In reply to JuliaH:
> Gonna be doing a mt biking trip in Slovenia this summer and then fancied nipping down to Croatia for a week to relax. However we'll have 2 big bike bags with us which we would like to ditch in Slovenia somehow (have emailed airport), but if not then will have to drive about with them in a hire car. If we want to stay in some of the more historic or island based locations, does anyone have experience of how car friendly they are- can you generally drive most places and get parked near accommodation or do they have car restrictions in places like Dubrovnik. We don't want to have to drag daft luggage for more than a couple of 100m- don't want to leave stuff in car all the time.
You may have to be a bit more specific wrt to particular destinations. Many of the historic villages on the coast (Trogir, Primosten etc) are almost exclusively pedestrianised with large (expensive) carparks a short walk away. Larger historic cities e.g. Split will have hotels with parking. Most accommodation outside of these areas is in the form of privately run apartments (often part of someone's house), and usually with car parking provided. In most cases you would be best to book in advance as the high season is short, but very busy. You will normally find somewhere to stay if you just turn up (owners with spaces are often at the side of the main road with signs, and most villages have tourist offices), but it tends not to the best quality apartments.
A lot of the smaller islands that you may want to visit tend to be served by passenger ferries with a short walk to accommodation.
Public transport is pretty good, and with a hire car you have a lot of flexibility. Maybe you could consider staying somewhere nice (close to the sea) with good parking and just make day/ evening trips to the towns and villages that you want to visit?