Thankfully the sun came out the next day and it was a beautiful drive to Zadar.





Interesting architecture along the promenade



Pleasant walk while listening to the sea organ play as the waves push through it


Walking tour of Zadar followed by a bruschetta lunch on a pedestrian walkway….lovely day.

Bell tower in Zadar

Trogir….the Venice of Croatia. Unfortunately we only had a drive by on our way to Split.



Trogir

Arriving at Split and the Amphora Hotel. Room with a view, too bad we were only there 1 night.


View from the balcony of our room



Skipped the walking tour of Split (to crowded in town) but we shopped at a huge open market and had a tasty pizza lunch.



On the promanade in Split

On the way to Dubrovnik



On the way to Dubrovnik


We arrived at Hotel Lapad….sort of!
Massive construction for many blocks in front of the hotel made it very difficult to get to. For the next 2 days the hotel had to bring a small van to take us out of the area to our bus.


This went on for blocks in both directions

Dubrovnik….Disneyland on steroids! Worst day of the trip!
With 3 gigantic cruise ships and many, many tour buses in town
the streets were packed with people.






Again we skipped the walking tour in this chaos. Shopped a bit and had lunch.

Dinner that night was at Kameni Mlin (Stone Mill) restaurant in the hills near Dubrovnik. Quite a lovely place with owners that made the meal special.



Veal, potatoes, and veggies cooked under an iron bell

Attractive dining room

Starter of meat, cheese, bread, and dips

Salad, veal, and potatoes And of course Apple strudel for dessert Lots of wine and a good time was had by all

Last day was to Montenegro.


Montenegro

Stunning drive to Montenegro, mountains all around

Bot ride our to the island

Another church swarmed with people

Calm and quiet ….NOT!

But the boat ride was calming


Perast coming in

All in all a good trip.
I think my favorite part was Slovenia and the Julian Alps.
Why? Gorgeous scenery and less people.
The southern part was just too crowded, as in most of Europe these days.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane TPAYT !!! We did virtually the same itinerary in 2022 and those countries far exceeded our expectations. Your photos are gorgeous! I think getting a sunny day in Plitvice NP is a rarity…

Enjoyed your photos and comments.

Regarding your hotel at Plitvice, I always recommend that people stay at Plitvice Miric Inn, which is lovely and small. The breakfast buffet is delicious. When we were there in 2019, they were also offering a very delicious dinner for 20 euros per person. But I think now they have aren’t doing dinners because of staffing shortages.

We were in Croatia and Slovenia in September 2019, and it wasn’t as crowded as your photos. I guess people are making up for lost time due to Covid. We hired a private driver to take us around the Bay of Kotor, and we stopped at that same church in Perast. There was only a handful of people in the church when we were there.

I hope you enjoyed yourselves despite the crowds. All 3 countries you visited are beautiful!

Sorry you had such a bad experience at Plitvice. We stayed at Miric Inn, ate at a local place, and had a wonderful day walking around the falls. It was a highlight of Croatia.

I totally agree about Dubrovnik though. It felt very Disneylandish, so crowded! We were there in late May this year.

Thanks for the report.