Slovenia/Croatia Itinerary HELP!
 

Wish we had more than 2 weeks for this travel, but we'll be coming from Belluno after 2 weeks of hiking in the Dolomites.
Prefer 3 night stays, but not possible so trying to weigh some options: better a night in the Alps while driving the Mtn. loop? Or have a 3rd night in the Plitvice Natl. Pk.? Not sure about easiest way to get and drop cars, but looks cheaper to not drop in another country. Would so appreciate your suggestions...
Sept 1 Belluno to Lake Bled
Sept 2-3. Lake Bled...hike the gorge, bike around the lake, etc.
Sept 4 pick up car in Lake Bled and drive the Julian Alp loop. MAYBE STAY THE NIGHT IN THE ALPS?
Sept 5 if skip the night in the Alps, on to Ljubljana
Sept 6 Ljubljana
Sept 7 Drive to Piran, drop car.....public transport to Rovinj. (best plan?)
Sept 8 pick up car, side trip to Pula. sleep Rovinj
Sept 9. drive to Plitvice Lakes Natl Pk
Sept 10. hike in park, sleep again in the park
Sept 11. drive to Split, drop car...sleep in Split
Sept 12. ferry to Korcula. explore Split before ferry to island
Sept 13 sleep Korcula
Sept 14-16. Dubrovnik
Sept 17. Fly home

Should be nice! A few notes:

• Be sure to get your tickets to the Plitvice Lakes National Park as soon as you can. You probably don't need 2 nights there. My recommendation is to get there early enough to walk either the upper or the lower part on once day and then walk the other half the next morning -- assume about 3 hours for each loop. The advantages of doing that are that you have a buffer if the weather is not cooperative AND the majority of your hikes will be before / after the onslaught of day trippers.
• Split is my favorite city in Croatia. I'm getting the impression that cities aren't your priority; still, just one night there isn't very much.
• If I'm reading correctly, you are thinking of 3 nights in Dubrovnik. That's a lot for a small city. Of course it depends on when you would get there and depart, but if you might want to see if you can target an interval of about 1.5 days in Dubrovnik.

Enjoy!

This part:

Sept 7 Drive to Piran, drop car.....public transport to Rovinj. (best plan?)
Sept 8 pick up car, side trip to Pula. sleep Rovinj

Look a little bit weird. Are you thinking to drive, drop off the car, spend some time in Piran, and then take public transportation to Rovinj? Then sleep in Rovinj but pick up another car to go to Pula?

It sounds like too much time in car rental offices to me. Piran and Rovinj are a bit similar - you could spend instead leave the car in Ljubljana (like the night before) then get a goopti shuttle to Rovinj on the 7th. Spend a nice afternoon and evening in Rovinj, pick up the car and explore around there, sleep another night in Rovinj. You could go to Pula on the 8th but you could also go there on the way to Plitvice since you are just sleeping in Plitvice when you get there. Its a bit of a trek from either Rovinj or Pula but you don't have a lot of time.

Since you like to hike, you could also get straight to Plitvice and go to the park in the afternoon of the 9th in the tourist oriented part of the park and spend the 10th hiking other areas of park. It is a huge place and there are many areas where most people do not go. This would also help with kja's recommendation about weather - it really is important that the sky is clear when you visit the waterfalls and lakes of Plitvice.

I think I would want one more day on Korcula, as well. You can get a tour or something to the interior of the island..

rialtogrl has just given you some great suggestions, IMO! :star:

I think I would take public transport to Nova Gorica, where I would hire a car and drive (the long way, stopping over night) to Bled. Bus Bled to Ljubljana. Bus to Piran. Bus to Rovinj. Then hire a car to go to Plitvice and drop it in Split. That's if you want to hire a car. It can be all done by public transport if desired. Maybe I'd visit only one of Piran and Rovinj but not both.

I'd maybe stop in Pula enroute to Plitvice. In fact, I'd skip Pula in favour of a day in Rovinj (a town in which you don't seem to have any time).

I too would probably take a day from Dubrovnik and add it to either Split or Korcula.

It's all beautiful - and as you say, more time would be nice.

I would spend one night less in Dubrovnik and use it to explore Split. Split has a lot of things to offer including nice beaches, cultural sights, museums, galleries etc. You could even take a half-day trip to Trogir, a small charming town with UNESCO listed heritage.

If you don't want to drive in Slovenia, the train from Nova Gorica to Bohinj Bistrica (and onwards to Bled) is very scenic. I would probably take it as far as Bohinj Bistrica and then bus to lake Bohinj and stay there for two nights in preference to Bled, visiting Bled by bus for the day.

itinerary
 

Thank you all so much...very ,very helpful. I will integrate these suggestions and then get back to you!!!

Public transport from Belluno to Bled Jezero or Lesce Bled lasts about 9hrs.
Up to Nova Gorica, it would take 4-5 hrs.
If you could start more in the North (Toblach/Dobbiaco), you could reach Lesce-Bled in 4 3/4 hrs.
Or try to leave Belluno the evening before at 18.30 and arrive at Gorizia at 22.17

...or rent a car in Belluno, drop it off at Trieste (day 7) and go by bus to Porec or Rovinj.
As long as you don't plan to visit other sites in Slovenian Istria (Skokjan Caves, Lipizza, etc.) it wouldn't be a big sacrifice to skip Piran (which is a originally Venitian town like Porec, Rovinj, Rab, Trogir, Korcula and many others).

Slovenia to Croatia
 

Hi there, (Bold type where we sleep)
Done some research with your help and here's what I'm thinking now.....somewhat refined, but not set in stone!
9/1. Train Belluno to Treviso and GoOpti from there to Lake Bled.
9/2 Lake Bled, biking, hiking ...
9/3 Lake Bled
9/4. Drive half way thru Julian Alps hiking along the way,.....overnight midway Julian Alps loop
9/5. Complete Alps drive and on to Ljubljana
9/6 Explore Ljubljana
9/7 Drive to Piran via cave and castle
9/8 Drop car in Piran and GoOpti to Ravinj - overnite Ravinj
9/9 Explore Rovinj, overbite Ravinj
9/10 Explore Istria on way to Plitvice. Hike late afternoon.
9/11 Morning hike and then onto Spit. Drop car
9/12. Explore Split.
9/13-Korcula
9/14 Korcula
9/15-Dubrovnik
9/16 Dubrovnik
9/17 Fly home

Thanks for the referral to GoOpti, shorter time in Dubrovnik
Your thoughts will be much appreciated. I should say that we are Alaskan hikers, but love antiquities, history, culture, tasty new food.....

IMO, better!

I suspect you know its Rovinj.