polak

Hi everyone,
planning a trip for 3 weeks coming from Canada by plane and renting a car from Barcelona Spain to Istria Croatia, Vienna Austria, Zurich Switzerland, back to Barcelona.

So the question is, Am i over my head, looks like we will be driving through some other nice places like Venice and Munich.

We would like to relax on some amazing beaches in Barcelona, and Croatia (hence Istria).

Anyone recommend a better plan, tips, suggestions on diff routes maybe?

Michael

You will not have much time to relax. Check the distances on viamichelin.com and then revise your itinerary.

teadrinker

Hi! We're also planning a trip and are considering Spain, Croatia and Northern Italy (taking in Venice).
We're coming from the US, and weren't sure where to start or how much of Croatia to do due to the weather during the month of October (iffy in the Northern parts, more of a sure bet in the Southern parts)
I'll be watching this post - maybe we can be of help to one another. Thank you

Kathie

If you had three weeks and were flying into Barcelona and out of Croatia, you'd have a better chance of having time to see some things, but then you'd have to pay a huge drop off charge on the rental car. But at this point, I think you need to pause a re-think this whole trip. Under the best of circumstances, one loses at least half a day and usually much of a day each time they change locations. For you, it will be much more time as you are driving.

Sassafrass

Are you in over your head? Probably, yes. Get some maps, research. Read, read, read!

nytraveler

You need to check the details of such a trip with the car rent al agency. One from Spain may not want their car taken into Croatia - if so you would be technically guilty of theft and would have no insurance (invalid if you take the car into unapproved countries).

And agree tht this trip is VERY long for 3 weeks. Are you planning on stopping in several small towns on the way? If not - then train might make more sense.

polak

thanks everyone, will def consider editing this more, i am not going until June 2016, but want to get my basics, i heard about the vehicle situation, heard that Hertz might be the only option that will allow a vehicle to Croatia, been there before in a car rental from Poland drove all day to Croatia, but it was more of a quick stop and go.

We might top in smaller town for food but the goal is to go to the above mentioned.

I been told to remove Barcelona and just fly into Vanice, and that would save me money (flight) and time - to explore things

John_R

If you do fly into Venice you should check prices on Aeroflot. I'm not sure if they fly from Canada but when I flew from Washington DC to Venice in June we took Aeroflot, went through Moscow and saved 50% on the ticket price. It took maybe an extra hour or two but saved a ton of $$. The flights were fine as well, up to the standards of typical US carriers. They partner with Delta so we got Delta miles as well.

BTW, the trip was driving from Venice to Plitvice NP to Dubrovnik then back up the Dalmatian coast to Venice.