joygerm

I am doing preliminary planning for a 2010 two week trip to Slovenia & Croatia. I would like to avoid the July/August crowds, but still go at time when the weather is nice and I can use FF miles. Right now I'm leaning towards early May or late September. Any recommendations either way?

Below is a tentative itinerary with us flying into Ljubljana and out of Dubrovnik. I would appreciate feedback from those of you more familiar with the area.

- 1 nights in Ljubljana (57.2 km; 48 minutes from Ljubljana to Lake Bled)
- 2 nights in Lake Bled (215 km; 2 hours 45 minutes from Lake Bled to Istria)
- 2 nights in Istrian Penninsula (231 km, 3 hours 13 minutes from Istria to Plitivice)
- 1 night in Plitivice (256 km, 2 hours 55 minutes from Plitivice to Split)
- 2 nights in Split or Trogir
- 2 nights in Hvar or Korcula (110 km, 2 hours 43 minutes from Korcula to Mostar)
- 1 night in Mostar (141 km, 2 hours 32 minutes from Mostar to Dubrovnik)
- 3 nights in Dubrovnik

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

LowCountryIslander

joygerm...

I went to Slovenia/Croatia in late September 2006 and had a mix of weather, rain in Slovenia but a beautiful 10 days in Hvar and Dubrovnik. But who knows what will happen with weather.

The weather was perfect in Hvar for the 5 days we were there, but I do recall the locals were saying the week before there was a lot of rain.

I think when it comes to weather it's just the luck of the draw.

As for crowds based on the locals we met, they say the end of September is less crowded.

I loved Slovenia and Croatia and would go back in a heartbeat...IMO you've picked a terrific destination!

suffrock

We're going to Slovenia & Croatia in May and our itinerary is almost exactly like yours! We added two nights between Bled and Istria to get a little off the beaten tourist path and break up the drive: one night in Trenta and one night in the Goriska Brda wine region. I'll be sure to post a report when we return. We're really looking forward to this trip.

sssteve

Hi, Joy!

Your itinerary is pretty good. The only thing I would change is adding a night in Istria. There's a lot to see, Piran, Rovinj, Porec, Pula, Motovun, Opatjia. We enjoyed the area. Also, check out Zadar, which we enjoyed very much as well.

We've been to Croatia at least 3 times. You can check out 2 of our trips on my web pages. Here are the URL's.

http://www.travel.stv77.com/croatia/slovenia.htm (2006)
http://www.travel.stv77.com/croatia/croatia.htm (2003)

joygerm

Thanks all for the feedback. I may try to see if we can add a another night in Istria. It looks like the longest stretch of driving will be from Istria to Plitivice.

I might consider not staying the night in Ljubljana and just driving straight to Lake Bled from the airport. Any thoughts on that?

I need to keep the trip at 14 nights so I'll have to cut one somewhere if I'm going to add another in Istria.

huddoshols

I would stay 3 nights in Bled and if you wish do a day trip to Ljubljana. We did that. It is an easy drive into Ljubljana.Bled is beautiful,very peaceful. Do the drive around the Julian Alps on one day if you can. I night in Plitvice is enough,you will have to start early, to do the walks and drive to Split. We had 4 nights in the Istrian area. If you can manage another it would be beneficial.Dont rely on those driving times though. You will find it usually takes longer. We drove most of those routes and it took longer than all those listed times. We went in early to mid Sept/08 and the weather was glorious everywhere.

LittleVicky

Think of a day at Bohinj and stay near Opatija the night before Plitvice to cut down on the drive.

joygerm

OK - so we've decided to take our toddler and I've completely re-thought the itinerary with that in mind. We have found in traveling with a small child that we prefer to have multiple nights in one location which seems to help her acclimate better and also enables us to move at a slower pace.

Below is the new proposed itinerary. I would be interested in feedback regarding the proposed route, nights in each place and rental car suggestions. I'm aware that there are still several significant places that we will miss (namely Istrian Pennisula & Split/Trogir), but we like to approach travel with the mentality that we will be back rather than trying to cram everything in. Also, while it may not be your personal preference to travel with a small child please kindly know that that is not something I'm soliciting feedback regarding

Day 1 - Fly into Ljubljana & rent car, overnight in Lake Bled (Lake Bled - 3 nights)
Day 4 - Return car to Ljubljana (to avoid additional drop charges by returning in Croatia), take train to Zagreb and rent another car, drive to Plitivice Lakes (Plitivice - 2 nights)
Day 6 - Drive to Split and take ferry to Korcula (Korcula - 4 nights)
Day 10 - Korcula to Dubrovnik (via Mostar), return rental car in Dubrovnik (Dubrovnik - 4 nights)

While in Dubrovnik we would plan on a day trip to Montenegro. Does this sound reasonable? While I know it is out of the way, is it feasible to see Mostar en route from Korcula to Dubrovnik or is it better to make that a daytrip out of DBV? I know that 3 nights in Lake Bled is probably more than enough, but again with the little one I don't want to rush. Also, by spending 2 nights in Plitivice we will have 1 full day to see the lakes and not be in such a hurry with the long travel day from Plitivice to Korcula. Thanks in advance for your feedback!