We are very interested in traveling to Slovenia and Croatia this July, from New York. While we are generally clear(and excited...We've read the comments on Travel Talk!) about WHERE we want to go, we are a bit confused about HOW to get there economically and without too much hassle. Our plan is to spend about 3 nights in Ljubljana(with a day-trip to Lake Bled), then 3 in Split,(with a day-trip to Trogir or Salona), 3 in Dubrovnik, and the final 2 or 3 in Zagreb, before flying home. I understand that flying from the states into Zagreb is considerably less expensive than Ljubljana. Would it therefore make more sense to land in Zagreb, and take the 1st train to Ljubljana(despite jet-lag and the temptation to finally settle down and relax!)- or spend the first 2 nights in Zagreb, THEN train to Ljubljana? Or, spend the 1st and last night in Zagreb? Is each city unique enough, to justify several days in each? It seems that Zagreb is bigger, and has more to see. Either way, we would then need to fly from Zagreb - Split. Do the BUSES and FERRIES(Jadrolinija's timetables are a tad confusing)make frequent trips between Split and Dubrovnik? Are the prices comparable(around $30 per-person one-way I've read)? Given the time differences(4 1/2 vs. 8 hours), is one voyage preferable(e.g., more enjoyable or scenic)over the other? If we don't visit Zagreb in the beginning of the trip, we would spend the last 2 nights there, flying there from Dubrovnik. I understand EUROPE BY AIR offers coupons($99-)for Zagreb-Split, Dubrovnik-Zagreb, and Zagreb-London, etc. Have any of you used these coupons(is there no longer a minimum purchase of 3 required)? Is it tricky to coordinate each flight with the next departing leg of the journey? After contacting Pan Adriatic, Adriatic and Croatia Travel Agency, it looks like airfare during the summer is around $950, WITHOUT the additional flights within Croatia. Is it true that even 2 or 3 star hotels in these cities will be well over $130 per night during the summer? (Last summer, we had a hotel with a great location in Tallinn, Estonia, for around $70- with breakfast!)
Any and all suggestions, comments or questions are greatly appreciated. Thank You.

I wish I could offer more help, but when we visited Croatia a few years ago, we took the train to and from Munich to Zagreb. We rented a car in Zagreb and drove to various points west (visiting relatives, so we didn't hit the usual tourist destinations). While in Zagreb we stayed at the Hotel Slisko, a little one-star near the bus station, which was acceptable - nothing fancy, and a bit of a walk from the train station. According to its website, rates for one bed are around $55, including breakfast. Later, we stayed at a nice hotel near the train station, the two-star Astoria; doubles around 66 Euros.

I suggest your first itinerary - go to Slovenia first, then Split and Dubrovnik, and fly from Dubrovnik to Zagreb. It's about an hour flight and not very expensive. Ferries and buses should be easy to find between Split and Dubrovnik. Enjoy! It sounds great.

Your trip sounds fabulous, and we traveled Croatia last Sept-Oct. Two comments that I would like to make. There is more to Croatia than you ever dreamed, and I would save Slovenia for another time. Second,if you fly into Zagreb, you could take a bus to Plitvice, and spend time there, on your way to Split. We spent 3 nights--and it was fabulous. Most people stay only 1 night. There are frequent buses to everywere. From Split to Dubrovnik, there were probably 15 buses a day.
The ferry from Split to Hvar was good.
AND Island of Hvar is wonderful.
Is that too much???regards,

I'm pretty familiar with every place you mentioned here, so I'll try a few suggestions. First, is it possible for you to arrive and leave from different cities? You'll save a lot of travel time if you start, say, in Dubrovnik, and work your way north to leave from Zagreb.

Anyhow, I spent 2 days in Ljubljana once, and I honestly don't know what there possibly is to do there - maybe I missed the museums or something - but I found nothing interesting. Lake Bled is nice and scenic, perhaps worth a night stay, but it's so far out of the way from the rest of your destinations, it may not be worth the travel time.

Zagreb can be interesting - definitely has all the museums you could want, and the old town is worth a walk around. But I think it could be seen pretty well in 2 days, with a 3rd as a departure day.

The old section of Split is worth a day (and add a hike around the adjoining mountain 'Marjan' for a nice walk or swim). Nice to walk around the old town and riva (seafront) in the evening too. Trogir is a really fascinating place to see (unique old Venetian style), and last summer, the evening/nighttime crowds and activity were amazing (if you're into that)- I couldn't believe how packed it was. Salona I think has some Roman-era ruins, but I'm not sure what else the town has - mostly seems a residential suburb of Split.

