This post was originally published on A Globe Well Travelled in 2020. The content has been revised and updated with fresh information.
A friend recently asked me to list the top 5 countries that I’ve visited.
A tough question, as each country has a set of unique qualities that make it great (or bad!). I pondered the question for a while, and realised that one country had moved up in the list after my recent winter Eurotrip. Rob and I spent 2 months travelling the European continent, with a road trip through Croatia and Slovenia wrapping up our last few weeks.
Slovenia had impressed me the first time I visited in 2014, and now it was way up there in my top 5. I’d seen more of the country this time around, from the glorious landscapes of the Julian Alps to the seaside vibes of the Adriatic. Getting a wider view of what Slovenia has to offer visitors proved that the country is even more amazing than I remembered.
Of course, our time in Croatia was lovely, too. It’s just that Croatia is already popular as a tourist destination, and it’s somewhat of a pain to visit when you’re country-hopping across Europe as it’s not in the Schengen Area and doesn’t use Euros as a currency (tsch!). Still, it is a really nice country and I did enjoy visiting it.
This itinerary starts in Croatia’s capital and ends in Slovenia’s capital, with a handful of cute coastal towns, majestic mountain scenery, and medieval castles in between. It’s everything you could possibly want in a 10-day road trip! Here are the full details of my Croatia and Slovenia road trip itinerary.
Quick summary:
Embark on a scenic 10-day road trip through Croatia and Slovenia, where you’ll discover charming cities, stunning national parks, and medieval castles. From Zagreb to Ljubljana, this itinerary covers everything you need for a perfect adventure across two of Europe’s most beautiful destinations.
Recommended hotels:
🏨 Palace Hotel Zagreb – Comfortable with a great breakfast and central location
🏨 Fenomen Plitvice – A cozy resort with a spa and restaurant near Plitvice Lakes
🏨 Hotel Delfin Rovinj – Modern, waterfront hotel in the heart of Rovinj
🏨 Barbara Piran Beach Hotel – Seaside motel with parking near the town center
🏨 Hotel Lovec Bled – A charming lakeside hotel offering easy access to all the main attractions
🏨 Hotel Bohinj – A great choice if you’d like to stay in Triglav National Park
🏨 Barbo Palace Ljubljana – A heritage palace turned boutique hotel in the heart of the Old Town
Croatia and Slovenia itinerary map guide:
1 – Zagreb (Croatia)
2 – Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia)
3 – Rovinj (Croatia)
4 – Piran (Slovenia)
5 – Predjama Castle + Postojna (Slovenia)
6 – Bled (Slovenia)
7 – Triglav National Park (Slovenia)
8 – Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Renting a car in Croatia or Slovenia for this road trip
To follow this itinerary, you’ll need a rental car — but one-way rentals between Croatia and Slovenia can come with hefty fees. If you want the most affordable option, renting and returning in the same country is generally the way to go.
For my trip, I actually picked up and dropped off the car in Ljubljana, creating a full loop. It was cheaper and surprisingly convenient. You could also do this by starting and ending in Zagreb.
If you prefer to rent in one country and return in the other, it’s still possible — just be aware of one-way fees (these vary a lot between companies) and any cross-border requirements listed in the rental agreement.
Croatia and Slovenia road trip itinerary
Zagreb
It’s best to fly into Zagreb to start this itinerary as it has the biggest airport of all the included destinations. We actually did Zagreb last on our road trip (after Ljubljana), but I think the rest of you will find it easier to begin here!
Zagreb is one of the best places to visit in Croatia with its Eastern European charm, a picturesque old town, and some edgy street art. I found the food to be amazing, and the prices to be cheap, too!
🏨 Where we stayed: We booked a room at the Palace Hotel, which was a nice place in a good location with a great breakfast. It did smell faintly of cigarette smoke, but unfortunately many establishments in Croatia are like this!
Plitvice Lakes
Plitvice Lakes National Park is Croatia’s top tourist destination. It’s easy to see why it tops the list of things to do in Croatia – it’s one of those places that is so damn beautiful that it doesn’t even look real.
Plitvice Lakes can get insanely busy in the summer, so if you’ll be visiting in peak season, be sure to plan your trip ahead of time to ensure you get tickets (yep, there are a limited number!) and avoid the crowds. Luckily, I visited in the off-season and basically had the entire park to myself. Check out my winter guide to Plitvice Lakes which has a ton of useful info on visiting this spectacular destination.
🏨 Where we stayed: Our overnight stay was based at Fenomen Plitvice, which was right next to the Lower Lakes within the national park. The rooms were tastefully decorated, and the resort had a spa/sauna and a really fabulous on-site restaurant. I highly recommend staying here!
