Croatia trip in May- mostly Dalmatia

Old Mar 12th, 2016, 01:39 PM
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Croatia trip in May- mostly Dalmatia

4 of us (adults and relatives) are travelling to Croatia in May for 3 weeks. We are pretty set on 3 nights in Zagreb, where we fly in to, then 2 nights in Plitvice. We then want to go to the Zadar area for 4 nights to visit Zadar, Telascica NP, Paklenica NP and/or Kornati NP, maybe Pag Island. What area of Zadar would be good to stay in? We will have a rental car, and like apartments or small B&B;s. I will be looking on AirBnB and Vrbo to find a place to stay.

We will then go to the Split area for 3 nights. We want to visit Diocletian Palace, the Old Town, Trogir, maybe Omis and the Cetina Valley. We will have a rental car, which areas of Split would be good to stay in?

Our next stop will be Korcula for 6 nights. We are thinking we will turn our rental car in before we leave Split. We want to do some day hikes, beaching, boating, maybe go to Peljesac Peninsula, Orebic. We want to be able to walk to one of the towns, I have been looking at Korcula Town and Lumbarda, but open to any suggestions. Would like to have a sea view. Vela Luka vs Korcula Town? What do you think about using public transportation on Korcula and then to go to the Dubrovnik area? Or should we keep our rental car?

We will spend 3 nights in the Dubrovnik area, and are thinking of staying in Cavtat. Especially since we fly out very early - 6am. Any suggestions which area to stay in? What do you think about spending 3 nights in Cavtat, or go north of Dubrovnik? We would love the old town, but have read so much about how crowded Dub is. We prefer quaint, out of the way places, no hotels.
For anyone familiar with Croatia, you will probably understand how hard it has been for us to decide what NOT to visit! We did not want to be in a different place every 2 days, though that was tempting -ha
thanks for any input!
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Old Mar 12th, 2016, 04:30 PM
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In Split, if I had my druthers, I would stay in one of the hotels inside Diocletian's Palace, but I'm not sure if any of them offer parking. Having a car while in Split is not necessarily an advantage -- but it will probably help with your question on where to stay, as you'll have to find a place with parking. ;-) You can make "parking" a criterion when searching on booking.com

With 6 nights on Korcula, you might want a car. If you are comfortable that you can do what you want without a car -- and depending on where you stay, then using public transportation for your time there could work quite well -- then by all means, turn it in upon arriving in Split!

For Korcula, my strong preference would be for staying in / within walking distance of Korcula Town. JMO.

IME, the bus / ferry connecting Korcula Town to Dubrovnik is easy and convenient.

I agree that it's hard to decide what to skip in lovely Croatia, especially if you don't want to move every night or so -- but its sounds like you've come up with a great plan. Enjoy!
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Old Mar 13th, 2016, 02:07 PM
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"Dubrovnik ... will not be crowded in May"

Dubrovnik was crowded when I was there in mid-May of 2009. Things could have changed....
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Old Mar 13th, 2016, 04:15 PM
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Thanks, kja, we will double think about staying in Split near or at Diocletian's palace.
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Old Mar 13th, 2016, 04:17 PM
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thanks, dugi_otok. will check out the links. Should we make a trip to Dugi Otok when we are in Zadar? Does your name have anything to do with the island?
Why do you say not to stay in Cavtat?
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Old Mar 14th, 2016, 01:18 PM
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Since you asked.
>> Does your name have anything to do with the island? > Should we make a trip to Dugi Otok when we are in Zadar?>Why do you say not to stay in Cavtat?
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Old Mar 14th, 2016, 04:59 PM
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I agree with what dugi-otok's wonderful description of Dubrovnik at night. The problem, of course, is your 6 a.m. departure. You might consider switching hotels for just that last night....
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Old Mar 16th, 2016, 12:22 PM
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dugi-otok, thanks for the link to the video and music of Dugi-Otok. The closest we may come to visiting Dugi-Otok is a day trip to Telascica, but I was hoping it was easier to get to.

kja - since we will be staying 5-6 nights on Korcula as a beach/island experience, I am rethinking staying in the city of Split, instead of trying to stay outside of Split and drive in as a day trip. Will see! I still have lots to think about and plan.

thanks! I will be back with more questions, I am sure.
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Old Mar 16th, 2016, 03:22 PM
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Oooh, I LOVED Split! Its one of my favorite parts of Croatia -- which is saying a LOT.
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Old Mar 19th, 2016, 05:19 AM
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Kja - do you have any recommendations on places to stay in Split? Since we are two couples, I have been looking on AirBnB and Booking.com for apartments in the city - would love Diocletian's Palace but we are travelling more "budget friendly" since we are in Croatia for 3 weeks.

and, on Korcula we are looking at an area of the island called Prigradica to stay 5 nights. We like hiking, bike riding, will definitely visit Korcula town, historic areas, drink wine, eat and read. LOL Any comments on Korcula or/and Prigradica?
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Old Mar 19th, 2016, 10:16 AM
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I'm afraid I can't be of much use to you on accommodations in Split. I stayed at the B&B Kastel 1700, which still seems to get OK (good, but not great) reviews. It was a decidedly budget option that was very well located, but I doesn't sound like it would meet your needs.

