frommemphis

My husband and I,who are in our early 30's, are planning a 18 day trip to italy and have 5 extra days that we want to spend in croatia. Does anyone know if this is doable (possibly dubrovnik, hvar... etc). unfortunatley we have waited till the last minute and this trip is planned for the end of august first sept? any help would be greatly appreciated

frommemphis

oops, i mean 4 days

HappyCheesehead

Sure, a visit to Croatia could be doable in 4 days, but it is a pretty short visit to a pretty neat place!

We spent 7 days on Croatia last September to see Dubrovnik and Hvar. Where will you be in Italy? You probably want to see if your transportation will be at all feasible time (and $$) wise.

bobthenavigator

Sure it is doable---ferry from Ancona to Dubrovnik---but it will be a zoo that time of year. I would stay in Italy or add that extra time to see the Alps. Save Croatia for when you have more time.

frommemphis

HappyCheesehead, i've have been wanting to go to Croatia for several years. I recently got married and my husband has never been to Europe. Italy is one of my favorite places and would love for him to see it, but don't want to do the same thing I have already done (hence the adding in of Croatia). We plan to be in Rome for a few days, tuscany 3, cinque terre 3 and Lake como 3. I found an overnight ferry from Hvar to Pescara and was thinking 2 day in dubrovnik and 2 days split between Hvar and Korcula? I would think we could catch an early train into Rome from Pescara. MY FEAR is i want to be able to relax but will this put us over?

eileenc

hi. my mother is croatian and have been there many times. it is very beautiful. personally, i think you will be rushed. it is a lot of travelling and remember it's europe. things don't always go as they should, (although that happens a lot here too.)

HappyCheesehead

LOL, frommemphis, now you are trying to add Korcula into the trip too?? Back up the bus! Dubrovnik for 4 days? Possible. Dubrovnik and Hvar in 4 days? Busy, and IMO a waste of money and time. Dubrovnik, Korcula and Hvar in 4 days? Crazy! (said respctfully)

Are you saying you would do Croatia first (maybe fly into Dubrovnik?) then head to Hvar, and from there to Pescara to Rome to continue the 14 days of your trip, or would this be at the end and you have to get to Pescara >Hvar>Dubrovnik and then hightail it back to Rome for the trip home? What parts of your trip are written in stone at this point?

tcreath

I personally would just stick to Italy given the short amount of time that you have available. Croatia is fabulous but I think four days would be really pushing it, especially given the time of year you are going. If you do want to venture into Croatia, I suggest basing yourself in Dubrovnik and maybe doing daytrips from there. Its called the Jewel of the Adriatic for a reason...its beautiful! But don't try to do too much or you might regret it.

Tracy

frommemphis

ok, yes~ i just really want to see croatia and probably being a little selfish since I have already done this italy trip but want my husband to be able to visit Italy. Good thing nothing is set in stone because we are last minute people. The trip is planned to start the end of august and yes we would fly into dubrovnik for the 4.5 days and then go into rome to start italy? so you think trying to see dub and hvar is to much? Thank you again for all the help!

frommemphis

also, i mistated the Hvar korcula..it should have been hvar or korcula?

HappyCheesehead

I do not blame you one bit for wanting to see Croatia! We really enjoyed our time there.

Ok, so if you fly into Dubrovnik, stay there 2 nights then head to Hvar, stay there two nights and take the ferry to Pescara you could get just a taste of the area. Does the ferry run every day? We flew from Split to Rome -it is a quickie one hour flight and as I mentioned on your other thread it was 99 US plus airport tax via Europe By Air Flight Pass.

Are you flying from Memphis??

tcreath

I think your plan is doable, and I too don't blame you for wanting to visit Croatia. It is, by far, my favorite country in Europe. Just spectacular!

With that being said, I personally would pick just one base. If you fly to Dubrovnik from the US you will have layovers and I don't think you would get there before afternoon or midafternoon, which is time lost. I would probably pick either Dubrovnik or Hvar and base yourself in one of the other. Part of the beauty of Croatia is simply being there, and if you are too rushed you will miss out on that.

I didn't go to Hvar, as we were there in November and nothing on Hvar was open, but we loved Dubrovnik. If you decide to base yourself there, you can daytrip to several islands close by.

Tracy

frommemphis

we are flying out of memphis, and the europe by air flight pass is a great idea. Thank you! i had not looked at the yet and there are some $99 flights listed. I hope that 4.5 days will be enough to get a taste and it will be easy to get back to rome and do the rest of the trip. I am working on getting the plane tickets today. Spent about 5 hours yesterday looking for the best way /and the most cost efficient way to do this but everytime I thought I had it figured out some part of leg wouldn't be an option for flight pass or FF miles. So back at it this morning.

HappyCheesehead

I feel your pain regarding the FF miles! I have our tickets to Turkey already - got them in June 07 for May 08 travel. It's crazy! Good luck!

Let us know how it works out.

frommemphis

Happycheesehead and tcreath,
Thank you for all your help. We will be going to croatia and i think I might get a friday - tuesday night. So i plan on the weekend in dubrovnik (that's were will fly in) and mon/tues in hvar. I have been looking at posting on places to stay, a lot of people stay in hotels but i have read that you should do private rentals for a much better price? So now that the ticket has been purchased time to start planning, if you have any other suggestions about these two places (eating, activities...) they will be greatly appreciated! Thanks again, Lisa

tcreath

frommemphis,

We chose to stay in private accommodations because of the lack of decent hotels in Dubrovnik. The ones that were right in the old city were very expensive. We stayed at Villa Adriatica and couldn't have been happier. It is literally steps from Ploce gate (the guieter of the two gates into old Dubrovnik), and our view was spectacular. We had a huge balcony with incredible views. This is a b&b but the owners live next door and breakfast isn't served (although you have access to the kitchen) so it feels very private. http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/villa_adriatica/

Tracy

frommemphis

Thanks Tracy, i just sent them an email to see if they had any open rooms and cost. It looks like they have 2 different rooms, which is probably not good for me since we have waited so late to start planning.
Lisa

tcreath

They do book up fairly early, it sounds. Hopefully you have a shot! Our price was very low; I believe around 80 euro per night? But we were there in November, which is obviously off-season.

Good luck!
Tracy

tcreath

If that doesn't work, happycheesehead and I were both reserved in the same apartment (I believe!). It looked lovely, but DH hurt his knee not long before we left so we decided to stay on lower ground. Happycheesehead, do you still have the link of the apartment you stayed in? I remember from the pics that the views were pretty nice!

Tracy

HappyCheesehead

Yes I do!

Apartments Antonela - up 247 steps from old town - Ploce Gate. We are old but we managed ok - just cheated the one time and took a taxi up to the apartment. FAB VIEWS and super nice young landlords. The family lives below the apartment level, and the grandparents below them.

I just LOVED this place and could cry thinking back on the early mornings and late evenings sitting on the balcony overlooking the old town. It was wonderful.

http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/apartments_antonela/