Two-week Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary
Welcome dear traveler! Welcome to this Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary! I’m here to assist in planning one of your best holidays ever.
How can you do that, you may wonder? Well, if you are a fan of epic road trips or want to try it as a new travel adventure, you came to the right place!
In this article, I’m sharing with you a two-week Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary (with three mysterious bonus destinations). I’m going to share a lot of amazing stuff, like the best things to see and do, great accommodation advice, tips and tricks and the best deals. All you need to do is to copy this itinerary or adjust it to your liking and travel preferences. Also, if you like stress free holiday, I will recommend best guided tours that you can book.
Before we dig into the details of this Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary, I feel like it’s important to share some details.
This two-week Slovenia-Croatia road trip started for us from Romania (Bucharest to be more precise). We had transited Serbia and stayed a night in Belgrade. I didn’t include this place in the itinerary, because it wasn’t part of our main travel plan, but we needed a break because the trip was too long.
Our official itinerary started in Zagreb, so it will be easy for you to use this Slovenia-Croatia itinerary because even if you are flying to Croatia or Slovenia, you can rent a car and pick up this travel plan.
I would like to add that even if the trip was mainly focused on Slovenia and Croatia, we also visited Mostar (in Bosnia and Herzegovina), Perast and Kotor (in Montenegro). Remember I told you I included bonus destinations! These two cities were very close to our initial map and we said, why not?!
Also, keep in mind that you can adjust this itinerary as you see fit. You can use only a part of it, or you can use it only as an inspiration for your travel bucket list.
After being on this trip, I have to say that this plan was pretty cool and perfect for us. It’s not my intention to brag or anything, but I put a lot of work into planning, researching and fitting every location in our itinerary. My husband (fiancé at that time) and I went on this adventure with another couple and we planned everything based on our common travel goals. We wanted to make the most of this trip but also have some relaxing days.
Prepare to enjoy wonderful mountain cities, and dazzling ports, walk through history and discover secluded spots that will charm you with serene and peaceful sunset moments and many more.
Now, let’s get started with the perfect Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary.
Just to let you know… This post (probably) contains affiliate links, including Amazon Associates links, and I may receive a small commission when you click on the links. This is at no extra cost to you and allows me to keep running this website. How cool is that?! I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own.
Table of Contents
Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary
Before we get into the fun part, I need to specify that for this trip you will need to have a car. If you don’t want or can’t travel with your own, I suggest you rent one.
Check out car rentals, here. The prices vary and are fit for any pocket or travel style.
Zagreb - 2 days
We started our Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary in Croatia’s beautiful capital, Zagreb. One of the things that I loved about this was the city’s overall atmosphere and the energy that pulsed through every street. It wasn’t crowded or very loud, but from the first moment after we left our accommodation I got the instant feeling that I was on holiday.
I got that eagerness to explore every small street and absorb the city’s spirit. I believe you know exactly what I’m talking about, you know that some places have a specific vibe. Zagreb was one of those places. It was clean and had an aesthetic view. You can walk to most of the landmarks and along the way you are going to find a lot of great spots perfect for artistic photos.
We stayed only 2 days in Zagreb and I feel like we needed a day more to visit every place that was on our list.
If you want to find out more about Zagreb and all the things you need to visit, please check out this article.
Points of interest:
- Zagreb Cathedral
- St Mark’s Church Zagreb
- The streets of Old Town
- Dolac Market
- Jelacic Statue and Jelacic Square
- Tkalciceva Street
- Museum of Broken Relationships
- Mirogoj Cemetery
Samobor - Zagreb Botanical Garden
- Journey Through the City on Zagreb Tram
Accommodation: Apartment Fifty Shades of Greay
This place was perfect for our needs, it was suited for two couples. If you are looking for a bigger place, you can choose it even if you are only two people. It had one bedroom and one living room with a very comfortable couch that could be made into a bed. The apartment was very clean, but it was a little far from the center.
