rmgood

Restarting planning what was to be our 2020 trip to Croatia; hopefully this time we can go.
We plan to fly into and visit Zageb, then rent a car and drive the Croatian coast down to Montenegro.
What are the best stops along the coast?
For the return drive to Zagreb, what inland countries / cities should be on our list? I have not set a timeframe yet (retired and can stay as long as we want); it will depends on how many stops interest us.
Thanks in advance for your help.

KarenWoo

I recommend looking into open-jaw, or also called multi-city flights. There is no reason to backtrack to Zagreb. You could fly into Zagreb and out of Dubrovnik, for example.

We visited Ljubljana in Slovenia, Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes National Park, Split, and Dubrovnik. We did a daytrip to Montenegro. From Split, we took the ferry to visit Hvar Town for the day, and we drove to Trogir and spent 3/4 of a day there. There are other places to stop along the way to Dubrovnik: Zadar, Sibenik, Korcula, Peljesac Peninsula. You can also go inland from Split or Dubrovnik to visit Mostar in Bosnia.

I suggest purchasing some good guidebooks: I used Rough Guides, Fodors, and Rick Steves.

We had a rental car, too, and it is very easy driving in Croatia.

Also want to add that another great area to explore in Croatia is the Istrian Peninsula. We didn't have time to go there, but many people love it. Progol on this forum wrote an awesome trip report with gorgeous photos. She just finished her report. You can also click on my name to read my trip report from September 2019.

mike1728

Rovinj, Zadar, Sibenik, Makarska. Then on to Montenegro. All beautiful cities. But you have not indicated how long you wish to stay in every city enroute to Montenegro. Some will say Split as well, but too large of a city for me and too much traffic.

KarenWoo

Everyone has different opinions, which is good! We loved Split, and it was actually one of the highlights for us. We stayed in the pedestrianized part of the city, and we were able to leave our rental car in a parking garage that wasn't too far from our hotel. You don't need the car while in Split so you aren't affected by the traffic. We loved Split's architecture and its location right on the water. It's also a good location for day trips. As I already mentioned, we visited Hvar and Trogir while staying in Split. You could either visit Sibenik for a day while staying in Split or stay overnight in Sibenik.

If you decide to spend some time in Split, I highly recommend Maya Benzon for a private guided tour of the Old Town and Diocletian's Palace. She is recommended by Rick Steves, and she is awesome. We had a 2-hour tour; I don't remember the price but I know we thought it was reasonable and worthwhile.

KTtravel

Depending on how far you want to travel and if you are interested in history, I would recommend Sarajevo. We weren't going to include it when we went to Croatia, but then read Rick Steves' guidebook and felt we had to visit. A fascinating, heartbreaking, resilient place.

progol

Having just spent 3 weeks out of a 5 week trip in Croatia, I would second many of the comments here. In fact, I enjoyed KarenWoo’s report so much, that I “copied” her day in Hvar and loved it!

Definitely add Rovinj and the Istrian peninsula! It’s a wonderful region, and has a very Italian flavor. We enjoyed exploring the hill towns as well as taking a day to see Pula, which has an amazing Roman amphitheater.

Had we not gone on to Italy from Croatia, I would’ve used our time to spend some time in Slovenia. I would’ve liked to visit Llubjana and Lake Bled, and that might be something to consider.

After Rovinj, we spent a lovely night at the Plitvice National Park. Beautiful!

We loved Zadar - a charming town, well worth visiting for a couple of nights.

With the car, you can visit the Peljesac peninsula, know for its wineries and oysters!

And Split was a good base to visit other places by ferry. We visited Trogir (another charming town) in addition to Hvar. We dropped our car in Split and took the ferry to Korcula, another delightful island. We liked Split, but didn’t love it as it was the first time we felt overwhelmed by tourists, but there are many good places to eat and things to do there.

And of course, Dubrovnik. We loved it and were glad we were there before the cruises come back! There were plenty of tourists but the hordes weren’t there.

Croatia was a wonderful surprise! We loved it.

If you want to look at lots of photos, here’s a link to my trip report:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...oatia-1703021/

jan47ete

I am scheduled for Croatia, really the Istrian Peninsula April 12-30 with Rijeka as well as the small towns around Pula, Zagreb and Rovinj. There are quite a few of these delightful little towns about 1/2 hour by bus and so looking forward to it.

rmgood

Where did you stay in Split? We enjoy accomodations with a view of the sea...

CreativeDays

I strongly recommend you go to Sibenik, stay for a day or two then from Sibenik go see the coast(Zlarin,Kornati, Prvic). They are the hidden gem of Croatia.

rialtogrl

I usually stay in apartments in Split, but I can recommend Hotel Park which has sea view rooms. They also have parking. They are not in the old town, they are a 10 minute walk away, but I do not really recommend staying in the Old Town anyway (no parking and too noisy.)
Hotel Park, Split, Croatia. Rates from HRK995.

Hotel Luxe is nice too!
https://www.hotelluxesplit.com/en/

mike1728

I am currently planning a return to Croatia for mid May 2022 (Makarsk,. Bol-Brac. and Kastel Novi for 2 weeks.). 1) I can't believe the prices of rental cars since last May! 2) I cant seem to find any ferry schedules from either Makarska to Brac or Split to Brac that offer active schedules. All search data on the routes using the Jadrolinija web page advises "No Search Results available" I have tried numerous dates from either port with no results. Would any one have any advice on this matter. Thank you!

rialtogrl

https://www.jadrolinija.hr/docs/defa...n.pdf?sfvrsn=2

https://www.jadrolinija.hr/docs/defa...n.pdf?sfvrsn=2

They just are not selling tickets yet. That is why you get that message.

You want to pick up the car in Split? Check with MACK.
https://mack-concord.hr