Oops - typo. Meant to say Ljubljana with a "j". Those j's always get me

If you can list the number of days you need to allot to Slovenia, Albania, and Kosovo, I can try to suggest an appropriate number of stops for Croatia and Montenegro. Public transportation by bus and ferry is so good, I would not bother with the hassle (and expense!) of renting a car for all of these countries. Instead you could rent one just while in Albania, for example.

> Fly from the NY to Ljubliana. Quick visit to Lake Bled; train to Zagreb
Drive to Plitvice, Rovinj then down the coast
Drive to Sarajevo and back, ending in Dubrovnik
DBV down the coast of Montenegro ...
is a full three weeks enough for this itinerary?

Depends on what you want to see and experience. I spent 30 days for this part of the trip.

It's a gorgeous area. Enjoy!

I know you read my trip report about BiH and Croatia when I posted last fall. I would recommend the route from Dubrovnik to Mostar via Stolac and Trebinje for scenery and historic sites but, as I noted in my report, you can't stray from the road/towns due to land mine danger.
If you hate mountain driving do not even consider the route we took from Makarsala back to BiH!

When you are in the Dubrovnik area, I hope you will have a chance to visit Ston and Mali Ston.

yorkshire, you put your finger on where I got stuck - how to get into Albania. I'm anticipating a night or two in Slovenia, one or two nights in northern Croatia (I think we'll have to choose between Plitvice and Rovinj), a couple of nights in Split, probably three nights in Sarajevo, two or three in Dubrovnik and a couple in Montenegro.

If that's even doable, that leaves us with about a week for Albania and Kosovo.

We don't mind driving, but I'm interested to hear how we might use public transportation rather than a rental car the entire trip.

kja, I can see where you used 30 days for your trip; I'm beginning to think that we're biting off more than we can chew...

Any advice and ideas are welcome!

I now have a better sense of how you hope to allot your time, but I still think it's rushed because the drive times between these places are not trivial. Have you checked viamichelin or mappy? My impression is that you will be skimming the surface of each of your chosen destinations. Maybe that's what you hope to do.

> I think we'll have to choose between Plitvice and Rovinj

I would hate to make that choice and am glad I didn't! But if you need to do so, note that the travertine formations of Plitvice are unusual. If you haven't already been to Agua Azul or Krka, it is well worth considering. (And if you have been to those falls, you might be even more inclined to go to Plitvice!)

Yes, I'm getting the feeling more and more that we're trying to bite off more than we can chew for a three-week trip, but my husband is determined to go back to Albania and I want to see Slovenia and northern Croatia, so I sense a compromise in our future . I am checking via michelin, and I'll also take a look at mappy.

VT, how is the road via Trebinje? Is it good? My daughter who you probably remember lived in Sarajevo last summer will be with us for that part of the trip and said she'd like to see Trebinje as well as Blagaj just south of Mostar. Did you have any issues as Americans traveling in Republika Srpska? I don't remember from your posts; did you get your car in BiH?

I was wondering whether your daughter would be able to travel with you for the Sarajevo part of the trip. I know she really wanted to visit BiH again.

We did get our car in Sarajevo. We used a rental agency located at the Radon Plaza Hotel. Our friend had had a bad experience renting from Hertz--not sure what it was.

The road that cuts off at from Mostar via Stolac to Trebinje is good. There is less traffic than on the main route going directly south from Mostar to the coast. Blagaj is on a different route than the one we took so I don't know about that road.

We did not really stop in Republika Srpska. I don't think there are any issues for tourists from the U.S. I know my husband and I watched a Rick Steves episode that recommended Trebinje and the route via Stolac to Mostar (without any mention of the land mines issue, I might add). this is the Dubrovnik and Balkan Side-Trips episode.

I don't think the roads that connect back into BiH from Montenegro are in good shape

Vttraveler: Could you kindly expand upon the "land mines"..This sounds very scary to me and I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't drive around on our own...

Sorry I wasn't clear with the reference. I knew ellen75005 had read the trip report I posted last fall.

I explained in that report that the land bordering the road past Stolac and down to the coast still has a lot of unexploded landmines from the 1990's. Our friend who lives in Sarajevo drives that way quite often but she was quite strict about being sure that we would not stray off the road. This was not a problem on the road to Mostar from Sarajevo or the other more-traveled route south from Mostar. I did see a map of land mines at one point and they seemed to be all along the Stolac-Trebinje route

There's a beautiful (and huge) family-oriented park in Prishtina, Kosovo where walkers and joggers are told to stay on the path because of the landmines. Unfortunately it's a way of life for them.

Giuseppa, if you watch for and respect the signs, you won't have a problem.

marking

Have not been to that area, but you will find a number of places you are visiting to download information on this site. www.inyourpocket.com

Re signs on the roads in BiH, I would add a note of caution. The road I am describing to Trebinje does not have signs warning about possible land mines. Apparently it used to and people have taken them up for souvenirs (?!!!) As I have indicated, our friend who lives in Sarajevo has driven this road many times but she is careful