ocanada

Hey everyone, planning a trip to Croatia-Slovenia in early July and looking for some advice. We will be flying into Dubrovnik, spending 2-3 days there and making our way up the coast towards the Istrian Penisnsula, with a stop at Plitvice National Park. We are planning on renting a car but don't know what be most logical. Should we rent in Dubrovnik, and drive/ferry to Korcula and Hvar and on to Split? Should we just drive to Split, leave car and ferry to islands? Or should we just ferry without car from Dubrovnik to Korcula, Hvar, then on to Spilt and pick up a rental in Split? Any advice or suggestion of a more logical scenario would be much appreciated. Thank you. André

SARose

Hi, We are going to Croatia next week, starting in Zagreb, bussing to Plitvice, then to Split. We plan on catching the ferries between the islands ( Brac, Hvar and Korcula), then catching the bus from Korcula to Dubrovnic, and finally flying from Dubrovnic back to Zagreb. So if you can wait till the end of May, I will be able to report back on how it all went. From what I have read, having a car has its own problems in terms of parking and waiting to take the car onto the ferry, which is why we have opted for public transport. But will let you know.

kja

I urge you to invest in one of the guide books that presents a fair amount about transportation options in the area, perhaps the Rough Guide.

ocanada

SARose, would love to hear some feedback upon your return. Did some more research since my post. Looks like our best bet may be a ferry from Dubrovnik to Korcula and then another ferry on to Hvar and Split, where we would pick up our rental. Thank you both.

kja

> Looks like our best bet may be a ferry from Dubrovnik to Korcula and then another ferry on to Hvar and Split, where we would pick up our rental.

Yes, if the ferry schedules work for you, that would make sense.

Mathieu

Ferrying to the islands and finally renting a car from Split would be your best bet, I'd say.

I did something very similar a few years ago, taking a bus from Dubrovnik to Split, then ferries from there to Brac and Hvar (I totally loved Brac; Hvar was pretty, but very touristy) then took a ferry back to Brac and hired a car and drove to Zagreb. No worry of having to deal with a car on the islands, and the public transportation on them is modern, very clean and reliable.
BTW, the drives from Dubrovnik to Split, and from Split to Zagreb along the coastal roads are spectacular.

ocanada

Thanks everybody for your responses. Very helpful. Can't wait for our trip!