Thanks Mark. I tried to find a ferry schedule but couldn't.

WT, try this web site for information:

http://uk.geocities.com/my_ferries/croatia.html

Could you possibly take a ferry from Split to Italy (Ancona, etc.)?

If you consider getting a driver to take you from Dubrovnik to Hvar I can highly recommend Miro who was our driver. His email is miro-taxi at hi.htnet.hr

WT -
the number for the Croatian Tourist Board is 212.279.8672. I was having problems with Jadrolinija's web site and they helped me.

Thank you Judi for recommending Miro. I will contact him because I have had good experiences with local drivers. I have explored the Split - Ancona and the Hvar- Pescara options. I could do them, but I will have to spend 4-6 hrs. on a ferry and then 3-4 hrs. on a train and will have to leave Croatia earlier. I will check the site you gave me.

Mark, thanks so much for the phone number. I am going to call them.

WT

Judi:

Just saw your photos! Beautiful. I am thinking I must get back there soon! Thanks for posting them.

Judi : Great report ! Well done.

WanderingTexan : would love to read a trip report when you return. Please post one. Am planning my first trip to Croatia this year and would be grateful for benefit of your experiences. Have a wonderful trip.

Mathieu, When are you going? I am not going until late June. I will post a report when I get back.

Judi, your link provided a ferry schedule and there is a very early morning ferry.

Mark, I wasn't able to call the Croatian Tourist Board until late today and have left a message. I will let you know if the ferry schedule on the web site Judi gave me is still accurate or if there is another site we can all use.

Thanks again to all. WT

WT : Haven't nailed down a time yet but could be the first 2 weeks of either September or October but no later.

We too hopefully will be traveling to Croatia for the first time in Sept/Oct. I'm trying to convince my husband this is a great destination, and collecting all the info I can find. Trip reports like this one should help me persuade him. Hoping to spend a night or two in Venice, on to Trieste with another day or two visit, and so on.

I'm in the very early planning stages, so any suggestions or advice will be appreciated. We will be leaving from SFO and hope to plan an open jaw return home. Would love to visit this wonderful country before its popularity maybe changes it a bit.

Wish me luck.

I have made a decision to fly in and out of Dubrovnik because I can fly on the days I need. I was determined to see Hvar, but have been looking at Mijet as an alternative to driving to Hvar and back to Dubrovnik to catch my flight. Now that I have been researching it, I want to stay there too!!! Has anyone been to Mijet? Thanks.

Just some information for those planning to catch ferries. The ferries vary greatly in size and for example the one from Stari Grad (Hvar) to Split was pretty big.The one from Rab (Lopar) to Krk only took 17 cars but you didn't find this out until you arrived at the ticket office.
To our advantage, we were there in June,they were just changing over to Summer schedule. On one or two occasions the ferries ran later than scheduled just to deal with demand. This was very welcome when we failed to get on the last scheduled ferry to Rab at about 9p.m.

WT,are you going to be in Dubrovnik for just three nights? If you walk the wall, explore the town, visit some museums, go to Cavtat and Montenegro (with Atlas) you will be pressed for time. We were in Dubrovnik for eight nights and weren't bored with it.

Do you have a specific reason for wanting to to to Mljet? Perhaps it is possible to do as a day trip from Dubrovnik. I googled it and there doesn't seem to be much going on there.

Don't plan this trip with the idea that you will never return because once you have visited Croatia you will most likely want to return.

Frances, that is good information for people with cars.

We are going to Croatia this April and plan to spend several days in Dubrovnik. I'll try to take some notes and post them, but Judi has done such a great posting, I'm not sure how much more I can add. I was really hesitant about traveling to Croatia until I read her post and others and now I can't wait.

some posters here have done Mljet in a day - and it is suppose to be pretty greuling - most of the time spent on the catamaran.

WT - if you're interested in spending a night or two on an island near Dubrovnik, you may want to also consider Lopud. It's one of the few islands that has a sandy bottom cove and sandy beach. It's probably more populated than Mljet, but not much more.

Mljet sounded really natural and unspoiled - I would have liked to have spent a couple days there just to decompress, to get away from it all.

I have a total of 7 nights for Croatia. I am wanting to spend 4 nights in Dubrovnik and 3 in Hvar or somewhere closer to Dubrovnik. We will be at the end of a more complicated trip than I usually take because I will have family with me part of the time. My daughter is getting married in Positano on June 16. After that, we are off to Venice and Greece, and then Croatia. We were thinking Mijet would be a good place to unwind, but it does look a little too quiet. I would not go there unless I spent a couple of nights there. I am not into the rushed day trips at all. I still want to go to Hvar, but I am going to check out Lopud. I think I read something online very positive about it. Atlas says Hvar is a 3 hr. drive to the ferry. How far is Hvar Town from Sucuraj if I am driving in? By driving instead of the ferries, I can stay an extra night in Hvar and drive back to Dubrovnik the next day to catch an evening flight. I really appreciate everyone's help. I will let you know what I decide. I feel better just knowing I have made a decision on my flights and can go ahead and get those arrangements made. Ya'll have been wonderful! Thanks again. WT

WT-
Sucuraj is on the opposite end of the island - I'm sure you could drive to Hvar town in an hour or so - and it would be a great way to see the interior of the island. I found town signage on the island to be very good and easy to follow.

Thanks Mark. I think that is what I am going to do. I found another web site you probably already know about, findcroatia.com. I got a message from the Croatian Tourist Office in NYC and they referred me to the site. There are more photos of the Hotel Podstein on sunnyhvar.com too. I would like to stay in the center of things, but I think I am going to go for the Podstein.

WT-
We are planning a similar drive from Dubrovnik to Hvar via the ferry at Sucuraj in Sept.(then on to Split). We'd be interested in a report on your experience when you return.

dcdee, That is what we have decided to do, so I will let you know how it works out. We are going to drive or hire a driver to Hvar and then drive back to Dubrovnik to catch a late afternoon flight to Rome because we can't fly out of Split the day we need to get back to Rome.

WT -
Here's a web page I bookmarked awhile ago:

http://www.sucuraj.com/