Hi Pat,
We were on a tour when we took the bus from Split to Dubrovnik, so it was a very comfortable bus and took 4 or 5 hours. Can't remember exactly. We had a tour guide pointing out historical and other things of interest. The city buses are not quite as nice.

The ferry from Dubrovnik to Hvar took 7 hours. It made one stop in Korcula. It had comfortable seats, a dining room and you could move around. It was a nice way to travel and you could see the coastline, but except for Korcula, you missed the towns the bus passed through and the beautiful countryside.

Ideal is to do both. Given a choice of only one, I think I would take the ferry. I think it depends if you are planning to go on to Hvar also. I really liked Hvar. It's such a nice place to relax and just enjoy the scenery.

Do you have an itinerary yet?

Thank you so much granny! I`m still working on our itenerary. We will spend time in Dubrovnik, go to Hvar for a couple of days, then maybe a night in Split to see Diocletian palace. We might end up staying in Trogir rather than Split, since Split sounds like a big sprawling town Then we get confused. Wanted to go somewhere like Rovanji, until I looked on the map and saw how far it was away. So we might just go to Plitvice Park and on to Zagreb, and fly home from there. I know eurotraveller liked Rab, which is a lot closer than Rovinji, so that`s a possibility. Right now, I really don`t have a clear idea of distances, so don`t know what`s feasible. Don`t want to spend all our time on the move. If we do the ferry from Dubrovnik to Hvar, we wouldn`t get a car until we got to split. Thanks for taking the time to answer me!

Pat, we took the ferry from Hvar to Dubrovnik and it took 7 hours. It was a rainy day but it was still nice to see the islands as we passed by. We took the bus back from Dubrovnik to Split because we were taking the night ferry to Italy. The bus was a very comfortable bus and we stopped at a couple places for 15 minutes or so to use the toilet and buy refreshments.

I loved staying in Trogir rather than Split! I have a great recommendation for a place to stay if you decide on Trogir.

To give you an idea of travel time I will post what we did:

Zagreb to Plitvice - 2 1/2 hrs
Plitvice to Rab Island ferry - 2 hours
Rab ferry dock to island - 30 min.
Rab Island ferry dock to Rab town - 8 min.
Rab to Trogir - 4-5 hours
Trogir to Split - 45 minutes

I really loved Rab Town. Did you check out the photos that I posted? If you do a search on croatia on this site you will be able to find the link.

Cheers!

I hope this helps.

Hi Eurotraveller, Yes, I looked at your pictures, and that`s when I got the idea of going to Rab. Where did you stay in Rab Town? Did you have a car? I think we would be better off taking the ferry from Dubrovnik to Hvar, because we would have to get from Split to Hvar anyway, so driving or taking the bus probably wouldn`t save us much time, as we would have to get the ferry from Split to Hvar anyway. And where did you stay in Trogir? We will be going in early May, so hope the weather will be OK. Thanks for the time schedule. Did you have a car at all? Pat

Pat, I too have been inspired by the trip reports of Granny, Eurotraveller and others and we're planning to go to Croatia next May (Dubrovnik, Hvar, Trogir, Rab, Rovinj, and Zagreb -- we'll be there about 3 1/2 weeks). We're starting out in Dubrovnik, and I have to make the same decision you do about driving or the ferry. One thing to be aware of is that in May the ferry still runs on the winter schedule, which I think is Thursday and Sunday from Dubrovnik to Hvar -- I wish someone could confirm this. I've done a lot of research on flights, apartments (they can be rented by the day for a fraction of the cost of hotels, and some of them are lovely), so if you'd like to get in touch, you can reach me at sunsetbeach@hawaii.rr.com.

Pat, I did have a car for part of our trip. We picked it up in Zagreb and dropped it off in Split. I spent mnay hours planning and it definitely paid off. We loved the freedom that having a car allowed us. Personally, I don't think you need a car from Split southward.

In Rab Town we stayed in a very nice private accomodation that we found through the tourist office when we arrived in town. I don't know the name if it but it was house #150. We had a nice size room with a patio.

On Trogir we stayed just off the island on the other side of the bridge. The place is called Apartment Bakica. I have described it already in my trip report so if you click on my nae you will find the details of that report. The web address is www.trogironline.com/bakica. It is lovely and the owner is even lovelier.

Aloha, you are right that the ferry only runs twice a week until June 1st. We were in Split and saw that the new schedule adds a day and I think it adds Friday to the schedule.

I've looked at jadrolinija.hr but can't bring up the winter ferry schedule for Bari to Dubrovnik. Is there another site that posts that information now for Mar/Apr '05? Where are the train timetables for Croatia?

Bari-Dubrovnik runs just once a week in winter. Schedules for next winter won't be available yet, but are unlikely to vary. There are more frequent services from Ancona to Zadar and Split. If you cannot find the schedules on Jadrolinija's web site, try their British agents, www.viamare.com.
The Croatian railways' web site is
www.hznet.hr but it seems to be in Croatian only. Schedules for Croatian railways are on www.bahn.de.

FYI - Castleton, Although for most of Europe train travel is best, travel by bus is much easier and comfortable in Croatia. Every bus that we rode on was very nice and comfortable.

Thanks, Geoff. Very helpful.

When I was in Dubrovnik 20 years ago, there were ferries from there to Venezia. I take it that route has been discontinued?

There are no ferries from Dubrovnik to Venezia. As far as I can see, the three surface travel options are:
ferry to Bari, then train via Bologna;
bus or Jadrolinija's coastal ship to Split, overnight ferry to Ancona, then train via Bologna;
Jadrolinija's coastal ship to Rijeka, bus to Trieste then train.

Thanks for all the replies. We are still struggling on how best to get there. Looks like Venice won`t be an easy option, so will look further. Eurotraveler, did you have any problems getting the ferry from the mainland to Rab? I am checking out the places you stayed in Rab and Trogir. Alohatoall, I will email you and we can perhaps help each other out.

Pat, I look forward to hearing from you. The best plan I could come up with is Croatia Airlines/Lufthansa from Frankfurt nonstop to Dubrovnik, and the same from Zagreb back to Frankfurt, for $460 (but you can't book this yet for May). I chose a flight that's a codeshare because American and many other US airlines don't have a baggage agreement with Croatia, and it's nice to have luggage checked all the way through.

Pat, I had no trouble getting from the mainland to Rab Island. The ferry runs just about every hour except for a two hour lull during lunch time. I wish I would have had more time exploring the island rather than just Rab Town because I have heard there are some great beaches!