panecott

Okay, so the first part of my upcoming May trip is pretty well settled. Arrival in Dubrovnik, spend a few days there, including a day trip to Montenegro and one to Bosnia for the waterfalls. Then I pick up a small yacht cruise for 8 days from Dubrovnik to Split, followed by 3 days in Split.

Now the questions. I'm thinking of renting a car in Split to visit the Plitvice Lakes for 2 nights and possibly Istria for 2 nights, then return the car to Split and take the bus to Zagreb for 2-3 days. How does this sound?
From Zagreb it's on to Bled (overnight) and Ljubjlana for 3-4 days before departing for home from there.

Would it be better to do Zagreb before the lakes and Istria?
Are there any buses in Plitvice that go around the park such as we have in the US national parks? Is there any way to get around other than a car? I like to see as much as possible.
Same question about Istria - is a car necessary or would it be a hassle?
Is Bled doable without a car and is overnight sufficient there? I have plenty of time so that's not an issue.
Also, is there any place else I should see while I'm there. I probably won't be going back.

TIA for any advice.

dreamon

A few random comments...

It is possible to take a bus from Split to Plitvice if you prefer that (and onward to Zagreb if desired). At the lakes, there are tourist buses (which they call trains but aren't) which take you to the national park entrances but the only way to really enjoy the national park is to walk (and it is beautiful). The easiest way is to choose one or more of the designated trails (which are marked by letters of the alphabet). We found that transport in Istria was very limited outside the coastal areas and so a car would be handy there. I imagine you could hire one in Pula, Rovinj, Porec or Opatija if you wished but you'd need to check this as I've never done it. Zagreb and Istria are obviously in different directions so that doesn't make things so easy. I don't think I'd try to return your car to Split as that just seems like wasted time - maybe Zagreb instead?

You could approach Slovenia from either Zagreb or Istria, either would work. I personally would choose to have longer in Bled and maybe visit some other nearby places. It's a beautiful area. Ljubljana is a lovely, small city and also a great transport hub to other places. I found transport in Slovenia to be good, albeit sometimes infrequent to remoter areas (which you're not proposing anyway). Bled is definitely doable by public transport (many people do this). Check ap-ljubljana.si for bus timetables to/from Ljubljana. The bus is the best option (the Bled train stations are a few kms out of town) and it leaves from Ljubljana bus station, which is next to the train station. There are also buses onwards from Bled to other destinations. I'd also check transport from Bled to the airport to see whether you are best off visiting Bled or Ljubljana first (try the airport website).

"is there any place else I should see.." - yes a gazillion of course but we all have limited time and money so enjoy what you can fit into your plans. Don't fret about what you don't get to see (at least I try telling myself that!).

KarenWoo

I agree with Dreamon that returning your car to Split is not necessary and it is a waste of time. Driving in Croatia is very, very easy. We had a rental car from Dubrovinik to Zagreb.

So I recommend picking up your rental car the day you leave Split and drive to Plitvice Lakes. I wrote in my notes that it was very easy driving from Split to Plitvice. There wasn't a lot of traffic on the roads. The drive was about 3 hours including a lunch stop along the highway. The next day we drove from Plitvice to Zagreb. The drive took us about 2.5 hours. We returned our car in Zagreb. We didn't go to Istria. So I don't know what would work best for you, going to Istria from Plitvice and then onwards to Zagreb, or vice versa.

Unless you like to do a lot of hiking, I don't think it's necessary to spend 2 nights in Plitvice. We purchased 2-day tickets for Plitvice Lakes. Our entry time for our first day was 4PM. We had enough time to leisurely walk/hike through the Upper Lakes. It took us about 2 hours. We are slow walkers/hikers and stopped to enjoy the scenery and take photos. Then the next day we were at the park by 9AM and saw the Upper Lakes. We were done around noon time, and then drove to Zagreb. By doing what we did, we avoided a lot of the crowds. A lot of people stay inside the park because I believe you then get the 2-day ticket for the price of one day. But from what I understand, the hotels inside the park are not that nice. We stayed at Plitvice Miric Inn, just outside of the park, and recommended by Rialtogirl, and it was wonderful. The price includes a fabulous breakfast buffet. At the time they also offered, for an additional fee, a delicious full-course dinner. The cost for the dinner was 20 euros per person in 2019. Our room was 130 euros.

If you end in Zagreb, you can return your car there and take a train to Ljubljana. The train ride was about 2.5 hours. I think the cost was 9 euros per person.

