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First time in Croatia - need some help with the itinerary please ...
Hi,
Me, my wife and kids (aged 7 and 8) will be traveling to Croatia in late May/ early June this year. Its our first time in Croatia and I am trying to avoid driving and make it work with driven cars and ferries. Here's the itinerary that I am planning to go with: A. 2 NIGHTS IN ROVINJ (May 27-28th) May 27th – Fly from London to Zagreb (11:35am). Transfer to Rovinj. Spend the day exploring Rovinj May 28th – Day trip from Rovinj to Pula and Rabac? B. 2 NIGHTS IN RIJEKA (May 29-30th) May 29th – Travel from Rovinj to Porec, Groznan, Motovun, Hum, Opatija and then to Rijeka May 30th – Day trip using ferries to go to Krk, Cres and Rab islands C. 1 NIGHT IN PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK (May 31st) May 31st – Drive from Rijeka to Plitvice. Explore Plitvice through the day and spend the night D. 3 NIGHTS IN SPLIT (Jun 1-4th) Jun 1st – Drive down from Plitvice to Split. Spend the day exploring the city Jun 2nd – Day trip to Brac Island Jun 3rd - Day Trip to Krka National Park E. 1 NIGHT IN HVAR (Jun 5th) Jun 5th – Explore Hvar Old town and Stari Grad. F. 2 NIGHTS IN DUBROVNIK (Jun 7-9th) Jun 6th – Travel to Dubrovnik. Explore the town Jun 7th – Day trip to Ston Jun 8th – Day trip to Mljet Jun 9th – Explore Dubrovnik. Take 1:30pm flight to London Does this make sense? Are we trying to do too much? Are there places that we should add? We are basically looking to soak ourselves in the culture and experience the natural beauty. Also any suggestions on driver guides, especially for Istria? Thanks a lot for your help |
You don't share your transport details, so it is difficult to evaluate the feasibility. It looks pretty rushed. I would be extremely surprised if the ferry schedule allowed day 2 from Rijeka.
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Although it depends on your pace of travel, I think you are being ambitious. I would certainly not recommend that you ADD to this packed itinerary. In contrast, I think you might want to seriously consider trimming it. Some specific thoughts:
Rovinj doesn’t take much time to explore, but with 2 children, I’m not sure that you can fully explore it on your arrival day – that would depend on your interests and travel pace. I can say that you are the first poster about Croatia I’ve seen ask about Rabac, and I’ve been monitoring this board for nearly a decade. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go there, just that it seems an odd choice! I’m not sure how you plan to get from Rovinj to Rijeka – a car and driver? – but however you do it, your plan seems ambitious to me. Have you checked the ferry schedules to see if your May 30th plan is feasible? Like yourshire, I think it unlikely. May 31 could work if you leave Rijeka EARLY. Split offers a lot; I’m not sure you are giving it sufficient time, but again, it depends on what you want to see and do. For June 5, I assume you mean Hvar Town and Stari Grad? Seeing just a few highlights of each in a single day is not impossible, but requires careful timing. Dubrovnik can be seen in about 1.5 days. I think you are pushing it to fit your travel AND day trips in and still make your flight. Hope that helps! |
We've had two trips to Croatia - Dubrovnik on one trip for 4 nights, then 10 days which included Rovinj and Opatija (and Piran in Slovenia). I think your trip is way too ambitious, especially with kids and particularly if you are relying on public transport which is not as good as in some other European countries.
I realise we like to see things more in-depth than a lot of others but it does seem very rushed to me. Why not pick out the places that really interest you and revise the list a bit? Kay |
There are some errors/conflicts/omissions in your itinerary.
