Arrive at Pula Airport, where a local representative assists with car hire and orientation. Check in to your hotel and begin exploring the largest city on the Istrian peninsula, with its layered history of Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian influence. An optional two-hour private city tour is available to cover the amphitheatre, the Temple of Augustus, and the old town gates.

Spend the day at leisure in Pula, circling the Roman Amphitheatre and the triumphal Arch of the Sergii before venturing toward the coastal promenades and Istrian market stalls. The city rewards slow exploration, and the surrounding Istrian peninsula offers short drives to hilltop villages and olive groves.

Check out and drive north into Slovenia, passing green river valleys, a turquoise Adriatic coastline, and the foothills of the Julian Alps before arriving in Ljubljana. Two full days in the Slovenian capital allow time for the castle, the riverside market, Baroque old town lanes, Roman Emona remains, and optional hiking or rafting in the surrounding countryside.

Drive south back into Croatia toward Plitvice Lakes, where dense beech and fir forests surround sixteen interconnected lakes of extraordinary turquoise and green hues. Boardwalk trails of varying lengths wind past waterfalls and through gorges; an optional four-hour guided tour provides detailed ecological and geological context.

Continue to Rijeka, Croatia's principal port city, and spend two days discovering Trsat Castle, the Korzo promenade, and the surrounding villages of Kastav, Veprinac, and Mošćenice. Day seven focuses on the coastal villages of Volosko and Mošćenička Draga, renowned for their seafood restaurants, and an optional Opatija city tour is available nearby.

After a final breakfast in Rijeka, check out and drive back to Pula Airport to return the rental car and depart. The route south along the Istrian coast offers a fitting scenic close to the journey.