Have finally settled on an itinerary for trip to Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia Herzegovina in Sept/Oct. Have worked for weeks getting hotel/apartment rental, and now my hubby is questioning our itinerary. He thinks it has too many short stays! (although we have done several trips like this in other countries and he had a ball!) So, here is is:
Dubrovnik: 4 nights
Mostar: 1 night
Sarajevo: 2 nights
Trogir: 2 nights
Plitvice: 1 night
Rovinj: 3 nights
Ljubljana: 3 nights
Zabreb: 1 night (fly out from here)

Has anyone done a similiar trip, or have any suggestions? We pack very light and have washing machines at 4 locations.

Thanks!

I think that looks fine.

Can I suggest that when you drive from Sarajevo to Trogir, rather than backtrack down to Mostar and the coast you visit Travnik (maybe Jajce too) before heading south via Donju Vakuf, Bugojno, Livno, and cross the border at Kamensko and thence to Split.

Travnik is worth a visit for the Plava Voda, fortress, and cevapcici!

I wrote about this drive here (though I did it in the other direction), and it may give you an idea of some of what you can see along the way. It is very scenic and beautiful...

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-explores.cfm

En route you'll also pass the turn to Kraljeva Sutjeska (see my return to Sarajevo trip report for more about this pretty and ancient little town).


I've also driven from Dubrovnik to Mostar, Split,Trogir, and from Sarajevo to Mostar and back to Split - but I really don't recommend the back roads! I've written a bit about those trips, and if you click on my name you'll find them.

I wrote a TR in 2010 that describes one of the roads you can take from Dubrovnik to Mostar. (We went in the reverse direction) I think that the site at Stolac must have a visitor center by now. Be sure to read my cautions about land mines on this route before deciding to take it.

The more common route is along the coast from Dubrovnik to Ploce then inland to Mostar. On this route, the small Ottoman town of Počitelj is a good place to stop for coffee/to explore a little if you have time. We have also driven from Mostar to Split via Medjugorje and Ljubuski. The route julia_t describes sounds like a good alternative route to take you back to the coast.

I think what you are proposing is potentially do-able, but it does seem to me like you might be pushing it a bit in some places. It really depends on what you hope to see and experience in these places.

The number of nights I spent in many of these places was similar to what you plan, but I had overnight stops between most of them, and I so generally faced less travel time between places on any given day than you will have. And that means I had more time IN most of these places than you propose.

FWIW, my plan included 2 nights in Sarajevo (with close to 2 days in Sarajevo, including time to deal with jet lag), 1 night in Mostar (with nearly a full day there), 3 nights in Dubrovinik (about 2.5 days, which included day trips to Montenegro, Lokrum, and Trsteno), 1 night in Trogir and also 1 night in Split (so I had about 2.5 days for these 2 places), 1 night in Plitvice (with about 7 hours in the park itself), 2 nights in Rovinj (with 2 other nights in Istria), 4 nights in Slovenia (2 in Ljubljana and 2 in Bled), and 3 nights in Zagreb.

You might drop a night from your planned time in Dubrovnik to give you a bit more latitude elsewhere.

You’ll see some beautiful places – enjoy!

Thanks! I have read both of your trip reports and enjoyed them tremendously! I will reread them before our trip to help with planning. Do you think the one night in Mostar is necessary, or could we just do it as a day trip?

kja, do you think we should add an extra night in Zagreb? We currently only have one night (after driving from Ljubljana), and fly out early the next morning.

I, too, would recommend dropping a night - if not two - from Dubrovnik. It is certainly beautiful, but these days is generally overrun with cruise passengers. I would add the time to Sarajevo. I also recommend a full day for Plitvice, but I am a big waterfall fan. I assume you're doing day trips from Ljubljana?

> do you think we should add an extra night in Zagreb?

It depends on what you want to see and experience. I enjoyed Zagreb's museums. If they are something you want to see, make time for them -- but you will need to skip other things on your itinerary to make time to see Zagreb it that's what you choose to do, because I don't think you can do it all. As I suggested, I'm not sure you can do everything you already plan!

> Do you think the one night in Mostar is necessary, or could we just do it as a day trip?

One can visit Mostar as a day trip, but it becomes much more accessible and much more enjoyable IMHO after dray-trippers leave. Watching the Stari Most and nearby mosques and surrounding town and tree-lined valley as the sun set offered images I hope to take with me through the rest of my days - awesome!

I agree with kja that spending the night in Mostar is much more pleasant than trying to do it as a day trip. It can still be hot in the middle of the day in September and it is crowded with day trippers. We stayed at the Muslibegovic House/Museum which is a unique place.

Totally agree that spending the evening and early morning in Mostar is a memorable experience and well worth doing.

Just got back from a week vacation... We spent 2 nights in Zagreb and 2 in Ljubljana... For me, that was a good split... I unexpectantly loved Zagreb. We also liked Ljubljana (but for different reasons). We did not go to lake bled... A friend who went recently said it was low on his list due to the explosion of coke stands and souvenir shops....

In any event, great trip.... Have fun!