Recommended tours:
Bled - Bohinj - 3 days
After Zagreb, we got straight to exploring two beautiful places in Slovenia, Bled and Bohinj. These two made me fall in love with Slovenia, and now I need to plan another holiday in this green and stunning country. Next time I will plan a one-week itinerary only in Slovenia because there are so many unbelievable places to adventure on.
Before our visit, I heard about Bled and even saw pictures of the famous Bled Lake, but the beauty of this place surpassed my expectations. The magnificent lake views, the glorious mountains surrounding the lake and the unique scenic overlooks paint a perfect picture of Bled as a place with so much potential and natural beauty. We spent the whole day exploring, taking photos and hiking to a famous viewpoint. You can find all about it and even more in this article I wrote about all the amazing things you can do and see while visiting Bled, you can check it out here.
Our next destination was Bohinj and here was also our accommodation for the next two nights. We chose Bohinj, because here we found a place with the most impressive view and you know me, I’m all about perfect morning views. There is something about beautiful morning views and a cute mug of coffee.
Anyway, let’s get back on track. If I was impressed by Bled, Bohinj blew me away with all the luxurious mountain landscapes, the peaceful countryside atmosphere and the gorgeous lake views. This is one of those places where you can imagine yourself getting old and spending your evenings walking around Bohinj Lake while enjoying a beautiful sunset. For my husband and I, Bohinj was love at first sight, and I think this was one of our favorite locations from the whole Slovenia-Croatia itinerary. If I got you excited, please check out this awesome travel guide I wrote about Bohinj.
But first I want to make sure you understand what I’m talking about so here are a few things you can experience in Bohinj:
- Mountains views, gorgeous waterfalls and hiking trails through charming gorges
- Natural and uniquely shaped rocks (look up for the one that has the shape of an elephant)
- Delicious homemade pies that you will enjoy in the most epic mountain scenery
- Secluded lake spots where you can plan great photo shoot sessions
Distances:
- Zagreb-Bled: 2 h 10 min (194 km)
- Bled-Bohinj: 24 min (22 km)
Bled – Points of interest:
- Bled Lake
- Boat renting
- Ojstrica viewpoint
- Church of the Mother of God
- Vintgar Gorge
Bohinj – Points of interest:
- Bohinj Lake
- Mostnica Gorge
- Voje Valley
- Mostnica Waterfall
- Koca na Vojah mountain hut (located in Voje Valley, order the homemade pies)
- Savica Waterfall
Accommodation: Apartment House Jager
We booked rooms with mountain views and I highly recommend you do the same, no matter what accommodation you choose in Bohinj. Waking up to an epic mountain view is part of the whole charm that Bohinj is emanating. Apartment House Jager was lovely, the rooms were big enough and the host was very nice and helpful. He gave us a map, explained how we could get around and also told us about Mostnica Gorge and the homemade pies that await us at the end of the trail. This was of the best accommodations from our Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary!
Rovinj -Pula - 2 days
After we left the picturesque land of Slovenia we returned to Croatia towards a different kind of landscape, one marked by palm trees, colorful buildings, narrow streets and port sunset views. I found Rovinj ideal for couples because, in my opinion, it had that romantic cute scenery. There are several things you can do in this city, but by far my favorite one was roaming the streets in search of the best photo spots.
We spent one day and a half in Rovinj and half a day in Pula. We didn’t plan more time here, but it was enough to have an overall image of this historical city. The impressive Colosseum will take you back in time and remind you of a time when gladiators fought bloody battles to entertain the general public. Interesting thing is that now in the Colosseum film and music festivals are hosted.
We spent half a day roaming the streets, taking a coffee break and enjoying the scenery. In my opinion, Rovinj was my favorite of these two, but I know friends that liked Pula more. Depending on your travel preferences you can choose to spend more time in Pula. Keep in mind that the distance between Rovinj and Pula is only 45 minutes (very convenient because it doesn’t matter where you pick your accommodation, you can easily dedicate enough time to both cities).
