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

Well worth exploring! When I visited Croatia (2009), several short-term car rentals were WAY more affordable than a longer one, even not counting the cost of parking. (And do keep the costs/problems of parking in some of the places you plan to visit in mind.)

@ adrienne -- I'm curious: When were you in Opatija? I wonder if it might have been before Rick Steves began highlighting it....

Thanks kja and adrienne. I keep needing reality checks. The only reason to stop in Opatija was to break up the drive from Plitvice to Rovinj. Any other place to do that? I haven't checked the car rental places yet, but I did notice how difficult it is to have a car in certain cities and how super expensive overnight parking is in places. I think I would like 3 nights in Rovinj. And if we keep Hvan, we don't want to ferry a car there.

And I forgot about the shortened days!

Sometimes plans and schedules are determined by what is available. I decided to start checking hotel and B and B availability and was surprised to see that many things were not still free in October, so I went ahead and reserved rooms everywhere except for one undetermined night. Pretty much as above, except not Zadar. Instead we'll drive on to Plitvice and spend the night there. Then we'll stay at Opatija or somewhere in between Plitvice and Roving, since that's a long drive after the park walking all around. Also, will stay 3 nights in Rovinj, unless I change my mind. I may not have picked the best places, but at least we will have reservations! Whew!

You will see some wonderful places!

If you spend 2 nights in the Plitvice Lakes, you might not need an overnight stop on the way to Rovinj -- you could head out first thing on your 2nd morning there, reaching Rovinj by mid-day or early afternoon -- or later, if you decide to visit a few hill town on your way in. (Do make sure you have a plan for dealing with your car while in pedestrian-only Rovinj.) That way, you could take a route that does NOT take you through Rijeka, which can present some LONG traffic jams....

oh thanks kja. I didn't know about the problems around Rijeka! I'm not sure yet what we'll do with the car there, alhough there is parking for 3 Euros a day a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Then we may give it up as we move on to Slovenia and get one there.

Car Rental! I've been scanning the forum and looking everywhere for consistent reviews on rental agencies and all is mixed so far. As of now, we plan to rent a car in Dubrovnik and keep it until the end of our trip in Zagreb. (While going to Hvar, we can leave it in the Split hotel's parking for free.) I am amazed at how many people had hassles returning their cars and being charged extras! Anyone have a good experience? And with which company?

I always book through gemut.com
http://www.gemut.com

Thanks kja! I will look into that site.

Thanks again kja! I had never heard of gemut, but all of the reviews (minus 1) were excellent and so I have now booked a car with them! They seemed so easy to work with and it is nice to have the personal touch. Now to check out the insurance question--credit card coverage for the car or Travel Guard.

I learned about gemut here on Fodor's -- I think it was from bobthenavigator, but I won't swear to that! I've been very pleased with them.

Re: the insurance -- check first with your credit card. As I recall, my card included all the coverage I needed at no extra expense. If your credit card does NOT supply what you need, look at insuremytrip and squaremouth to compare options:
http://www.insuremytrip.com
https://www.squaremouth.com

So we leave in a couple of days. Rented a car with Gemut and will be using our credit card insurance. Can't wait.

Should be a great trip -- enjoy! And please consider sharing a few of your favorite photos. :-)

Definitely kja!

If you want something a bit out of the ordinary you might consider a day in Ostrava in the Czech Republic to visit the old industrial area - Dolni Vitkovice. Brilliant for photographers with its decaying superstructures.

My TR attached.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-mountains.cfm

thanks TR! I would love something out of the ordinary, but I think it will have to wait for a second trip and we will probably want to do that. I could barely fit it all we wanted to do for this trip without venturing into the Czech Republic. Next time.

We are back and had a great trip! THanks to all of your suggestions--we incorporated many and I will work on getting a trip report up soon. Couldn't have done it so easily without this forum!

Glad to hear it - thanks for letting us know!