A road trip through Croatia and Slovenia is the adventure of a lifetime! These two countries are located in Central and Southeast Europe, and they’re filled with beautiful scenery, history, and culture. You will get to experience the breathtaking coastlines of Croatia, as well as stunning mountain ranges in Slovenia. Our 9-day road trip itinerary takes you on a journey through some of the most picturesque spots in Croatia and Slovenia.
- Day 1-3 – Dubrovnik, Croatia
- Day 3-4 – Split, Croatia
- Day 5 – Plitvice Lakes National Park and Drive to Slovenia
- Day 6-8 – Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
- Day 9 -Ljubljana, Slovenia
Day 1: Explore Old Town in Dubrovnik, Croatia
The best starting point for your Balkans road trip is in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dubrovnik is one of the most well preserved and famous medieval cities in the world. It is famous for its Old Town which is surrounded by fortress walls with no cars allowed inside. Some may recognize it from Game of Thrones, as it was where they filmed Kings Landing.
Once you arrive in Dubrovnik, take a bus from the airport to Old Town (sit on the left side for the best view). The bus tickets were only $9 and you can buy them after you pickup your bags. I recommend exploring Old Town right away and get familiar with the area. You can walk end to end inside the walls in less than 10 minutes making all the shops and restaurants easily accessible. The city inside the walls was truly one of the most stunning places I have ever seen.
While exploring Old Town, look for the famous Buza Bar along the edge of the city walls. This is a hidden bar that is on the outside of the wall and is a great place to watch cliff divers and take in the sunset.
Two key things I recommend are staying in a hotel inside the city walls and waiting until you leave Dubrovnik to rent a car. Staying inside the city walls gives you the full amazing experience, but there is very limited places to park a car. I recommend staying at the Prijeko Palace. This hotel was absolutely amazing and had a rooftop restaurant overlooking the entire city.
Day 2: Visit Banje Beach and Take Ferry to Lokrum Island
On day 2 you will spend most of the day out on the water. Banje Beach is only a 5 minute walk from Old Town Dubrovnik and is the perfect place to do some swimming in the Adriatic Sea. There is a nice restaurant on-site with amazing food and drinks.
After spending the morning at Banje Beach, book a ferry to go to Lokrum Island. Lokrum Island is where they filmed many of the King’s Landing garden scenes from Game of Thrones. The ferry runs every 20-30 minutes so no need to book in advance. Once you arrive at Lokrum Island, there are many trails that lead your around the island to various landmarks. Make sure to check out the 11th Century Monastery, the Dead Sea pool, and say hello to all the peacocks roaming around! This is a perfect day trip and only takes about 1-2 hours to complete.
For dinner, make reservations for the Panorama Restaurant overlooking Dubrovnik. You will need to also book gondola tickets to get to the top of the mountain. The views from Panorama Restaurant are some of the best in the world! The further out you make the reservation, the better table you will get. Do not leave Dubrovnik without experiencing these views, even if you skip the dinner portion.
Day 3: Walk the Old Town City Walls
On your last full day in Dubrovnik, you will purchase a ticket to walk the Old Town City Walls. This was our favorite activity in Dubrovnik as you were able to see the most beautiful and picturesque views of the city. With many viewpoints to stop at, it takes around 1-2 hours to walk around the entire city walls. The ticket ranges from $20.00-$40.00 depending on if you do a tour or just by yourself. This is a perfect way to end your time in Dubrovnik.
Day 4: Drive to Split with a pit-stop in Omis
It is now time to wake up early and hit the road. On day 4 you are going to pickup your rental car and head to the port city of Split. The drive from Dubrovnik to Split is amazing and you will be tempted to make several pit-stops along the way. Stopping for lunch in the town of Omis is an absolute MUST! Omis is an old town with dramatic rock formations at the mouth of Cetina River. It is one of the most picturesque locations in Croatia and has several great restaurants.