Plitvice is amazing! I love it there - definitely worth 2-3 days if you like nature hiking and such. Krka national park, by Skradin (north of Sibenik) is similarly beautiful, though maybe less easily accessible to see.

I also highly suggest some time on the islands, and I would think Hvar is the best choice. Great swimming in the day, and very active at night in Hvar town particularly. In my opinion, worth however many days you can spare.

Dubrovnik is of course interesting to see, especially the old town, and a walk along the city walls - I'd think 2-3 days and nights would let you see most everything there.

So... what I would do for traveling:
Fly to Dubrovnik first (via Zagreb probably), take a ferry to Hvar town(hydrofoil definitely the best - 3hr ride), then a ferry to Split, then a bus to Trogir (30-40min). From here it gets tricky - I honestly don't know how to get to Plitvice without a car - I'm sure they must have busses though, maybe have to leave from Split. Same for Skradin if you choose to stop there. But then from that region to Zagreb would be a awfully long busride - tough call though as to what's worse, a bus straight to Zagreb, or a bus back to Split and a flight to Zagreb. Or maybe better, go by bus with a midway stop in Zadar. Anyhow, once you're in Zagreb, Slovenia isn't far away if you still want to go, or fly home from Zagreb.

Oh yeah, for hotels, in any smaller, touristy place like Hvar, look for local rooms (sobe) - much cheaper and plenty sufficient. And lastly, avoid every train possible... guaranteed to be the slowest, most uncomfortable means of travel you can find in the area.

Wow, this turned out long. Well, hopefully other people can use this too... Have a great trip!

The local paper 'Slobodna Dalmacija' gives summaries of public transport in Dalmatia on:
www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/prometnivodic.htm
It covers buses, planes, ferries ("trajekti&quot, ships ("brodovi&quot and trains ("vlakovi&quot. "Iz" is "from", "za" is "to" and "sati" is "o'clock".
This will be the winter service and most services will be increased in summer.

Mostly I can sympathize with your problem. We will go to Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik and Zagreb after being in Italy in mid to late May. Then we'll be going to Slovenia in September after time in Budapest and Vienna. For the latter I think we'll rent a car in Budapest and turn it in in Potorz (sp?) and either ferry or cab/train to Venice before a flight home from there. Because I've always wanted to stay in the Tito hotel on Lake Bled, we'll day trip to Ljubljana rather than the other way around. For our May trip I just booked Europebyair flights to connect from Rome to Split, from Dubrovnik to Zagreb and from Zagreb to Amsterdam. One of the flights I wanted wasn't available and I had to change my plan to add a day onto Dubrovnik--so on the Europebyair thing I can be somewhat helpful. Check the Croatia Airlines website to see when they have planes to where you want to go. Europebyair tickets will most likely be for flights on Croatia Airlines. That can help when you call Europebyair to know before you call which flights you want and if they're not available what else you can work into your plan. They don't require any set amount of flights but each is $99 (plus airport taxes which you pay at the airport) and they are quite efficient in handling reservations. Though you can just buy vouchers for flights you arrange whenever you decide, my experience with a flight that was already sold out suggests that getting actual reservations is a good idea--especially because you can cancel reservations and rebook without penalty, per other intelligence I've gathered from this board. (You may want to do a search on Europebyair on this board to get more info yourself) You're lucky, going in summer means the ferry schedules are more frequent. When we're going in May, most only run on Tues. and Saturday, so between coordinating flights that only run on some days and ferries that only run on some days and wanting to spend only x amount of days in each place, I've about gone bonkers trying to map out our upcoming trips. And then you find that hotels are not as plentiful nor as cheap as you had always assumed they would be. But everything I've read--in books, magazines and on this forum--suggests that it will all be worth it. And if that's true, the costs are only going to rise, though perhaps in time the transport options will increase just to handle the increasing demand. If you ask me, Croatia is already the next Italy. Good luck.

