Following is our itinerary which I'm open to adjusting based on provided suggestions/answers to my questions. Our preference is to find accommodations for 3-4 nights in a "base city" where we can do day trips from and preferably stay in guesthouse, apartment, or smaller hotel -- don't want to be where there's a lot of hustle/bustle, My husband & I are mid-60's, enjoy nature, exploring & immersing ourselves in local culture, learning about country's history, being active in water/land (although not too challenging activities as hubby is recovering from July 1 triceps tendon surgery ), and of course experiencing local cuisine.

Air travel dates: depart SFO-Dubrovnik 9/21 (via Frankfurt), arrive 9/22 @ 1pm; depart Budapest-SFO 10/16 (via FRA) @3pm-- Total nights: 24

Breakup of days:
Croatia
4 nights Mlini - Villa Carmen (wanted a place away from busyness of Old Town)
Day 1 - recoup from jetlag; maybe take tram to Srd for sunset & dinner
Day 2 - explore Old Town Dubrovnik (Wall walk, War Photo Limited, forts, Rector's Palace, monastery, etc.) Dubrovnik Pass worth it?
Day 3 - daytrip to Montenegro - V.C. can arrange private or regular tour for us; suggestions of:1) which type of tour?, 2) We would like to visit Kotor, Perast and either Herceg Novi or Budva. Which would you recommend?
Day 4 - 3 island tour (Kolocep, Sipan, Lopud) and/or Blue Cave
Day 5 - pick up rental car at either Dubrovnik airport or in city (suggestions?); leisure drive to Peljesac Peninsula -- wine trail, hiking/beach; possible stop at Tresteno Arboretum on way to PP (worth it?); car ferry to Korcula -- interested in attending Moresca Sword Dance (worth it?) -- given that it's not until 9pm, we would stay overnight and explore Korcula the next day; suggestions for 1 night Korcula accommodations?
Day 6 - explore Korcula; car ferry back to mainland, continue drive up to Split via Makarska Riviera; ** here's the big one: accommodations in Sibenik, Split, or Trogir? initial exploration of Split
Day 7 - Krka National Park, Krka Monastery -- if this isn't full days outing then we'll consider exploring & relaxing on Primosten
Day 8 - continue to explore Split, maybe take a boat trip to either Hvar Town or Brac Island
Day 9 - drive to Plitvice Lakes (plan on doing upper lakes hike in afternoon and overnighting) Accommodation suggestions?
Day 10 - hike lower lakes; drive to Istria
Day 10 - 14:Istria - 5 nights** another big one: accommodations in Rovinj or Motovun? the reason so many day in Istria is I'd like to attend the Zigante Truffle Days in Livade on Sat/Sun,10/5-6, and possibly take their tourist train to Motovun Forest accompanied by a guide where a truffle hunter and his truffle dogs take you on a hunting adventure (anyone done this?...sounds touristy but fun); there's also the Teran Wine & Walk in Motuvun/Buzet on Sat, 10/5 (anyone done this?) --- might need to choose one over the other; -- then of course exploring Motovun, Porec, Rovinj, Pula, Pazin, Hum, Parenzana Cycle Trail, -- however our days unfold
Day 15 - transit day- we'll need to drop off car somewhere in Istria: initially thought Porec as it seemed we could get a bus or some other transportation from there to Piran, Slovenia but it doesn't look feasible); other options are GoOpti shuttle from Porec to Ljubljana (anyone have experience with GoOpti?) OR alternatively we could drop the car off in Rijeka and take train to Ljubljana
Slovenia
Day15 - 21 - here's where I need some guidance on transport, accommodations (farm stay?), points of interest, amount of time in each; based on research it looks like it would be advantageous to rent a car (suggestions as to where to pick up/drop off?); - only allotted 5 nights but could add 1 more night and shorten Budapest
- the places we'd like to hit: Ljubljana (end of stay as we want to be there on Friday for Open Kitchen @ Town Square before heading to Budapest), Bled Island, Lake Bled (overnight, and if so where?), Vintgar Gorge, Julian Alps, Soca Valley (Bohinj Railway), Postonja (cave & electric train) or Skocjan Caves, Koper/Piran (might be too far) (guidance on "don't miss" or consider adding?)
Budapest
Day 21 or 22- transit day train from Ljubljana to Budapest (InterCity Drava train leaves @ 5am to Keleti station or Citadella train @ 9:30am Deli station
Day 21 or 22 - 25: will purchase Budapest Card for sightseeing and use Metro for getting around
sights we'd like to see: Parliament, Great Synagogue, Opera House, Jewish Quarter, House of Terror, Matthias church, Szechenyi or Rudas Baths
- stay on Buda or Pest side?, accommodation suggestions?
Day 25 - extra time available in AM before flying back to SFO

I apologize for the lengthiness of this and thank you in advance for your willingness to wade through it and for providing your suggestions!

