Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro

[Mitsu3000gt]

We're planning a trip to the 3 subject locations in September, approx. 2.5 weeks duration.

Any general recommendations would be greatly appreciated, especially regarding logistics both while we're there and getting there. From what I read, buses might be the way to go rather than trains. We're also having trouble finding the best way to get there, and which country to start in (probably Slovenia and then work our way down the coast). It's probably easiest to fly from a major European city into Croatia, but that is in the middle of the 3 countries we want to visit and probably not idea logistically.

We're planning on doing AirBnb's as per usual, there seems to be tons of amazing looking places for dirt cheap.

Should we rent a car in all 3 countries?

I was looking at flying into Venice (maybe spend a day there) and then taking a bus to Ljubljana (~3h), but I have no idea if that is optimal. Flights are pretty expensive to Venice ($1400ish) and most seem to have crappy connections in Eastern Canada making for a 15h+ trip. I think the only direct flights I can get would be to London/Frankfurt/Amsterdam and then fly from there, but it doesn't seem easy to fly from there to Slovenia (from secondary airports). Air Canada has an awesome direct flight from Calgary to London For $1000 on the 787 Dreamliner that I have taken before, but it seems difficult to fly from London to Slovenia. The inter-Europe budget carriers could work, but they usually fly out of secondary airports which is a pain, and we're planning on traveling with max carry on size and no checked bags, so that may also be an issue on the budget airlines.

TIA!

[taemo]

We did a 4 days trip in Croatia, flew from London to Split, then the next day drove down to Dubrovnik, spent a night then drove back to Split again. Spent one more night then finally flew to Rome.


Picked up a compact rental at the Split Airport (SIXT), they will try to scare you to get their insurance coverage or you'll have to put a big security deposit (1500$).
Also, as we had to cross to Bosnia Herzegovina from Split to Dubrovnik we had to inform them so that they could give us the right documents in the car to cross the border.
Worthy stop along the ride was the town Omis about 20km south of Split.
Also we stopped by Neum (beach town of Bosnia) for lunch and we were treated with Guido's and 90s EDM

We stayed here in Dubrovnik and the owner was awesome, nice view of the old town as well
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Rev..._Dalmatia.html

not my picture


Was hoping to do Plitvice but decided to do Dubrovnik instead and have no regrets.
My sister and her husband drove from Treviso to Pula few years ago and apparently crossing the Italian-Croatia border can take a while as lots of trucks goes through it.

All in all, I would say Croatia is as nice as Italy, cheaper too.

[tonytiger55]

Oddly enough...I just skyped with a Slovienen friend yesterday (I met backoacking SE Asia).
I looked at flights myself. Venice is pretty much the place to fly into and geting the bus. Germany is a possibility. $1400 is pretty much the rate. I was looking at flights in August and they started at $1500..

Flights are crappy, thats just one of the drawbacks of Calgary being bumfuck nowhere and low population base.
Connecting to the other airports via Heathrow is actually not bad. There are direct coach services from Terminal 3. Or just jump on the tube and then connect to a mainline train. Its pretty easy.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Thanks guys, really appreciate it. Croatia looks gorgeous and we are very much looking forward to scenery like that. I'm hoping to get lots of drone footage. Maybe London --> budget carrier wouldn't be so bad if there are good transfers. If total time traveled is the same as just going to Venice though, then we get to see Venice which is a plus.

[msommers]

Croatia is stunning throughout, I'd love to go back.

[Swank]

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Croatia is stunning throughout, I'd love to go back.

If at all possible hit up the Plitvice lakes national park, should be stunning in September with lots of green mixed with some autumn foliage beginning. Some of the pathways are built right on the water so you'll feel like you're walking on the lake's surface, well almost


» Click image for larger version

Dubrovnik is a must see too IMO, and you can stay in Zaton (if you have a car) not far away right on the water, I had an amazing apartment there for like $20 CAD a night per person. You can also book a boat trip to one of the nearby islands, I really enjoyed that too.

