Prague to Dubrovnik Itinerary Suggestions wanted
 

My wife and I are in our 60’s and travel frequently. We are planning to drive from Prague to Dubrovnik, Croatia in early June. We have allocated three weeks.
We’ve seen so many churches they’re all starting to look alike. Almost ditto museums. We like scenery, food and people.
I would appreciate itinerary suggestions.
Thanks much,

I have never drive that route so can't really help much. However, my husband and I are planning to go to Croatia next September and have heard wonderful things about the Plitvice Lakes National Park which looks amazingly beautiful. We plan to visit there and you might wish to consider it, too, as it would be quite a change from churches and museums.

The Plitvice Lakes National Park is, IMO, the single most un-missable of Croatia's many splendors. Not only are the lakes connected by travertine waterfall formations, each lake has unique microbiota, and as a result, the lakes are different colors. The best way to see that is to make a single, long loop through the park -- something on the order of 6 hours or more (including time for the boat that connects the lower and upper lakes).

Even if you are "churched-out," the cathedral in Split is unusual and IMO, magnificent.

You have MANY options. I suggest you get some good guide books -- or go to your local library to do so -- and come back once you have a more specific plan.

It's a beautiful part of the world -- enjoy!

You have a lot of choices of places to stop enroute, and 3 weeks in which to do so.

I've not driven from Prague, but have driven a fair bit in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina (click on my name to find my trip reports). Places I really enjoyed, some of which are quite off-the-beaten track (and off the main roads too!), but I consider worth visiting are...

Varazdin (N Croatia)
Veliki Tabor (N Croatia)
Jajce (BiH)
Travnik (BiH)
Kraljeva Sutjeska (BiH)
Sarajevo (BiH)
Mostar (BiH)
Trogir Croatia

What's the drop charge for that? It's likely to be extremely high.

And what scenery do you like? Both the Sahara and the Galapagos have scenery, but of different types . . .

Thanks to all for the suggestions.
kja-Here’s the plan so far. We’re flying into Frankfurt and picking up the car. Then two nights each in or near:
Prague
Ljubljana
Plitvice Lake.
This will put us in Zadar on day seven.
On day 18 we’ll visit Herceg Novi.
Day 19 we’ll return to Frankfurt for our flight home on day 22, spending one night each in or near:
Trieste
Augsburg
Frankfurt.
This gives us 12 nights in Croatia.

julia_t-thanks for the recommendations, I’ll look at your trip reports.

BigRuss-as you can see, no drop charge. We enjoyed visiting both the Galapogos and the Sahara. We spent February this year in Rajasthan, so we don’t really need to see more desert this year. I’m looking forward to the drive down the Croatian coast.

I guess I’m really asking if we’re missing anything worthwhile on the way to Croatia and looking for recommendations in (or near) Croatia. A night in Hvar is on the list.
We don’t plan any sightseeing on the way home. We’ve spent time in the Dolomites and driven the Romantische Strasse before, so we’ll retrace that route, but not spend much time in any city.

You will be driving, presumably. Here are some towns to visit:

Almost any of the locations in this album that come after Ried: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622926792957/

Almost any location that comes before Prague in this album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7623046345988/

Lake Bled in Slovenia

Split and Mostar in Croatia.

You will need a map to figure out a logical itinerary from one sight to another.

You have drive Romantische Road and now you can go Castle Road, Hallstatt Austria, Worthersee Carinthia, Krka National Park in Croatia, Split, Mostar in Bosnia.

"This gives us 12 nights in Croatia." With 12 nights, you will be able to see a lot, but you will also have to skip many delightful locations -- and only you can decide which ones to visit and which to forego.

FWIW, you might want to keep in mind that getting to Croatia is likely to be a bit more difficult than getting to places like Prague or Frankfurt, so you might want to put as much of your time as possible into Croatia itself.

Thanks Michael and Aleksander57 - I've added a few stops.

kja - what do you mean when you say "FWIW, you might want to keep in mind that getting to Croatia is likely to be a bit more difficult than getting to places like Prague or Frankfurt...."
Are you talking about road conditions? Could you please elaborate?

My two cents. Trip to Croatia is longer than to Prague, but roads in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia are very good, new and modern motorways. In June traffic will be fine and you can travel as fast you want. You will need vignetta in Austria and Slovenia, which allow you to drive on motorways and Croatia has toll system.

Aleksander57 - Is it one vignette for both Austria and Slovenia or a separate one for each country?
I've looked at websites for both but it's still unclear to me.
Thanks for the two cents!

Each has it's own vignetta, easily bought on petrol stations.