Omis is only about 30 minutes outside of Split, so you will be close to your final destination. When staying in Split, I recommend staying just outside the Old Town walls so you can keep your rental car. There are no cars allowed in the Old Town. We stayed at the Splendida Palace which was only a 2 minute walk from the city center. The location was perfect and the hotel had an amazing breakfast.
Since you are staying so close to the city center, spend your first evening in Split exploring the Old Town and the biggest port in the Adriatic.
Day 5: Hike Park Suma Marjan and Take Sunset Sailboat Ride
With only spending 2 nights in Split, you will want to make the most of your full day in the city. After a big breakfast, you are going to hike around Park Suma Marjan up to Vrh Telegrin Lookout. The hike is mostly uphill but not too challenging. The views at the end are completely worth it as you will be rewarded with 360 views of Split. After the hike, cool off with a quick visit to Kasjuni Beach. The water at Kasjuni is crystal clear and you may even see some starfish!
Before dinner, you will enjoy a beautiful sunset sailboat ride that departs right from the main port. We used Split Croatia Sailing and the price was very reasonable. The cruise lasts about 2 hours and returns to the port after sunset.
Day 6: Drive to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia with pit-stop in Plitvice Lakes National Park
Day 6 is going to be a LONG driving day but the pit-stop in the middle will be well worth it. We woke up at 5:00 AM to make sure we made good time throughout the day. The drive from Split to Plitvice is about 2.5 hours and is mostly countryside. When you arrive at Plitvice, you can either park at the Upper Falls or Lower Falls. We chose Upper Falls due to time constraints. The hike down to the falls was longer than expected and the overall hiking we did took about 2-3 hours (we had only intended on 1 hour). This is why you will want to save extra time to explore the park.
The waterfalls and lakes were amazing and the vegetation was lush. We were only able to hike 2 trails but I would recommend doing more as we didn’t feel we received the full experience.
After Plitvice, make a quick lunch stop in the charming town of Rastoke, Croatia before heading on the long leg of the journey to Slovenia. Rastoke reminded me of Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings!
After lunch in Rastoke, you will begin the 4 hour drive to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, hopefully arriving before dark. We recommend staying the Garni Hotel Miklic right in the heart of Kranjska Gora. It was an inexpensive hotel with an amazing breakfast and mountain views from most rooms.
Day 7: Visit Lake Jasna and Hike Vrsic Pass
We loved Slovenia because you received an Italian Dolomites experience for half the price. The mountains near Kranjska Gora are breathtaking and most hikes are less than 20 minutes from the town. In the late morning/early afternoon I recommend exploring Lake Jasna which is only a few minutes from town. This stunning lake is made famous by it’s goat statue with the mountain backdrop.
After exploring Lake Jasna, drive up the mountain roads to Vrsic Pass. It is the highest mountain pass road in Slovenia. If hiking is not your thing, then I recommend just driving the Vrsic Pass as the views are stunning. There are several hikes that start from the top of Vrsic Pass as well. We just did the Vrsic Pass loop which was 1.6 miles and had dramatic views throughout the whole journey.
Day 8: Explore Lake Bled and Ljubljana
On your final day, you will explore the fairy tale town of Lake Bled, and Slovenia’s capital city Ljubljana (good luck pronouncing it!). Lake Bled and Ljubljana are 20 minutes from the airport so both are convenient for your final night.
Some think Lake Bled is touristy, but for good reason. It was some of the coolest views I have ever seen with the mix of mountains, churches, and castles. I would recommend spending most, if not all of your day at Lake Bled.
Ljubljana was the perfect location for a romantic last dinner on the water. They have beautiful canals that run throughout the Old Town countless patio restaurants. You would not need to spend more than 1 day here though as most of the city can be experienced in a few hours.
Day 9: Head Home
If you only have 9 days, I would say this is the perfect itinerary to experience both Croatia and Slovenia. However, with more time, I would have loved to explore Croatia and Slovenia even more! Hopefully this itinerary helped you on your Balkans Road Trip planning!
I have also included a Youtube Video below with highlights from the trip. Enjoy!