In Korcula, I stayed at the Korcula Royal Apartments, just outside the city walls. I was very well pleased with that choice, and it still gets great reviews. It's not in the location your are considering, but you might want to take a look.

Maybe others have ideas?
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Old Mar 26th, 2016, 03:51 AM
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We were rather underwhelmed with Zagreb so I think 3 nights is quite a long stay. But you might manage a day-trip to Varazdin (north from there) which is very lovely and different from everything else on your itinerary.

2 nights in Plitvice is a long stay or are you planning on doing lots of hiking? Zadar isn't all that long a drive on from Plitvice

We stayed outside Split, at the hotel Eden in Podstrana. We could have taken the local bus into Split but my husband opted to drive....a decision he regretted I have to say as parking was a nightmare! Podstrana is south of Split so easy to set off for Omis from there

Pag island is interesting with its mainly lunar landscape but not an absolute must
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Old Apr 9th, 2016, 11:55 AM
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Thanks, Lynda-Berlin. We are staying 3N in Zagreb to help with jet lag - flying from Atlanta, GA USA, and we will have a car, if we get bored we may take a day trip. Also, on way from Zagreb to Plitvice, we will spend all day visiting area around Karlovac, my BIL's grandparents home and may actually visit his distant cousins so we don't plan to get to our lodging until late on Sunday and will spend all next day in Plitvice Park - 2N and 1 day. Yes, we hope for a full day of walking/hiking in the park.
While in Zadar, we may very well take a trip to Pag Island - we have a car, we will also spend a day in Paklenica NP and Telescica NP.

thanks for info about the car in Split. I think we will turn our rental car in when we get to Split and then catch ferry to Korcula.

We are still debating where to stay on Korcula and partly we want 6 nights of down time (total trip is 3 weeks), beach time, eating, drinking, walking around. Thinking either northwest of Korcula - Kneza/Racisce or south at Lumbarda...??

and, are still debating where to spend last 3 nights near Dubrovnik, we are thinking we would only spend 1 day or two mornings visiting old town Dubrovnik, maybe go to Mljet, Elpahite Islands etc...

thanks to all for the feedback!!
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Old Apr 9th, 2016, 12:48 PM
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We have stayed in both Split and Dubrovnik twice and I think for beauty and things to do Dubrovnik wins hands down. We also spent a few days in Korcula Town in an apartment for 4 (2 en suite rooms and a kitchen) with a superb view over the bay and old town. Also easy walk into town. Details below:
Jadranka and Vinko Sessa
Cvijetno Naselje
20260 Korcula - CROATIA
contact email: [email protected]
tel : ++385 20 715 468 mobile: ++ 385 91 766 22 78

For a really quiet place with amazing (pebbly) beaches with clear water we hired an old stone cottage in a village called Drasnice just south of Makarska. It was paradise but nothing really to do except swim and hike. Suited us and we spent 5 days there.

We hired an apartment through Owners Direct in Dubrovnik - great value for money, clean and with an amazing view of the old town. It was about a 15 minute walk into town. First time we went to Split we stayed in an guesthouse next to the Diocletian palace. Superb position. Omis is a good place to visit from Split, lovely old castle tower to climb and a great beach.

Could go on and on. Croatia is just superb!!! Enjoy.
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Old Nov 9th, 2016, 04:02 PM
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Did you make this trip this past May? We are planning a trip for May or June 2017. If we get lazy we might consider a cruise of the islands, plus some added days in Split and Dubrovnik, or even a Rick Steves Tour. (In 2016, I've self-planned trips to South Africa for 4 in May, plus my son's Fiji honeymoon last month. Some days I feel like planning...others I think I want to let someone else take care of all the details. Guess we're just getting older. At 74, my husband isn't always allowed to drive a rental car, and at 68 I prefer navigating to driving.)

Anyway, still reading trip reports and collecting ideas as we'll want to pull the trigger soon, while some decent airfares across the pond seem to be available now.
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