My wife and I are planning on visiting Croatia for 3 weeks in September/October.

Our tentative plan is to fly into Slovenia and take the shuttle bus to Lake Bled.
Lake Bled - 2 nights
Julian Alps - 1 night - rent a car at Lake Bleed and rive to Julian Alps. Spend the night in Bovec or Kobarid
Ljubljana - 2 nights - return car to Lake Bled and take train to Ljujania
Istria - 4 nights -take train or bus to Istria and rent car
Plitvice lake - 2 nights - via car
Split/Hvar - 5 nights - drive to via car
Dubrovnik - 5 nights - drive to via car. Do we need to keep car in Dubronvik?

Does this pace sound reasonable. Any suggestions?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Overall, I think you have the bones of a very nice plan, but whether it suits really depends on what YOU want to see and experience.

My one quibble would about Dubrovnik: IMO, 5 nights in Dubrovnik is a night or two too many. Many of us find 3 nights (two days) sufficient. You would NOT need a car in Dubrovnik; in fact, it would be an encumbrance. You might, however, wish to use it for one day to drive to Montenegro for the Bay of Kotor, and that might justify a 4th night in the area.

Istria includes a largely Italianate portion (centered on Rovinj) and an Austro-Hungarian strip along the Kvarnar Gulf; whether 4 nights is sufficient depends on what you want to do there.

Similarly, whether 5 nights is sufficient for Split and Hvar depends on what you want to do. Split itself can warrant several days and there are multiple day trips one might want to take from Split (e.g., Trogir); Hvar is an island with Hvar Town and Stari Grad and other destinations.

I hope that helps!

We loved Ljubljana and Lake Bled and spent 2 nights but wished we had an extra time there in Ljubljana. It is mostly a pedestrian city so not sure if you are planning to rent a car on your last day there before driving to Plitvice. On our first trip to Croatia we went to Zagreb, Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik (day trip to Montenegro Bay of Kotor) then spent one more night in Split before flying home. On our second return to Croatia, we went to Ljubljana and Isteria, Plitvice, Split, Hvar and then return to Split and spent one night before flying home. We love Hvar and Split and would spend more time there than Dubrovnik. We stayed inside the Dubrovnik walls and there are tons of tourists that arrive from busses and cruise ships. Still fun to visit Dubrovnik but I agree that 5 nights is maybe 1-2 many. If you go to Montenegro, you will need to have your passport since your crossing through Bosnia.

Thanks for the feedback. We have updated our travel plans with more details

Fly into Llubjljana and take shuttle bus to Lake Bled
Lake Bled - 2 nights,
-- 1st day arrive
-- 2nd day- relax and explore
Julian Alps - 1 night
-- rent a car at Lake Bled and drive to Julian Alps. Spend the night in Bovec or Kobarid
The Karst - 1 night
-- drive to Karst and stop at some of these places (postojna cave, predhjama castle, skocjan cave, stud farm)
???? Can not hit all of the above places. Any opinions on MUST DOS?
Istria - 3 nights in Rovinj -
--1st day: Drive to Rovinj, via Motovun, Porec
-- 2nd day: explore Rovinj
-- 3rd day: explore Pula
Plitvice lake - 2 nights-
-- 1st day: explore Pazin, drive to Plitvice lakes national park(3.25 hour drive)
-- 2nd day: Hike the loop at the park
Split - 3 nights
-- 1st day: drive to Split, stopping at Krka National Park along the way (3 hr drive)
Drop off car
-- 2nd day: Diocietian palace walk, The Riva, The Blue cave
???? Is the Blue Cave worth all the hype?
--- 3rd day: Hike Marjan peninsula, boat tour to Blue Lagoon
Brac - 2 nights
-- 1st day: Take boat to Brac. Explore Blaca Hermitage
-- 2nd day: Zlatni Rat
Hvar - 2 nights
-- 1st day: Take boat to Hvar, Explore St Stephan's square
-- Secret Hvar off-road tour or Stari Grad Plain Cycling tour
???? Does anyone have any experience with either of these?
Korcula - 2 nights
-- 1st day: Take boat to Korcula, explore old town
-- 2nd day: Adventure kayaking tour
Dubrovnik - 2 nights
-- 1st day: Take boat to Dubrovnik
-- 2nd day: explore medival city walls. take cable car to Mt Sid
Fly home

This revised plan seems fast-paced, but do-able if that’s OK with you. Or at least I assume it’s do-able – I haven’t checked the connections you are planning.

I was very impressed with the Skocjan Cave. I skipped the Postojna Cave and stud farm and, being short on time, opted for a distant view of Predjama Castle (and that view was impressive!) – so I can’t speak to any of them. I also skipped the Blue Cave.

For the Plitvice Lakes: Check the weather and crowds. If necessary, do half the circuit on your arrival day.

If the moresca is being performed while you are in Korcula Town, don’t miss it!

Enjoy!

What a must do is very subjective to personal interests. And i would only do either Postonja Caves or Skocan not both. I have not done Skocan but have Postonja and personally felt it was overtouristy. Caves are not really my thing but it was part of a tour that included Predjama castle, which was my focus.

Predjama, imho, is actually one of the more interesting tours I have visited in recent memory.

Check out my impressions here.https://jenntravelnerd.wordpress.com...lunking-day-8/

Have you checked catamarans for all this moving around the islands? You might find the arrival towns are not the towns you are staying in. It’s not the end of the world, but there might be some expensive taxis in your future, depending on where you stay.

Maybe the weather will be great, maybe not. Depending on that, things may be starting to shut down on the islands. I’ve never done the tours in Hvar but I’ve met the guy from Secret Hvar and he is super cool. A bike tour through Stari Grad plain would be fantastic, it is so beautiful there.

Predjama is a great castle.