Distances:
- Bohinj-Rovinj: 3h (258 km)
- Rovinj-Pula: 42 min (40 km)
Rovinj – Points of interest:
- Church of St. Euphemia (experience one of the best sunsets)
- Balota Beach
- Ul. Grisia street
- Old town
- Book a boat
- Clock Tower
Accommodation: La Vela
This was a very nice and clean place with stylish décor. One important thing to keep in mind is the parking. In Rovinj, you can’t enter the residential part of the city and thus you can’t park your car at the accommodation. If you book La Vela or another place, check with your host the available parking places which are closest to the accommodation. We didn’t know this at that time and searching for a free place to park our car was very stressful. And also, we had to carry our very heavy luggage for quite a big distance.
Plitvice Park - 3 days
It’s time to leave the port cities (for now) and go straight to waterfall bliss. Plitvice Park is one of Croatia’s most famous destinations. Of course, it was included in your Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary.
If you are a waterfall chaser and lover like me, Plitvice Lakes will be heaven for you, this I can assure you. The park has over 90 waterfalls and approx 16 cascading lakes. The trail will take you through luxurious vegetation and splendid viewpoints. You will feel like you are in a waterfall fantasy land.
An important thing I want to add is that Plitvice Lakes is a huge park with several paths and depending on your itinerary and the time you plan to spend exploring it, you can choose a shorter or a longer version of the trail. To make the best choice in regards to what trail to pick, I recommend you do your research, especially on their official page. To help you out here I wrote a detailed Plitvice Park travel guide where I share important tips and tricks and also my personal experience while visiting the park.
One thing that I want to point out is that depending on the season you are traveling, the weather can be quite unpredictable, thus it’s important to check the weather conditions before you plan your trip. We got to visit it on a rainy and foggy day and even if we enjoyed it, the experience wasn’t as expected. That being said, Plitvice Lakes is a must-see in Croatia and you can’t miss out on all those gorgeous and spectacular waterfalls.
Distances:
- Pula-Plitvice Lakes: 3h (257 km)
Accommodation: Apartments Green Park Plitvice
We loved this place so much. It is located in a quiet place with a lot of greenery surrounding it. It’s a perfect choice if you want to have a relaxing experience. The accommodation also included breakfast where we had great coffee and delicious eggs prepared by our host. He also suggested restaurants where we could eat dinner and even gave us discount cards to use there.
Our Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary was also focusing on finding amazing bookings (not only on the best places to visit).
Recommended tours:
Smiljan - Zadar - Skradin - Krka National Park - 2 days
You can expect a lot of waterfalls in this Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary.
We wanted to see all the waterfalls that Croatia had to offer. After we left Apartments Green, we planned to go to Skradin where our next place was booked, because it was only a few minutes away from another waterfall wonderland, Krka National Park.
Before we got to Skradin, we planned to visit Smiljan and Zadar.
My husband is a big fan of Nikola Tesla and taught me a lot of things I now know about this impressive man. So, it was very clear to me that he wanted to include the Nikola Tesla Memorial Center on our itinerary. This place is located in Smiljan, Croatia and because it’s secluded I don’t think a lot of people know about it. If you want to learn more about this place and find out who Nikola Tesla was and what you can do at this center, check out this article, “Best things to do in Croatia”. That being said, if you are a fan of science and physics, you need to add Nikola Memorial Center to your itinerary in Croatia.
After spending a few hours learning cool stuff about Nikola Tesla, we drove to the next destination on our itinerary. Maybe Zadar isn’t the most popular city in Croatia, but it’s such a charming and may I say, seductive city, that I encourage you to add it to your travel itinerary. The Sea Organ is the most amazing thing you will see in Zadar. It’s a unique place that will enchant you with the hauntingly beautiful sounds that the Sea Organ is making due to the sea waves. In my opinion, Zadar is one of Croatia’s unknown gems.
