Kja--that is VERY helpful! Just the info I need. I will share this with my husband and revisit this topic. I kind of like the idea of renting a car as needed, not for the whole trip and getting stuck around the ferries and cities without parking. Much to take into consideration!!.

I have a couple of questions and would like any input on this possible itinerary. First, does anyone know if the catamarans run from Split out to Hvar and Korcula in October? Or even the ferries. Also is it pretty easy to just rent a car for a few days at a time and then rent another one later on?
We will arrive in Zagreb on October 3 and leave from Zagreb on October 20.
ZAGREB: 2 nights
PLITVICE 1 night
SPLIT 1
HVAR & KORCULA 2 nights
DUBROVNIK 3 nights
BAY OF KOTAR
MOSTAR 1 night
ZADAR or somewhere in between nearby. 1 night
ROVINJ 2 nights
Lubljana 2-3 nights
Lake Bled 1 night
Zagreb 1 night or add this night to Slovenia and leave early in the morning for our flight.

Somehow this seems pretty intense. Would you make any changes? Maybe we can't get to Hvar anyway? Being October and all.

RE: RENTAL CAR: I am thinking we would rent one the day we leave Zagreb and drive to Plitvice. Maybe we could drop it off in Split and then pick up another one when we leave Dubrovnik? Drop it off when we arrive in Rovinj?

I think that you can get from Split to Hvar and back pretty much year round (though I won't swear to it), but I don't think the Hvar to Korcula connection is a daily one even in high season. BUT you really need to check: Have you found the Jadrolinija schedules? Even if you can find a connection, I have trouble imagining that one can see Hvar AND Korcula in a total of 2 nights -- or did you mean 2 nights for each island, rather than 1 night for each?

Yes, that is a decidedly intense itinerary. With the exception of the Hvar/Korcula part, it is doable -- in fact, it isn't terribly different from what I did, and my trip was indeed, very, very intense. Moreover, I was in the area in May/June, so days were LONG. In October, days will, of course, be much shorter and that could have a huge impact on you, particularly since photography is a major goal. If you can make the painful decision to cut a few places, I don't think you will regret it.

Do you already have your flights? If not, look into flying into Dubrovnik and out of Ljubljana or vice versa. If you already have your flights, look into options to fly from Zagreb straight to Dubrovnik and then work your way north or go straight from Zagreb to Slovenia and work your way south before flying back to Zagreb.

If you are going to take a rental car across a border, make sure the company knows and that you have any paperwork (including any vignettes) that you need. If you plan to leave the car off in a country that is not the one from which you rented it, expect a hefty fee. Personally, I would keep your use of a rental car to a minimum so that the driver can safely appreciate the scenery, but that's JMO.

Thank you kja! I will check and double check on the island connections. I wouldn't be distraught if we couldn't include them. And I like your idea of flying to Dubrovnik from Zagreb and driving northward. I also had not thought about the shorter days. :-( But I know we will have a great trip no matter what we do. THANKS!

Would that be too gauche to travel all the way to Croatia and skip Hvar and Korcula? That would give some ease in our schedule and allow us to slow the pace. But I don't want to miss any "must sees."

And you once thought you could see Prague and Budapest on the same trip! ;-)

So let me start with the "bad" news: I'm not sure how one defines a "must-see," but I can tell you that with an even longer time span than yours, and a very hard-paced itinerary, I did NOT see everything I wanted to see while in Croatia. And with the timeframe and pace you are considering, you won't see everything that many people (including myself) consider to be high-priority Croatian destinations -- and by that, I mean you won't get to all the cities or towns or parks or islands that one might want to visit, and unfortunately, you also won't have time to see all the things that any of the places you do visit have to offer.

And that means that you are at the point of planning that I always find hardest: How to balance the desire to visit all sorts of places with the desire to actually be able to see and enjoy the ones you do visit.

Don't worry about whether it is "gauche" or not. Think about what YOU most want to see and experience.

Good luck!

As usual, I agree with kja (we really need to find something to disagree about!). My must-see may be your eminently skippable. However, if you have doubts about the islands, I would reinforce them. I didn't see Korcula, but I though Hvar over-hyped, and far too full of pretty people off floating penthouses. And there is plenty of coastline on the mainland.

For my taste, you have too many one-nighters. I would (and did) visit Lake Bled as a day trip from Ljubljana. I would (and did) give Plitvice two nights. I would take one night from Dubrovnik. I traveled entirely by public transport, and did not find it limiting.

Thanks kja! I needed that. I don't want to return home exhausted and I do enjoy a slower look at the slices of life offered up on travels. So I think I will cut the islands and rethink the rest, but most of it will probably stay.

Thanks thursdaysd. I'm pretty sure about the islands-to skip that is. I agree about the one-nighters, but will have to work with this a bit to figure out how to eliminate some. Lake Bled would be a start.
And LOL! Kja about how much I had originally hoped to cover!

And Iona, xyz99- I loved your photos--esp the old and new roofs--very very nice!.

"And LOL! Kja about how much I had originally hoped to cover!"

You certainly aren't the only person to make that "mistake"! Once you return, I hope you will join the voices of reason. :-)

BTW -- I returned from my trip thoroughly and completely exhausted. That was OK, because I expected it, but keep it in mind if you are comparing your plans to mine!

ok, thanks that's helpful kja. I do have to teach right when I get back and also start right in with my usual clients/patients.