We spent 3 nights in Ljubljana, a beautiful city with gorgeous architecture, a river, and quite a few attractive bridges. We rented a car for a day to drive to Lake Bled. So we didn't spend a lot of time in Slovenia, but I would think it would be much easier to have a car rather than depend on public transportation. Bled will be quiet in May. Friends of ours did our same trip in late April/early May, and they told us Bled was very quiet. We were there in September (summer-like weather) and it was still very busy and crowded. So you shouldn't have problems with parking.

Regarding Istria and transportation, we didn't go there but based on what I have read, I think having a car would be more convenient than relying on public transportation. And I know a lot of people don't think it is worth it to go to Istria for only 2 nights. Perhaps you could take a night from Plitvice and Ljubljana to add to Istria. Just a thought. I plan our trips by nights, not days. We had 3 nights in Ljubljana. When you say 3 or 4 days, do you mean 3 or 4 nights?

Your trip sounds wonderful, especially the small yacht cruise! And you will be visiting very different cities. Zagreb, which we really enjoyed, is very, very different from Split and Dubrovnik. And Ljubljana is different from all of those, regarding architecture, location, ambiance.

Let us know if you need restaurant recommendations!

If you would find it helpful, you can click on my name to read my trip report from September 2019. Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia.

panecott

Thank you for this excellent information, dreamon and Karen. It is very helpful. I actually accomplished a lot today and found some answers to my own questions, which comport with both of yours. And yes, dropping the car off in Split would have been a bad idea.
And Karen, sure, if you have restaurant recos, fire away!

I've decided to eliminate Istria for several reasons, which are not important. Maybe someday I will go there from northern Italy.
I'm leaning toward renting a car - Split/Plitvice/Zagreb but still might take a bus. I have time to decide and it's good to know the options. I feared there wouldn't be many but happily there are. Karen, did you have to return your car to Zagreb Airport? I think that was the only option I came up with.
And yes, when I say days I mean nights.

dreamon, the airport is almost exactly midway between Bled and Ljubljana so it's about the same either way. I've already booked a place on the lake for 2 nights and will go directly from Zagreb so Ljub will be my last stop. Thanks for the tip on the bus vs. train to Bled.

All I have left to do is book my hotel in Ljub and my flights! Thx again for all the help.

KarenWoo

Regarding your question about the rental car, we rented our car from Oryx Car Rental in Dubrovnik.. I made our reservations with Kemwel/Auto Europe, who I have used for years. We returned our car to the Oryx office in downtown Zagreb.

Restaurants in Dubrovnik:
Restaurant Dubrovska - located just outside the Pile Gate on the water.
Taj Mahal - a Bosnian restaurant; it's necessary to make reservations
Kopun - Climb to the top of the baroque Jesuit steps. At the top, to the right is the Jesuit church, to the left is the restaurant. One of the best meals of our trip. We had delicious fresh shellfish and fish.

Split Restaurants:
Kod Sfinge Vaneuropske Zviri - our friends who were here in late April/early May loved this restaurant and said it was very reasonable. We were there in Septembr and they were out of a lot of dishes the night we were there, and we think the prices had gone up. But want to mention it since our friends, who have good taste, loved it.
Central Kavana Resturant - located in Narodni Square. My husband loved his stewed beef and I enjoyed my lamb chops.

We weren't overly thrilled with the restaurants we ate at in Zagreb.

Ljubljana Restaurants:
Altroke Restaurant - good food
Slovenian House Tapas Bar - we shared a plate of wild game and a plate of different cheese with jam and bread. Located on the river.
Julija Restaurant - Our favorite restaurant in Ljubljana. Suggest making reservations. Highly recommend.
Gujzina - We had a light lunch here. Prekmurska Gibanica, a traditional sweet cake. Cold cucumber soup. Delicious. We really like this restaurant and would have returned for dinner but wanted to try another restaurant instead.

panecott

Thank you so much, Karen. I will print out this list and hope to try some of these places.

About driving, are the road signs easy to read? And is it easy to navigate the streets in Zagreb? I usually try to avoid driving in cities. Some years back I had to turn in a rental in La Spezia, Italy, and had a heck of a time trying to read the road signs and find the rental place. Pre-GPS! Some young guys in a car behind me were honking and yelling at me to pull over and when they passed me they called me "Nonna" (Grandma). lol.

rialtogrl

It’s easy to read signs, but I’m not a big fan of driving in Zagreb. Too many trams!

jan47ete

I am going to Croata or really Zagreb and the Istrian Peninsula for 3 weeks in 2 weeks. You are right to hold off going there as there is a whole lot to see. Then like you thought to do, will head to Northern Italy.

panecott

Thank you, jan 47ete. Have a wonderful trip. My trip works out to exactly 4 weeks without Istria and I think that's long enough.