The travel outline by Hajduk sounds great. I might add that we had no difficulty getting to Plitvece from Zagreb by bus. Most buses on that route stop there, a bus about every 15 to 30 minutes.We waved one down when we left the park.
Secondly, and perhaps more important, the travel books that we read stated that Sept-Oct was quiet, empty hotels, etc. In fact, we had difficulty getting hotel rooms in Zagreb, Split, Plitvice, and Dubrovnik. Private homes were available, but we usually prefer a hotel. (Not always). We are planning to return again this year, and we will not plan to stop in Split without a reservation. A Croatian tour guide whom we met socially thought that the Lonely Planet Guide to Croatia was excellent---written by someone who knows the country well. I might also mention that we took the ferry from Hvar to Rijeka (same ferry that starts in Dubrovnik--Jadrolinija)--and it was about 6 hours late.--- We fortunately, were not in a hurry. Everywhere that we went, we found Croatians eager to help, friendly, and very eager to learn and speak English. Any questions?-z

Hello again, and thanx to everyone for their suggestions. Rebecca, where did you get the air tix for travel between Zagreb and Dubrovnik - in the states, before you got to Croatia - or once you got there? Drz, are the buses that travel between Split and Dubrovnik fairly comfortable, sightseeing-type buses? Can tix be purchased the same day, without fear of the buses being filled(and having to walk the journey

Hello again, and thanx to everyone for their suggestions and feedback. Rebecca, where/when did you get the air tix for travel between Zagreb and Dubrovnik - in the states, before you got to Croatia - or once you got there? I generally prefer to get tix in advance. (I understand there are only 3 flights/day from Zagreb-Split and Dubrovnik).Drz, are the buses that travel between Split and Dubrovnik fairly modern, comfortable, sightseeing-type buses? Can tix be purchased the same day, without fear of the buses being filled(and having to walk to Dubrovnik?!) Hajduk, you have got me thinking that Slovenia might be a bit far off our path to justify the extra time/effort. Yet, knowing that Ljubljana is a mere 2 1/2 hours by train from Zagreb, makes it so very tempting! Jmv, you are sure to enjoy Budapest and Vienna! They are both beautiful! Sounds like Europebyair is a good option. I have heard that the coupons do NOT include airport taxes, which can run from $20-$70 per-person. Does that sound right? I likewise relate to "going bonkers," trying to coordinate flight times, with ferry runs, train schedules, buses to/from airports, and of course - finding reasonably-priced, centrally-located hotels! Since I have also read that it is a beautiful and historic country, I am determined to get there! By the way, do they use the EURO in Croatia?

Larz, we bought the tickets after we got there, at the Croatia Airlines office in Zagreb. We knew what day we wanted to return from Dubrovnik. It was very easy. I think one of the early morning times was sold out, but if you're flexible, you should be able to get another on the same day. I remember being concerned about this before leaving the U.S. but was told by the Croatian travel agency we used (Pan Adriatic Travel, 800-352-0555)that we'd be fine, and plus it was more expensive to buy tickets in this country. By the way, we were there in June 2001.

Are you thinking of going to Plitvice?

Larz--Croatia is NOT on the Euro and I believe that the Kuna is about 6:1 US$.
It was 7:1 in October. The buses were clean, modern, and---in split, we bought tickets the evening before departure. No difficulty, although, we traveled in late Sept--October, and I suspect that July will be much more crowded. While we loved Croatia, and we are returning in Sept 2004, the hotel prices were higher than we expected. Bus prices were low??. You do pay a surcharge on the bus for any suitcase that goes in the baggage compartment. About $1 (US)?? depends on distance. Food was not expensive, but at times, pizza seemed the only thing around.---It was everywhere

We stayed at Komodor Hotel in Dubrovnik for about $120US per night including bkfst. And we were glad to get a room. However, it was very nice, and the local bus at the corner took us to the old city, with no difficulty. We found hotel staff extremely friendly and helpful

IF you go to Plitvice---we liked the Hotel Plitvice, and especially found Marija Sekulic---head of reception---very helpful. She always went out of her way to assist us---for example, she let us access the internet one day on her computer, since there was no internet access within the park. She sat with us and mapped out travel suggestions, etc. She speaks English, and the phone there is 385 53 751 100.

In Split, we stayed one night at the Park Hotel---very nice, overpriced, and somewhat arrogant atmosphere (especially at front desk)---One other night, out of desparation, we stayed at a forgettable place---that is now a home for Senior citizens.

The bus station in Split is very conveniently located in central city, near the old town and harbor, with places to check luggage nearby.

In Zagreb, the best located hotel is the Hotel Dubrovnik. We stayed across from the train station---because we arrived from Budapest on a very slow, dirty train.--I believe it was the Hotel Central, but not sure---overpriced, but clean. The Esplanade Hotel---was closed for renovations (said to be beautiful).In my opinion, the Sheraton Hotel is poorly located. The old city of Zagreb is great for a walking tour..

