Croatia, Slovenia and Italy for a honeymoon

[JimStynes]

Has anyone ever gone to these countries for their honeymoon or even just a holiday? Our wedding is August 2012 so i am just trying to get some ideas of what to do for our honeymoon.  At the minute I want to fly into Dubrovnik - make our way up the coast to slovenia - Lake Bled maybe - Italy (Venice and Lake Garda?) - Fly home from Verona. We would probably have 2 1/2 weeks to do all this so if transport in these countries was crap then it could be a tight squeeze. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

[armaghniac]

Good plan, although it may be hot.I'd take it easy, rather than rushing into Italy, Verona etc can be visited again as there are regular flights. Slovenia is lovely, very unrated in my opinion.

[fitzroyalty]

Has anyone ever gone to these countries for their honeymoon or even just a holiday? Our wedding is August 2012 so i am just trying to get some ideas of what to do for our honeymoon.  At the minute I want to fly into Dubrovnik - make our way up the coast to slovenia - Lake Bled maybe - Italy (Venice and Lake Garda?) - Fly home from Verona. We would probably have 2 1/2 weeks to do all this so if transport in these countries was crap then it could be a tight squeeze. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Talk with Dancing Daithi re Croatia. He's there at the min, somewhere fancy as well.

[JimStynes]

Has anyone ever gone to these countries for their honeymoon or even just a holiday? Our wedding is August 2012 so i am just trying to get some ideas of what to do for our honeymoon.  At the minute I want to fly into Dubrovnik - make our way up the coast to slovenia - Lake Bled maybe - Italy (Venice and Lake Garda?) - Fly home from Verona. We would probably have 2 1/2 weeks to do all this so if transport in these countries was crap then it could be a tight squeeze. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Talk with Dancing Daithi re Croatia. He's there at the min, somewhere fancy as well.

When's he back? Let's hope it's not destruction daithi who has gone on holidays!

[AFS]

Good plan, although it may be hot.I'd take it easy, rather than rushing into Italy, Verona etc can be visited again as there are regular flights. Slovenia is lovely, very unrated in my opinion.

Snap. Ljubljana is a great city.

[Pangurban]

Being very familiar with all three Countries, and bearing in mind its a honeymoon trip you are setting out on, i would recommend you choose Italy. While Croatia and Slovenia have much to recommend them, particularly Croatia, they can be difficult and very time consuming getting around, and many of there major attracions are off the beaten track. If you are considering the Italian Lakes, i would recommend Maggiore, stunningly beautiful  and less busy than the others

[The Iceman]

would not go near Venice if I had the choice. Overly expensive, nothing spectacular about the place. Quite dirty and smelly to be honest. Would recommend Florence.....

[thejuice]

We were talking of doing a similar holiday this year too but had to settle for France in the end. Cant give you any advice though. All I know about Slovenia is that you'd probably be better off renting a car.

[Jim_Murphy_74]

All I know about Slovenia is that you'd probably be better off renting a car.

Depends on type of holiday.  We're hitting for Slovenia this year and are renting car.  Previously though we didn't bother.  Last time we went to Kranska Gora which is a sky resort by winter.   Beautiful place for walking, cycling and relaxing.  Close to Italian border so you can cycle over and back.

Not a place to go (at least in summer) if partying is your thing, otherwise go for it.

Lake Bled is quite nice too and slightly livelier.

I agree with armaghniac that Slovenia is beautiful and very under-rated.

/Jim.

[Sandino]

Just want to concur with the other posters, Slovenia is stunning. If you fly into Croatia via Dubrovnik the village of Cavatat near the airport is beautiful. Also like other posters I found venice to be disappointing. Bled is a must for a honeymoon imho.

[clareman]

Went to Croatia on our honeymoon a few years back
And I couldn't recommend it highly enough. Spent
5 nights in Dubrovnik, 7 on the island of Hvar
and 2 in Cavtat - absolutely loved every minute of it
and we wouldn't have changed a thing. Drop me a
line if you want more details...

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Went to Croatia on our honeymoon a few years back
And I couldn't recommend it highly enough. Spent
5 nights in Dubrovnik, 7 on the island of Hvar
and 2 in Cavtat - absolutely loved every minute of it
and we wouldn't have changed a thing. Drop me a
line if you want more details...

It certainly wasn't a honeymoon that I was on but Croatia really is a lovely country. The island of Hvar which Clareman refers to is really lovely, small enough but with a bit of life about it. I really couldn't recommend it enough.

[Goats Do Shave]

Was in Italy at the end of May for 9 days or so.

2 Nights Venice (I loved Venice, but 2 days is more than enough!) It is expensive, but I didn't find it smelly or dirty. Had a fantastic time walking the small streets, and getting (semi) lost!

1 night Florence - I'm not big into Art... we did spend some time in the Uffizi Gallary – where you'll see lots of Raphello's, Caravaggio, Da Vinci's & the rest of the turtles. It's just not my thing. However, it's a lively city. I'd recommend it. Bit of entertainment on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge... you could stay all night! Lots of entertainment around the main streets & piazza's off the Duomo also!

We then lifted our Rent car, to visit Pisa (just for the photo's) & drive round Tuscany. Pity we only had one day/night here: http://www.voltrona.com/en/home
Extraordinary place! So relaxing!

We then hit Rome for 3 nights – There's soooo much to see & do In Rome, it is unreal. Even landed in on Pope Beni giving it loads! (Wednesdays...) However we seen all we wanted to see in Rome in the 3 days! Get the Roma Pass, you can jump on & off the Metro, & busses for 3 days. – It also gets you into a couple of attractions inc. in price.

Feeding & nightlife in the Trastevere district...

We then picked up another car & drove to Pompeii then stayed in Naples.

Firstly don't hire a car for this journey. Train to Naples is much easier! (It's motorway the whole way! & includes costly tolls.)
I was underwhelmed by Pompeii – I'd recommend going up Vesuvius instead & checking out the enormous smoking crater!

1 night in Sorrento. It's another costly little town. It's lovely though. Built on a cliff basically. We chose the day trip to Capri which was relaxing; over the drive down the Amalfi coast (the motorway drive took it out of me.)

We flew into Venice & out of Rome. Should have flown out of Naples... but you learn!

Great country!

[CiKe]

Slovenia is stunning, Ljubljana is lovely, small enough with very nice riverside cafe culture. The Julian Alps are only an hour away and the scenery is spectacular around Lake Bled, Bohinj, Kranskja Gora and Bovec. People are nice, food is good and it is considerably cheaper than Italy or Croatia which we did at the same time and found incredibly pricey - very poor value for money we thought.

[armaghniac]

Slovenia has the best network of caves in Europe, notably the Postojna Caves, the largest. So if the Fermanagh caves are not big enough, head there.

Also if the OP is travelling by train the line from Bled, the line west of the town, from the Bled Jezero station is incredibly scenic. If you go to Nova Gorica on this line and then go to the Italian station in Goriza (same town, border is outside the Slovenian station) 2 km by taxi or a nice walk, this is a one way of crossing to Italy. Or you may wish to visit Trieste.