Hi all, I have ten days to spend in Croatia. Would you recommend flying into Zagreb or Dubrovnik? Which is your favorite coastal/island place in the country for a relaxing and interesting few days? Thanks!

It depends on what you want to do and see. The time of year also makes a big difference.

We fly to Zagreb, grab a rental car, start in Istria and work our way south and end in Dubrovnik. Upon entering Dubrovnik we immediately lose the rental car - it would be an absolutely nightmare there.

My favourite places (takes a lot more than only ten days, though) are:

Istrian hilltowns of Hum, Bale, Groznjan, Draguc, etc. Rovinj is gorgeous, too.

Plitvice Lakes - stunning.

Krka - stunning, too.

Trogir, near Split - charming little town oozing with character.

Dubrovnik - you must see it. Enough said.

Favourite islands - Mljet for the beauty. Shockingly gorgeous and tranquil. Vis and Cres are also lovely, as are Hvar and Korcula. I also love Elafiti.

THanks so much! We have to go in August, which is rough, but we do want to relax a bit. Thanks for all the 'off the beaten track suggestions'. I'll research all of them.

Sure - once you've done more research then we will have more concrete info to go on and better able to help you with specifics.

Are you thinking of renting a car?

We flew into Zagreb and rented a car driving down the coast. Ended in Dubrovnik (turned in car). We flew back to Zagreb and stayed a couple of days before flying home. I highly recommend Plitvice, Split, Hvar and Dubrovink. It's a beautiful country with lots to see.

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Fly into Dubrovnik, which is great for 3-4 days; visit Cavtat, Ston.
You should also visit Split, Trogir, Korcula, Hvar

zagreb ..pass or just do four hours

plitvice -- a morning hike
zadar -a lunch break

trogir - overnight

split - a day visit

ston - an afternoon

dubrovnik - 2-3 days

try to get to montenegro to kotor fjord - worth a day trip from dubrovnik

hvar island is great
vis less popular with tourists but has a blue grotto and tito's caves
nice villages on both island
crappy coffee though

It depends on your final itinerary, but if you plan on visiting Plitvice, it can be useful to fly into Dbv and out of Zagreb, or vice versa (often this is not more expensive).
My favorite place has probably been Vis, but you really can't go wrong. Because August is high season, I would avoid many of the popular places. You'll be glad you did, and you can always go back in low season.

Thanks to all of your thoughtful responses. I think staying off the beaten path in August is a worthwhile suggestion. Flying into Dubrovnik and driving up to Zagreb sounds like an interesting plan. This is all so last minute for summer travel so we need to make a decision quickly. If anyone is still looking at this, if we went to Dubrovnik for 2 days, and we wanted to go to a a small town or 2 and an island, all for a day or an overnight, nothing longer, which are your favorites. I was thinking split and hvar...hadn't thought of montenegro, maybe that is worth looking into as well. Thanks all!

I'm afraid everywhere on the coast in August is going to be pretty crowded, but as long as you're prepared for that you'll be okay.
Easy for me to say as someone who has visited the coast a few times, but honestly I would go inland if I was going in August.
If you go to Hvar, make sure you stay in another town besides Hvar Grad, which will be packed.