travel_princess

All trying to plan a trip for Crotia in late Sept/early October of 2012. Here are my thoughts.
Fly to Venice from US. Overnight in Venice (we have been there before). Fly to Dubrovnik. Stay in Dubrovnik 3 or 4 nights and do side trips. Bus to Split stay 2 or 3 nights and do side trips. Travel to Rovinj not sure the best way maybe bus? Stay 2 nights. Ferry or train back to Venice. Should I add in another city along the coast? Totally open to ideas but want to try to find a few base cities to stay in so that we are constantly on the move. Thanks for the help!

yorkshire

What are you interested in (i.e., culture, outdoors, etc.?)
What are the specific day trips you are considering, so we can tell you if they are doable.
Are you planning on renting a car for any day trips or do you want to use buses and ferry only?

travel_princess

We love cultural things such as ruins, churches, museums but also enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking. I was thinking day trips to Kotor, Korcula, Hvar, Pula. Will probably not rent a car but use buses, ferry and private guide/driver. Thanks.

yorkshire

thanks! For Dubronvik, Kotor and Korcula are both about three hours away. The problem with using the bus is that the schedule does not allow for day trips. This could always change, but what a lot of people do is hire a guide or driver for a trip to Kotor.
There is a daily bus to Korcula at 3pm. If you reduce your time in Dubrovnik (which is tiny), you could do a night or two in Korcula before heading on to Split. If the ferry from Korcula town to Split is not running the day you need it, you can bus to the other end of Korcula (to Vela Luka) because I think the ferry from VL to Split is daily. You can check all of this out at http://www.jadrolinija.hr.
I totally agree with longer stays in fewer places in theory, but in Croatia I think it often makes sense to move a little more. The rides are quite scenic after all--both bus and ferry. The distances are not long but the system is set up to move people along (or to move residents), so it is just more convenient that way.
From Split, Hvar should be an easy day trip, and there are many more, but you may want to stay on Hvar or in Trogir, a small town near Split that many people prefer. Split is a larger city, so without the appeal of the other towns, but it is a completely personal preference--you might like a city better or want the bus connections.
I don't know Istria as well, but I do know that there is an overnight ferry from Split to Rijeka, so that might solve your transportation conundrum. You could then take a bus to Rovinj from Rijeka.
The bus schedule for Split is available at http://www.ak-split.hr/EN/index.html. I think you would have to change buses in Rijeka, and it would be a long ride, so choosing somewhere farther up the coast might be a good idea (e.g., Zadar).
I am not sure how many days you have total, but feel free to ask more when you look over your transport options for itinerary advice. You really can't go wrong, it is all gorgeous, but you do have to narrow down choices and that is hard.

Triptyme

I would go from Venice to Rovinj and spend a couple days in Istria. We thought it was fantastic there! From there I'd drive to Plitvice Falls and spend the night. From there, go to Hvar and then from Hvar to Dubrovnik where you can fly back to Venice.

travel_princess

Thanks for the great information. There are so many choices. Is there a train from Venice to Rovinj? If we do decide to rent a car would prefer to rent in Croatia as I don't know about dropping off in another country.

yorkshire

I agree that is a good idea that could save you time. Check ferries from Venice to Rovinj. http://www.venezialines.com/ I'm sure there is a bus if not train.

travel_princess

Thanks. Just checked and there is a ferry that only takes 2 1/2 hours from Venice. I do think doing the routing this way would make things more streamlined.

NanBug

Why can't you just fly directly to Croatia instead of stopping in Venice?

It'll eat up 2 days, and you're leaving from Venice, anyway. Lump all your days for Venice at the end.

NanBug

Book an open-jaw flight, is what I meant to say. Into Croatia, out of Venice -- or vice versa.

travel_princess

We are using free tickets with Delta. Looks like the only place we could fly into would be Zagreb.

LittleVicky

Flights from Zagreb to Dubrovnik are inexpensive with Croatia Airlines.