Central Europe Road Trip: From Bohemian Alleys to Balkan Breezes
- Rand Blimes
- May 30
- 7 min read
Updated: May 30
Bohemia to Balkans Central Europe Road Trip
Our whirlwind Central Europe road trip all started because we wanted to go to Egypt. But when I started looking at flights from Honolulu to Cairo, the prices were laughably high. Like, “you-could-buy-a-used-car-for-that” high.
Many times, you can hack a cheaper flight by piecing it together. So I started checking deals from Honolulu to anywhere in Europe, thinking we’d just add a cheap connection to Egypt from there.
So, I started checking the usual suspects. London? OK. Amsterdam? Maybe. Frankfurt? Doable.
But I kept looking around.
Then I stumbled across a fantastic deal to Prague. We’d never been to Prague. We wanted to go to Prague. And suddenly, the plan was hatching. Fly to Prague, spend a few days exploring the city, then catch a flight to Egypt.
But then I started thinking—dangerous, I know. If we’re flying all the way to Prague, why not rent a car and take a quick road trip? There are so many amazing places within a day's drive: Croatia, Slovenia, Austria. We could sample a bunch of spots, then return to Prague and still make it to Egypt.
And that’s how we ended up on a five-day, four-country, 1,700-kilometer detour through Central Europe and the Balkans.
Did it save us any money? Absolutely not. But it gave us five days packed with food, scenery, castles, churches, markets, music, and moments. It also gave Prague a legitimate shot at becoming one of my favorite cities in Europe.
The Itinerary:
Day 1: Pick up rental car in Prague, drive to Zagreb
Day 2: Drive to Istria, overnight in Motovun
Day 3: Drive to Ljubljana, stopping at Predjama Castle en route
Day 4: Early visit to Lake Bled, drive to Český Krumlov with a Salzburg stop on the way
Day 5: Leisurely drive back to Prague
This is not how my wife and I usually travel. We’re slow-movers. We like to absorb cities like graceful sloths, not race through them like caffeinated hedgehogs. But for this one trip, we embraced the chaos. It was our sampler platter. And somehow, it worked. Five days of driving on beautiful roads, past alpine peaks and Istrian vineyards, turned out to be its own kind of meditative bliss.
Zagreb
Zagreb is a masterclass in how to make a city center irresistible. Since we stayed outside the core, we left the rental at the hotel and hopped in an Uber. Good decision—Zagreb’s center is largely car-free. It feels like a set designer got their hands on a Balkan fairytale.
We wandered tiny graffiti-covered alleyways. We climbed many stairs to scenic viewpoints. We sat in city squares. And eventually, we made our way to Lanterna na Dolcu—a restaurant that would become the gold standard for this trip. We asked the waiter what to order (always a good move) and were gifted with a platter of meats, cheeses, and olives that made us emotional. The savory štrukli was buttery, the pork tenderloin stuffed with goat cheese and herbs was divine, and my wife, who does not like olives, gobbled them down like candy. Zagreb had already won.
We were going to need to come back here when we had more time.
Istria
The next day we headed to Istria, a peninsula in northwest Croatia, where rolling hills give way to romantic hill towns and truffle-infused menus. We skipped our planned stop in Hum due to a navigation hiccup (thanks Google), and headed straight to Motovun, a perched village that looks like it was painted into the landscape by a Tolkien-loving Italian.
Lunch was at Konobo Mondo, known for rustic food drowning in local truffles. The meal was solid (the olive oil was standout), but it wasn’t transcendent. Still, the town was lovely and worth the stop.
That afternoon, we drove to the town of Bale.
Bale felt like it had been left off the tourist map by mistake—and thank goodness for that. We wandered its tangled cobble of alleys almost entirely alone, each turn revealing shuttered windows, ivy-covered stone, and that warm patina of a place that has simply existed, beautifully, for centuries.
And then it happened: standing in a quiet little square, the sound of a choir began to float through the air. We couldn’t tell where it was coming from—maybe above us, maybe around a corner—but the music bounced off the stone walls and wrapped itself around the village like a spell. For a few perfect minutes, Bale gave us its own private soundtrack.
We ended the day in Rovinj, once an island but now connected to the mainland. With space at a premium, buildings were crammed tightly together, creating a labyrinth of stone alleys stacked along the sea. It’s gorgeous. We had a lackluster dinner here, reminding us that it’s always a gamble to eat right in the tourist core—and all of Rovinj is a tourist core.
Istria was full of the stuff of travel dreams. We were going to have to come back here some day.
Ljubljana
Crossing into Slovenia felt like stepping into a storybook set in a classic pastoral painting. Green hills, dotted with churches, and tidy villages escorted us on our journey towards Ljubljana, one of Europe’s most charming capitals.
We stopped at Predjama Castle on the way—a fortress built into a cliffside cave. It’s the kind of place you expect to see a dragon perched on the roof. It is spectacular (from the outside).
In Ljubljana, we wandered markets, strolled along the river, walked the atmospheric pedestrian street through the center of the city, and scored some of the best ice cream we have ever had.
We also picked up a fantastic loaf of bread from Osem Bakery. And that meant that along with cheese, honey, and strawberries we bought at the farmers market, we were picnic-ready for the next morning’s mission: sunrise at Lake Bled.
But as we turned in for the night, one conclusion was simply inescapable: we were going to need to come back here.
Lake Bled
Lake Bled is ridiculous—in the best way. It’s the kind of place travel magazines create using AI for their covers, only it actually looks like that. A church-topped island in the middle of a lake, a castle on a cliff, and mountains framing it all like stage curtains.
I wanted to be there to shoot Lake Bled right when the sun first came up. So really, I wanted to get to Lake Bled about 45 minutes before sunrise.
Sunrise was a little after 5:00. So . . . I wanted to be there by 4:30.
And it was an hour’s drive from Ljubljana.
And I had to gently explain this all to my wife.
My wife will tell you this is why you need to think twice before marrying (or at least traveling with) a photographer. Lake Bled was on our way to our next destination, so this wasn’t a time when I could sneak out, do my sunrise shoot, then return to collect her. Nope. She had to come with me.
My wife is a really good sport. But not a morning person. Those two things canceled each other out, resulting in an only mildly cranky human who staggered from the hotel to the car at 3:30 in the morning, then snoozed in the passenger seat while I drove into the deep dark of pre-dawn Slovenia.
But that sunrise . . .
In that place . . .
Even my wife decided it was worth it.
And after I’d worked the scene with both my handheld camera and my drone, we sat down near the shore and broke out the bounty we’d picked up at the farmers’ market in Ljub. Hunks of bread dipped in honey. Strawberries so red they nearly blinded. And punctuations of mild but salty cheese.
My wife may not like getting up early, but she sure loves a great picnic. Especially in a fairytale setting. Balance and order had been restored.
Český Krumlov
Our final stop before returning to Prague was Český Krumlov, the storybook town curled inside a bend of the Vltava River. A hilltop castle, pastel towers, cobblestone streets, and a general sense that you might run into Rapunzel at any moment.
There are towers to climb, a Baroque theater to explore, and bears (yes, real ones) in the moat. But mostly, you come to Český Krumlov just to be in Český Krumlov.
We walked, aimlessly. Holding hands. Admiring one of the most beautiful villages we had even visited.
Final Thoughts
We drove back to Prague with full hearts. This wasn’t the relaxing kind of trip we usually plan, but for five intense, beautiful, whirlwind days, we tore through Central Europe like happy maniacs.
We came for Egypt. But because travel often doesn't turn our quite the way you thought it would, we found a detour we’ll never forget. We are going to have to go back some day.
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