KarenWoo

We returned our car to the car rental office as soon as we arrived in Zagreb. My husband does the driving. He did get a bit flustered because it wasn't easy at first to find the rental office. I am quoting from my trip report: "Driving was a little difficult because there was lots of traffic in the city and numerous one-way streets. We entered Oryx's address into our GPS, and when it told us we arrived, we couldn't see the office. So we entered the address again, and we were close by and finally found the office. But the weird thing is there weren't any parking spaces, so my husband pulled up on to the sidewalk; I went inside and asked the clerk where we should park the car. He told us to drive 60 meters, and take a right at the round-about, and then pull up on the sidewalk." So another employee met us there, inspected the car, took care of final paperwork, and we were done. I noticed a parking garage nearby so that's probably where they park their cars but didn't want us to drive into the garage for some reason.

Other than this experience, it was very easy driving through out Croatia. And signage was very good.

progol

Hi, panecott,
It's a bit too late for my recommendations, but I'm glad you have it sorted out. We were in Croatia for 3 weeks as part of a 5-week trip in the fall and it was fabulous. We didn't go to Slovenia as we traveled on to Italy, so I can't comment on that country, but I echo many of the comments about Croatia made here. Driving in Croatia was (mostly) a breeze. We had the reverse experience that KarenWoo did; returning our car in Split turned out to be a nightmare experience because Google GPS does not know every small one-way street! Trust me, we discovered streets that were too tiny to drive or closed off, thanks to Google! We also rented with Oryx through AutoEurope, picking up the car in Zagreb and had no problem - getting out is much easier than getting in!

One piece of advice given to us if you want to save time - you really only need one night in Plitvice. We arrived mid-day and visited the park that afternoon to explore the lower lakes section and then visited again in the morning where we visited the upper lakes section. We left after that. It was perfect and we didn't need more time. You had asked if one could drive through the park -- this isn't possible as the park is essentially 2 areas that have extensive walkways throughout the park. There are 2 distinct entrances directly off the main road, with parking areas on the other side of the road. One can only enter at either of these entrances. There is a shuttle bus that the park runs that goes from one section to the other as well, but no access for cars.

We also stayed at Plitvice Miric Inn, although when we visited, they were not serving dinner because of COVID concerns; they may have started this up again by now. However, they are unbelievably welcoming. We arrived around lunchtime, and had not yet eaten. They prepared a HUGE platter of meats, cheeses, vegetables, breads and charged a nominal fee for it -- so much food that we had enough for a light supper later on, and had not deprived ourselves of a meal at lunchtime, either! So I highly recommend them.

We did visit Istria and absolutely loved it. We stayed in Rovinj for 4 nights, and did day trips on 2 of the days; one to Pula and the other to several of the hill towns. We loved all of our experiences in Croatia, though we are especially partial to our time in Istria.

On the other hand, while we did enjoy Zagreb, in retrospect, 3 nights was 1 to many. It's a pleasant city but (as of last fall) it had suffered great damage because of a major earthquake 2 years ago and many of the buildings were heavily impacted. The cathedral in the upper town was closed; I don't think it has reopened for visitors yet. Several of the museums in the lower town were also closed. We did enjoy ourselves in the town, but I think 2 nights would give you enough of a flavor.

If you're interested, here is the Croatia part of our recent trip:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...oatia-1703021/

panecott

Thank you for this excellent information, progol, and for your trip report, which I enjoyed.
My plans are not etched in stone - at least after the cruise - and I have not yet booked my flights so I am still somewhat flexible. I will consider taking a day from Plitivice or Zagreb and adding it to Slovenia. I have 2 nights in Bled and 4 in Ljubljana so will try to explore the outskirts a bit.
As much as I would love to see Istria it is logistically problematic so I will save that for another trip.

ivson

If you have time visit Postojna cave, I think it s about 15-20 km from Ljubljana. It’s quite something,

panecott

Thank you, ivson, for this suggestion. I have 4 nights in Ljubljana so I will have some time for exploring. I must say, however, that I am not a huge fan of caves! The castle does look interesting, however, so that might be worth looking into.