Area with many short day hikes in Croatia/Slovakia/or Area

Slovensky Raj and Tatra mountains near Poprad/Stary Smokovec in Slovakia.

Cesky Raj and Moravsky Kras in Czechia might also fit the bill.

But why are you posting this here? this is the travel with Kids branch. try the Central Europe branch.

We're traveling with 2 kids - 4 and 7.
We want to look for short hikes they can walk.
We prefer a vacation where we stay in one or 2 places and don't have to drive to a new hotel/guest house every day.

Are there short hikes there that kids can manage?

If you're looking in that part of europe, I would definitely recommend Slovenia for hiking and cave visits. In particular, Bled as a beautifully picturesque resort town and is about 30 min drive from their famous caves.

Good luck on your planning!

http://www.minitraveler.ca

We took a six year old camping around Eastern Europe - would recomend Zakopane in Poland near Slovakia border - lots of walks from the town, also cable cars etc as this is a ski resort in the winter. You can also visit Krakow - salt mines amazing. Would also recommend Hungary - caves, castles, thermal springs - easy to get around - stay near Lake Balaton. Slovenia good for caves, lakes, walking - but was a bit more expensive than other areas.

We took a six year old camping around Eastern Europe - would recomend Zakopane in Poland near Slovakia border - lots of walks from the town, also cable cars etc as this is a ski resort in the winter. You can also visit Krakow - salt mines amazing. Would also recommend Hungary - caves, castles, thermal springs - easy to get around - stay near Lake Balaton. Slovenia good for caves, lakes, walking - but was a bit more expensive than other areas.