1

The problem with this itinerary is that all the best sights in Croatia are towards the coast from Zagreb, in the opposite direction to the other places you wish to go.

You may want to look at stopping in Slovenia as well.

I am going to give you a possible itinerary that is not exactly what you have asked for:

Croatia and Slovenia - ~ 1week
Zagreb - get out asap, it is a nice city but there are better places to go
Pula - The second largest Roman Ampitheatre after the Coliseum
Ljubljana - A really attractive small Hapsburg city, good for a night or two
Lakes Bled and Bohinj - Spectacular alpine scenery in Slovenia

Austria and Hungary - ~1 week
Train from Bled to Vienna, changing at Villach.
Have 3 full days in each city

Here comes the curve-ball:

Poland - ~5days
Take the overnight train from Budapest to Krakow then 4/5 days in Krakow maybe taking in the Tatras mountains in Zakopane, the salt mines and Auschwitz.

Czech Republic - ~9 days
Split this time between Prague, Český Ráj and maybe Český Krumlov.

Obviously if you been to Slovenia and Krakow then this itinerary is not for you. If you are desperate to head to Dalmatia; Split and Dubrovnik you may have to reassess.

Edited by: Tryfan

2

Personally I think you might be trying to cover too much territory if you were planning to see something of Austria other than Vienna. I do agree with the above poster that starting in Zagreb puts you far from most of the interesting places in Croatia.

Consider this itinerary:
Zagreb - 1 night
Plitvice Lakes - 1 night
Zadar - 1 night
Krka National Park - stop on your way to Split/Trogir
Split/Trogir - 2-3 nights
Dubrovnik - 2 nights
Mostar - 1 night
Sarajevo - 3 nights
Osijek - 1 night
Pecs - 2 nights
Budapest - 4 nights
Bratislava (on the way from Budapest to Vienna)
Vienna - 4 nights
Brno - 2 nights
Prague - 4 nights

Hopefully you know that this part of the world can be cold at this time of year and you will be traveling to the colder parts as it gets towards the end of your trip and the days get shorter.

Ruth

3

I like the look of #2s itinerary, personally I would prefer more time in Mostar. Maybe loosing the nights in Zadar and Osijek, if you do go to Mostar make sure you stay here and do not miss Bata's amazing tour.

You have 2 good itineraries here mine takes you to more mountainous/scenic countryside along with some top cities; everbrite's take you to some amazing coastal cities and scenery and a great country in Bosnia & Herzegovina as well as some great cities both large and smaller.

So get googling and see which route you fancy!

Edited by: Tryfan

4

It might be better to fly into Dubrovnik or Split, if it's possible at this point. If you can't do that, you will burn the better part of a full day backtracking through Zagreb. You can get around that by looking into a one-way flight from Dubrovnik back to Zagreb on Croatia Air. Sometimes, if booking well in advance, you can get very good rates. If possible, I'd start in Zagreb, spend a day or two at the most, head to Plitvice, the coast, see an island or two, then end in Dubrovnik and fly back to Zagreb. (Bus can be done overnight -- it's something like 11-12 hours -- but it will be grueling.)

An alternate option: Skip Croatia for this trip. You won't be able to enjoy the water and beaches, so maybe you could save that for another trip during warm weather. In its place, you could visit Slovenia or Poland.

5

I'd recommend making your way by train from Zagreb into Bosnia; Sarajevo and Mostar really shouldn't be missed. Then you can make your way from Mostar to Dubrovnik, and make your way north along the coast of Croatia, into Slovenia (Ljublijana is well worth a couple of days) and onward into Austria and Hungary...

6

Thanks so much for all of your replies!

Unfortunately the flights weren't something we could really change at the last minute without having to spend much more on alternative ones, but we managed to find cheap flights from Dubrovnik back to Zagreb so have decided on the following itinerary:

Croatia 8 nights (2 Plitvice, 3 Split and/or Zadar, 3 Dubrovnik), then train to Ljubljana from Zagreb
Slovenia 3-4 nights (1-2 Ljubljana, 2 Lake Bled), then train to Budapest
Hungary 5-6 nights (Budapest and maybe Gyor?), then train/bus to Bratislava
Bratislava 2-3 nights, bus/train to Vienna
Vienna 3-4 nights, then possibly towards Linz for a few nights
Finally head into Czech and stop at a few towns on the way to Prague

It's pretty vague once we get into Hungary but we're hoping to figure out stuff as we go! What do people think of this general itinerary though? We're hesitant to change the country order and general route around but if you have any suggestions on smaller towns to visit in Hungary, Austria and Czech Rep on the way it would be much appreciated.

Thanks again for all of your input! :)