15 days in Croatia - Advise Needed

Old Jun 14th, 2017, 01:06 AM
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15 days in Croatia - Advise Needed

Greetings to all fellow travelers!

My bf and I are planning a 15-day trip to Croatia in late August this year. We have booked our flights (inbound Zagreb 26/8 - outbound Dubrovnik 10/9) and plan to rent a car for most of the trip (any car rental suggestions?). We love exploring nature, scenic villages, places of archaeological and/or historic interest as much as we admire good food and local culture. We are generally fast paced during our trips meaning that we try to see as much as possible rather than spend too much time in a place. With that in mind, I have come up with the following itinerary and would really appreciate your thoughts/comments on whether it is doable or not! I would also love to read your suggestions/recommendations on what not to miss when in Croatia (festivals and events, restaurants, places of interest, etc.) or even what to avoid!

So here it goes:
26/8/2017 Arrive Zagreb @ 22:00 - Overnight Zagreb
27/8/2017 Zagreb (optional visit to Trakošćan Castle) - Overnight Zagreb
28/8/2017 Zagreb -> Motovun / Porec / Grojnan - Overnight Rovinj
29/8/2017 Rovinj and Pula - Overnight Rovinj
30/8/2017 Rovinj -> visit KrK National Park -> Overnight Plitvice
31/8/2017 Half day in Plitvice Lakes then move on to Zadar. - Overnight Zadar
1/9/2017 Spend day in Zadar (optional Kornati National Park) - Overnight Zadar
2/9/2017 Zadar -> Split with short stop in Sibenic - Overnight Split
3/9/2017 Trogir / Solin / Omis (Zipline) - Overnight Split
4/9/2017 Split and Zlatni Rat Beach (Brac island) - Overnight Split
5/9/2017 Split -> Mostar - Overnight Mostar
6/9/2017 Mostar -> Dubrovnik - Overnight Dubrovnik
7/9/2017 Dubrovnik - Overnight Dubrovnik
8/9/2017 Korcula day trip - Overnight Dubrovnik
9/9/2017 Kotor day trip - Overnight Dubrovnik
10/9/2017 Dubrovnik -> HOME @ 16:00

Thank you all in advance!!
Del
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Old Jun 14th, 2017, 07:10 AM
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I would squeeze in a night in Korcula after the night in Mostar--I find the day trip too far, and it's lovely at night. (You will cross on a brief ferry at Orebic.)
30/8/2017: Assuming you meant Krka, it is out of the way to drive south then north.
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Old Jun 14th, 2017, 09:18 PM
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Thank you Yorkshire!
I thought that a day trip to Korcula was doable, will check that again!
Also, I just realized that I had mistaken Krk with Krka NP and of course your comment is absolutely right! I imagine myself going to Krk in search of a National Park that is not even there!
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Old Jun 14th, 2017, 10:55 PM
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Fast paced, indeed – and I say that as someone who travels HARD! Your plan might be do-able, but I, at least, would NOT find it enjoyable – and I loved moving apace through Croatia!

Are you sure this itinerary will give you time to see and experience what you want? “Seeing as much as possible” may mean different things to different people. To me, it means keeping the ratio of one’s on-the-ground time to in-transit time low, and IMO, your plan does NOT do that.

Have you checked the times it will take to get from place to place? I think you might be underestimating the driving times and/or the time that you might need for getting lost and re-oriented, finding parking, getting to / from parking lots, ets.

Here's what I recommend: Plot your wish list on a calendar, including blocks of time to actually see the places you visit (and noting opening / closing hours). Each time you propose changing locations, pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Note that each change of location can be "costly" as it is time that you will not have to see or do anything. Then see how things fit together. You might end up deciding to cut a destination or two...

Like yorkshire, I’d consider a night in Korcula rather than a day trip, and yes, the Krka National Park is not Krk – the park I assume you want is a bit north of Sibenik, just outside of Skradin.

Hope that helps!
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Old Jun 15th, 2017, 01:10 AM
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Thank you for your kind comment.
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Old Jun 15th, 2017, 11:11 AM
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Consider this:

26/8/2017 Arrive Zagreb @ 22:00 - Overnight ZAGREB
27/8/2017 ZAGREB
28/8/2017 Zagreb -> Motovun-> Overnight ROVINJ
29/8/2017 ROVINJ
30/8/2017 Rovinj -> Plitvice N.P.-> Overnight PlLITVICE
31/8/2017 Plitvice Lakes -> to Zadar. - Overnight ZADAR
1/9/2017 ZADAR (optional Krka or Kornati N.P.)
2/9/2017 Zadar -> Trogir-> Overnight SPLIT
3/9/2017 SPLIT (optional Solin / Omis (Zipline)
4/9/2017 Split -> Korcula* (Jadrolinija car ferry leaves Split at 10:15am arrives Vela Luka (Island of Korcula 1pm) Drive to Korcula Old Town Overnight KORCULA OLD TOWN
5/9/2017 KORCULA OLD TOWN
6/9/2017 Korcula-> Mostar** Overnight MOSTAR
7/9/2017 Mostar -> Dubrovnik - Overnight DUBROVNIK
8/9/2017 DUBROVNIK
9/9/2017 Kotor day trip - Overnight DUBROVNIK
10/9/2017 Fly home @ 16:00

* http://www.jadrolinija.hr/en/schedul...31807/04092017

** https://goo.gl/maps/cR1h6tMqm1t
Map shows 3 options. I would recommend short ferry ride from Domince(Korcula Old Town) to Orebic,short drive to Trpanj, short ferry ride Trpanj to Ploce, drive 1-1/4 hour Ploce to Mostar. See Jadrolinija website for schedules.
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Old Jun 19th, 2017, 09:08 PM
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Hello dugi_otok and thank you so much for your recommendations!!
Both you and Yorkshire suggested adding one night in Korcula so I might have to see that!
Thanks once again!
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Old Jun 19th, 2017, 09:15 PM
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Hmmm... yorkshire and I both suggested a night in Korcula, while dugi_otok suggested 2 nights. Either could be a good option, depending on your interests and what you plan to give up to make time for Korcula....
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Old Jun 22nd, 2017, 11:17 AM
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Hi Del28,
We covered some of your proposed itinerary (see my TR) so I'll comment "inside" yours where we over-lapped.

28/8/2017 Zagreb -> Motovun-> Overnight ROVINJ

I don't see how (or why) you can do Motovun on the way to Rovinj. It's at least a 4 hour drive with stops. If you go directly to Rovinj you should have plenty of time to see just about everything there is to see there in the late afternoon and evening. That will give you the next day "Rovinj" to visit Motovun (even taking in Porec) and still get back to Rovinj for a late afternoon harbor-side café, walk-about and dinner.

29/8/2017 ROVINJ

See above.


30/8/2017 Rovinj -> Plitvice N.P.-> Overnight PlLITVICE

DO NOT FOLLOW GOOGLE MAP GPS TAKING YOUR VIA RT. 42. It's the worse road in Europe. Continue on the E65 to Karlovac and then Rt. 1 south.


31/8/2017 Plitvice Lakes -> to Zadar. - Overnight ZADAR

That's what we did. Easy drive. Nice town.

1/9/2017 ZADAR (optional Krka or Kornati N.P.)

2/9/2017 Zadar -> Trogir-> Overnight SPLIT

Again that's what we did. Plenty of time to take in Trogir, have a long lunch, and go on to Split.

I'll leave to others to comment on the rest of the itinerary. You do plan on covering a lot. Good travels.
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Old Jun 22nd, 2017, 02:28 PM
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I'm not sure why PaoloCast2 argues against visiting Motovun en route from Zagreb to Rovinj. It seems quite doable to me, although it would depend (of course) on what time one wants to leave Zagreb and when one wants to reach Rovinj.

And I didn't find route 42 that bad. Perhaps it has gotten worse since I was there? I wonder what PaoloCast2 found so objectionable....
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Old Jun 23rd, 2017, 01:10 PM
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Hi kja, I don't want to hijack Del28's thread, but Rt. 42 was narrow, poorly paved, up and over two ranges of medium mountains, and the last several miles were on a very narrow twisty road. Maybe we're talking about a different route but this one was awful and I've driven across Greece, Turkey and every part of Western Europe and the British Isles and Ireland. The Miric Inn sent me a DO NOT TAKE RT. 42 -- after I left.

As for stopping in Motovun, it's doable, but even a cursory visit (and that's not so easy) adds quite a bit to an already long drive from Zagreb.

Del28, on this one alone, kja and I disagree, but take kja's advice on 99.9% of everything else. We did and it helped a lot.
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Old Jun 23rd, 2017, 03:19 PM
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@ PaoloCast2: Thanks for sharing your insights and experiences -- it gives me a better sense of the issues. And thanks again for the kind words!
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Old Jun 23rd, 2017, 05:09 PM
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@ PaoloCast2: I should have added that your observations are just as valid as mine or anyone else's, so please keep offering them, whether you agree with me or not!
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Old Jun 24th, 2017, 08:03 AM
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hi
are you looking for a driver in croatia? you can mail me at [email protected]
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