Travel to Mediterranean countries

lostinGalway

We are three friends from different countries planning a 12-15 day trip to some European Mediterranean countries (Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Greece, etc.).

Any advice would be appreciated around planning for mode of travel, route to take and accommodation (like bed and breakfasts) during the trip.

Is inter-rail a good option or bus-and-flights? How many countries is good for these days? I know our time limit is short and we don't want to tire ourselves travelling.

LiamMc

With that length of time you could cover an awful lot of kms. But maybe you could consider staying in one area.

The Adriatic coast will give you the opportunity to travel alot of kms but also you can stay in small little visited communities on both sides.

Flying into Northern Italy (Bergamo, Verona even over at one of the Milan airports), Bari (southern Italy) or Dubrovnik (Croatia) will give you a starting point.
Alot of the Adriatic coast gets Italian or European boating visitors so both the expectations and services provided are high. Dubrovnik has a huge walled old quarter whoses cobbled stones are worn smooth with visitors. Above the main shopping street is a row of reasonable seafood/meat restaurants that compete with each other on price. But even in the old town there are some quiet areas.
Montenegro just south of Dubrovnik is very mountainous and has a beautiful winding road route down to towns like Kotor a fortified town built into a hill, it's the deepest fjord in Southern Europe. There are ancient paved walking routes above Kotor to places like Cetinje a previous Capital of Montenegro in the early part of the 20th Century. http://www.discover-montenegro.com/kotor.htm
Futher south are beach resorts around Budva.
East of Dubrovnik into the mountains of Bosnia i Hercegovina are Mostar and Medjugorje towns. The bus services from Dubrovnik are good to both of them. From Mostar a trip to Sarajevo is also worth it.
There is an island archipelago up along the coast of Croatia as far as Slovenia. The boat services may cater for mainland - Individual islands but there will be some island to island services so it's possible to island hop. This islands are very close to the mainland all the way up so have all the modern facilities but they mostly see boat owners and many villages and ports are very tranquil and secluded.

Split has an old quarter but is one of the major towns on the coast.

I havn't been but Northern Croatia was always a favourite for the Northern Italians, the Nth. European travel agents used to sell Dubrovnik for convenience.
The Istrian Penisula looks interesting with a huge amount of ferry services from Venice.
Slovenia has lake Bled and resorts like Koper to keep people returning.

Northern Italy after Venice a coastal route with numerous villages and towns that can bring you down as far as Bari or further. The Gargano promontory in Apuglia (little rump above the heel) seems very isolated.
http://goitaly.about.com/od/pugliaapulia/a/gargano-travel-guide.htm

Along with Apuglia, Basilicata and Calabria are some of the least developed of the Italian provinces but will have a different colour and feel to N. Italy.
The ancient and seems unchanged town of Matera (Basilicata) has old streets , churches and good food. Also caves in a ravine The Sassi surround the town.

Ancona and Bari (Italy) have numerous ferry services to Durres (Albania), Bar (Montenegro), Stari Grad(Hvar island, Croatia0 aswell as the towns mentioned above
Overview from general website
http://www.directferries.co.uk/