AndrewintheHK

My boyfriend and I will be spending a week in Croatia at the beginning of August. We are renting a car upon arrival in Split. So far our itinerary looks like this:

Night 1: Hvar (Hvar Palace)
Night 2: Hvar (Hvar Palace)
Night 3: Sarajevo via Mostar (not yet booked)
Night 4: Dubrovnik (Hilton Imperial)
Night 5: Dubrovnik (Hilton Imperial)
Night 6: Dubrovnik (not yet booked)
Night 7: Split (Hotel Vestibul Palace)


As you can see, I still have some flexibility for those two nights I haven't yet booked accommodation. Originally, I was thinking of only doing two nights in Dubrovnik and trying to spend a night on Mljet or the Peljesac, but after reading these boards, I decided it probably makes more sense to make Dubrovnik a homebase for a couple of daytrips to these places given that we only have a week.

I have a couple of questions and would appreciate any feedback.

First, regarding the drive from Hvar to Mostar to Sarajevo and the drive then from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik (taking the eastern route through Bosnia). Am I being unrealistic in thinking this will only be about a 4 hour trip both ways? Is the extra time to Sarajevo and overnight there worthwhile or will we get our Bosnia fix in Mostar?

Second, instead of spending 3 nights in Dubrovnik, we could spend a night in Montenegro. Any recs along the Bay of Kotor? If we just do Montenegro as a daytrip, how much time should we give ourselves?

Are we missing something? The more research I do, the more I want to see. I'm trying very hard with this itinerary to show some restraint and allow ourselves some time to enjoy things before jetting off to the next destination. Any thoughts on daytrips or suggestions on our itinerary would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

yorkshire

In my opinion, driving from Hvar to Sarajevo and Mostar and then to Dubrovnik is way too ambitious. I don't see how you'll have time to see the city with all that driving.
It is 3 hours between Dubrovnik and Mostar alone--there is much to explore in the Mostar region.
My advice would be to stay somewhere near Dubrovnik and do day trips to Mostar, Peljesac, the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, and the Elafiti Islands or Mljet.
Check drive times at viamichelin and ferry schedules at jadrolinija.

julia_t

I'm planning a similar trip in October (without Hvar because the ferries don't tie in at that time of year).

I've studied the maps and according to viamichelin the drive from Split to Mostar takes 3 hours 18m going down the coastal highway and up the Neretva Valley. There are alternative more mountainous routes from Split which may be shorter but apparently take longer. These are more minor roads and more tricky to drive.

Mostar to Sarajevo is a minimum of 2 hours drive, and I haven't yet gone into detail on the route from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik, but I do want to stop at Trebinje if possible.

On tripadvisor there is a Bosnia and Herzegovina forum, where questions are asked about driving in this country, you'd have to seearch back threads or post your own, but there are people there who have driven these roads and can answer and advise.

The more I read about Sarajevo, and watch films like Welcome to Sarajevo the more I want to go there.

I am spending 3 nights in Dubrovnik, and would hope to drive down the coast to Montenegro one day although probably not much further than round the fjord and back across on the ferry.

Hope this helps, but please do post back after your trip and tell me what the drive to and from Sarajevo is like, and which routes you drove. Have a great trip.

GeoffHamer

"I'm planning a similar trip in October (without Hvar because the ferries don't tie in at that time of year)."

Jadrolinija's service doesn't change much between summer and winter. There are ferries from Split to Stari Grad on Hvar island three times a day all year - I even did it once on Christmas Day. The coastal service between Split and Dubrovnik via Stari Grad and Korcula runs twice weekly in winter, the same as in summer.

nbujic

Sarajevo is a LOOOOOng way from Hvar.
Don't even think about going there and back to Dubrovnik the next day. The roads are narrow , if there is a bus or a truck ahead of you , it can take for ever.
Just looking at the map may be misleading.

AndrewintheHK

Sorry, just to clarify: we would be spending the night in Sarajevo and then driving to Dubrovnik the next day. So the way I was envisioning it was taking a ferry in the morning from Sucuraj to Dvrenik (there is a 8:15 and a 9:45AM), giving ourselves a few hours to Mostar, lunching there and hanging out for a couple of hours, and then arriving in Sarajevo by late afternoon/early evening. Then have the day to make our way from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik. I understand that drive (not through Mostar again--the other route--is very scenic). That said, does this still seem unreasonable to people?

