Tour Guide Wanted Croatia and Slovenia trip, tips please

[Brains]

Ljubljana is definitely worth a stay, camping by the ring road and easy bus in. The city is beautiful and has a vibrant university population too. English spoken everywhere

Another favourite in Croatia is Rovinj and we second Split as great too

FYI
Last year several people warned us off Ljubljana for 2023 and 2024 and maybe 25 as well.
Due to an earthquake and a lot of EU funding coming in, most of the major attractions are covered in scaffolding and closed or partially closed.

We have put the city on out 'to do' list for the year after.

 

[Just smiffy]

This is a route from my house, NO TOLLS…. Easy…

 

[Barti Ddu]

We did something very similar to your route last Autumn in our 3500kg PVC - France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia - all non-toll. (Actually, not quite true - we got panicked into buying a 10 day Austrian Vignette at a filling station as we approached Salzburg, but the stretch of motorway into the centre turned out to be non-toll in the right hand lane that peeled off into the city, so the Vignette was unnecessary)!

We didn't get as far as Dubrovnik on that trip, but have visited before for 3 or 4 days (Airbnb) and it is a fantastic city. Get up onto the walls early as soon as they open to avoid the crowds (especially when cruise ships are in). The whole city is very atmospheric.

Split, Šibenik, and Zadar are all also great Croatian cities to visit. The Plitvice National Park is also a must see for the waterfalls.

We actually preferred Slovenia this time though. The lakes at Bled and Bohinj are beautiful, as are the Julian Alps and Soca valley, and as previously said, Ljubljana is a great lively city.

Wild / off-grid overnighting is not really permitted in Slovenia or Croatia (although we managed it in a few places off season). You might find that not many campsites are open in April, and those that are will be fairly expensive. Therefore get an ACSI card. It saved us a load last year in Croatia in particular. (Some of the Croatian campsite resorts are extraordinarily large - not really our cup of tea normally, but quite impressive in their own way, with excellent facilities).

I posted quite a lot of photos on here last Autumn from our trip, mainly in the Photo of the Day thread. We posted a lot more though on our Instagram account if you are interested.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Brains]

HI all,
We are off in a month aiming for Slovenia and Croatia. We will be travelling a route we know well through Belgium , Luxemburg and Germany down to probably Fussen on the Austrian Border. The plan then was to go through Austria, into Slovenia and then tour around Croatia. Way back possibly same way we came or perhaps through Northern Italy into Switzerland. Our motorhome is 4 tonne. We will have the dog with us also.
Questions we have are:
What is the easiest driving route through Austria.

The easiest route through Austria is the A10, Salzburg to Villach.
It's motorway most of the way, no steep climbs or hairpin bends.

I've also done the route out of Fussen over the Fern pass, it's fine in even the biggest of motorhomes.
(There is a tunnel option as well, just avoid weekends and holidays, it's a notorious traffic blackspot)

We then went due south and spent some time in the Oetz Valley at this site and then when over the Timmelsjoch Pass into Italy and stayed in this campsite here

Then headed across Italy to Trieste and crossed into Slovenia and Croatia

 

[TheDenOnWheels]

Re ideas of places to visit. We used "motoroamers" ebook / blog as source of ideas.
Plitzwik national park in Croatia was the standout must not be missed.

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[MickandHelen]

Hi, Following on from our post above we are now sitting in the Stellplatz in Salzburg, off to Villach tomorrow and Lake Bled for 3 days on Monday. After that we have nothing actually planned, I have a route going all over the place but I suspect Hubby will get a bit fed up with all of the driving and short stops. We don't plan to go down to Split or Dubrovnik, or even Zagreb, he hates going around cities because we always miss the turns. So I was thinking down to Plitvice, over to the coast, back up the coast to Slovenia, Soca Valley and then back up to Austria. Any recommendations and places to stay. Which is the best campsite for Plitvice, actually in the national park. Thanks all.