So this is a possible revised itinerary and I would love some input about where to change it and put the 3 extra nights. We fly into and out of Zagreb.


ZAGREB 2 NIGHTS
Fly into Dubrovnik

DUBROVNIK 3 NIGHTS
Includes a day trip to Kotar, Montenangro (rent a car upon leaving Dubrovnik)

MOSTAR 1 NIGHT

SPLIT 2 NIGHTS

PLITVICE 1 NIGHT

ROVINJ 2 NIGHTS

PIRAN ON WAY TO LJUBLJANA
Return rental car before entering Slovenia.

LJUBLJANA 2-3 NIGHTS

LAKE BLED AS A DAY TRIP

ZAGREB 1 NIGHT

Try flying straight from Zagreb to Dubrovnik so you don't have to have rooms in Zagreb at both the start and end of your trip.

Why are you picking up a rental car when you leave Dubrovnik? You can take a bus to Mostar. Having a car in Mostar or Split will only be an encumbrance. Pick up the rental when you leave Split.

If I understand, you are saying that you have 3 more nights? Depends on your interests -- Split (to make sure you have 2 full days for Split and Trogir), Hvar Town (a night or two), an extra night in Rovinj (to have plenty of daylight time to visit Porec and some hill towns, in addition to Rovinj itself), Lovran (just a night), Zagreb (if you like museums, you can easily fill 3 days there), Sibenik, Zadar, Varazdin.....

Thanks, kja. Do you think Zagreb is worth a couple of days? Or would you just add them at the end of the trip?

Is it really that easy and comfortable to take a bus to Mostar? I think Trogir would be a good idea and I thought perhaps that Hvar in October might be difficult . Maybe one more night in Rovinj would be good.

"Do you think Zagreb is worth a couple of days? Or would you just add them at the end of the trip? "

If you enjoy museums, absolutely! I thoroughly enjoyed the 3 days I gave Zagreb -- but then, I enjoy museums. If you don't like museums, give it a day to walk around, as it has some lovely parks and markets and interesting streets, etc. BUT try to put ALL your time in Zagreb at the END of your stay so you have one less change of hotels. You're flying out of Zagreb, right? So you MUST be there at the end of your trip. If you can, go straight from your arrival in Zagreb by flight to your flight to Dubrovnik without staying overnight. If that isn't possible, then split your time in whatever way makes most sense. And if you do plan to visit any museums, check their schedules -- most will be closed on Sunday afternoons and Mondays.

"Is it really that easy and comfortable to take a bus to Mostar?"

Yes. And MUCH nicer to be able to relax and enjoy the gorgeous scenery than to have to watch the roads.

"I think Trogir would be a good idea"

It's only about 1/2 hour from Split by bus, is charming, and it has some absolutely amazing stonework!

"I thought perhaps that Hvar in October might be difficult"

I could easily be mistaken, but I thought there were daily ferries between Split and Hvar Town year round. Check to be sure! I admit that I thought Hvar Town a bit to upscale for my tastes, but I can't imagine visiting southern Croatia without visiting at least one of the Dalmatian islands....

None of your options are bad -- it really depends on what you want to see and experience!

Thanks kja. I will check on flights from Zagreb to Dubrovnik next week when we are back from the weekend. I am hoping the domestic airport in Zagreb is pretty close to the international terminals? And I'll give more effort to discovering what is possible with a visit to Hvar Town.

Flights didn't match up with preferences, so I altered our schedule a bit and this is what it now looks like:
Zagreb------------2 nights
Fly to Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik---------3 nights
1 day trip to Kotor
Rent a car and Drive to Mostar
Mostar------------1 night
Drive to Split and drop car?
Split--------------2 nights
Visit Trogir
Boat to Hvar
Hvar--------------1 night
Boat back to Split
Rent a car and drive to Zadar (or could go on to Plitvice.)
Zadar-------------1 night
Drive to Plitvice
Plitvice------------1 night
Opatija------------1 night
Rovinj-------------2 nights
Visit Motovun and other hill towns
Drop off rental and take public transportation to Ljubljana.
Ljubljana----------3 nights
Rent car for Day trips--Lake Bled, etc.
Drop off car before leaving.
Public transportation to Zagreb
Zagreb------------1 night
Fly home.
I would appreciate input from my knowledgeable travel friends here!

I truly disliked Opatija -- probably the only place I have ever been about which I would say that. Loud, overcrowded, rowdy.... The Villa Angiolina is pleasant, but not enough IMO to justify staying in Opatija. I thought the Lungomare quite lovely, but I stayed in Lovran, not Opatija. Lovran, however, is well passed its prime and might not suit everyone, and I'm not sure you could reach the area in time to really enjoy the Lungomare under even the best of circumstances.

I think you are back to rushing and trying to fit too much into too little time. Please remember, nightfall will be EARLY while you are there, and if your goal is photography, then it doesn't seem to make much sense to me to spend a huge chunk of your daylight time running from place to place (and don't forget, you will need to spend time packing/unpacking, checking in/out, getting to/from the bus station or whatever, getting oriented, etc.) only to leave yourselves with very little time to see anything, let alone see it in decent light.

I'm not saying that this trip isn't doable. I just don't see how it fits your stated interests. But of course, I could easily be wrong!

Why so many short car rentals. This will probably cost you more than keeping the car longer.

Opatija - I had the opposite experience to kja - fairly deserted and quiet.