plufmud

DCD,

You always have the best photos of your adventures with your beautiful wife! We are going to Croatia in September and had planned to visit the Plitvice Falls however after reading of less rain maybe we should rethink our itinerary. Our plans are to stay in Hvar for 3 nights which I think you really enjoyed.
You will be visiting Switzerland in a few weeks so I wonder if you have the time to maybe provide additional thoughts on your favorite sites in Croatia and what you might do differently. At our age we realize that many of our travels will only be for a one time visit and are trying to make the best of our days. We have 3 weeks planned in Croatia in September.
I think it is wonderful that Joyce and you are traveling to as many places as possible! So many of us enjoy your adventures via your trip reports!

dcd

plufmud, just now seeing your post. September will be perfect. Crowds greatly diminished and the water temps perfect.

Random thoughts.

I'd skip Zagreb. Full of graffiti (it's everywhere!) and scaffolding (due to the 2020 5.8 earthquake which shuttered 2500 buildings, many of which are still closed, including some museums, churches, etc)

Mljet NP is nice but could also be skipped as there was nothing particularly wow about it other than the hotel in the park which was quite nice. If you wanted to stay in nature for a bit, then go.

We enjoyed all the smaller cities/villages. One of the bigger challenges is figuring out how long to stay in each. They are small mainly so can be easily seen in a day or so, but you don't want to be constantly on the move either. We enjoyed the Istrian peninsula towns of Opatija, Rovinj and Pula; Trogir; Makarska; Split; Omish; Dubrovnik, including cable car at sunset and beautiful Lokrum Island via 10 minute ferry; and Ston (the walls were fun to climb and a neat experience).

We love the city of Hvar, but didn't get to Korcula which is also supposed to be nice. One person said Hvar appeals most to the under 35 crowd and Korcula to the over 35 crowd, lol.

We visited Krka NP and it was very nice with lots of waterfalls, although I don't know about water flow in September. Same with Plitvice. Probably worth googling people's experiences there in Sept. Both are pretty parks anyway.

I'd definitely visit Slovenia. Ljubljana, Lake Bled and Postojna Cave are terrific!

Lastly, I'd suggest some time in Montenegro around Kotar Bay. Bar was too big so I'd stay elsewhere.

plufmud

Thanks for your reply. Our itinerary for our trip is as follows. We will have a car for the entire trip except when we drop off car in Dubrovnik upon arrival.

Day 1~fly to Zebreb for one night
Rovinj 3 nights
Plitvice 1 night
Zadar 2 nights
Split 2 nights
Hvar 3 nights
Mostar 1 night
Montenegro 3 nights Staying at same hotel as you guys
Dubrovnik 3 nights
Paris 1 night
We are thinking of eliminating the one night in Mostar.

Really enjoyed your photos as always and will be following as you two head off to Switzerland. Safe travels!

dcd

plufmud, looks good! Can’t help you with Mostar.

Some thoughts.

You might consider visiting Krka NP after you leave Zadar en route to Split. We very much enjoyed our morning there, but if the water flow is going to be a trickle in October, then I would skip it as the waterfalls are the main attraction.

As for staying in Split for two nights, I opted to stay in Trogir instead. It takes about 45 minutes to drive from Trogir to Split if you miss rush-hour, which is highly, highly advisable! I know there is a pretty healthy debate on the forums about where to stay between those two cities. We are very glad we stayed at Trogir having visited both.

They are very, very different cities. Trogir is a VERY small, quaint town consisting of small alleyways. Cars are not allowed as the alleys are not big enough. It is very laid-back. You can see the town easily within a day but to really capture its ambience, two full days would be fine. Great place to chill. And there are some attractions to see as well.

Split on the other hand is a very large city with little appeal outside of the old town where the powers is the main attraction, IMHO. It is definitely worth visiting to see the palace and climb up Marjan Hill for a very nice overview but that can probably be done in half a day on your way to Hvar.

Where possible, I would spring for rooms with a view of the Adriatic Sea. It is so beautiful.

asterisktom

Beautiful pictures. Looks pleasantly warm and sunny. We were in Rijeka, up the coast, but this looks even better, Another place to think about.

pknaster

dcd - Great commentary and amazing pics. What was the name of your VRBO in Dubrovnik? we will be there in September and I am looking for a place outside the old city. You may email me as well. Thank you in advance

dcd

pknaster, here you go and we highly, highly recommend it. I posted my review on the VRBO website. https://t.vrbo.io/ww5vA8h8irb