Welcome to Fodors. We moved your thread from Tech Support to the Europe forum and tagged it for Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia.

Should be a great trip! I'm sure you realize it's jam-packed and trust that's intentional. Some comments:

• Re: Montenegro. I'm not sure what the tours cover, but would note that I felt hard-pressed to visit Perast and Kotor on a day trip for which I'd rented a car. You would, I think, do well to make sure you know your priorities before committing to a particular tour.
• Re: where to pick up rental car. If you can get a car near Dubrovnik's Old Town, I would think it would save time relative to going to the airport. I could be wrong!
• I visited the Trsteno Arboretum and enjoyed it greatly. YMMV.
• The moresca -- absolutely see it if you can!
• I spent a night at the Royal Apartments in Korcula; it still seems to get good reviews.
• Sibenik, Split, or Trogir: Depends on your interests! Split is a personal favorite, easily worth several days, IMO -- but it doesn't seem you are giving it more than maybe part of a day? That Split's core is Diocletian's Palace makes it unique. Trogir is charming and tiny and only 1/2 hour from Split. I found Sibenik well worth seeing, but less grand and less interesting to my eyes than Split and bigger and more diverse in architecture and experiential opportunities than tiny Trogir. If you are trying to use one of these as the base for Krka National Park, note that it can be difficult to time your day to include the park and the monastery unless you get an early start. Not impossible, mind you, but you'll need to pay careful attention to the time. That might be an argument for staying in Sibenik, as it is closest.
• In the Plitvice Lakes area, I stayed at the Villa Mukinja, which still gets positive reviews. I thought my room rather basic, but the dinner was outstanding and the hosts were delightful.
• Rovinj vs. Motovun. I'm glad I spend a few hours in Motovun; Rovinj is larger and has more to offer, including more restaurants.
• In Bled, I stayed at the Penzion Mayer, which still gets excellent reviews.
• I agree that a rental car will serve you well for your interests in Slovenia.

Hope that helps!

We hired a private driver to drive us around the Bay of Kotor for a day. We chose to visit Budva, Kotor, and Perast. Perast was our favorite. We enjoyed Budva, but I do remember that our driver preferred Herceg Novi. However, because we chose our destinations, the driver could not make a change. The company he works for didn't allow that. But we were very happy with our choices. We didn't have a lot of time in each place but we got a nice taste.

I would definitely stay in Split! We did visit Trogir from Split but Trogir is not a place I would want to spend several nights in. Split has a much larger choice of restaurants, and it is so beautiful with its location on the Adriatic and the lovely riva and beautiful architecture. Trogir is nice, too, and is on the water as well, but Split is larger and has more to offer. We hired Maja Benzon, recommended by Rick Steves, for a private 2-hour guided tour of Old Town and Diocletian's Palace. Also visited the Ethnographic Museum. And we visited Hvar for a day.

I would pick up the rental car in Dubrovnik (near the Old Town as kja suggests). That's what we did, and it was easy peasy. I think it will save you time. You don't need to go back to the airport.

In Plitvice we stayed over night at the Plitvice Miric Inn, and loved our stay here. Just a 5-minute drive to the park entrance. The included breakfast buffet is one of the best I've ever had. The Inn was serving dinner, for an additional fee, when we were there in 2019. It was delicious! But I am not sure if they are still doing that.

Hi KJA and Karen Woo, thanks for your respective input, very helpful and I appreciate it! Yes, I know I'm being overly optimistic on covering all the sites I mentioned. I'll likely pare it down so we're not constantly on the go. Based on your input I will
1) definitely get more details on the what the Montenegro tour includes
2) Fit Trsteno Arboretum in (it's on the way anyway), preorder tickets for the Moresca, and look into the Royal Apartments in Korcula
3) I do want to give Split more than part of the day and it seems there's more options there then the other 2. Only reason I considered Sibenik is that it's closer to Krka. However, we're early risers so not a problem to leave from Split and make a full day of it. Any Split accommodations (guesthouse type) you might recommend?
4) I'll check out Villa Mukinja and Plitvice Miric Inn (I believe KarenWoo recommended this on another post) for Plitvice.
5) Rovinj sounds like the better choice as a base. Motovun isn't too far away so we'll still explore that area.
6) Slovenia: will compare car rentals with Sixt, Europecar, and MACK and look into Penzion Mayer.
Thanks again!

In Split, I stayed at the Hotel Kastel, which still gets positive reviews. IIRC, it met my needs reasonably well, but it wasn't great. It was affordable and well located, but disturbingly loud. My stay there was quite some time ago, though, so things could have changed.

