Croatia - Zadar or Hvar or Korcula?
 

My wife and I (mid 60's) will be in Croatia this September for 12 days. We'll be touring by rental car and driving from the Dubrovnik area (Neum) to Zadar. We could shave a day off our planned 2 days in Zadar and visit one of the islands.
Does that sound like a must do, fooling with car ferries and all?
If we pick an island does Hvar or Korcula sound better? Or another?

One night on an island is kind of tight, given the effort it can take to get there (scheduling around ferries, etc.). I'm not sure it's worth it for one night - maybe.

One way to do Korcula by car ferry might be to take the short ferries at Trpanj and then at Orebic over to Korcula Town (they don't necessarily run every hour so check the schedules). And then you could drive up Korcula to Vela Luka (maybe 45 min?) and take a longer car ferry up to Split. Without a car between Dubrovnik and Split, you could take passenger-only catamarans instead, directly to/from Korcula Town. Not sure how it works for HVar.

I have only been to Korcula, not to Hvar. I hear Hvar is more upscale and swanky than Korcula is. Korcula Town (the island is also called Korcula) is another little walled city that resembles Dubrovnik, if it matters. Most tourists would stay there on Korcula. I like Korcula Town but it was very slow when I visited in October, as the season was ending. September should be better.

Are you stopping anywhere before Zadar - Split or Trogir? If you want to stop for a night and take a night from Zadar, stopping elsewhere on land might make more sense. I wouldn't recommend two nights in Zadar myself, just because it wasn't my favorite town, but some people would. And some people dislike one night stays.

It really depends on what YOU want to see and do, and NONE of us can answer that for you!

FWIW, I found Hvar Town WAY too upscale and party-hearty for me, even in May, but by Sept. it might be a bit more relaxed. It is beautiful….

IME, there wasn’t much to do in Zadar – just enough for about a day, but that reflects MY interests, which could be very different than yours, and as noted, you may be planning on day trips from there. Likewise, I thought Korcula Town merited just about a day.

I would strongly disagree that Korcula resembles Dubrovnik – Korcula’s architecture is much more medieval in character than the Renaissance elegance that defines much of Dubrovnik.

You might want to take the bus from Dubrovnik to Korcula and then a ferry on to Split, from which you can take a bus or rent a car (if you must) to get to Zadar. A car won't do you much good for the stretch from Dubrovnik to Zadar....

Hope that helps!

I went to Hvar and was not impressed at all. Thinking back, it was not worth the effort to get there, and would not do again. I was impressed with Split, it has a wonderful boardwalk on the sea, wonderful restaurants and it would be worthwhile to spend sometime there.