7 Days in in Croatia

[pat0116]

We are a couple in late sixties, planning to fly to Zagreb from Athens in early September. We have a week in Croatia before we return to Piraeus to join our cruise ship, which will make a stop at Dubrovnik.
Croatia is such a big and beautiful country everywhere. We are spoilt for choice and just could not decide where best to go as we only have a week. Do we have enough time to also make a short trip to Ljubljana?
Would really really appreciate any suggestions. 
Thank you.

[january]

What are your interests, cities? national parks ? coastal ? cultural ?

[january]

First thing bus and coach travel is very very good in Croatia, Zagreb bus station is big and works well.

Ljubljana would be a very long day with early start, much better to do it over 2 days, but def a nice city. Zagreb city can be easily done in a day on foot. Zagreb has several parks and a zoo which is a nice one in pleasant surroundings

Plitvice lakes are a must, about 2.5 hrs coach journey direct to lakes from bus station, possible in a day...but a long one. Plenty of accommmodation at the lakes try booking.com, as it is September should be OK and a nice time to visit.

Also possible is Belgrade, ( Beograd ) again would need an overnight stop.

You can find coach destinations and schedule at www.autotrans.hr/en-us/home

[pat0116]

Thank you very much for your kind suggestions. We will follow your advice.
I have accidentally put in my email address, and I can't delete it, can you help me to erase the thread?
Thank you again.

[january]

Hi, as an unregistered user it is not possible and I cannot do that as not a moderator for this board, but will send a message to moderator Anna, and ask her to delete the thread or remove your email.

[Anna]

Hi there, as I explained in reply to the admin message you sent me, even as an admin it's not possible for me to edit the display name of an unregistered user. So I've deleted the message which showed it - hope that's okay.

[pat0116]

Thank you so much for your kind assistance.
Have a happy day, take care.

[newlifeincroatia]

Hi,
You may want to consider just renting a car for the week. It's very easy to get around and that way you are not confined to bus schedules and can make stops as you like. Ljubljana is a must see. It's a beautiful little town (old town in center) that is a mix of Salzburg and Amsterdam, in my opinion. Lots of great little shops, restaurants, cafes, churches. All of which can be done by foot. As mentioned above, the main part of Zagreb can be seen in one day. Plitvice is also nice to see and can easily be done in one day. If you are driving, you could also make a stop in a little town about half hour before Plitvice, called Rastoke. It is an old mill town with lots of water/waterfalls running through it, very quaint and charming and a good stop for eating as the food in Plitvice is very disappointing....fast park food and expensive. There are two parts to Plitvice and the first part is the main attraction, walking the boardwalks down among the waterfalls. The latter part entails a little boat across the lake which takes you to a big park area food concession. What makes it a long day is that it gets very crowded and they don't put a limit on guest entrance so you end up waiting for buses, boats etc. As for staying around there, check ratings carefully as I have not heard of anyone staying somewhere really nice. It depends on what kind of travellers you are but given your age, I'm sure that dumpy quarters are not your cup of tea at this point in life! One hour south east of Zagreb is the beautiful park area of Zumberak. There is a fabulous little B&B in a vineyard in the rolling countryside. I set up 7 guests there last year and they said the whole area(town of Vivodina) and experience was one of the best on their 3 week European tour. domacinstvo-culig.com/ From there, Ljubljana is a 90 minute drive but enroute to Ljubljana I would suggest a stay in another little town that has a great hotsprings/spa resort. It's called Doljenske Toplice. I would be happy to help you with your itinerary. It's not something I do for a living, I just like to help people. I moved to this small town in the countryside for love (from Canada), and it's always so nice to hear when people have had a really good experience here.