travel04

Hi,

I will be heading to Croatia end of August for a week.
I'll be arriving on a Saturday night into Zagreb as it's the cheapest from SFO.
I have from Sunday until Sunday(I depart from Zagreb).

1. Is it easy to drive in Croatia? And do they drive on the same side as in the U.S.?
2. From Zagreb, I'd leave immediately the next day Sunday for Plitvice Lakes., Spend the night. Should I drive or take the bus?
3. Monday, I'd like to then head to Split. Wondering how best to do this.
4. Tue: Split (guess i don't have time to do a day trip to Vis)
5. Wed: Split to Hvar
6. Thu: Hvar
7. Fri: Hvar to Dubrovnik
8. Sat: Dubrovnik
9. Sun: I guess then i should fly out of Dubrovnik since i don't have time to get to Zagreb

From Dubrovnik, i have hopes of doing a day tour to Montenegro So I need one day for that and at least one day to see Dubrovnik itself. And then again a desire to see Korcula on a day trip. Obviously I don't have time for all this.

Then one day from one of these destinations, I'd like to take a boat out...(not by myself).

What do you guys suggest? How should I think about this itinerary...

Thanks so much!

Andrew

You're trying to pack in way too much into one week.

I'd stick to Plitvice, Dubrovnik, and one island plus whatever you need for Zagreb. You might need one night there at each end if you have to fly into/out of there instead of Dubrovnik one way.

You might try to fly directly to Dubrovnik from Zagreb on Croatia Airlines as soon as you can and work your way back to Zagreb, if you must do the round trip via Zagreb. (You can check on Kayak to figure out whether it's cheaper to round trip plus one way to Dubrovnik vs fly into Zagreb, out of Dubrovnik.)

With so little time, I would rent a car and drive for sure vs. taking the bus. I drove from Zagreb to Dubrovnik in 2009 and found it very easy (they drive on same side of road as in the US). However, you may find much more traffic in August in high season.

kja

Andrew has already given you some great advice! Here are a few additional thoughts:

"1. Is it easy to drive in Croatia?" In most areas, yes. Just be careful to drive defensively if you need to get off the main roads. Note, however, that a car will be a decided disadvantage in many of the places you hope to visit, and you might want to consider public transportation for everything but the stretch between Zagreb and Split (because a car will make it MUCH easier to see the Plitvice Lakes).

"4. Tue: ... (guess i don't have time to do a day trip to Vis)" -- correct.

"From Dubrovnik, i have hopes of doing a day tour to Montenegro" -- I can't imagine where you would find the time, unless you extend your trip.

"And then again a desire to see Korcula on a day trip. " -- Again, I don't see a way that you could manage such a trip without additional time.

I really like Andrew's suggestion to fly strait to Dubrovnik from Zagreb. Since you are coming from the US, you will almost certainly experience jet lag upon your arrival, and trying to rent and drive a car in unfamiliar territory without a day or two to recover carries what I personally consider to be an unnecessary risk. One of the key features of jet lag is what are known as "micro sleeps," which are blamed for a lot of car accidents. SO: fly from Zagreb to Dubrovnik ASAP; work your way north; rent a car just before leaving Split; visit the Plitvice Lakes; return the car upon your arrival in Zagreb.

Enjoy!

travel04

Thank you all!

So fly into zagreb, then immediate flight into Dubrovnik.
Then bus to Hvar?
Then bus to Split?
Then car rental at Split to Plitvice Lakes, then drive to Zagreb?? Is that what you're saying?

kja

"Then bus to Hvar?" I could be wrong, but I don't think that's an option. I think you need to take a ferry from Split or perhaps Korcula, although I'm not sure you have enough time for both Korcula and Split.

You might want to decide (a) whether Korcula or Hvar better matches your interests and/or schedule and (b) whether you want to spend any time in Split and/or Zagreb. No wrong answers here -- it really depends on what you want to see and experience.

Andrew

I was thinking rent a car in Dubrovnik and return it in Zagreb. The only problem with a car is in Hvar. There are car ferries going up and down the Dalmatian coast between major islands but they don't run every day, so you'd need to time your arrival/departure in Hvar on the right day. I visited Korcula instead (I had more time and had ditched my car by then), and Korcula has easier car access (daily).

You could do the whole thing with public transportation, though: there are catamarans between Hvar and Split daily year round plus more options during high season. And you could take buses between Split and Plitice and then Plitvice and Zagreb. Having a car makes you more flexible, though again I'm not sure about Hvar.