Rovinj
The drive from Plitvice Lakes to Rovinj on our Croatia road trip was really spectacular – the highways cut across the Istrian Peninsula through some amazing rock formations, and we could see the sunlight sparkling on the waters of the Adriatic as we made our way around the Kvarner Gulf.
Rovinj is located on the seaside, which makes it popular with tourists who opt to travel via yacht charter Croatia for an island-hopping experience along the coastline. In my opinion, Rovinj feels much like one of the Mediterranean towns that you might find on the coast of Italy. The old town is super cute with narrow cobblestone streets and pastel-tinted buildings.
After a few hours of walking around taking pictures, we settled at an al fresco bar to watch the sunset while drinking a few glasses of local Istrian wine. It was a superb way to finish up the day.
🏨 Where we stayed: We based our stay at Hotel Delfin, which was a simple but modern boutique hotel on the waterfront. The location was perfect for our trip as there was street parking around the corner for our rental car, and it was an easy walk to the town centre.
Piran
From Rovinj, it’s an easy drive up to the border to depart Croatia for a Slovenia road trip. Not many people know that Slovenia actually has a 47km (29 mi) slice of coastline on the Adriatic Sea. There are a few small towns that line the coast, with Piran being the most popular for tourists.
We found Piran to be quite an interesting little town. It felt a lot like Italy to me, and I learned later that it was in the hands of the Venetians for over 500 years! It has a historic church tower which you can climb for amazing views, a classic market plaza, and a fortified wall on a hill where you get lovely vista of the town silhouetted against the sea.
🏨 Where we stayed: We had an overnight stay at Hotel Oleander, which was located just outside of town. To be honest I wasn’t all that impressed with it, but at least it had free parking. Next time I’d probably go for something like the Barbara Piran Beach Hotel which is nearer to the town centre.
Predjama Castle
Predjama Castle is only an hour’s drive northeast of Piran, and it was one of my highlights from Slovenia! I’ve seen plenty of castles before so my expectations weren’t all that high, but Predjama is totally unique.
This medieval palace is truly one of the top hidden gems in Europe. It’s actually built into the side of a cliff, and it has all sorts of interesting quirks that make it different from every other castle I’ve visited.
The audio guide provided a ton of interesting facts and it was perfectly timed to make the tour last about an hour. Inside, we learned about the secret escape through the caves in the rocks behind the castle, and how the residents used the cave system to collect fresh running water. Truly fascinating!
Postojna Caves are another attraction that are just down the road from the castle. We decided not to go in and continued the drive onwards to our next stop
🏨 Where we stayed: We booked a holiday home on the way between Postojna Caves and Bled, but you may want to put aside some time for the caves and stay in Postojna overnight instead.
Bled
Bled is one of those adorable holiday villages that I could keep going back to over and over again. Located in a truly picturesque spot in the Alps, Bled is one of the best places to visit in Slovenia and has a ton of interesting activities. You can visit a castle on a clifftop, swim in the lake, eat famous Bled Cream Cake, and row out to Bled Island without even leaving the town.
🏨 Where we stayed: Most visitors will spend just one or two days in Bled, but we stayed in a holiday home in Bled for an entire week to spend time skiing the Alps. If you’d like to stay a few nights, grab a hotel right near the lakefront like Hotel Lovec, which will allow you to easily walk between all the main attractions.
Triglav National Park
Triglav National Park has some of the most stunning natural scenery I’ve seen–you absolutely must add it to your Slovenia itinerary! Named after Slovenia’s highest mountain which reaches 2864 metres, this protected area in the Alps is the only national park in the country.
Bohinj is a great place to base your exploration of Triglav. There’s a gorgeous lake, a cute stone bridge, a historic church, a statue of a mythical mountain goat, and some walking trails all within easy reach of the town centre. 10 minutes drive away is the base of Vogel ski resort, where you can take a gondola up the mountain (even if you’re visiting outside of the winter season) for fab views over Lake Bohinj and the surrounding mountains.
🏨 Where to stay: We didn’t stay overnight in Triglav National Park as Bled is only a 30 minute drive away, but there are a few hotels in the town, such as Hotel Bohinj, if you’d like to stay in the area.
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is one of my favourite cities! As you can’t take cars into the centre of Ljubljana, it might be best to drop off your rental before exploring the city. We did this before checking in to our accommodation.
🏨 Where we stayed: Our stay was based at Barbo Palace, which was really fantastic. The location made it easy to get around the city by foot, and we even paid a little extra to get a room that had a view of the castle out the window! I would definitely recommend this boutique hotel in Ljubljana.
The pedestrian zone in Ljubljana’s old town gives the place a really relaxed vibe. The city is all about outdoor dining, drinking Slovenian wine, and wandering slowly along the river and its many bridges. The castle is not quite as awesome as Predjama, but walking up the hill does provide some neat views of the city.
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