[mzdspd]

My wife and I just did a trip thru central Europe and I would probably fly into London and then fly a budget airline to Slovenia. The flights would probably cost you 40-60$ per person to get to Slovenia. Tough to beat that.
We did a mix of trains (3 hr - 12 hr) and planes and we were both sick of trains by the end of it. I would take the cheap short flights instead.

The surrounding London airports are very easy to get to (express trains) and London definitely has great flight options to get to and from Edmonton or Calgary.

We flew with Easy Jet, Ryan Air and Wizz. We both carried on 40L MEC backpacks (largest size for carry on) that were both full and around 10-15 kg and never had a issue with any of these airlines. They never weighed them or anything. Just prepay the extra 10-20$ to get priority and 2 carry on bags when you book the flights. You will be guaranteed that your luggage is on board.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Awesome, thanks guys. Maybe London direct + budget airline is the way to go if the connection to secondary airports isn't bad. Looks like Stansted and Gatwick have lots of flights South.

Yeah for Croatia we had definitely planned on seeing Plitvice, Zagreb, Dubrovnik, and Split. I've heard it's best to rent a car in Slovenia, is it the same for the others?

[Swank]

I rented a car and saw most of the major places in Croatia, it was very easy to navigate plus always handy to be able to drive wherever whenever.

[Aaaaaron]

I got around Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia all by buses and trains. I was backpacking and on a budget, but it was pretty painless and good way to get around.

Make sure you hit up Sveti Stephan and Kotor in Montenegro. Aside from maybe Dubrovnik, they were the best places in the Balkans I thought.

[sneek]

I did a Italy, Slovenia and Croatia for Yacht Week in 2015 and it was incredible. Highly suggest the waterfalls, Dubrovnik and just exploring the markets in Split. It is a beautiful and very friendly country. One of my favourite memories was actually riding a crappy scooter through Hvar and into the mountains where the grow lavender.
For flights, I believe that you can go Calgary to Munich then Munich to Split. I can't comment on how to get into Slovenia but you might have to just bus it (for times sake).

[Mitsu3000gt]

Last minute decision but we kept our London flight and are going to Scotland / Ireland instead. We left it too last minute to plan Croatia/Slovenia and there was no combination of flights and driving that seemed worthwhile, so we'll do it in the next 1-2 years instead with better planning!

[lil*tymer]

We did those countries for our honeymoon this year. Slovenia was amazing and I liked it more than Croatia, although Zagreb and some of the Islands were great. I'd suggest when you do go to Slovenia to rent a car, Slovenia has a large network of farm stays throughout their mountains and that is the true charm in Slovenia. Lots of great driving roads and lakes/mountains to hike.

[LadyLuck]

I've often landed in Munich and rented a car at the airport, took it all the way down to Croatia and back with unlimited KM's I paid around $1000 for 6 week rental through Hertz. Keep in mind and do your own research, German makes are not allowed into Croatia, it will void your insurance and a lot of rental companies void your warranty if your entering Bosnia due to the high theft rate. If you're not cutting through Bosnia to get to the Croatian coast then you have nothing to worry about.

I've always rented a vehicle and got to travel on my own time vs a bus/train or even plane.
Safe travels, you'll have a great time in Croatia. Make sure to visit Bled while in Slovenia, amazing scenery.

[JRSC00LUDE]

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snip - relevant info - snip

Seems you've worked out all the details so when do we leave, hotpants?

[LadyLuck]

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Seems you've worked out all the details so when do we leave, hotpants?

Tomorrow morning, you pack yet?

[JRSC00LUDE]

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Tomorrow morning, you pack yet?

Jar of coconut oil, toothbrush and a speedo. Pick me up at 6!

[LadyLuck]

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Jar of coconut oil, toothbrush and a speedo. Pick me up at 6!

Can't wait!