Thanks for the feedback, by the way!

julia_t

Geoff...

I looked at the timetables, and it seemed like the car ferry leaves Split in the early evening, and leaves Hvar early the next morning. Seeing as I can only spare one night on Hvar, and it will get dark fairly early in mid-October, I felt it wasn't worth it on this trip.

Also the only car ferries that go across during the day at that time of year are on days that don't fit with my plans - from memory that is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and the only day I could have gone was Sunday.

I may have misread them, and was thinking to check them again nearer the time, but I now have a room booked in Mostar so Hvar could only work on my last night, a Friday.

Really, I am saving Hvar for another trip when I can spend more time there! But thanks.

Andrew...

I am spending a night in Mostar, and planning on the next in Sarajevo, before proceeding to Dubrovnik. It seems there are two choices of route...
either back to Mostar, then on to Stolac and Trebinje. Or from Sarajevo take the E762 to Brod (74m) and another road (can't see the number on my map)which is 134m to Trebinje via Bileca. I haven't put the info into viamichelin yet to get true mileage and extimated driving times.

yorkshire

Granted, you could have a different (though equal--no judgement) travel style, I still think it is a long day of travel for so little time in Sarajevo. The drive across Hvar is at least a couple of hours I believe. I've heard differing reports on that drive, so investigate that. Mostar can certainly be seen in a couple hours. My issue with it would be so little time in Sarajevo--a city that deserves a few nights...based on my readings, I haven't been there yet.
If you are a rambling energetic sort, go for it! My experiences in Croatia have been of the "take it easy, what's your hurry, everything takes longer than you expect" sort, so that's my framework.
happy travels!
You could book the 2nd two nights in Dbv instead, so you could stay an extra night in Sarajevo if you decide to.

tcreath

julia_t, we were in Croatia in November of last year and had similar problems. We really wanted to see Hvar but in the end scrapped it because the ferries were too inconvenient.

We were planning on going to Sarajevo but also scrapped it in favor of more time in Dubrovnik so while I had some initial planning I don't have much to offer.

I will say that we found Montenegro absolutely delightful and wish we spent more time there. DH and I want to go back to Dubrovnik and spend 3-4 nights in Montenengro because we enjoyed it so much. If you do decide on staying in Monenegro for a night I highly suggest basing yourself somewhere in/around Kotor. Its a wonderfully charming town with an interesting fort perched high above it. There are lots of great cafes and in many ways it reminded us a little of Dubrovnik.

Just as an aside, we stayed at the Hilton Imperial for one night at the end of our trip. Its a nice hotel with lots of modern amenities but we did not have a view at all. After having spent the first three nights in Villa Adriatica where we had an amazing view we were a little dissapoined with the Hilton. The location is great but given the choice I would stay somewhere either in the city walls or with a view because one of the best things about Dubrovnik is its physical appearance. Just my thoughts though.

Tracy

AndrewintheHK

Yorkshire,

You are probably right. I am probably allowing my excitement to cloud my better judgement by trying to pack too much in so little time. Perhaps it would be wiser to skip Sarajevo altogether and overnight in Mostar, thus allowing us time to leisurely make our way from Hvar to Mostar, checking out some of the sites along the way.

I neglected to mention that we will also be stopping for a night in Stockholm en route from New York, so we'll already have covered a lot of ground by the time we even get to Croatia. So while I like to think of myself as the "rambling energetic sort", I'm afraid I may not be immune to jetlag and traveler's fatigue!

yorkshire

It's normal to plan a lot in the beginning and then scale back. I've never regretted not planning more, but I have regretted planning too much! Check out the B-H tourism page, it's well-done and will give you an idea of things in Hercegovina to check out--things you can only do with a car. Plus, you'll be there in high season, so try to be "off the beaten path" as much as possible.

babsNYC

I also think you may be making a mistake staying in hotels rather than private accomodations in several of your locations. The hotels are expensive for the value they offer. The Hvar Palace for example is nice architecturally but inside is quite another story (communist era left-over). Plus in early August it will be very noisy. The Split Vestibul Palace, on the other hand is worthwhile-m that is a newly created boutique hotel built into the walls of the Diocletian Palace. But generally, private accomodations provide better value and more charm.
Good luck.