You can certainly rent a car just for two days from Split to Zagreb and stop in Plitvice, but I have a feeling it will be kind of expensive just for two days. Maybe with the limited time you have it's worth the extra cost and also avoiding the hassle of a car in Hvar.

travel04

So I finally found the best connections/travel time from SF to Dubrovnik and then Split to SF.
I have decided to skip Plitvice altogether and instead opt for the following itinerary:

Saturday - arrive Dub early evening.
Sunday - Dub
Monday - day tour to Montenegro
Tuesday - day trip to Korcula/Ston
Wednesday - bus ride to Split; ferry to Hvar.
Thursday - Hvar
Friday - Hvar to Split by ferry
Saturday - Boat to Vis/Komize
Sunday - Split to SFO

What do you think? i'm opting for Korcula/Ston over the Elaphiti islands...and i've heard that Vis and the fishing village is so pretty that i really want to do that....any feedback?

Thank you!

Andrew

You'll save yourself a lot of travel time by spending a night in Korcula and taking a catamaran to Hvar (pretty quick) instead of day trip to Korcula, then backtracking to Dubrovnik, then bus to Split, then catamaran back to Hvar. I'd look for a timely connection from Dubrovnik to Korcula; in October my only good option was a bus that arrived in Korcula late in the afternoon, and the catamaran to Hvar left at the crack of dawn. In August you may have better options - more ferries run in the summer.

Actually, I'd probably pick either Hvar or Korcula and not try to squeeze in both with such a limited amount of time.

kja

Again, Andrew has given you some good advice. I would add:

Korcula is not a great place, IMO, for a day trip, particularly if you want to visit Ston, too. If you are going to try to visit Korcula, try to spend the night.

I think there are some ferries that include Hvar on the way to or from Vis, but I could be mistaken. If you are going to try to visit Vis, do check into that to avoid unnecessary backtracking.

FWIW, I consider the Plitvice Lakes the single most magnificent place in Croatia.

And I loved Split itself, although not everyone does.

travel04

Sigh...okay let me look into Plitvice Lakes again
I hate to say this, but coming from California, I just thought we have a lot of natural beauty within reach and so we may not find Plitvice as breathtaking...I looked at some pics...and if we do plitvice we definitely have to skip korcula/ston etc.

Anyway thank you all for the advice will go back and do some more research!

Andrew

We have great natural beauty here in Oregon as well. I can drive to about twenty beautiful waterfalls within about two hours. But Plitvice is different, with its huge turquoise-colored lakes full of trout. I thought it was unique and breathtaking.

Seeing Plitvice with such limited time, flying out of Split not Zagreb, would be much more challenging. You'd probably need to do it as a day a long day trip from Split - with more travel time than just replacing Korcula/Ston with Plitvice. I'm not sure how worthwhile that would be. Then again, you've got more moving around in one week than I'd want to do anyway, so maybe adding Plitvice isn't much of an extra burden in your case.

jagger

Personally if I only had one week in Croatia and I had never been there before I would simplify and split my time between Dubrovnik and Hvar. There is so much to do in each of those places and so many islands and places to which you can day trip from each of those towns. I'd hate to see you spend half of your time traveling from one place to another and miss the beauty and attractions of those places.

We have been to Croatia three times and have seen the whole country from top to bottom and Dubrovnik and Hvar are where I would return to first. In Hvar you can spend time in the Pakleni Islands. Vis is a long trip for one day and I would opt for the island of Brac instead. It's also a long trip but not as long as Vis. In Dubrovnik you can take a fish picnic and see three lovely places in one day. We drove to Montenegro and I wanted to go for so long so I understand your desire to do that but it will eat up an entire day and night.

I can see why you want to see as much as you can of Croatia because it is a stunning country with warm friendly people and delicious food. But you can also enjoy it and appreciate it if you give yourself time to be in just a couple places and really engage in them. There is always more to see and do there so after one trip you are sure to return someday and discover more. One other note, we used Jay Way travel to plan our second trip there. I found them here on a message board and they were fantastic in helping plan. I highly recommend using them to help with your itinerary, planning and logistics. We also used them for our flights and places to stay.

kja

The Plitvice Lakes do include some stunningly turquoise waters -- and also green and nearly clear and deep blue.... Part of that (of course) has to do with the lighting, but it is also apparently due in large part to differences between the lakes in their microbial content. I found the differences in the colors absolutely fascinating and part of what makes a visit to this park so special. Too, the waterfalls that connect the lakes are travertines, which also sets the scenery apart from many sites.

The "problem" -- as others are noting -- is that there is simply too much to see and enjoy in Croatia to fit into just one week of 8 days or so. The good news: You will see some wonderful things no matter what you decide!