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October in Croatia itinerary - which direction?

October in Croatia itinerary - which direction?

Old Jan 30th, 2023, 02:21 PM
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October in Croatia itinerary - which direction?

My husband and I are planning a 2+ week trip to Croatia starting October 3. Including a few days in Slovakia and BH. We are mid to late 60’s, and frequent travelers. We will be renting a car and starting and ending in Croatia, should we go north to south or south to north?
I am concerned about the weather and the possibility of shops and restaurants being closed and island too chilly for the season. Is there a better sequence that would be conducive to visiting some islands? One of our favorite trips was in Greece in early October, we toured ancient towns in the morning then enjoyed the organized beaches in the afternoon. it was a Great balance.
Do you expect a big change in weather from Oct 2 to Oct 17, north to south?
This is our tentative itinerary:
Zagreb 2 nites - includes day trip to Plitvice National Park
rent a car and travel to
ljubjana Slovakia. 2 nights
rovinj 2 nights - includes Pula day trip
Opatija 1 night. Or other
Split 3 nights
Dubrovnik 4 nights - include island day trip

onward without the car
Mostar BH. 1 night
Sarejevo 2 nights possibly
Istanbul Turkey 4 nights possible
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Old Jan 30th, 2023, 07:17 PM
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Moved to Europe forum and tagged for Croatia, B&H and Slovenia
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Old Jan 30th, 2023, 07:38 PM
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Originally Posted by sbarrydunn
My husband and I are planning a 2+ week trip to Croatia starting October 3. Including a few days in Slovakia and BH. We are mid to late 60’s, and frequent travelers. We will be renting a car and starting and ending in Croatia, should we go north to south or south to north?
I am concerned about the weather and the possibility of shops and restaurants being closed and island too chilly for the season. Is there a better sequence that would be conducive to visiting some islands? One of our favorite trips was in Greece in early October, we toured ancient towns in the morning then enjoyed the organized beaches in the afternoon. it was a Great balance.
Do you expect a big change in weather from Oct 2 to Oct 17, north to south?
This is our tentative itinerary:
Zagreb 2 nites - includes day trip to Plitvice National Park
rent a car and travel to
ljubjana Slovakia. 2 nights
rovinj 2 nights - includes Pula day trip
Opatija 1 night. Or other
Split 3 nights
Dubrovnik 4 nights - include island day trip

onward without the car
Mostar BH. 1 night
Sarejevo 2 nights possibly
Istanbul Turkey 4 nights possible
It's Ljublijana, Slovenia. Slovakia is an entirely different country.

Personally, I think you have planned a bit too much for the time you have, even if you add 4 days for Istanbul.

Rovinj will likely be all but shut down this time of year. Consider staying in Pula and maybe do a day trip in Rovinj instead. Maybe someone can chime in if they went in shoulder season.

What island? You mentioned an island, yet none listed. Is it one of the islands near Dubrovnik such as Elaphiti Islands? Many of them are more of a National Park.

How are you intending to travel? It is not clear to me if youre renting a car in Slovenia [sic] and returning it in Dubrovnik If so, there will likely be a heavy drop off fee, plus potential insurance considerations. You may need to inquire ahead of time.

I have not been to Opatija so I cannot give any opinions. FWIW, I have not heard good things but YMMV.

Weather wise would likely be similar to Greece but no one can predict other than suggest look at historical records. Expect rain at times, but that can happen any time of year (had more days of rain in Croatia in September 2022 than on any other previous trips to the region, also in Sept.).

I'd like to add that I took a similar trip last year. After a I left Venice, I had three weeks of travel from the Slovenian coast to Dubrovnik before going onto Mostar and Sarajevo. I took my time, yet it was rushed. Your itinerary as it stands right now, feels rushed to me.

Last edited by Travel_Nerd; Jan 30th, 2023 at 07:43 PM.
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Old Jan 31st, 2023, 04:07 AM
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Travlel_Nerd, thank you for your response. And spelling corrections!
We had planned to rent a car as we are leaving Zagreb, and return later in Croatia.
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Old Jan 31st, 2023, 07:54 AM
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It might be easier to vist Plitvice on the way from Opatija/Rijeka to Split.
Last year, October in South Eastern Greece (Rhodos) looked almost like summer. Don't exprect anything similar along the Adriatic sea.
Hvar and Dubrovnik are usually the warmest places in this area.
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