Slovenia/Croatia Rough Slovenia/Croatia Draft Itinerary - What Do You Think?
 

We would like to visit Croatia for 5 weeks in September (next September, I know this seems early...)

I think 5 weeks is all we are going to be able to wrestle out of work for (with great difficulty) so far my mostly ideal itinerary has us 2 days over but we'll work it out.

I'd be interested to see what others think of this pacing -too long here or there...not enough where?

Slovenia (total 7 nights)

Bled x 5 nights
Day trips to: Skofja Loka, Bohinj Valley, Ljubljana

Prian x 2 nights: Day trip to Skocjan Caves
-----------------------

Croatia (total 29 days)

Istria x 6

Cres/Losinj x 4 nights

Zagreb x 2 with Day trip to Plitvice

Trogir/Split x 5

Hvar x 4

Korcula x 2

Dubrovnik x 6

Any thoughts on this initial plan as far as timing and destination choices would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Naxos

Cool - what an exceptional trip you are planning!

I cannot comment on Slovenia but certainly can on the remainder of your trip.

First of all, I am so pleased you are spending time in Istria - many seem to skip it and head south. Six nights is lovely there.

The only things I would change personally is that five nights in Trogir/Split is perhaps too many. Trogir is so charming and I love it but two nights would be plenty as it is very small and can easily be explored in one day and evening. Split is worth an afternoon or one night. However, five nights may be worth it if you plan to visit an island or two.

Six nights in Dubrovnik seems like a lot as well. It, too, is small and easily seen in a couple of days. It is, however, a great place to hang out and there are some nice day trips from there including some of the smaller islands.

I would maybe add Krka Park as you have plenty of time. It is lovely, too. My favourite islands are Vis and Mljet as they are stunning and very tranquil - quieter than Hvar and Korcula can be. Elafiti Islands are interesting as well.

Thanks travel2live2!

Istria does sound fantastic...and for whatever reason I have always had a hankering to go to Cres and Losinj...but am not sure how many nights to alot to it.

Good to know about Trogir - I thought we'd visit Primosten, Markarska, Krka as you mention and....the beach!

As for Dubrovnik..I've been thinking this is too much. I want us to see STon and Mali STon as well as a day trip to Koto Bay in Montenegro...but generally dont scuba dive a couple of days before we are scheduled to come home so we could alot some time elsewhere for that.

This trip may be far away but it is a really exciting prospect.

Thanks again,

Naxos

I would spend at least one evening in Ljubljana. We really enjoyed our stay there. Good restaurants along the river and joining little alleyways. Cute town.

((H))

I agree with the recommendation to spend more time in Ljuljana - I did Bled as a day trip from Ljubljana instead of the other way round. I would also strongly recommend spending more time at Plitvice - I spent two nights and would have been happy to stay longer.

When you go visit the caves in Slovenia I would recommend staying in a hill city Stanjel when you go to the Karst region. This is a great walled city that is an experience in and of itself. We stayed with Verna at the top of the city. [email protected]">[email protected] She has a few apartments at the top with great outdoor terraces for relaxing and taking in the scenery. We spent one day just exploring the city throughly with our son. We also ate dinner one night at her restaurant. Very yummy. I would recommend.

We then spent a day going to the Skocjan Caves and the Predjama Castle.

I would also recommend staying at Lake Bohinj instead of Lake Bled. We stayed at an apartment right near Lake Bohinj and used that as our base to explore both the Lake Bohinj area and Lake Bled (it is also cheaper.) We loved Lake Bohinj. We went horse back riding one afternoon, hiked up to a waterfall in the morning. Another day we took a boat to the cable car, rode that up, looked around (have the best picture of our three month trip from up here) and then walked back to our apartment. Just beautiful. There is a wonderful pizza place out in the direction of Stara Fuzina. They had a beautiful outside terrace with a view of the valley. Just a great place to hang out. Very close by is a restaurant that specializes in Slovenian food. It is good, but they also have a great kids play area that can be seen from the outside eating area. They have a wooden train, playhouse, etc.

In Bled, we went to the castle, played around the lake, rowed out to the Island, had a picnic lunch, and played with the ducks.

Another area we visited was Luce near Lorgaska Dolina. Beautiful. We stayed at Turistièna kmetija Stoglej
while there with the full board. (We didn't see any restaurants in the area so I would recommend full board - plus the food is awesome.) We spent a day hiking in the Lorgaska Dolina park up to the waterful. This was a relatively easy hike and the first for our five year old. He had a great time "marking" the trail making stone arrows on the way up. There are great drives in this area as well. Just beautiful countryside.

You've certainly left plenty of time for planning!
I, too, am pleased to see that you are planning more days in Istria - you won't be disappointed.
I also agree about less time in Split/Trogir.
You can look at some of my previous posts for more detailed info about my favorite places in Istria, but I'm sure I'll find a few more by next September!
Since you mentioned diving, you have enough time to do some traveling by ferry amongst the islands...or charter something smaller and more private. Even though September will see much less tourist traffic along the Adriatic, the driving is still usually much more stressful than most expect.
I'll try to keep up with your plans on this thread and advise as appropriate. Good luck

michael

NaxosTravels, what fun and how lucky you are to have 5 weeks! We did Slovenia last year and Croatia this year, both simply wonderful. I am working on our trip report but have begun posting (click our screen name for report). Do try to catch the Cow Ball (Kravji Bal) in Bohinj Link-http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=166852
We had a wonderful time at this little festival. I agree with the others, Ljubljana is wonderful. We have a little home page, email me and I will send you the link which has that trip info if you are interested. We did not get to Istria, Hvar or Korcula this trip, but would like to someday soon. Never too early to begin the planning! For us that is almost 50% of the pleasure of our wonderful vacations.

Fantastic trip!

I too recommend spending time in Ljubljana, a charming city.

And I also agree that maybe you have too much time in Trogir/Split. Trogir is lovely (I'm not a Split fan myself) but tiny.

I loved Dubrovnik and could easily spend 6 nights there, but agree that it is small and most sights can be seen in a day or two. It was the atmosphere that I enjoyed most.

I'm envious! :)

Tracy

travel2live2, don't mean to highjack this thread but I'm dying to ask...are you now officially a Croatia homeowner??

Tracy

YES!!!! :)) We are waiting on some paperwork that will take a few months but our deposit has been handed over to the vendors and the contract has been signed by both parties. Now if we pull out we lose our (BIG) deposit. If they pull out they pay DOUBLE our deposit. I am THRILLED!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS!!!!! That is really fantastic and I commend you for following your dreams! You are making your dream a reality and that really is an awesome feat! It's so easy to say "one day" and let other budget constraints get in the way. I got kind of excited about the possibility until DH pulled out the old "maybe when we pay off your student loans" statement. I guess he does have a point...

Maybe one day I'll have a house there ...we could end up as neighbors! ;)

Congrats and enjoy every minute of it!