bhildebrand

My friends and I are flying in and out of Zagreb Sept 20-30 (flight booked) We like scenic areas and are having a hard time figuring out how much time to allow for certain areas with border crossings. On our list is Lake Bled and Plitvice Lakes National Park which are closer to zagreb so we thought we would do one when we arrive and one as we return to the city. Our thoughts were to rent a car and drive the entire time but maybe we should do a tour to Lake Bled? When we get to the coast, we would like to see a variety but I'm concerned we will be driving too much. Here are our thoughts:
Day 0 - Arrive in Zagreb late afternoon
Day 1 - Lake Bled (drive or day tour from zagreb)
Day 2-3 - Zadar area
Day 4-6 - Dubrovnik
Day 7 - Split
Day 8 - Plitvice
Day 9 - Zagreb

yorkshire

Have you mapped out the drives? Viamichelin is often recommended, or just use google maps and round up a bit.
To me, this would be far too much time on the move, but do you like road trips?

bhildebrand

If the scenery is changing, road trips are fine. Is there a particular destination that makes the driving longer?

yorkshire

The only way to determine that is to plug in the drives and see if that's how long you want to be in a car. Also consider the time taken by navigating, parking, checking in and out of accommodations, etc. I use one-night stays to break up trips or for airport access, but I could not do several in a row.
For a 10-day trip, I would skip Dubrovnik, but if this is expected to be your one visit to the area, you might feel differently. Just be sure you have an accurate picture of distances.

rialtogrl

I agree with Yorkshire, drop Dubrovnik. Maybe even Split. With your time, you could go to Bled and maybe Ljubljana, then see the coast on the Istrian Peninsula before Zadar, Plitvice and back to Zagreb. You can save Dalmatia for another trip.

kja

For my tastes, way way way way WAY too rushed!

And if there is any chance that you will have jet lag, I would strongly encourage you to take public transportation for your first night or two. Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of cause célèbre for me….