pgshorty

*Repost with Croatia in Title*

Hello-

Need your help please! Below is our final itinerary for traveling to Croatia. Please let us know if this sounds realistic.

-Arrive in Zagreb on Monday, May 5 at noon.
-Drive to Plitvice right away
-Spend Monday night and most of the day on Tuesday, May 6 in Plitvice
-Drive to Trogir on Tuesday and spend most of the day in Trogir/Split on Wednesday, May 7
-Drive to Dubrovnik on Wednesday, May 7 and spend the next 3 nights in Dubrovnik
-Thursday, explore Dubrovnik
-Friday, day trip to Montenegro
-Saturday, fly to Zagreb
-Sunday, leave for the US

A very short trip indeed, but looking forward to it nonetheless. Are we crazy for trying to go to Trogir in such a short trip?? Should we just do Plitvice and Dubrovnik instead?

bobthenavigator

Looks like a great trip to me. Here is a sneak preview to get you excited.
http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3882

nukesafe

the only par of your plan that makes me wonder is getting off the plane and jumping into a car without time to catch your breath. I don't know where you are coming from, but when we flew to Croatia from Seattle, I was so spacey from lack of sleep, and jet lag, that I would have been a traffic hazard behind the wheel.

Trogir is worth a stop, IMO. It is really a tiny town, and you can "do" it in just a few hours, if that is all the time you have. Sort of on the way, anyway.

Just a thought, why not look into getting open jaw tickets so you can avoid backtracking?

You will LOVE Croatia (Great photos, Bob!)

global_guy

The itinerary looks reasonable enough. If I were going, or planning the trip for you, I would consider going to Mostar for the day that you've alloted to Montenegro. You can check out this other thread for opinions on that very dilemma and the rationale behind the recommendation.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35118447

rogerhopper

Looks good. I would agree with the above poster. We did daytrips to both Mostar and Montenegro from Dubrovnik and enjoyed Mostat much more. The differences in the city split by the river were amazing, and we had some great food, too.

Trogir didn't have much - good for a morning or afternoon. We flew into Split and wish we'd have spent more time elsewhere rather than Split. Dubvrovik was our favorite - just before Korcula. You will have a great time! People are friendly and so many folks spoke English, which made it easy.

Driving - we did not. We took busses and ferries. When we rode in taxis (to and from the airport, drivers were crazy!)

Have a great trip.

Rogerhopper

tcreath

I think your itinerary looks good overall. We can hop in a car and drive for several hours after landing, and have done it often, but I would only suggest it if you are flying from a closer proximity or handle jetlag well. We take Ambien when we fly overseas so we never have a problem.

I loved Montenegro. Now granted I didn't get a chance to visit Mostar (not enough time) but for us Montenegro was a highlight of our trip and I am so happy that we decided to visit. We also went to Trebinje, Bosnia and found it a fascinating town. From here one can arrive in Montenegro from high above the mountains, allowing for some incredible views.

We loved Trogir, although could have passed on Split. Trogir was small but quite lovely. Dubrovnik was our favorite though.

Tracy

Lovejoy

The drive from Zagreb to Plitvice Lakes is about 2.5 hours.Just something keep in mind after your plane trip.

sessa

I think your itinerary looks good, and I don't think you are doing too much. We just returned from Croatia and visited all of the same places (except Zagreb). I have posted a detailed trip report that you might find helpful.

Plitvice is amazing! I think stopping in Trogir/Split for one night is a good idea since it will help break up your drive. I will say that we didn't care for Split, and there didn't seem to be much to do in Trogir except relax which is what you will probably want to do in between the driving anyway. Trogir was about 3 hours from Plitvice and an easy 30 minutes from Split.

Have a great time!

pgshorty

Thank you so much for all of your help! Would anybody recommend flying to Dubrovnik right after Plitvice and spending the next 4 nights there instead of doing Trogir/Split and doing a day trip to both Montenegro and Mostar?

Is there anything special that we need to do with a rental car to go to either Montenegro or Mostar since they are separate countries?

Thanks!

global_guy

Having spent lots of time on the Balkans over several trips, I think it would be very difficult to particularly recommend Montenegro (I'm guessing you'd be headed to Kotor) over Trogir/Split or vice versa. Both options have merit.
One small thing to consider is that Plitvice - Trogir - Split - Dubrovnik is linear and by choosing that option, you would avoid spending the better part of half a day backtracking as you will if you take the second day trip (to Montenegro).
I'm certain that you'll enjoy wherever it is you end up choosing to visit.
As for rental cars, just be sure to make it clear, when booking, that you intend to visit Bosnia and possibly Montenegro.

ellencmog

Mostar is a good suggestion and an easy day trip from Dubrovnik. It depends on what you want. In my opinion, Montenegro is a miniature Croatia, Kotor and Budva are beautiful coastal areas, but smaller than Dubrovnik.

Mostar is completely different. It was hit badly during the war and still has buildings that were bombed but never torn down (which we found interesting, albeit a bit depressing). It has an historic old town with a 12th century bridge over a lovely river. The drive to Mostar was easy.

So two completely different experiences, but we're happy we went to Mostar.

tcreath

I disagree with the above. I loved Montenegro, and we didn't really find it all that similar to Croatia. Yes, it has a beautiful coastline, and Kotor is a walled city similar to Dubrovik, but that's where we thought the similarities ended. I'm not saying that I prefer Mostar over Montenegro, because I have been to Bosnia but have not yet been to Mostar, but we loved Montenegro.

Tracy