Originally Posted by
tuono07
Planning a trip for this fall ( early to mid Oct) and looking for some advise on where/ what to do. We will be renting a car as we like to drive from place to place.
Flying into and out of Trieste Italy and wondering the following :
How many days in Trieste?
Ljubljana Slovenia - Is it worth a couple days there? I can get a hotel there for a lot less than I can in Trieste. Stay in Ljubjana and go to Trieste for 1 day?
What area is not to be missed in Croatia ? I'm going to try and utilize my Marriott points for stays but am open to Airbnb's if it makes ense.
Throw me some idea's
Thx
Depends on your interests and what do you want to see. Don't know how many days you have on disposal, but an obvious routing from your initial ideas would be: Trieste - Ljubljana - Zagreb - Istria - Trieste. Cannot give you a recommendation and number of days in Trieste because I've never visited it.
But on the way to Ljubljana, you can stop in Postojna (look Postojna Caves). In Ljubljana I would recommend 1-2 days (depending on your pace). From there you can go for a (half) day trip to Bled (Bled Lake). If you are staying in Ljubljana, you can also visit Zagreb which is 2-hour drive from Ljubljana. In Zagreb you can spend 2-3 days. Go for a (half) day trip to Varazdin (a capital of Croatia for short time in 18th century). If you go toward Croatian coastline, you can stop at Plitvice (Plitvice Lakes). If you are going to Istria, then it's a detour but it is doable, and if you want to visit the southern coastline (Split, Zadar, islands Hvar, Brac, Korcula) then it's on the way. Plitvice can be done also as day trip from Zagreb. If you decide on Istria, also plan for few days (1 day for Rovinj, 1-2 for Pula), explore smaller places around the peninsula. From Istria you can go back to Trieste...
In Slovenia you can be stationed in Ljubljana and drive around, it's convenient because you have a highway in all directions (and you will pay all tolls by buying vignette). Regarding your question about traveling to Trieste for a day trip I can not give you a suggestion (someone taking border crossing there should advise you). But I would not recommend going to Zagreb as a day trip because it’s not worth the hassle to drive 2 hours in one direction + border control (Croatia is out of the Schengen area). If you decide to go to Zagreb, stay at least one night there.
Regarding Mariott points, in Zagreb you have Sheraton and Westing, both choices are good, nicely located to explore the city on foot (or using trams). But also you should find some good value on AriBnB in Zagreb during October (it should be low season)