Our ferry transportation was just cancelled and we are trying to find another way to reach Croatia from Venice. We are to arrive in Croatia on Saturday 30th or Sunday 1st of July. We are investigating renting a minivan (7 of us) or trains but it is all too confusing. Any advice? Which would be more cost effective? Which would be more time efficient? Are the cost of plane tickets prohibitive?

Forgot to mention we are staying in Mali Losinj from July 1 to July 7th.

Is Mali Losinj near Split? If so, you can take an overnight ferry from Ancona, Italy to Split. I spent a few days in Venice last August before taking the train to Ancona and then the overnight ferry to Split and then on to Hvar. There is also a high speed catamaran which services Ancona/Split during the day.

You can take the public bus to Isteria, then rent a car. We took the bus from Rovinj to Venice and it was cheap and easy.

Take the train from Venice to Trieste. From Trieste you can get buses to many locations in Croatia.

The Trieste bus station is right next to the train station.

By your train tickets a day or two before you leave Venice.

That should be "buy" your tickets.

Take a train to Trieste, then a bus to Opatija or Rijeka. Jadrolinija (www.jadrolinija.hr) runs a fast catamaran from Rijeka to Mali Losinj, or there are buses from Rijeka via Opatija to Mali Losinj (www.autotrans.hr).