Hi,
I am planning a two week trip to Slovenia in May second half and plitvice with my family (me, wife and two kids 10 and 6). We are not much interested in big towns and primary interests would be alpine scenery, a little bit of hiking, underwater cave kayaking / biking, and swimming. Even though i wanted to spend the entirety of two weeks in Slovenia, kids have said that plitvice is non-negotiable. So will have to take a detour to plitvice.

Rough itinerary that i have thought of:
Day 1: Fly in to Ljubljana, relax.
Day 2: Enjoy in Ljubljana, get out of jet lag and just enjoy the city
Day3: Drive to Plitvice, stay overnight
Day 4: Plitvice lakes
Day 5: leave for logar valley
Day 6,7: logar valley, panoramic road, hiking in the area
Day 8: drive to Bovec via villach
Day 9,10: Soca valley, swimming, rafting, zip lining, hiking
Day 11: Drive to lake bled
Day 12: Lake Bohinj, vingtar george
Day 13: Krizna cave and back to Bled
Day 14: return flight

Plannign to hire a car from Ljubljana to Ljubljana.

Any suggestions on the itinerary.

1. One doubt I had was that i am spending too much time driving around and lesser time to enjoy. Will it be advisable to pick one of Logar or Soca valley and spend more time there? Divided on that as the Soca river looks pristine, while the logar valley itself is equally pretty. Also, any part of trip where we can move on to public transport or advisable to keep the car for the whole trip
2. For cave exploration and kayaking specificaly, is Krizna the best option? Kids have visited couple of huge stalgamites and stalcites caves during a trip last year, so was ok to skip that, but wanted them to enjoy the biking/kayaking experience. would be ok with a guided boat tour as well
3. Any other place that we should check out. I am skipping dubrovnik, Zagreb as well as the entire coast line, but difficult to fit everything in + not a big fan of cities

Are you aware that on-line advance reservations are now possible? Try to make a plan that gives you 6 or 7 hours in the park all together, perhaps in two segments. Online booking - Plitvice National Park

That's such a critical issue, and kudos for giving it thought! As with so many other decisions, it really depends on you and your preferences. Have you decided what, exactly, you want to see in each place? Have you plotted your trip on a calendar?

Of course, there are a zillion other places you might enjoy, but you can't see them all, particularly with such a short trip. Have you consulted the Rough Gude? If you have, then you know what is around the places you plan to see and that you might want to add to your itinerary.

Of course, you don't have time to go to Dubrovnik or most of the coast on this trip. Seeing Croatia, not to mention Slovenia or other nearby areas of the Balkans, easily takes more than a month.

[QUOTE=AMITMISHR;16907589]


Good luck!

thanks for the advice on plitvice lakes online booking. Nice to get that out of way and not get stuck in the queue.

Have looked at most touristy locations, and picked and chose what i think the kids and the adults would both like. but what i meant was hidden treasures, which are mostly known to either local people or frequent travellers to the area. Something like a waterfall post a short hike, which is great to see or advice which read on the net somewhere - "avoid postonja which is touristy and instead head to Skocjan or kryzna caves, which would offer better experience." Was confused on which cave to visit out of quite a few options.

But one thing i understand is that wherever i go, the beauty of slovenia would make it worthwhile..

I did a similar trip over 12 days with my parents in tow. We covered Logarska Dolina, Triglav national park, Soca valley, Bled/Bohinj and Istria, Piran over that time. While a bit rushed it was completely worth it. We had a car the whole time. I would recommend keeping the car for the whole trip to save time/convenience. Roads are well marked and in great condition. Tourist offices in the little towns are great.
I would not skip Logar valley. While its less popular in my opinion it is absolutely gorgeous - the view when you first enter the valley will take your breath away.
I think you intend to cover Vrsic pass but if not that drive is a must in my opinion.
We didn't do the caves (not a fan).

Thanks mnag. Vrsic pass is something which I had missed earlier and would include now, will travel from Logar valley to Bovec via the vrsic pass.

Which locality would you suggest to stay in logar valley and soca valley. Was thinking of Bovec in Soca valley, but would be open to ideas there.

hi, sorry haven't visited Fodors in a few days. I would recommend Bovec. We stayed at Hotel Dobra Vila Bovec and loved it. The views and their garden area is spectacular and the food/service outstanding.

In logar valley - hotel Plesnik. Its all about the amazing views. Enjoy your trip to this beautiful part of the world.