We're going to Croatia in June and wanted to know if it's possible to go from Zagreb to Dubrovnik in a week, with a few stops along the way to places like Rovinj, Rab, Split, and Korcula? Or are we trying to do too much?

And if we were to try this itinerary, what would be the best mode of transportation: car rental, bus, ferry, train?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

We did Venice-Dubrovnik in nine days in September. We were certainly on the move, but I didn't feel too rushed.

The ferry is great because it takes you from Rijeka to Split (or points south) overnight, so you cover a lot of ground while you sleep. Bus service is great around Istria. You might want to look into a plane ride to get back to Zagreb from Dubrovnik-that's a long haul.
Have fun!

If you're interested in ferry schedules, take a look at http://www.jadrolinija.hr

We'll be in Croatia in May and have looked into flying from Zagreb to Dubrovnik. The Croatia Airlines website lists inexpensive flights, but they don't allow you to purchase tickets online (they insist you pick up the tickets within 72 hours of purchase...in Croatia).

We're ultimately trying to get from Ljubljana to Dubrovnik and back. We've taken enough long bus rides to have decided we want to avoid them if at all possible but we can't figure out how to reserve the flights.

Does anyone have experience with flights within Croatia? We're afraid the flights will sell out if we wait until we're in Croatia to purchase the tickets...

One suggestion would be to skip Zagreb, and book your flight through to Split. Zagreb is all right, but to see it would take a day much better spent on the coast, IMO.

Second suggestion is to fly into Split, and fly out of Dubrovnik. That would save you back-tracking time. Suggest you spend the first night in Trogir, and catch a morning ferry from Split to the islands. End up in Korcula and take the ferry to the mainland, and a bus to Dubrovnik. I would not rent a car, as we had a WONDERFUL time just hopping buses and ferries last September.

nukesafe,

When you did this trip in September, did you pre-book everything or just wait until you got there?

I think this is the itinerary I am trying to do in August (but maybe backwards). I am having so much trouble trying to find information and book apartments for less than 1-week stay, though. We would also like to do this trip in seven days. Any advice and/or details from your trip would be appreciated.

Maybe you could check some travel agent in Croatia who will handle the flight booking for you? Not easy many places to get apartments for less than a week but there is a lot of local accommodation where entrepreneurial people have converted places to provide accommodation. I think you could find with some deep searching on Yahoo and find local Croatian websites that could have a lot more accommodation choices than dealing with 'multi-national' hotel agents. We had very cheap but nice places to stay, I will try and dig out some old notes if I still have them.

Just to add that a lot more visitors from Asia are heading to places like Croatia, Poland, Hungary etc for cheaper alternatives. if you think some places in Europe are expensive from the States, they are mega mega expesnive for those of us from other parts of the world. I think the area will be particularly popular this year! I would book soon.

Try this site:

http://www.holidaydalmatia.com


(Note: I am sure everyone knows this but just in case..when they show distances as 'm'(metres) same as yards, so 50m is like 50 yards, forgive me if everyone knows this but just so no one thinks it's miles

Thanks for your help. I'll check it out.

Anton, we went to the Croatia Airlines office in Pula, five or six days ahead of time, to book a flight from Dubrovnik to Zagreb. There were no seats left, however the agent kindly took care of us and was able to get three seats that opened up later in the week. This was in September.
So, I would book your flight as soon as possible after arriving in Croatia.

Rasta,

We only pre-booked a hotel in Split for the first night, and two days at the Villa Adriatica in Dubrovnik. Actually, we did a "home stay" with a Croatian family in Vela Luka on the island of Korcula for five days before we went wandering.

If you are interested, you can find my trip report by clicking on my name. Unfortunately I was new to the Forum and posted it in six longish chapters. Read them in order or you will get confused. You will see that we mainly relied on busses and using Sobes (rooms in private homes). All sort of spur of the moment, but we always had a place to sleep and got into no trouble.

My suggetions to wakeem was that he stay in Trogir rather than Split his first night, was because Trogir is actually closer to the Split airport than is Split.

The business of insisting on a weeks stay is probably because you will be there in August, the high season. Many Sobes want you to stay three nights and want to charge you 30% more for staying for one or two. Since we were there in August, they mostly waived that.

Both have a wonderful trip!

Thanks, Nukesafe. I will check out your trip report.

This post has sort of wandered off topic, but with respect to Croatian Airlines, they have now updated their site and do accept online payment. I just booked and paid online for a 1-way Dubrovnik to Zagreb end of May for about 30USD. Confirmation says I can pick up the ticket in the airport before the flight.

rasta - I'm not sure if someone has mentioned it - but August is peak season. Hvar Grad, for example, goes from 3,000 population to something like 15,000 in August. If you want location, location, location in some prime spots, I would book ahead.