nschlatt

We will be attending a wedding in Northern Italy (outside Genoa) end of May and would like to travel to Croatia for a week. Any suggestions how best to do this? Easyjet flights don't start until mid June so that doesn't work and there are no direct flights to Split or Dubrovnik...only ones that take 15 hours and cost too much! We could take the train to Venice and start from there or just start driving! In one week I suppose we can't make it as far as Dubrovnik, so any suggestions for staying in the best parts of northern Croatia would be appreciated!!

Andrew

Driving certainly would be easiest. (I have driven in Croatia itself but not from Italy.) It wouldn't be that hard to drive down as far as Dubrovnik in a week.

You could take trains and buses. There is no train service in Croatia on the Dalmatian coast (Dubrovnik etc.) but Croatia has a good bus system. You could train to Zagreb and rent a car there and drive down to Dubrovnik. (Don't miss Plitvice Lakes National Park not far from Zagreb!). In 2009, I flew into Milan, train to Venice, took a direct bus (3.5 hours) to Ljubljana, Slovenia (beautiful city), then a direct train to Zagreb, where I rented a car, made a few stops, then dropped the car in Dubrovnik. I took a bus back to Korcula (island) and then a catamaran backup to Split, where I flew out.

You could also take a train to Trieste, Italy then take a bus to Istria and the well-regarded town of Rovinj, Croatia from there. (I have not been to Istria but I hear great things.) Perhaps you could rent a car there and drive on. If you could fly home out of Dubrovnik or Split, that would avoid you needing to backtrack.

There are also ferries between Croatia and Italy.

HappyTrvlr

Can you fly Genoa to Venice and rent a car to deive into Croatia?

Andrew

Actually, though it sounds counter-intuitive, if you have no interest in stopping along the way as as you train/bus over from Genoa to Croatia, your easiest bet without renting a car may be flying Genoa-London/London-Dubrovnik. You don't need a car in Dubrovnik (or probably want one, unless you want to day trip down to Montenegro). You can bus, ferry, or catamaran fro Dubrovnik north up to Split and/or the islands like Korcula and Hvar.

For example, I see on May 28 (arbitrary date end of May) that you can fly British Airways Genoa - London Gatwick for $186 and then Gatwick to Dubrovnik on Norwegian for $76. That's about an eight hour journey including a few hours layover at Gatwick - still a long day but less time than training and busing across. About $260 USD per person isn't terrible. Not sure how you get home from Croatia, whether you need to fly out of Italy or not; if so, renting a car is probably going to be cheaper.

kja

Hard to answer without knowing what you want to see and experience, as different parts of Croatia are very different from one another. If you want to see Dubrovnik and Split, Andrew has given you a good choice. If you want to relax and enjoy the hill towns of Istria, Andrew has given you a different good choice. If you want to see the museums and cafes and markets of Zagreb and Varazdin and other cities in northern Croatia, your transportation options would be a bit different. With only one week, you will need to be very selective. I found The Rough Guide the best of the guide books I worked with when planning my trip to the area -- it should give you a sense of how the regions differ as well as how to get from one area to another (and how to get to/from Croatia).

BTW, I think there are some limits on renting a car in Italy and driving it to (and leaving it off in) Italy, but I could be wrong. There was a thread about that recently; do search for it.

nschlatt

Thanks everyone for your thoughts... I will check out the Rough Guide. I was thinking we should just rent a car within Croatia and not try to drive from Italy... from what I understand it can be problematic renting in one country and dropping off in another. When I have a better idea about what my husband feels he absolutely must see, I will revisit this forum. Everyone is always so helpful here!

Andrew

Yes, if you can rent a car within Croatia itself and also drop the car there, you'd probably be better off. You might also be able to pick up/drop off in Slovenia depending the logistics of your arrival/departure. That might cause fewer hassles vs. renting in Italy. (Should be no problem driving into Croatia; they have joined the EU since I visited in 2009, not sure if there is still a controlled border between Croatia and Slovenia; I rented cars separately on separate trips in Croatia and Slovenia.)

There's more to Croatia than Dubrovnik and Split and the Dalmatian Coast - though that seems to be the tourist highlight. Plitvice Lakes as I mentioned is amazing. Parts of Slovenia are really beautiful too - like Ljubljana if you are passing through. But a week isn't much time.