suffrock

We're in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Croatia & Slovenia (spring 2009). We'll be flying from Houston, so we'll need to take more than one flight. Looks like we'll need to connect to Ljubljana or Dubrovnik through Rome, Venice or Vienna (there are other options, but I don't think they make sense--Paris, Amsterdam...). Are there airports and/or local airlines to avoid? We usually rent a car and drive when we go to Europe, so we're also thinking of driving over from Venice--good idea or not? Thanks for any info you can provide!

Steve_James

Hi Suff - For budget airline connections into Ljubljana or Dubrovnik see:

www.whichbudget.com

SkyEurope (Vienna-Dubrovnik) or
Easyjet (London-Ljubljana) come to mind ...

Not all car rental companies allow you to drive into Slovenia/Croatia from Venice.
Those that do allow it charge an extra insurance premium, I believe.

Alternatively you can take the train from Venice to Ljubljana.
www.trenitalia.com

Hope this helps ...

Steve

yorkshire

Also check out
http://www.croatiatravel.com
I have transferred through Vienna, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and probably elsewhere. It has never made a difference, I only choose based on the shortest layovers and only make one stop (from east coast though). Fly open jaw if you can, that helps tremendously. A Venice to Croatia route may have a hefty drop off fee, but you can easily get into Istria by bus or train then get a car.

internetwiz

I would consider flying into Dubrovnik and out of Zagreb. The drop off charge if you drop off in Ljubljana is going to be upwards of $700. Ljubljana is only about two hours from Zagreb and you might have more flight options.

We bought vouchers through Europe by Air for Croatian Air flights and used Paris as our hub. We flew into Dubrovnik and departing out of Zagreb. I think if we had done the opposite, the flight from Zagreb stopped in Dubrovnik first.

wvmom

We flew into Ljubljana by way of Frankfort and took a train to Zagreb. We rented a car there. We flew home out of Dubrovnik, by way of Amsterdam.

tcreath

We flew into Heathrow and out of Gatwick to get to Dubrovnik, which was a pain. All of the other layover options sound wonderful in comparison! I too would go with the flight with the best times/connections. If flights are expensive you may want to consider flying into another gateway city in Europe and picking a budget alternative (www.whichbudget.com is good) to get you to Croatia. I have seen fairly good prices on flights from Munich to Dubrovnik or Dublin to Dubrovnik, for example.

Definitely don't drop the car off in Slovenia. I would second the suggestion of flying into Dubrovnik, out of Zagreb. Take the car into Slovenia and then just drive back to Zagreb and drop the car off at the airport. Otherwise you will be hit with exhorbant drop off fees. Same goes with Venice.

Best wishes,
Tracy