last minute - Croatia or Slovenia - advice needed

[goldfinchonthelawn]

We've not been abroad in years and finally have a week in September DH and I can both do.
We fancy a Mediterranean style holiday -
exploring old cities, ruins, churches, galleries,
sipping wine with a sea view,
hikes in pretty countryside or coastal walks
maybe a hotel or apartment with a pool

DH wants a drive free holiday so we were thinking of a single destination - Dubrovnik or Lubliana - in a central city location but where we can get out into the countrysiede or coast quite easily.

Usually I love researching holidays for ages but this year has been busy and I've had no time. It'll be a last minute booking in September, so I'd massively appreciate any inside info on either of these places or somewhere similar - recommended quarters of either city, good hotels or rental places, things to do, good walks, restaurants - anything!

TIA

I'd also really appreciate any links to good websites for info. I used to use Trip Advisor but it seems to be overloaded with expensive food walking tours etc which is not the sort of thing we do - we like to explore on our own not in groups.

Slovenia is my favourite place but I’ve also been to Croatia and that seems to fit your criteria a bit better. Unfortunately I haven’t been to Dubrovnik!

Slovenia only has a small bit of coastline whereas you are spoilt for choice in Croatia. Buses/coaches are cheap and easy to use and you would be able to use those for day trips- Plitvice lakes in Croatia is beautiful. However looking on a map Dubrovnik is quite far down the coast so don’t know how easy that would be- would you consider Zadar which is up the coast and closer to Zagreb the capital. Zagreb isn’t on the coast but if you based in Zadar you could do a day trip there for the museum of broken relationships which is more fun than it sounds!

Slovenia is very beautiful and my favourite place ever. Ljubljana is pretty - I haven’t been to any of the museums there though. We mainly spent time at Lake Bled and we actually honeymooned at Lake Bohinji which is stunning. Slovenia is only about the size of wales so easy to get around and is great for walking. If you go to lake bled do the walk to Vintgar Gorge. September is a lovely time to go.

Food is great in both and cheap wine. Lots of good pasta and seafood. Sorry I’ve not really answered but there’s a few things I liked in both!

Sorry accidentally deleted my bit about Zadar- ruins and old bits aplenty! There’s a cathedral. They have great ice creams. The sunsets are beautiful and there are lovely cafes everywhere. It’s a lovely city. I’d go to Zadar. Do a day trip to Zagreb maybe, definitely a day trip to Plitvice lakes and maybe a day trip to an island or beach further along? Then I’d spend the time wandering the city eating ice creams, dining on sardines fresh that day and drinking wine. 😂

Slovenia is gorgeous. It’s more about lakes than coast though but you can lie by lake bohinj and swim in beautiful clear water. No salt! It has a small coastline which is quite Venetian so prob more a day or two there rather than lying on a beach.

lykubiana is fantastic. Traffic free and you can rent bikes and cycle everywhere. Pavement cafe and bar culture. Sometimes free live music outside. Excellent art galleries. Very classy place.

In September, Slovenia. Public transport is good and easy to use, and because it's small the time spent travelling is short - e.g. from Ljubljana to Lake Bled. It's beautiful in autumn and there's hiking with spectacular views.

Like a pp, I wouldn't choose Dubrovnik for the activities you want and I definitely wouldn't choose it over Slovenia.

Some years ago we went to Portoroz on the Slovenia coast. It was quite small, but reasonably lively with a medieval history. I would think it’s more tuned into tourists now, as there were very few British people holidaying there at the time.
it was very easy to get around by bus, as others have said, it’s a small country.
We took our passports with us, as it’s easy to cross the Croatian or Italian border.

Thank you all so much. I replied earlier but weirdly my post hasn't displayed.

Definitely looking at Slovenia now as it sounds perfect for what we want.