vacation planning

ok everyone, time for requesting some traveling tips here ... as you might have noticed, this year we ended up not taking any summer vacation, due to the house move and all, so instead we're taking a few days off in the beginning of December for (hopefully) some travel vacation. We didn't want to travel far and we're not particular fans of beach only vacations - we only did that once, our honeymoon in the Seychelles, and it was unforgettably beautiful, but also quite expensive. We'd like to go back one day, who knows maybe in our 20th anniversary or something.

Which reminds me ...while we were there we met a really nice English couple, already retired, who were visiting for the first time also. It had been the husband's long time dream to visit the Seychelles but they never had the opportunity before. That year they had planned to take a vacation to some European city which I now forget (Rome ? or maybe Paris ?) but as a surprise to her husband, the wife booked a trip to the Seychelles instead, packed separate clothing bags (this was in late October so it was chilly in Europe) and he only found out when they were at the airport. Wasn't that a lovely surprise ? And they were such a nice couple too.

Anyway, we're the type that like seeing things, either nature wise, breathtaking landscapes, interesting places, culture and food experiences. And we love to take road trips, meaning getting into a car and just drive around to visit the smaller villages and off the beaten track corners. Our best experience of that kind was in Italy a couple of years ago. Everything was perfect: the scenery, the cities, the tiny villages, the people, the food, the monuments ... and best of all, the ice cream.

Earlier in the summer we had thought to go to Tunisia, but as it happens the available tours end in October so we had to search for a new destination. Several people I know have been to Croatia this year, and have recommended it, and since we've been curious to go there for a while now that's where we're headed. These days budget airlines make traveling a lot cheaper, so we are flying to Milan as our starting point, and driving to Slovenia and Croatia from there. X. has already given me a few tips, but I would appreciate any suggestions or advice if you have them. Our traveling schedule for now seems to include stops in Verona, Ljubljana, Bled, the Plitvice natural park, Zagreb, Zadar, Trogir, Split and Dubrovnik. And my colleague J. has recommended that we visit these caves, which look quite amazing indeed.

A decade ago I would probably buy a couple of travel guides (my favorites at the time being the let's go budget travel guides), but now it seems we can find everything online. I especially like checking the virtual tourist site, tripadvisor, frommers and forums like traveller's point. What about you ? What sites do you usually use when planning a trip ?

If I hadn't been curious to visit Croatia already, these Flickr photo sets would definitely convince me to go there