No, I wasn't talking about road conditions -- I was talking about flights. If you are coming from the U.S. (as your profile suggests), getting to Croatia can involve multiple flight legs. I must admit that I don't like changing planes very much; YMMV. Or maybe your flight options are different than mine....

I thought the road conditions generally quite good, although the drivers I encountered on some back roads were more aggressive than I would have liked. (Not a problem on the main highways.)

Kja, original post of laslonimne mention drive from Prague to Dubrovnik and ask for advice, so there are no multiple flights from USA involved.
Some drivers in Balkans can be more aggressive, similar as Italians or Greeks. Just way of life in southern Europe.

@ aleksander -- should the OP want to return to Croatia, multiple flights COULD be involved. That's why I suggested it might be a consideration -- specifically, a reason to consider allocating more time for Croatia on THIS trip.

Are you sure your rental car can be driven to Bosnia and Montenegro?
Is day 7 in Zadar a given?
Is day 18 in Herceg Novi a given?

If answer to all is yes, I would do this:

Fly into Frankfurt and pick up the car. Then two nights each in or near:
Salzburg
Ljubljana
Plitvice Lake.
This will put you in Zadar on day seven.
On day 18 we’ll visit Herceg Novi.
Day 19 Return to Frankfurt for your flight home on day 22, spending one night each in or near:
Zagreb
Regensburg
Frankfurt.
This gives you 12 nights in Croatia.If you have been to Salzburg you could stay only one night and add 1 night to Croatia.

Its late ,reasons and more tomorrow?

Thanks for your suggestions dugi_otoc. The answers to your questions are yes (Europcar allows their cars in the Standard Elite category to visit those countries), no and no.

Why do you suggest Salzburg over Prague for the first two nights? We’ve been to neither.

For the return trip we plan to revisit the Romantische Strasse. We’ve not been to Regensburg. Why do you recommend it? Since it's between Prague and Lake Bled we could easily fit it in - at the cost of spending the time in Croatia.

Is 10 nights enough in Croatia? I think we'd like to spend more time there.

Thanks again for the recommendations.

"Is 10 nights enough in Croatia? I think we'd like to spend more time there." It depends on your interests. I spent 3 weeks there (not counting Slovenia etc.) and wish I had had more time.

Since your day 7 (Zadar) and your day 18(Herceg Novi) are not fixed in stone I will change my recommendations.

Getting to Croatia. Your 2 stops for 2 days each is a good idea. It could be done in fewer days if you wanted to have more days in Croatia. But considering you have come off an overnight flight your choice is good.

Do this:
Arrive Frankfurt, drive to Salzburg for 2 nights. I recommend Salzburg over Prague because Prague is too much of a detour on driving Frankfurt to Plitvice. Times are from viamichelin without stops
Your itinerary-
Day 1- Frankfurt to Prague 5hrs 41 min 513 km
Day 3- Prague to Ljubljana 8 hrs 46 min 593 km

My Itinerary-
Day 1- Frankfurt to Salzburg 5 hrs 39 min 536 km
Day 3- Salzburg to Ljubljana 3 hrs 18 min 276 km
On to Plitvice for 2 nights.

Summarizing your vacation:
Day 1.Arrive Frankfurt. Drive to Salzburg
Day 2. Salzburg
Day 3. Drive to Ljubljana
Day 4. Ljubljana
Day 5. Drive to Plitvice
Day 6. Plitvice
Day 7. Drive to Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina
A neat way to get to Mostar would be to drive through Bosnia-H ( Plitvica is only 18km from the border). So drive 5 hours Plivice-Bihac-Bugojno-Mostar.

The more conventional route is the Croatian motorway(A1) to the end and then a 40 min drive to Mostar. The total drive is about 4 hours.
The choice is yours
Day 8. Drive to Dubrovnik (about 2 hrs)
Days 9-18 Tour the Croatian coast working your way to Rovinj on day 18. Include a day trip to Herceg Novi/Kotor while in Dubrovnik.
Day 19. Drive from Rovinj to Bavaria. Stay overnight in or around Berchtesgaden.
Day 20. Drive the Romantic Road from Augsburg to Rothenburg. Overnight in Rothenburg.
Day 21. Frankfurt
Day 22. Fly home.

For a glimpse of your vacation view these:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...iatic-delights

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...lkan-sidetrips

Some websites which may help you.
http://www.croatiaferries.com/ for ferries to Hvar and other islands.

On my last trip we rented an apartment in Dubrovnik using this agency owned by a young American couple, Andrew & Michelle Kehoe, who live in Dubrovnik.
They are very helpful and very easy to deal with. There is good info on their website.

http://www.dubrovnikapartmentsource....&intPageID=859

Post your complete itinerary for additional feedback.