A three-night sojourn somewhere in Europe?
 

We are a mature couple and have three nights to fill, from 08 October to 11 October.
We finish a tour in Dublin on the 8th and need to be in Dubrovnik on the 11th of October to commence a yacht cruise on the 12th.
We will have already toured Scotland.
London is the easy answer, but fancy somewhere different, Done Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Florence, and did a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam so covered that route. We welcome suggestions for a fun three night stay heading in the right direction.
I think we will be castled out so coastal would be nice. Would the Cinca Terra be too ambitious considering the time it takes to get there?

Look forward to your learned suggestions
Thanks
Sharon

With three days and the first and last likely involving travel, best look for locations that have direct flight connections to and from Dublin and Dubrovnik. Cinque Terre is not one of them.

Where are your cruise destinations going to? Is there perhaps some place the cruise does not cover that might be near and/or accessible to Dubrovnik that you could fly to from Dublin? How long is your cruise port in Dubrovnik itself? I'd be inclined to spend my time there - it has a lot available nearby that may not be part of excursions.

You also may have limited/suspended flight schedules to contend with as October begins the more off season, but Dubrovnik should have somewhat regular flight achedules. I did not look this up to confirm, though.. So, like mentioned above, my biggest concern would be how I would get to Dubrovnik, whether it be from Dublin or elsewhere.

Since you need to be in Dubrovnik the evening of the 11th -- and you are leaving on the cruise the next day, I'd probably limit myself to either Dubrovnik or Split.

I'd just spend the time in Dubrovnik.

Split is wonderful - if you're not already going there, I'd consider it. Otherwise, some parts of Italy that either have direct flights or a ferry to Croatia could work (if you're not already visiting Italy on your cruise.)

I'd definitely look at airports that have direct flights from Dublin and to Dubrovnik on the relevant dates. Excluding places you've been to like Vienna, there don't seem to be too many options. I can only come up with Zurich and Madrid. Both could be good options (not limiting yourselves to Zurich in Switzerland, you can go to Lucerne or Chur or wherever). Madrid is a better bet weather-wise in October, probably, but also more out of the way.

Bari (Puglia, Italy) would be a good option (international airport, although with a layover needed from Dublin, and ferry port) if the ferry to Dubrovnik was running on the night of the 11th, but it looks like it isn't, and I don't think there are other ferries from Italy to Dubrovnik.

Going to Dubrovnik early and exploring the area (such as the Kotor bay, or Trebinje or Mostar) is of course a sensible alternative.

The problem will be finding flights on a very specific day.

We found Sarajevo to be fascinating to visit but I don't see any direct flights from Dublin.

You could fly to Rome and not go to Rome. There are ruins all along the coast, with Ostia Antica being the most significant and a major destination. If it were anywhere else in Europe, it could be a star attraction!

Ok..very sane advice above.

Can you make a list of direct flights from Dublin to City X and from city x to the airport of Dubrovnik? Once we have those in front of us, we can figure out something.
Cinque Terre would be out of the question.

Athens, maybe?
Sofia?
Trieste?
(I'm just tossing those out but we need the flight info, which you could easily find)

What are the cruise stops on the Adriatic?

You could fly from Dublin to Naples and then from Naples to Dubrovnik but you would then have to get from Naples to the CT and back. It would be easier to fly directly to a place you want to visit (we did enjoy Naples but it is not the CT.)

Direct flights to and from NAPLES..there's a great answer!
Have you been to Amalfi Coast?
If you did not want to stay in Naples (no reason not to, but if you don't) go from there to Amalfi coast with driver or public transport...
Pompeii?

But personally, you say you've "done" Rome....what does that mean? No desire to return?
ii would be happy with three nights in Fiumicino with trips to Ostia Antica, maybe Nettuno.....few travelers realize what a great town is Fiumicino..we try to fit in a couple of nights there on every trip to or through Rome.

Or the Castelli Romani?

https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/getting-to-know-the-castelli-romani-a-beginners-guide.html

Ryanair has direct flights to Gdańsk from Dublin.
LOT has connecting flights from Gdańsk to Dubrovnik.