After a well-deserved coffee break in Zadar, we traveled to Skradin where we spent our evening exploring the streets, witnessing a beautiful sunset, making some swans friends and eating dinner.
The next day, after breakfast we went to Krka National Park. In comparison to Plitvice Park, Krka National Park is a much MUCH smaller version of the previous one. To picture it better, you will need an entire day in Plitvice Park in order to visit every corner, while in Krka Park in two hours your tour is done. The fun part of Krka is that at the end of the trail there is a place where you can have a picnic. They also have a dedicated food area. And the thing that makes the experience different from Plitvice is that in Krka you can swim close to one of the waterfalls.
Price-wise, the tickets were as expensive as Plitvice Park. If you are on a budget, or you don’t want to visit two similar parks, I recommend you pick Plitvice.
If you want to learn more useful things about Krka Park, please check out this travel guide I wrote, here.
Distances:
- Plitvice Lakes-Smiljan: 55 min (51 km)
- Smiljan-Zadar: 1h 20 min (104 km)
- Zadar – Skradin: 53 min (76 km)
- Skradin- Krka National Park: 2 min (1km)
Accommodation: Ruza
The house was very cute and located in a kinda secluded place (I loved the outside design of the place). The view from the villa was very nice and the rooms were big and accommodating. The lady that was taking care of the place didn’t know a lot of English but was very kind to us.
When we arrived, she welcomed us with free drinks and the next morning she cooked delicious home-baked pies (our accommodation included breakfast). We started our visiting day with good coffee, a nice view and a great meal.
Split - 3 days
I hope you are still with me, in this Slovenia-Croatia travel itineray.
I think that Split was one of those places in Croatia which amazed me the most. I didn’t expect this city to be so full of culture, history and life in general. Initially, we added it to our Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary because it was close to one of our top destinations (Dubrovnik) and because we wanted to make the best of this road trip, which meant including as many places as possible.
Split was a delight for us. Picture a city with palm trees, colorful buildings, historical landmarks, great food and an overall festive atmosphere. At every turn, we encountered a spot or corner that made us pause and admire every detail. I wrote an entire article about all the things that you can’t miss in Split. You can go and check it out here.
If you are still asking if you should add Split on your travel bucket list, the answer is definitely, yes!
Distances:
- Skradin – Split: 1h (91 km)
Points of interest:
- Diocletian’s Palace
- The Old City
- Cathedral of St Domnius
- Gregory of Nin Statue
- Riva Promenade
- Republic Square
- Marjan Hill (with killer views)
- Kliss Fortress
- Beautiful beaches
- Visit Hvar, Brac or Vis Islands
Accommodation: Apartment Sanella
This place was perfect for our needs. It was an apartment with two bedrooms, one living room and one generous kitchen. We prepared our own breakfast and the big table in the living room was perfect for that.
Mostar-Dubrovnik - 4 days
Leaving the splendid Split, we got excited to visit one of our top destinations from the whole trip. Dubrovnik got on our travel radar from the moment we found out that important scenes from our favorite TV show were filmed there. GOT was a phenomenon, but even if you didn’t see or heard of the series you should add Dubrovnik to your travel bucket list. In the beginning our Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary was focused mainly on Dubrovnik.
On our way to Dubrovnik, we decided to take a small detour and visit a famous and beautiful city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mostar. This is a surprising city, with a lot of things to do and to explore, but we had only a couple of hours, so we got straight to our favorite place, the bazaar. I’m planning to write an article about this fantastic market, where you can buy cool souvenirs, take colorful photos, eat delicious food and drink the best coffee.
After walking the picturesque bazaar and visiting the famous Old Bridge, we enjoyed a delicious meal and headed for Dubrovnik, our final destination in Croatia.
I fell in love with Dubrovnik’s Old Town, with all those narrow streets, rich in history and architectural details. You don’t even need the plan to explore Dubrovnik, just put on some comfortable shoes and a very cute outfit, because there are a lot of instagrammable places you should take advantage of. I wrote two articles about Dubrovnik, one with all the places you can visit, and you can check it out here. The other is about traveling on a budget because I know that due to the popularity that Game of Thrones brought, the prices increased considerably. So, if you want to visit Dubrovnik and still be on a budget, check out this cool article, here.