In case you stay longer, or have extra time,---we found the city of Opatija most charming, and from there we did a day trip to Pula---read a bit about them. We missed Rovinj and Trogir which we will certainly visit this year. These were two places that were highly recommended to us regards. drz

I haven't read through this whole post, forgive me if I'm repeating, I saw a tip on Virtual Tourist for cheap airfares from London to Ljubjlana on EasyJet, apparently they just started the service and the tickets are really cheap. A one way ticket for early June was 1.99L (around $4US). So if you can get yourself to London cheaply and don't have a problem getting to Stansted airport or flying on Easy Jet, that might be a way to get over there. You can book a one way ticket so you could also use Europe by Air out of Zagreb for the other leg.

I decided to go to Riga and Vilnius instead but that deal was really tempting

I've used Europe By Air twice, for one I was able to make a reservation with the $99 flight pass and then pay the taxes at the airport, the other the $99 seats were gone but I was still able to get a relatively cheap flight between the cities. I don't think there is a minimum requirement anymore, I've used it for one flight.

If at all possible, try to squeeze in a day in Montenegro from Dubrovnik, beautiful scenery, lovely old towns. We went across on our own but for one day you might want to look into Atlas which several people on this board have used successfully.

Take a look at Hotel Bellevue in Dubrovnik, much cheaper than the Excelsior and a convenient location 10 minutes from the old town with a fabulous view of the Adriatic. I think they may have renovated since we were there and the prices may be higher but we only paid about $45 several years ago. Of course, the $ has shrunk significantly since then.....

Yes, all the info I have says that airport taxes are not included in the $99 per flight you pay for Europeyair tickets. Again, good luck with your plans.

RebeccaM, We are not planning to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park. Although I understand that it is beautiful, we prefer the old, historic cities and towns. Drz, thanx for the hotel recommendations. I hope they won't be TOO expensive. We have gotten a bit spoiled, after staying in very reasonable (under $100/night)places in Wales, Norway, Estonia, etc. We didn't plan on visiting Opatija. Kristi, I must assume that your price for Easyjet's flight from London-Ljubljana is a typo. $4-?? I have considered getting a flight to London, and then using the Europebyair coupons to Zagreb/from Dubrovnik. In some ways, I think that having so many options actually INCREASES the task of putting this trip together! Soon, I will e-mail the hotels to get a sense of availability and prices. Where is Montenegro - and how would one get there?

Larz, I think you're smart not to go to Plitvice. It would definitely take effort and divert you from what you like to do. It's a matter of taste, and that's why I asked. By the way, we stayed at Hotel Jadran in Zagreb at a reasonable price. It's a good, central location, but nothing special at all - very plain, but it was fine for us considering the cost of some of the other hotels. Montenegro is south of Dubrovnik - considering your task of making an itinerary, I would suggest not trying to fit that in.

From Dubrovnik you can take a great day long excursion to Montenegro (Serbia/Montenegro, one of the countries that made up Yugoslavia) with Atlas. I heartily recommend it. It was really interesting and very worthwhile.

Nope, not a typo, the fare from London to Ljubljana when I checked last week was 1.99 British pounds which is roughly $3-4 USD. There are only so many seats at that price though so some of the flights were 16.99L, some were 41.99L, etc. But I played around with the dates and found the 1.99L fares. Check it out on www.easyjet.com. The rates may be higher in July, I was checking for May/June.

Montenegro is very doable on a daytrip from Dubrovnik, we did it by taxi but had someone waiting for us on the other side, many people have used Atlas and have reported positive experiences. Personally I thought 1 full day in Split was enough and 1 day to see Dubrovnik as it is very compact. We also visited Cavtat on a daytrip from Dubrovnik.

Hello, and thanx again to everyone for their suggestions and comments. I have e-mailed a number of hotels, and several in Ljubljana are booked(5 months in advance - due to some convention), while most in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik are well over $160/night. This is turning into not only a complicated trip to coordinate, but an expensive one as well(I understand rates can drop tremendously during shoulder/off-season). Perhaps it's time to consider our next idea: Malta! Any thoughts?!

Hi everyone, I have enjoyed reading your posts since my husband and I are planning a trip to Croatia at the beginning of June for 20 days including travel. Finding a reasonable flight has been a chore. I think we'd like to start our trip in Dubrovnik and work our way up the coast maybe staying for three nights in central locations and doing day trips out on buses. I haven't read many of you mentioning Istria. Pula looks interesting and I did read a mention of Rovinj which is where I thought we could stay in that area. We weren't sure we needed to spend time in Zagreb. Would that be a mistake? I'm beginning to realize we may have to fly in and/or out of there. We had looked at flying into Venice and maybe trying to take a ferry over to a city in Isteria. Has anyone gone scuba diving there? Thanks for all the great info. I've already gleaned from your posts.