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Potential return trip to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Potential return trip to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Old Jan 27th, 2015, 04:38 PM
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Potential return trip to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I've been to all three countries before and am considering a return trip to see more, as soon as this spring perhaps. Most likely I'll be flying into Amsterdam initially so have to get down to and from the Balkans from/to there.

On my previous visit to Croatia, I saw Zagreb, Plitvice, Split, and Dubrovnik. I missed Istria, so this time I'm thinking of starting there (from Ljubljana), renting a car, and driving down into Dalmatia and then over into BiH and up to Sarajevo, then back to Zagreb to fly out.

I'm most interested in feedback on the Bosnia section - I drove to Mostar last time so I have half and idea what the drive is up to that point. It's hard to gauge driving distances - how much to drive per day. I know it's very hilly on the drive from Mostar to Sarajevo (I've read Julia_t's trip report among others.) I hate having to do long drives but it seems like the most practical way.

Here's the itinerary I've thrown together for 15 nights in late April-Early May that is one possibility on an award ticket:

Fly AMS to Venice, bus to Ljubljana

Ljubljana (3 nights) - day trips to Kamnik, perhaps elsewhere (I loved Ljubljana)

Train to Rijeka - pick up car? Or maybe bus down via Koper, pick up car somewhere in Croatia

Rovinj (3 nights) - explore Istria by car
Rab (1 night)
Zadar (2 nights)

Drive to Krka National Park, spend a few hours there.

Sibinek (1 night)

Drive to Sarajevo (3-6 hours it sounds like, including a few stops)

Sarajevo (2 nights)
Travnik (1 night)
Jajce (1 night)

I think that's 14 nights and I'll probably have 15, so I might add one somewhere...

Drive back to Zagreb
Fly Zagreb-AMS at 16:10 (so leaving Jajce in the morning should give me plenty of time)

Thoughts? I know this is before tourist season - but any idea how good of a time late April/Early May might be in Croatia on the northern coast? I'm expecting rain in Ljubljana...
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Old Jan 27th, 2015, 04:46 PM
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Hi Andrew...Here's my 2008 trip report with photos on my website. Check out Chapters Eleven through Twenty-Three. It's all Croatia and Slovenia. I also hope to return some day.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cent...e-venice-2008/

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Old Jan 27th, 2015, 05:15 PM
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Thank you. That's a very nice report. I skipped down to Istria because I had been to all of those other places (but not in the same trip!). And then I got to the part about your cat and I stopped caring about your trip.
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Old Jan 27th, 2015, 09:28 PM
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I wouldn't try to pick up your rental in Rijeka - the traffic in that area can be a nightmare. Look at other options, e.g., Porec, Pazin, even Pula.
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Old Jan 27th, 2015, 09:46 PM
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Thanks - was thinking Porec probably via Koper too. Whatever is easiest...
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Old Jan 28th, 2015, 01:27 PM
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Train to Rijeka is an easy option and you will have no traffic problems at the time of year you are going.
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Old Jan 28th, 2015, 04:41 PM
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Thank you!

There's some chance I might take buses/trains to get to Rovinj the first day and pick up the car the second day. It seems there are some rental agencies that will "deliver" car to you; otherwise I will probably pick it up in Porec. I may want to spend my first day exploring Rovinj and not bother with a car until I want to get out and explore some of the hill towns in Istria.
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Old Jan 29th, 2015, 08:18 AM
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Bus to Rovinj would be good, bus to Pula also. www.buscroatia.com is one good site to look at.
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Old Jan 29th, 2015, 04:40 PM
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I love this thread. It's given me lots of things to think about as I plan my trip. I'm looking forward to seeing how Andrew's itinerary develops.

(and maitaitom....I loved your trip report. I stayed up far too late last night trying to read the Slovenia and Croatian sections. Thank goodness I didn't check in on the earlier chapters or else I would have been up ALL night and been useless at work today.) (Sorry to hear about Cupid.)
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Old Jan 29th, 2015, 05:12 PM
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One update: I looked more carefully at the estimated drive times from Google maps for the whole loop I mapped out from Rovinj down to Split and Mostar, up to Sarajevo, and back to Zagreb. 18 HOURS of driving!!! Wow, that's just way more than I want to do.

So as an alternative, I'm thinking of driving only from Rovinj to Split, dumping the car there, and taking buses/trains on to Sarajevo. There are several buses a day from Split to Mostar, and from there there are two trains a day up to Sarajevo. The trains are supposedly very old and not nice but the views breathtaking, on about a three hour trip. So that sounds pretty enticing.

And then fly from Sarajevo back to Amsterdam. It's more of a challenge to fly that way (no direct flights) and a little more expensive - I think I'll wind up taking a Lufthansa flight via Munich. I'm also toying with the idea of reversing the direction and starting in Sarajevo and ending in Ljubljana.