In Rovinj, you might take a look at Casa Garzotto, which still gets raves. Charm and an awesome breakfast!

I think you can find someplace closer to the Old Town than Mlini, why would you want to stay so far away? Does the Villa Carmen have a free shuttle or something? Look in Lapad, at least then you can take the bus or Uber or walk into town rather quickly instead of being half way to the airport.

yes the Dubrovnik pass is worth it, if you want to do other stuff besides walk the walls that is included in the card.

I’ve taken goopti many times. What do you need to know about it? It’s reliable, if that’s what you are after.

Plitvice Miric inn does not serve dinners anymore. They haven’t for years. But there is now a restaurant across the road that does dinners which you can order and pick up. Lots of people bring food and eat at tables in the Inn. They still do fantastic breakfasts.

Thanks Rialtogrl for your advice on staying closer to Old Town. I've since checked with Karmen Apts. and Dubrovnik Gardens, both are sold out for our dates. Apartment House Lina has availability and Room Mimi may also have availability. Any experience with either of those 2 or other accommodation suggestions for Old Town area?

I�m not familiar with any of these places. Dubrovnik has a gazillion apartments. You don�t need to stay inside the old town, it can be outside the walls, which is better if you don�t want to be around crowds all the time.

Hi All, I've been busy adjusting our itinerary, implementing many of your suggestions. I'm new to this type of travel forum so I'm not sure if everyone who responded to my initial inquiry sees this latest post or just the last person. In any case here are a couple of lodging questions I have:
1) I've been emailing the property direct to check on availability (per suggestion of Rick Steves and assumption that properties would prefer this over an online booking service). When I'm researching airline fares, I'll use kayak or google travel for initial research, then contact airlines directly. I've been looking at booking.com, then send an email direct to property if there's one available. Unfortunately 'm not having much luck getting responses to my emails. I'm not familiar with booking.com. Here's my questions: are they reliable, hidden costs, responsive to booking issues? Is it "safe" to book through them?
2) On some of the properties I've been looking at, they require payment in cash. Is that typical? We'd hate to carry a lot of cash on us. If it is typical, my understanding is it's best to get cash once we get to Europe. What's the best way to do that?

Thanks! Karen

Your post is seen by anyone who clicks on the title of your thread, whether we have posted on it or not and regardless of who posted last.

booking.com is perfectly safe and highly reputable. Just be sure to read the terms and conditions before you book! I won't say there are NEVER problems with it, but the problems that do arise tend to occur when people don't read the terms and conditions of their bookings (especially the cancellation terms). I've used them for many, many years without difficulty. Because properties pay a fee for listing on booking,com, many prefer that you book with them directly and in many cases, you will pay a bit less if you do. Even so, I personally almost always book through booking,com -- sometimes, communication with the property is so slow that the room or rate I want is gone by the time they've responded, and it isn't always clear that they're providing the same terms for cancelation, breakfast, etc., and again, once all that is resolved, the room I want isn't always available any more. I just find it easier to book with booking.com. I'm sure others have different experiences....

Re: payment in cash. IME, that's a country-specific issue, but I wouldn't think you would find it burdensome unless you are choosing some very pricey options. The best way to get cash is with an ATM. Make sure you let your bank know when and where you will be traveling and make sure you know what (if any) limit they place on any given day's withdrawal. Also make sure you pay attention to fees: your bank may charge a fee (not all do) and the ATM's bank will likely also charge a fee. The fee may be irrespective of the amount withdrawn. (I used to take only small amounts at any one time, and as a result, ended up paying higher fees than I would have if I had taken out a bit more money with each withdrawal. It's a personal risk / benefit decision.)

Hope that helps!

Are you looking at apartments? If so, there is not really any way to email them directly, unless you have found a way outside that platform. If it is hotels, of course you can then find their website and email direct,.Many apartments only use booking.com.

Also please consider this period is the busiest of the year, if you are using the “contact the property” messaging through booking.com to ask them if you can bypass booking.com, that may be why they don’t respond. They are too busy dealing with messages who have already actually booked something.

Regarding the OP's question cash, I'd like to "augment" what kja had to say. We have ATM cards with Schwab that have no foreign transaction fees, and reimburse all ATM fees, no limit. Schwab wants your business as a brokerage, so they offer a FREE account, although it does not accumulate interest. So we keep $10 in the account, and when we are ready to travel, we transfer some money into the account. When we return home, we transfer the remaining money back out. We find the free withdrawal to be most convenient.

You also need a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. They are many out there. I have a Southwest Business Visa Card because I like to accumulate the points. Wells Fargo also offers such a card, and many other banks.