txffmxh

Hey travel community !

I'm new to the forum, but am so amazed with everyone's expertise and advice.
I've booked a flight on Oct 23 (early morning) to Dubrovnik, and am flying out on Oct 30 from Zagreb (around 4 pm). So I have about 7 nights in Croatia.

I am trying to decide where to go within those 7 days. I'm not sure what makes best sense logistically. I am a female and will be travelling alone and am in my twenties.

I'm thinking of Dubrovnik for 2 nights, Mostar for a day, Split, and Zagreb. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd like some advice on:
1) Where to go in each city, or if there are any other top Croatian towns to visit.
2) How to get from place to place logistically. I am travelling on a budget and am looking for the cheapest, most efficient options.
3) I definitely want to check out Plitvice Lakes National Park, but am not sure how I would get there either. Any tips on cheap options? I don't want to rent a car as I am travelling by myself.

I tend to travel with an emphasis of viewing places as a local, trying the food, and spending less time at museums. I love architecture and am into photography. I tend to travel quickly, did Prague Vienna and Budapest in a week.

Thanks in advance for the tips everyone!

Andrew

You can definitely get by bus from Dubrovnik to Mostar to Split to Zagreb - and stop at Plitvice on the way to Zagreb. Croatia has good bus service. See www.buscroatia.com .

But renting a car and driving in Croatia is easy, especially in October, when the roads outside of the cities won't be busy given October is at the very end of the tourist shoulder season. Much of the drive would be on the high speed A1 highway. And it should be cheap to rent a car in October.

The main reason to rent a car would be to save time on such a tight schedule. I've rented a car and driving twice in Croatia and Bosnia - by myself. Very easy. And as a photographer myself, I appreciated being able to stop at random to take the odd picture.

You really don't have many options for city stops given your noticed choices and limited schedule. I'd probably stick to Dubrovnik, Mostar, Split, Plitvice, and Zagreb.

kja

With so little time on the ground, trying to visit Dubrovnik, Mostar, Split, the Plitvice Lakes, and Zagreb, well, that's a lot. It is potentially do-able, but you will need to be very selective. Keep in mind that depending on where you are coming from, you could lose a chunk of your first day to jet lag.

As Andrew notes, you can definitely use buses for this trip. The one possible snag there is the Plitvice Lakes: You can easily get there by bus, but it's my understanding that buses do not always stop to pick people up from there, and as a solo female traveler, that would have made me very uncomfortable. You could rent a car just for that leg -- pick up the car in Split, spend the night in Plitvice, return it to Zagreb.

You would do well to get a good guidebook. Of the half dozen I used when planning my time in the area, I found the <i>Rough Guide</i> the best by far.

Good luck!

tower

7 days, eh? I would limit it to Dub, Mostar, Split and nearby Trogir. Plitvice is quite far out of range and transportation would have to be a bus. IF you can squeeze it in, it is well worth it. As for B-H you can take a bus for a daytrip to see the rebuilt famous Mostar ("old bridge"). We were fortunate enough to see the previous ancient edition in 1980's which went down as the result of bombing raids. (See pix below)

tower

https://goo.gl/photos/TxjhE5usjw5NY95A7
There are day tours of Mostar at about 50$ which seems fair. However, if you wish there are public local busses available from Dub also. The tour takes you to all of the main sites in Mostar and stops at Pocitelj.....good picture ops throughout.

By the way, if you get stranded or lost, I know of a kindly old shepherd in the hills above Mostar who will take you in for the winter! (Tx, hope you're not one of the few cringing, humorless Fodorite types).
Grandpa Stu

kja

A day tour of Mostar could make sense -- but it is very easy to visit on your own, and if you can spend a night, it's worth considering as it is much more enjoyable, IME, after day-trippers leave.

txffmxh

Thank you all for the advice.
As for renting a car, my reasons for not doing so is just saving money since I can't split the costs and buses are the cheaper option, although not as convenient.

I won't be losing a day to jet lag since I'm currently residing in Holland, so that's a plus.

Thank you tower for sharing those lovely pictures. Mostar is definitely on my list. Does anyone know the companies that do day trips to Mostar, or cheap Croatian or Bosnian bus companies for the Dub to Mostar and Mostar to split leg?

kja

Check rome2rio.com for Dubrovnik to Mostar and Mostar to Split.

Andrew

Before you rule out renting a car solely due to cost, check out the prices. Try EconomyCarRentals, Kemwel, and Auto Europe for starters. Last year, I think my rental rate in Croatia was about $13 USD per day and that included a cross border card to drive the car out of the EU (into Bosnia). Yes, you have fuel and tolls too, but in that very short time, the car will make things easier. If you had a relaxed schedule, the bus would make more sense.

kja

As another solo traveler, I generally prefer to avoid a rental car if I can see what I want with public transportation -- I abhor all the views I give up while trying to drive, and in contrast, love being able to savor every glimpse of the scenery when on a bus, train, ferry, whatever. To each his / her own!