The Adriatic
Coast Run
Seven days from Slovenia's alpine lakes down Croatia's island-studded coast: Lake Bled at dawn, Plitvice's terraced waterfalls, and the walled city of Dubrovnik to finish. About 780 km of mountains, ferries and Adriatic blue.
Ljubljana and the Alpine Lakes
Start in Ljubljana's pedestrian old town, where the Ljubljanica river winds past café terraces under the castle hill. An hour north, Lake Bled is the postcard stop — walk or row to the island church early before the buses arrive.
If time allows, Lake Bohinj, twenty minutes deeper into Triglav National Park, is the quieter sibling and a better swim.
Plitvice and the Drop to the Coast
Cross into Croatia for Plitvice Lakes, a chain of sixteen terraced lakes joined by waterfalls and linked by wooden boardwalks. Go at opening time — by midday the paths are shoulder to shoulder.
From Plitvice the road drops over the Velebit range to the Adriatic. The descent to the coast road is the drive of the trip: bare karst mountains on one side, islands scattered to the horizon on the other.
Local's tip: the coastal road
Take the old Jadranska Magistrala coast road instead of the motorway south of Senj. It is slower but clings to the water the whole way — the motorway hides the sea.
Split to Dubrovnik
Split is built inside Diocletian's 1,700-year-old palace — get lost in the basement vaults and climb the bell tower before dinner on the Riva. From here ferries run to Hvar or Brač if you want an island day.
The final stretch south passes through a nine-kilometre strip of Bosnia at Neum — keep passports handy. Then Dubrovnik: walk the full city walls in the late afternoon when the stone turns gold and the day-trippers leave.
Swim before breakfast. The Adriatic is warmest and emptiest before nine.
The Magistrala coast road
Bare karst on one side, the Adriatic on the other.
Konoba dinners
Family taverns, grilled fish and house red by the litre.
Dubrovnik old town
Sleep inside the walls for dawn without the crowds.
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