>> D. 3 NIGHTS IN SPLIT (Jun 1-4th) Jun 1st – Drive down from Plitvice to Split. Spend the day exploring the city Jun 2nd – Day trip to Brac Island Jun 3rd - Day Trip to Krka National Park E. 1 NIGHT IN HVAR (Jun 5th) Jun 5th – Explore Hvar Old town and Stari Grad.<< You left out June 4. Are you spending the night of June 4 in Split or on Hvar? 4 nights in Split or 2 nights on Hvar? >> F. 2 NIGHTS IN DUBROVNIK (Jun 7-9th) Jun 6th – Travel to Dubrovnik. Explore the town Jun 7th – Day trip to Ston Jun 8th – Day trip to Mljet Jun 9th – Explore Dubrovnik. Take 1:30pm flight to London<< This is 3 nights(June 6,7,8) in Dubrovnik, not 2. ....................................... "Driven" cars will be very expensive. Compare costs with hiring Driver/Car vs renting a Car.. I suggest you rent a car and drive from Zagreb airport to the day you arrive in Split. I would substitute Korcula for Kvarner Coast/islands. Then your itinerary may look like this: A. 2 NIGHTS IN ROVINJ (May 27-28th) May 27th – Fly from London to Zagreb (Arrive 11:35am). Rent car. Drive 3hrs to to Rovinj. https://goo.gl/maps/MJTdc7oXUL22 Spend the late afternoon exploring Rovinj. May 28th – Day trip Istrian Hill towns.Groznan, Motovun, Hum etc. https://goo.gl/maps/iQVxdyz4yqs B. 1 NIGHT IN Lovran (May 29) May 29th – Drive 2hrs from Rovinj to Lovran via Pula,Labin,Moscenicka https://goo.gl/maps/Znqqj2Q39Ck C. 1 NIGHT IN PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK (May 30) May 30 – Drive 2hrs30min from Lovran to Plitvice. Explore Plitvice through the day and spend the night. https://goo.gl/maps/ByKca34TAyS2 D. 3 NIGHTS IN SPLIT (May 31,June 1,2) May 31 – Drive 2hrs30min from Plitvice to Split. Spend the afternoon exploring the city https://goo.gl/maps/9yD8gt7DfxP2 Jun 1 – Day Trip to Krka National Park-Turn in car Jun 2 - More Split, 1/2 day in Trogir E.2 NIGHTS IN HVAR TOWN (June 3,4) June 3 – 7:40am ferry(Krilo)Split to Hvar Town (Arrives 8:40am) http://www.krilo.hr/en/sailing_schedule.html Explore Hvar. June 4-More Hvar. F. 1 NIGHT KORCULA(OLD TOWN) (June 5) June 5- 8:50am ferry (Krilo) Hvar to Korcula(old town)(Arrives 10:00am) Explore Korcula. G. 3 NIGHTS IN DUBROVNIK (June 6,7,8) Jun 6th – 10:10am ferry (Krilo)Korcula to Dubrovnik (Arrives 12noon) Explore the town in the afternoon Jun 7th – Day trip to Ston or more Dubrovnik Jun 8th – Day trip to Mostar or more Dubrovnik. Jun 9th – Early morning in Dubrovnik. 1:30pm flight to London. |
Allow a few hours for Pula at least, you should skip Rabac.
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I would skip Opatija and Rijeka, or I would go back to Rabac after Rijeka and take Brestova (Istra) - Porozina (Cres) ferry.
There is no ferry from Rijeka to Krk, Cres or Rab which can take cars, there are only catamarans. But If you take Brestova - Pororozina ferry, or after Rijeka go directly to Krk by bridge and there take ferry Valbiska (Krk) - Merag (Cres) I would suggest to explore Vrbnik, Krk and Cres you can drive to Lošinj and there take a ferry to Zadar which is half an hour closer to Plitvice than Rijeka. Also when on Losinj I would suggest to take a boat from Losinj to Ilovik before going to Zadar, and while traveling to Zadar you can if you want stay 1 day on islands Premuda, Olib, Silba or Ist. http://www.agencija-zolpp.hr/Portals...o%C5%A1inj.pdf |
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