Schedule
Day 1 & 2: Ljubljana We received orientation and dinner together. A Local guide shared about the political and cultural heart of Slovenia. We enjoy the architectural adventures of native born architect Jože Plečnik.
Day 3 & 4: Slovenia's Lakes and Alps Visited Julian Alps where we saw Lake Bled, a scenic, winding, mountain-pass, Soča River Valley, Kobarid and its World War I museum.
Day 5: Croatia's Istria Peninsula Roman ruins in Pula, enjoyed the seaside town of Rovinj.
Day 6 & 7: Plitvice Lakes National Park We stop in Opatija in route to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Here we hike along rustic boardwalk trails. We continue across the mountains to the Dalmatian Coast, to the seaside town of Split.
Day 8: The Roman Heart of Split Explore Split's historic Old Town — which lies within the walls of the Roman Emperor Diocletian's immense palace.
Day 9 & 10: Dalmatian Islands Visited the Dalmatian islands of Hvar and Korčula.
Day 11 & 12: Bosnia-Herzegovina See war-torn Mostar and its blend cultural traditions. View the restored Old Bridge. Rural drive and picnic with Serbians.
Day 13: Dubrovnik Staying in the Lapad district. Walking tour around the architectural treasures within the 800-year-old city walls of Dubrovnik
Best of the Adriatic in 14 Days 2008
Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
We explored this area on a Rick Steves' Tour June 22 through July 8, 2008. This was our second tour with Rick Steves's Europe Through the Back Door. We had used their guide book for years and enjoyed our other trip with them to Italy Hill Towns. We enjoyed the small, friendly group (no grouches).
The most asked question we had was "Why are you going there?" A brother had lived in Italy and planted the idea of exploring the other side of the Adriatic Sea. We also agreed with a fellow traveler, Randy, who answered "Destination! Having traveled to many other areas of Europe, I was looking for an "off-the-beaten path" location. (and of course the seafood and gelato)." Randy's has posted some of his pictures. It featured some beautiful landscape areas. It might be a better buy with our weak dollar. It is beginning to receive good publicity as a fine tourist area. Here are our buddies for this trip.
To add importance to our travels to this area the Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel currently held the EU Presidency. There had been a series of international meetings in Ljubljana. On May 22 the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy had a meeting. EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti and high level participants from the 13 candidate countries met in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 18 - 19 June for their Seventh Annual Competition Conference. President Bush attended a meeting there just before we arrived.
Here ares some pictures and a brief report of our trip to enjoy. Other traveler's comments can be found on the Rick Steves site referenced above.
