Another family (2 adults and 1 toddler) and mine (2 adults and 1 toddler) are meeting up in Dubrovnik 2 May. We'll be in Croatia for 10 days. Because of the kids we've actually planned our first five nights in DBV.

Now we have 5 more days to play. We're really open to suggestions. I've been considering spending the time in Korcula, since it's not too far from DBV.

Questions: *would you recommend somewhere else? splitting the time? (we're limited by one midday nap every day!)
*ferry vs. bus vs. renting a car with the kids?
*how feasible is it to get back from Korcula to DBV airport (for a flight leaving at noon-ish) in one morning? (Or do you recommend anywhere between Korcula and the airport for one-night?)
*I've only really been looking at Old Town area of Korcula for places to stay...I gen'lly avoid tourist traps if I can and I've heard rumor that other parts of Korcula are more that way. Thoughts?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!!!

I can't imagine what anyone meant by tourist traps on Korcula. Maybe there are some resort-ish towns that I missed?
You'll need to spend your last night in Dubrovnik, nbless you have a rental car--and you would be looking at a verrrry early morning if you drive back the morning of your flight.
In Dubrovnik and Korcula you will quickly run out of things to do in 5 days--it won't be beach weather, so you might want to consider how day trips would work with the kiddies.

Yorkshire,
Thank you for your thoughts! Would you recommend somewhere else over Korcula?

I'm starting to think about planning day trips to the Elafati islands, Lokrum, etc.

I'd *love* to go to Mljet, but not sure if it's all that reasonable in the off season with ferries and our schedule.

I'm quite fond of Korcula, but I wonder how much you'll find to do for 5 days, but then if you are after utter relaxation, then that's not a problem!
Day trips to Mljet would be problematic, but you may be able to do a short visit there in between Dbv and Korcula (with 1-2 overnights). You'll have to check the ferry schedule closer to the trip. (or extrapolate from this year's off-season schedule). jadrolinija is the main ferry company.
Kotor (3 hrs south) is quite nice also. good luck

have a fun time in croatia -its beautiful clean and friendly
i havent been to mljet nor korcula ( went to hvar brac and vis) but one thing sticks in my mind even now as i read your post
the walking of the wall is fraught with dangers for toddlers so though it is an absolute must do but do hang onto them -safety is not what was on their mind when they built it!
its stable of course but there are so many places that an adventurous toddler could climb or lean over and fall from a great height
my OH and i were kidless that trip but it went through my mind even so

you could easily get to montenegro by car - good roads
just take some euros for the border because they wont deal in kunas
you can see the kotor fjord and budva - some nice little beaches there
have a drive up to makarska riviera from dubrovnik too...it is touristy but brela is nice for kids -the beaches are pebbly however so make sure you pack some of those shoes that you can wear walking through water ( forget what theyre called - made from that wetsuit material i think)

I went to Croatia with 2 yr and 4yr old in 2005.

I found Dubrovnik less manageable than Hvar where we spent 10 days (and Split where we were for 2 days).

The traffic, stairs and city life were a little more challenging than the quiet charming small town life of Hvar.

I am wondering if you could change our ticket to be open jaw to then fly out of Split. You could take the 5+ hour ferry from Dubrovnik to Hvar (if I remember quickly) and then enjoy Hvar and fly out of Split.

We also enjoyed day trip to Mjlet.

We didn't go to Korcula.

Take care

We are just back from our Croatia trip, and 2 nights in Korcula was plenty. Driving was very easy. You can take the car ferry from Orebic on the Peljesac Peninsula which runs every day. The drive to Orebic from DBV was about 2.5 hours I think, and the ferry ride is 15 minutes. I would stay near the Old Town - Villa Depolo was great.

We loved Korcula, but I agree with yorkshire that you will run out of things to do with 5 nights there. March was really quiet there, but our host said that the tourist season kicks off at the end of March so more stuff should be open in May. We had a very nice drive around the island one day, but that may not be so fun with toddlers. It was a very relaxing and beautiful place.

We stayed 5 nights in DBV, but only really had two full days there which was enough for us. Got to walk the walls, spend time at Buza Bar, etc. Old Town is very small so day trips are a good idea if you want to stay busy. We took a day trip to Montenegro via rental car which was fun.

You will def. want to spend your last night in DBV.

I so appreciate all of your responses! We unfortunately can't change our flights (long story) but are going to look into Hvar/Korcula/Montenegro, etc. Thank you, thank you, thank you!