Cara68

Hello – We will be in Istria at the last week of August and would like to drive down the coast to Dubrovnik starting and returning from Istria for the last week of August. We will have car hire. Would appreciate recommendations on where we should visit or suggested itinerary (have already seen Plitvice lakes so would like to concentrate on the coast and the islands). Will we be able to get accomodation as we go along as it is peak season or must we book in advance?
Rather than driving both ways, would you recommend getting the car ferry from Rijeka to Dubrovnik and driving back up the coast?
Or driving to Split and then taking a car ferry?
Will we be able to enjoy the highlights in one week or should we base ourselves somewhere and try to see what we can from there?
Thanks in advance.

Elizabeth_S

We just spent two weeks doing a similar itinerary - stayed 4 nights is Rovinj, 3 nights in Trogir and 6 nights in Dubrovnik. We drove from Rovinj to Dubrovnik - didn't take any ferries due to the time of year.

While our trip was slow paced, doing it (and returning to Istria) in one week sounds very short. It was about a 5 hour drive from Rovinj to Trogir and that again to Dubrovnik so you would be spending a lot of time in the car over one week. (and we heard the roads can be very slow in peak season so that's a consideration as well).

Re places to stay - we recommend our apartment accommodation in each of the 3 places we stayed - we prefer apartments and in August they are a good option for you because they have guaranteed parking (another peak season problem apparently)

Rovinj - simple, spotless apartments a 5 minute walk to Old Town

http://www.apartmaniaurora-zoran.hr/index_en.htm

Trogir - a lovely view of Trogir - about a 10 minute walk into town. From Trogir we did a day trip to Split.

http://www.trogir-online.com/kasalo/

Dubrovnik - an apartment with a spectacular view of Old Town - lovely family/owners

http://www.dubrovnik-accommodation.net/index.html

Here's a link to our blog - still finishing it so check back.

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/parisandbeyond/

qwovadis

the Dalmatian coast is a long slog by car have done it

takes a couple days each way of mostly driving on scenic but

very windy sometimes bad smaller roads to get down to

Dubronik via Split and back.

In the short 1 week you have Dubrovnik is prettiest by far

might fly there as a base venture out from there

for best eperience unless you enjoy non-stop road tripping.

Happy Planning,

Cara68

Thank you both for your replies and accomodation recommendation. I am looking forward to reading your blog Elizabeth.
Unfortunately, we don't have the option of flying as we have booked car hire from Venice which must be returned to Venice. I suppose we could fly to Dubrovnik but it would mean leaving the car at the airport for a week (which would be a waste of money) and the additional cost of flights, so we would prefer to use the car as we will have already paid for it.

The biggest concern seems to be the roads are really busy at that time which wouldn't make for a pleasant journey and we don't want to spend all the time in the care. If we took the ferry down at the end the August and drove back up at the beginning of September, would this work?

Or else just go as far as Trogir or anywhere else recommended and tour from there.

Perhaps we will have to fly to Dubrovnik on another trip.

Thanks in advance.

kja

Not counting my time in Istria, I spent 13 days to visit the coast from Dubrovnik through Lovran using a combination of public transportation (bus and ferry) and rental car. I think many people would have found my pace too rapid. With only one week, I think you will need to be very selective. Hope that helps!