AndrewintheHK

BabsNYC,

I appreciate your advice. I initially started looking into private accomodations but became frustrated because few people responded in a timely manner to my inquiries and often, when they did, they were booked. I got the sense they were reluctant to rent rooms for only a night or two at at time. (This was especially the case in the resort towns along the M. Riviera).
Additionally, because we're a gay couple, we feel more comfortable staying in hotels rather than private residences where there is potential for ackwardness both on our part and our host's.

I should update and say that we have slightly altered our schedule by cutting Sarajevo out of the picture per Yorkshire's suggestion. Instead we will be driving from Hvar (Sucuraj) and staying in Mostar for a night before proceeding to Dubrovnik. I think this should cut out a good 8 hours of driving time.

We will be staying at the Muslibegovic House in Mostar...where I have requested twin beds. (See gay issue above! :^) )

Betsy_B

Hi AndrewintheHK,

We were just in Croatia in May and did the drive you are planning from Hvar to Mostar:

DRIVE = length of Hvar island to Sucuraj (2 hours, although we were running late so we did it in 1.5 hours)
FERRY = Sucuraj to Drvenik (30 minutes) departs 8:15,9:45 or 11:00 (we had to take the 11:00 because we overslept due to being out late the night before)
DRIVE = Drvenik to Mostar

The drive from Drvenik to Mostar did not take that long. I remember being in Mostar and standing on the bridge around 2PM that day and still having the entire afternoon to see everything (Boulevar, Old Town/Bridge, visit a mosque, coppersmiths' street, turkish home, cemetery, leisurly early dinner by the Crooked Bridge). If you took the 8:15 ferry from Sucuraj, you would very easily be able to see Mostar and drive on to Sarajevo in the evening - granted,you may not arrive until 7:00 or 8:00pm, but you could still do it - I say go for it!

We really loved Mostar and I am happy to hear you plan to visit.

We did not go to Sarajevo, but have heard great things about it.

The drive from Mostar to Dubrovnik took quite awhile - construction, tiny roads, stuck behind a truck. Maybe 3 to 3.5 hours.

Good luck and have fun!

AndrewintheHK

Betsy_B,

The drive from Hvar to Sucuraj takes 2 hours?! That seems like a long time for what appears to be such a small island. But I guess speed-limits and road size probably have something to do with that.

I think we'll probably aim for the 9:45 ferry, as I don't imagine we will want to be up any earlier than 7:00. After all, this is supposed to be a vacation, right?

Your estimate for the time it takes to drive from Mostar to Dubrovnik matches up pretty closely with ViaMichelin's estimate. I think we'll probably leave Mostar late morning and take our time down to Dubrovnik, maybe stop on the Pejelsac for lunch...I hear the mussels are awesome.

Getting very excited!

Betsy_B

Yes, parts of Hvar's roads are not well-developed. You will notice large sections of the island that have obviously been effected by forest fires. You could do the drive in 1hr.45min. (2 hours is being conservative) I remember the ferry ride being only about 15 min. across.

We had a friend in Dubrovnik who told us that we should have stopped in the town of Ston on the drive from Mostar to Dubrovnik for a great seafood lunch - we didn't have time though.

Just a couple of (unsolicited) notes - if you two are adventurous eaters, try the octopus salad while in Croatia. We discovered it in Hvar and ordered it everywhere the rest of our trip!

Also, I would highly recommend Luna restaurant in Hvar. We actually ate there twice. Our favorite dishes were: octopus salad, fresh pasta w/ arugula pesto and shrimp (very fresh and flavorful!) and black truffle gnocchi.

Wish I could go back tomorrow - enjoy!

AndrewintheHK

Octopus salad?!! My initial reaction is "blech!" LOL. But on your recommendation, I'll try it. We'll also check out Luna... I can't say I've ever experienced Croatian cuisine, so I'm really looking forward to it.