranged his services for us so maybe we got a specific deal because of that? The off season could have had an impact as well.

We had a great time and all of us agreed that we really enjoyed the personal experience and being able to ask questions, etc. After having him give us the tour and our experience, I don't think I would want to do a bus tour as I think we got so much more out of it.

However, if you don't want to pay that much it seems like most cab drivers offer daytrips to Montenegro, as our taxi driver that took us from the airport to Dubrovnik our first day gave us a business card that says that he does them too. Unfortunately I can't find the card.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

wky123, I'm glad that you decided to go with Nikola. Hopefully you will be as happy as we were!

Tracy