 

[WESTY66]

Hi, Following on from our post above we are now sitting in the Stellplatz in Salzburg, off to Villach tomorrow and Lake Bled for 3 days on Monday. After that we have nothing actually planned, I have a route going all over the place but I suspect Hubby will get a bit fed up with all of the driving and short stops. We don't plan to go down to Split or Dubrovnik, or even Zagreb, he hates going around cities because we always miss the turns. So I was thinking down to Plitvice, over to the coast, back up the coast to Slovenia, Soca Valley and then back up to Austria. Any recommendations and places to stay. Which is the best campsite for Plitvice, actually in the national park. Thanks all.

Wow!! You will have a great time, we did the same trip two years ago
Camping plitvice for the lake is a good site
Camping arneitz near Villach is another good site
We are 5 tons so we did all the awkward small passes to avoid the go/dars box.
Are you doing the loiblpass to get you down to Bled?
Oh btw the 42 from josepol to plitvice is errr……shall we say …interesting

 

[MickandHelen]

Wow!! You will have a great time, we did the same trip two years ago
Camping plitvice for the lake is a good site
Camping arneitz near Villach is another good site
We are 5 tons so we did all the awkward small passes to avoid the go/dars box.
Are you doing the loiblpass to get you down to Bled?
Oh btw the 42 from josepol to plitvice is errr……shall we say …interesting

Thank you so much for the info. Hubby is not up for the scarey stuff so we the Austrian Go Box and picking up the Slovenian one on Monday.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Krk town is a nice place to visit.
We stayed at Camping Krk and there is a walk from the site all off road that takes you along a coastal path…..

 

[berto33]

FYI
Last year several people warned us off Ljubljana for 2023 and 2024 and maybe 25 as well.
Due to an earthquake and a lot of EU funding coming in, most of the major attractions are covered in scaffolding and closed or partially closed.

We have put the city on out 'to do' list for the year after.

Hi, this is a completely fake information. There was no earthquake in Ljubljana or in Slovenia. Indeed, It was one larger close to Zagreb, Croatia, 4 years ago. So major attractions are definitely not covered in scaffoldings or closed in Ljubljana.

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[Graham Deans]

If you travel through Croatia you must visit PLitvica. It is a stunning series of lakes and connecting streams and waterfalls, a fabulous walk. We stayed at a small site just North of Plitvica.
If you are travelling down the A1 motorway or 50, turn off at Otocac and take the 52 East, Turn left after 25K to Plitvica, well signed.

 

[pandas]

Vignette in Slovenia.

You can NOT buy them in the garages etc any more
As from 2023 they can ONLY be bought on line.
There is not 'ticket' or sticker, it's all done by ANPR

The Vignette can be bought here from the official site
(Be aware there are several other sites selling (genuine) vignettes but at a mark up

If you accidently stray into Slovenia without a Vignette then you can buy on line before 5pm same day.
From memory I think you can buy the Vignette up to 2 weeks in advance and it's valid for 1 week, 1 month or 1 year.
(Unfortunately the 1 hour or 1 day Vignettes needed for the road between Italy and Croatia do not exist!)

As far as the Slovenians are concerned, all motorhomes are under 3.5t.
They don't seem to have a category for the over 3.5t but under 5t sector of motorhomes.
So unless you are turning up in something that looks like a coach or a lorry a normal vignette is all you need (we are over 3.5t)

Sorry but this information is incorrect. You can get a Vignette the Austrian side on the boarder they have an atm type machine somewhere near the service station. This is only for under 3.5t.
For a DarsGo box (for over 3.5 t) it is only available within Slovenia, usually at the first service station after the border. Makes it easier to buy if you register you details on line earlier as you just give them you reg number. €5 plus for the box plus the credit you want. Make sure you log the correct number of axels ( one front one rear = 2). one bleep on motorway is all okay, two means credit is below €30 (unless you program a different amount). There is a heavy fine if you go to three or four bleeps even if you are on the way to top up.
The issue with the Austrian Go box is getting a refund for credit when in Slovenia - asking them to credit on line if I pay for the go box but no reply as yet.