Croatia in July with 3 children
 

Hello,

My husband and I are traveling with our 3 children - ages 10, 8 and 6 in late June/early July to Croatia. Here is what we have tentatively planned. It is our 1st trip to Croatia and I realize we are missing Dubrovnik, but I have some parts of the trip locked in and don't want to be rushing from location to location.

Day 1 - fly U.S. to Zagreb, arrive morning, pick up car rental
Day 2 - Zagreb, arranged a local walking tour with an English speaking tour guide aimed at elementary aged school children; in the afternoon depart for Plitvices Lakes National Park
Day 3-4 - drive to Plitvices Lakes National Park, stay in the national park (hotel booked)
Day 5-6 - drive from Plitvices to Trogir, stay 2 nights
Day 6- drive from Trogir to Pula, stay 6 or 7 nights; explore the Istrian peninsula (Pula, Roving, Porec and other hillside towns, perhaps do a 1 day ferry trip to Venice....home rental confirmed in Pjescana Uvala)
Day 13 - Zagreb back to U.S.

My questions are:
1. Suggestions or feedback on car rental companies that have been a good reputation in Zagreb?
2. Since we are missing Dubrovnik, I wanted to squeeze in Trogir to get a feel for the Dalmatian Coast....thoughts on Trogir?
3. Any feedback or thoughts on what we must do with children on/near the Istrian peninsula?

Thanks in advance!

Croatia is beautiful -- should be a wonderful trip!

I always arrange rental cars for travel in Europe through gemut.com -- I've had great experiences with them:
http://www.gemut.com
BTW, why pick your rental up on day 1? It doesn't sound like you'll need it until day 2, and having a car in Zagreb would, I think, be more of an encumbrance than an asset.

Trogir is lovely! It is extremely small -- you can walk basically every street in just a few hours -- but it has some of the most magnificent stonework imaginable (which is why UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site). The Dalmatian Coast, to my eye, included such a diverse set of places that I wouldn't necessarily think any one place there can give you a good sense of any other place there, but that may just be me. One advantage of Trogir is that it will give you easy access to Split and the Diocletian Palace.

Hope that helps!

Thank you kja!

I would look at the drive times and decide if Trogir is really necessary, as you will be visiting Rovinj and many marvel at its beauty (I have not been). I don't know that I would stretch myself to include Trogir. Look at Zadar or Opatija/Lovran for breaking up your journey to Pula. Trogir has some sights that may be interesting for the children. Opatija-Lovran features a lungomare seaside promenade. That said, I always thought Trogir seemed like a very child friendly place, just wandering the windy streets and eating ice cream.
In Istria, you may wish to visit the Brijuni islands, visit Kamenjak nature park, and take a boat ride in the Lim canal above Porec. Not sure how interesting the hill towns and such of Istria will be to children. I believe there are caves in Istria.
http://www.istra.hr/en/attractions-a...ren-and-family

We had a holiday in Porec several years ago when the children were young....I would definitely try to spend some time there.....it's like the Med in years gone by....quaint and unspoilt...lovely restaurants. Our good friends are from there and I believe that little has changed since we were there. You can take a boat trip along the coast to Rovinj which is a hill town... Hydrofoils from Porec zip you across to Venice in a couple of hours if you fancy a change

I would think Split would be really cool to a kid too, and would add one day onto Trogir so you can go to spend some time in Split. You can take the Bura Lines ferry (also fun for the kids.)