Distances:
- Split – Mostar: 2h 11 mi (167 km)
- Mostar-Dubrovnik: 2h 24 min (138 km)
Dubrovnik – Points of interest:
- Fort Lovrijenac
- Rector’s Palace
- Clock Tower
- Fort of St John
- City Walls
- Loggia Square
- Stradun Street
- City gates
- Delicious Waffles
- Lokrum Island
Accommodation: Apartment Bella
We simply loved this accommodation. I wrote all about it in the article “How to visit Dubrovnik on a budget”. This place had it all, a welcoming and charming host, cute animals, big rooms with a spacious kitchen, drinks and fruits free of charge and free parking (which is very important in Dubrovnik). Another good thing about Apartment Bella is that it was so close to a bus station that can take you straight to Old Town. I think this was one of our favorite accommodations in Croatia. If you are thinking about planning a Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary, I hope you check this place out!
Perast - Kotor - 3 days
It’s time to leave Croatia and go to two amazing destinations in Montenegro. We included these locations on our Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary for two reasons: we love nature and Perast and Kotor were on our way back home. No matter your starting point for this road trip, you can also include Perast and Kotor on your travel bucket list.
In Perast we spend only a couple of hours. We roamed the city’s beautiful streets and enjoyed a coffee near the shore. Afterwards, we headed to Kotor where we planned to stay for the following days.
For me and my husband, Kotor was love at first sight. This charming and well-preserved medieval city was in our top 3 places from the whole trip. The landscape consists of the beautiful Kotor Bay and an old city surrounded by scenic slopes. We spend our days roaming on foot in the old city, going to every shop and drinking beer. The energy of this place was addictive, people were roaming every small street (without being too crowded) and you could hear birds singing. At every corner, you would encounter a glorious old building or church. Everything in Kotor made me feel all the warm fuzzy feelings that you could think of during a trip. We even found a shop that sold handmade items from local rock. We love shopping and we usually buy something from every place we visit (something handmade or owned by a local business). This place was perfect! My favorite thing was this cute and impressive handmade mug. I mean, just look at it!
I’m going to write a travel guide with everything you need to know about Kotor and I’m excited to get to it, so keep a look out for that.
Kotor and Perast made me put Montenegro much higher on my travel bucket list.
Distances:
- Dubrovnik – Perast: 1h 44 min (80 km)
- Perast-Kotor: 16 min (12 km)
Kotor – Points of interest:
- Old Town
- Hike Kotor’s Fortress
- Walk the Old City Walls
- Cathedral of Saint Tryphnon
- Old churches
- Shop for handmade souvenirs
- Kotor Beach
Perast – Points of interest:
- St Nicholas Church
- Climb the Bell Tower for the best view of the village
- Perast Museum
- Lady of the Rosary Church
- Enjoy lunch with the seashore view
Accommodation: Apartment Milana i Luka
Apartment Milana i Luka was very nice and modest. We enjoyed the view and the fact that it was secluded and close to nature. The host was welcoming and helped us with tips. The only downside (if you can call it that) is that it was located at approx. 4 km from the Old Town. This is not a long distance if you plan to go by car, but we opted to walk. The road and the views were beautiful and we forgot all about our screaming, tired legs 😅.
I hope you find this Slovenia-Croatia travel itinerary (with three bonus destinations, Mostar, Perast and Kotor) useful. This custom trip was perfect because we got to visit a lot of amazing locations, and we did it all: explored mountain villages, hiked incredible trails, saw dozens of wonderful waterfalls and visited lots of coastal and medieval cities. If you choose to follow the same itinerary you aren’t going to get bored, but I feel like I need to tell you this warning: you are going to walk a lot! Prepare your hiking shoes and forget about sleeping until 10 am!