Help with a trip to Croatia

Old Mar 8th, 2012, 05:43 PM
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Help with a trip to Croatia

Hi, I'm planning the following:

1. Arrive late one Sat. evening in Zagreb. Overnight in Zagreb.
2. Sunday morning, leave for Split via Plitvice Lakes.
3. Monday afternoon, Split to Dubrovnik by bus.
4. Tuesday: Dubrovnik.
5. Wednesday: Early flight for Zagreb with long layover before flying to London.

These are the questions.

A. I'm wondering if there could be potential problems, especially when it comes to taking buses, as I'll be relying on them. Is there something I should watch out for?

B. Are these bus schedules current? http://www.akz.hr/

C. I've heard that Plitvice Lakes is a small stop. Since I need to continue to Split at this stop, is there anything I should watch out -- is this route busy on a Sunday? It'll not be good if I'm stuck there, and I've read that the buses can get full.

D. The luggage question. I'll stopping in London first and I'll have to too much to carry with me to Croatia. I'm considering the following. Is there something I've missed? Which option is the best?

a. Leave the luggage at Heathrow and retrieve when I'm back. Potential problem: 3 hours between landing and my connecting flight to the USA, and I need to pass through immigration to retrieve my bags. Also the fee is 8.50 pounds per day per bag.

b. Leave the luggage in Zagreb, possibly with my hotel or at the bus or train station (is this possible -- it seems like there are lockers?). Downside to this: What if something happens to my Dubrovnik to Zagreb flight, for example, it gets canceled, and I get routed to something else that doesn't pass though Zagreb? (This, by the way, is the option I'm leaning towards.)

c. Carry all my bags with me. It's the safest option. But then, where do I leave the luggage at Plitvice Lakes? It seems like there's left luggage service near the ticket counter. Does someone know for sure?

Thanks!
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Old Mar 8th, 2012, 06:23 PM
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It seems to me that you are spending a LOT of time in transit for very little time in some wonderful destinations. If I'm following correctly, you basically have -

- no time to explore Zagreb. I know many people skip it; I thought it worth several days.

- an afternoon and morning at the Plitvice Lakes. I think that means that instead of circling the lakes, you'd probably be hiking from the entrance in one direction on one day and from the entrance in the other direction on the other. That might suit you very well. But I think you should keep in mind that spreading your visit over 2 days probably means that you won't be able to see what you would be able to see in the same amount of time if it were all in one block. But I could be wrong about that....

- just over a day in Dubrovnik. You can see many interesting aspects of that wonderful city in one day, but I believe you would have to be very selective to fit it into that time frame.

That's not the way I would want to see these places, but thank gooness we don't all travel in the same ways!

> I'm wondering if there could be potential problems, especially when it comes to taking buses, as I'll be relying on them. Is there something I should watch out for?

When I went to Croatia, I read that it is very easy to get a bus from Zagreb to the Plitvice Lakes, but much more difficult to get a bus from Plitvice Lakes to anywhere. At that time, from what I read, one basically had to try to flag a bus down, and if the bus is full, you won't get on and can't reserve in advance. I don't know for sure, as I rented a car for that segment of my trip and its been a few years.

I found both Plitvice Lakes and Dubrovnik wonderful, so the good news is you'll at least get some glimpses of some very special places in between all your bus rides and flights.

Good luck!
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Old Mar 8th, 2012, 06:29 PM
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Hi there! I cant help much with the bus schedules (although I did do split to zagreb by bus and, in my experience, I found the buses to be clean and comfortable, and run on time).

As for your bags; I carried my bags with me to the lakes. There is a large resort/hotel in the center of the park. I paid a small fee to lock my bags in their storage while I explored.

Have you already bought your plane tickets? If not, I would consider going to Rab or somewhere closer to Zagreb to minimize your travel times.

Have a fabulous trip!
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Old Mar 8th, 2012, 06:31 PM
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Have you considered renting a car in Zagreb and driving to Dubrovnik and dropping the car there? Then you could leave your luggage in the car and not need to worry about the bus. Driving in Croatia is pretty easy. I drove Zagreb-Plitvice-Dubrovnik in 2009.

I don't know if you can leave luggage at Plitvice, but there are several hotels right at the park. Have you considered staying at one of the park hotels overnight? They are kind of overpriced for what they are, but they are convenient.

As I recall, the bus stops are pretty non-descript in Plitvice - just signs along the main road. I'd be prepared to wave to or flag down a bus that comes near the time you expect it to arrive.

If not renting a car: have you considered skipping Split and just busing back from Plitvice to Zagreb and then flying to Dubrovnik? Your limited schedule seemed a bit rushed to me.
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Old Mar 8th, 2012, 06:33 PM
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Well I have a few hours in Zagreb that Wed. As I said, that's a long layover.

By the way, only one entrance at Plitvice Lakes is open at this time -- entrance 1 -- as I understand it.

I travel like this all the time, so no worries. If I like it I'll go back and spend more time.

Anyway, there's a good excuse doing the trip this way. It's not quite high season, so as I understand it, the boats and sightseeing trains in the Lakes are closed. And I don't really want to spend that much time there if I have to hike everywhere. But it's a natural stop on the way to Split.

Granted, I could have tried to fly to Split directly. However I think the ticket was more expensive that way.
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Old Mar 8th, 2012, 07:07 PM
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Hi, we were posting at the same time. I'm not renting a car because I'm not a very comfortable driver.

I think only entrance 1 is open and the hotels are near entrance 2 and it's about 2 miles or more between the two. I guess I can try writing them to ask about luggage.

Thanks!
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Old Mar 18th, 2012, 11:31 AM
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Well I am in Croatia and this was not a good day. I have to vent a bit.

I flew into Zagreb late last night and took an early bus for Plitvice Lakes. I had a leisurely time there until I had to get out.

I saw a bus heading towards Split, but since it was a slower bus, and I was assured that there would be another bus coming later, I decided to wait.

Of course, it never came. I was really panicking and thought that perhaps I could hitch a ride with a tour group that would head to Split. I found one that was indeed going at the restaurant at the entrance, but the guide wouldn't let me join. I also tried to flag random cars down the road, but only one stopped and of course it wasn't going to Split.

So I ended having to pay for a costly ride to Split. (Split is 240km away from Plitvice Lakes, or 150 miles.)

Then I didn't realize that the owner of the B&B I was staying would be impossible to reach. I had to change my time of arrival and her cell was off nearly the entire time. When I finally found her she said she was at church but would come in 10 minutes. I waited an hour and she never showed.

I was really fed up and so I decided to go to a nicer hotel around the corner.

Anyway off to get dinner now but what a costly day.
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Old Mar 18th, 2012, 12:45 PM
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Very sorry to hear this. I imagine we've all had travel mishaps - I know I have more than one "missed the train" story where I was very upset afterward. Try to carry on with your trip and enjoy Split and beyond. Someday none of what's bothering you now will matter.
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Old Mar 18th, 2012, 01:12 PM
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Thanks. I guess I should just have taken the slow bus, but I wasn't too hot on a six+ hour bus ride. I was lulled into a false sense of security when I saw that both scheduled buses (the one I took and the later one) actually arrived early.

Anyway at least this wasn't something that couldn't be solved with money, so I suppose it could have been worse.
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