Please help. I have bought a Fodors travel book of Slovenia & Croatia, but still need help. Lots of it!
We only have 5 days and we KNOW we will be cramming as much into them as we can so please don't suggest we pick 1 or 2 spots and savor them. It's not how we do things, ADD, I guess.
We want to see the Unesco WHS cave in Slovenia, and we want to see Lake Bled. Also Ljubljiana. Can we do all this in 2 days?
Then in Croatia, we would like to see the Plitvice National Park. That leaves us probably 1 day. We would like to spend it either in Istria, in Rohinj or in Slovenia, in Piran. I'm not trying to compare the 2, just want to know wich one is more unique. I hear both are lovely places, but I don't think we have enough time to see both. Any help will be appreciated.

toppp

We have stayed in Piran (Hotel Piran)and have visited Rovinj from there. With only one day, I'd go for Piran, but either one would be OK. Its just a little easy to get in and then out of Piran if you only have the short amount of time.

Thanks Olyman, you helped me when I began planning this. Do you mean you did Rohinj as a daytrip from Piran? And now that I've asked the question, whatever your answer may be, can I do that? Daytrip to Rohinj? Thanks

I spent a night in both places. Arrived in Piran about 5PM and left in the morning. I felt that was enough time. I then toured a bit of Istria and arrived in Rovinj mid-afternoon after seeing a bit of Istria. Rovinj is bigger than Piran with more to see and explore. I was glad I could spend a little more time there. I then left Rovinj in the morning for the Pula airport. You could see most of Piran in a couple hours and then consider going on to Rovinj. I'd say to do whatever one works best with your itinerary. It also depends on where you start your trip and where you end it. I assume you'll have a car.

I crammed a lot into my Slovenia-Croatia trip in September, But I had to make some hard decisions about where to go and not go, and how long I could stay in one place. I spent 2 nights and a full day in Ljubljana. It was about right for me, but think you could see much it in a day, but I'd at least stay a night. I enjoyed it at night since there was a lot of activity (a weekend) with buildings and bridges lit up. I then drove to Piran via Skofja Loka and the Skojan caves. It was a full day, but I didn't really feel rushed. But I decided against seeing Lake Bled. Piran is only a 2 hour or so drive from Ljubljana if you don't make the stops I did.

Jeff, I want to break up the driving times with lots of stops! A fodor poster suggested I drive straight to Lake Bled when we land at the Ljubljiana airport and then work my way south, stopping at Ljubljiana and the caves and on to Piran, Rovinj, etc....Where exactly did you stop, and in your opinion, what were the highlights? Thanks

I'm a big fan of Rovinj. It's bigger than Piran and there are many more nooks and crannies to explore.

Going to Bled from the airport probably makes sense, but I flew into Zagreb and drove to Ljubljana. I didn't think I could do Bled and do what I described above...and I like medieval towns like Skofja Loka. It's quite small and I only spent an hour there. Just the cave took some time. You'll also need to plan around the tour schedule. I wanted go to Stanjel...another medieval town, but I wanted to have enough time in Piran.

I wasn't disappointed in anything, except that I did'n't see as much of Istria as I had planned. Here are my trip photos. This should give you an idea of what I saw.
http://www.pbase.com/jeff_b/root

Jeff-Great pictures! They bring back happy memories of both Dubrovnik and Montenegro. We loved Croatia so much, that we're returning next year, but this trip will take us to Opatija (with day trips to Pula and possibly Trieste), Zagreb, with Ljubljana tossed in just because we're in the area! No really, Ljubljana looks lovely - and I'm already wishing we had more time for our trip.

Can anyone suggest the best way to get from Opatija to (a)Pula and (b)Trieste via scheduled bus or train? These would be done as day trips. After Opatija, we're heading to Ljubljana for 3 nights and would like to travel via bus or train. We would prefer not to fly to minimize costs.