My fiance and are are trying to plan our honeymoon trip for late September / early October this year. Our main requirements are that we can only leave around September 25th and need to go to a friend's wedding in Bolzano, Italy the weekend of October 4th. We've heard great things about Slovenia and Crotia, and of course, Venice, so we're thinking of covering them all in an extended honeymoon (probably 3-4 weeks long). We want a mix of adventure and relaxation on the trip, and put a high value on natural beauty (including hiking) and delicious food. I should note we plan to travel to much of southern Italy in 2015, which is why we aren't planning to do all of Italy on our honeymoon this time.

Our rough schedule is something like this:
9/25-9/27 - Munich for Oktoberfest
9/28-10/2 - Make our way down to Bolzano (~3 hour drive if we use a rental car)
10/3-10/5 - Bolzano, Italy for a friend's wedding
10/6-10/10 - Make our way down to Venice, Italy
10/10+ Take a ferry to Slovenia, then to Croatia

As you can see, this is very rough, but I'd love to get feedback on a few things:
1) What cities/towns do you recommend to visit as we go from Munich to Bolzano?
2) What Italian cities/towns do your recommend to visit as we go from Bolzano to Venice?
3) First off, are Slovenia and Croatia good to visit in September/October?
4) What Slovenian and Crotian cities are best to visit, especially by ferry since I hear rental cars may cause issues crossing borders, etc?

Thanks in advance for any input. Our plan is very preliminary right now, so if you think we're totally missing the boat in how we're thinking about our honeymoon, please let us know!

I wouldn't want to visit Croatia past mid-October or so, at least the Dalmatian coast (e.g. Dubrovnik). Once the weather turns, the place starts to close down. I did that and left Dubrovnik after the last warm day in October, apparently; they say the famous Buza Bar closed that week for the season. Korcula was pretty dead while I visited as well. Split was dull - it was chilly and rainy by the time I got there.

I wouldn't rent a car at all unless you have to. Why not use public transportation? You can fly from Munich to Venice if you want or take the train. (You won't want a rental car in Venice, anyway.) You can take buses and trains (or a passenger ferry) from Venice to Slovenia or Croatia. You might want to rent a car in the Slovenia or Croatia once you get there (it is possible to get around there without a car but it's a little harder in some areas.) One-way drop-offs of rental cars can be very expensive if you are dropping off in a different country than where you picked it up.

If you don't know anything about Slovenia and Croatia beyond "I hear they are amazing," I recommend doing your own research first then asking specific questions later. Read past trip reports here (click on my name to read mine from 2009 and 2011.) I recommend the Rick Steves Slovenia/Croatia travel book. You can also watch several of his travel videos on those two countries for free on Hulu (at least you could last I checked). See what you like.

IIRC, We took the ferry from Venice to Rovinj a few years back. Great way to travel! We then made our way all the down to Dubrovnik via busses. Not luxurious, but memorable and happy for the chance. Now that we have kids, we'd never do a 11 (?) hour bus ride (from Rijeka to Dubrovnik), but glad we did it then. We also traveled from Dubrovnik to Hvar.

Best to check the ferries schedule. I do not think they will be running in October. The one we thought we would take from Venice to Rovinj, Croatia stops running in early September.

October is truffle season in Istria, a good time to be in Croatia I would think. Early-mid September is fantastic for the coast, but more into October I would concentrate on Istria and perhaps some interior touring, depending on your interests and how much time you have.

I strongly recommend Island Šolta, Croatia only 30 min away from Split. It is not as popular as Hvar i.e. there are less tourists here and it is more relaxing atmosphere. It has breathtaking scenery and there are plenty things to do. There are many family owned farms where you can try extra virgin olive oil, get a tour of olive grows, try wine Dobričić, have delicious traditional Šoltan food in restaurants overlooking islets in front of Šolta, there are many walking trails in fields filled with sweet aroma of figs, lavender, and rosemary, you can get a boat tour of the island (for about 50 euro the whole day traditional fisherman boat and you can visit many hidden bays with extraordinary clear sea, you can rent kayaks and have fun exploring islets in front of Šolta, maybe go skinny dipping, enjoy art shows and food fairs of traditional products...please contact the local agency My Green Island for more information:
http://www.eko-adria-solta.com/index.php/en/
This local agency cooperates only with local private house owners. I am sure that you will love the accommodations that you can find on their website. I would recommend town Maslinica on island Šolta as the most romantic spot to enjoy beautiful sunsets.
From Split you can make a day trip to Krka falls which are enriching experience. Or you can make a trip to historic city Trogir that is as Split UNESCO protected. Also , you can rent a car from Split to go to Dubrovnik and make few stops along beautiful Dalmatian coast (Omiš, Makarska, Tučepi are worth seing).
Congratulations! I wish you life of love and happiness.
Best regards,
Mia Jurjevic
[email protected]
P.S. You can check out this facebook page to get an idea of what to expect on Šolta:
https://www.facebook.com/soltamygreenisland?fref=nf

Thank you very much for all these tips! We really appreciate it!