I need some assistance with my itinerary between Dubrovnik to Venice. I have ~7 days. I am traveling early April 2007 and am starting in Rome and taking the Bari-Dubrovnik ferry.

After some research, I would like to spend some time in Dubrovnik, possibly Hvar, Zadar, and/or Istria. I know I don't have a lot of time, but I want to make sure I see the highlights.

Suggestions greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Interested in choice of ferry out of Rome. Have youlooked at a schedule for Ancona to Dubrovnik or did you decide to take the long way round by going to Bari. I was thinking that I would go Ancona way in late April 07 but if the alternative is quicker ?

From what I understand, the Bari-Dubrovnik ferry debarks only on Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. It takes 8 hours. We were planning on taking the train to Naples/Pompeii and then taking the train to Bari.

My advice would be to travel to Vrsar on the Istrian penninsula, book accommodation at the Belvedere resort which has small self-catering flats, explore the village,swim in the Adriatic and then take day trips easily by bus to Porec, Rovinj and Pula. You will love it. Try to be there on a Friday night for the fisherman's festival. They run most of the summer, every Friday night. We were there this September. Perfect

Just got back from Croatia and Slovenia. Enjoyed Istria and Zadar very much. Also on our previous trip there enjoyed Hvar very much.

For the details about both trips, check out my web pages:

http://www.travel.stv77.com/croatia/slovenia.htm

http://www.travel.stv77.com/croatia/croatia.htm

I too just got back from Croatia/Slovenia last week. I haven't been to Istria but here is my suggestion:

Dubrovnik - 3 nights
Trogir or Split - 2 nights
Opatija, Rijeka or somewhere on Istria - 2 nights
Venice

We were in Croatia in September/October and it exceeded our expecations. Our favourite area was Istria. See this trip report if you are interested in more! http://p104.ezboard.com/feuropetogof...icID=265.topic

My husband and I were in Croatia / Slovenia in May and had a wonderful time. We didn't go any further south than Pula on the southern tip of the Istria penninsula but we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We stayed at Villa Melita in Rovinj. This is a great place to stay but it is not downtown or anywhere close to the water. It was a short car trip to town but the rooms were comfy and the breakfast was great and very reasonably priced. We actually rented a car in Venice and drove from there because we started in Crete and couldn't find a reasonably priced ticket to anywhere in Croatia or Slovenia from Greece.
If you have a chance take the time to visit Lake Bled and Logarska Dolina in Slovenia. It is some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen and the people were wonderful.
Enjoy your trip!