The car still seems to make sense from Rovinj to Split - about 9 hours of driving over several days. I actually drove part of this before (Zagreb to Dubrovnik mostly on the A1) and it was about the same driving time and pretty easy.
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Old Jan 29th, 2015, 05:18 PM
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Yes, that would be better IMO
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Old Jan 29th, 2015, 05:27 PM
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I'm not crazy about the long bus ride though I've done a few like that before. I may miss having a car from Mostar driving up to Sarajevo because I may want to pull over for pictures. But I hear the train doesn't always run very fast. I suppose I could rent a car in Mostar for a few days and return it in Sarajevo.
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Old Jan 29th, 2015, 08:41 PM
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Are you planning to spend time in Rijeka? If not you can take the train from Ljubljana to Kanfanar, then a cab to Rovinj. Also, if you are staying in Rovinj you can pick the car up in Rovinj. No need to go to Porec to do that.
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Old Jan 29th, 2015, 10:35 PM
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rialtogrl, it appears that direct trains start running between Ljubljana and Kanfanar only in late April. Depending on my final schedule, that may be too late for me. Otherwise, I would have to travel to Kanfanar with two connections.

There are direct trains from Ljubljana to Rijeka twice a day, and I could pick up a rental car there - that may wind up being easiest after all. It appears the Rijeka bus and train stations are no adjacent, so taking a bus from Rijeka to Rovinj isn't quite so simple. It looks like there's one fast bus a day from Ljubljana to Poreč that takes about the same time, but it only runs in the afternoon/evening. I think I'd rather travel in the morning, so Rijeka may be easier.
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Old Jan 30th, 2015, 04:00 AM
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According to the bus website, there are two morning buses to Rovinj from Ljubljana, 07.10 and 09.30
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Old Jan 30th, 2015, 05:33 AM
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Hey, Andrew. Since you said you've been to Ljubljana before and loved it, you might wanna join the Travel To Ljubljana Facebook group. Would be nice if you shared your experience there https://www.facebook.com/groups/722958401152341/
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Old Jan 30th, 2015, 05:49 AM
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Andrew, then it makes sense to pick up a car in Rijeka. I've driven through a few times and never saw the bad traffic kja saw, but I never went through during a rush hour.

Kevina, can you post a link to the bus site you see direct buses on? Do those buses run in April?
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Old Feb 1st, 2015, 01:36 AM
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Hi Andrew

My most recent trip was a longish driving route from Zagreb, south into Bosnia near Bihac, across to Jajce, then back up to the Croatian border via Banja Luka. I then drove all around the Zagorje area of Croatia north of Zagreb, along the Slovenian border to see the castles of Veliki Tabor and Trakoscan, up as far as Varazdin (all on minor roads) then back south to Zagreb.

I've not finished my trip report yet (!) but the Bosnian section is completed. I loved Jajce, and the road north towards Banja Luka was absolutely stunning. With your cameras and ability to take fabulous photos, you really shouldn't miss it.

Here's the link to the trip report (which also contains links to some very amateurish pics taken on my phone)...

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

I had already visited Travnik (which was in my 2010 'off the beaten track in BiH' trip report) where the fortress high above the town, the pretty architecture and of course the Plava Voda are worth seeing.

Last October I did cover a lot of miles - somewhere around 550 - but never drove for more than 2 or 3 at a stretch. And half of those miles were in northern Croatia. I spent around 18-20 hours driving in total, but spread over 5 days didn't seem like it, and wasn't as bad as it sounds. I loved the freedom to stop as and when I wanted, and personally would have hated to be trapped with the time constraints of a bus or train, let alone actually being stuck on said mode of transport! I saw some adorably pretty villages, gorgeous baroque houses, ruined castles, stopped in roadside cafes for a coffee, never saw another English person, but I absolutely had a fabulous time. Do you know, I never even had the radio on or put a CD in - I spent the entire time in silence just admiring what I was seeing and soaking up the atmosphere of such beautiful sights all around me.

I think with your photographer's eye, you would be able to capture some wonderful pictures of this spectacular part of Europe. And I don't think you should miss it by getting on a plane to Amsterdam from Sarajevo.

Any more questions, just ask away...
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Old Feb 1st, 2015, 08:07 AM
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Thanks, Julia! I don't know how I missed your Oct 2014 report when you posted it originally. Maybe I simply wasn't thinking about a Europe trip again at that point. Or maybe I read it quickly on a busy day.

I'll reconsider driving in BiH instead of flying back from Sarajevo. I'm thinking either way that I will wind up flying out of Zagreb at the end back to Amsterdam. It will turn out to be cheapest that way even if I take an early morning flight the same day from Sarajevo to Zagreb and spend half a day in Zagreb before the second flight (which would be KLM's only direct flight of the day, in late afternoon). That way, I can also decide to drive back to Zagreb something like originally planned above.

You did have a lot of rain on your trip, apparently. It didn't seem to bother you, but I'd be disappointed to have a lot of rain when trying to take pictures! (Some water on everything after a rain can really add to pictures, though, of course.) It could be I will keep my BiH portion of the trip flexible until near the end or even change it on the fly.

I'll definitely ask more questions after I nail down the BiH part - thank you!
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Old Feb 1st, 2015, 08:38 AM
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BTW, you can take a bus instead of a train from Mostar to Sarajevo - better times and no tunnels. Click on my name for my Balkans TR.
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