rholt

Wife and I are looking forward to trip (from U.S.) To Dalmatian coast in early September of this year. Excluding travel days - we will have 9 days on the ground. Just beginning planning and would love help with two very basic questions.

1) Looking at focusing our trip on three locations

• Split
• Korcula (or maybe Hvar?)
• Dubrovnik

Is that reasonable? Any alternative suggestions. I don't think we want to do more - we are not the kind of people that like to sleep in a new bed every night. We love history, we love culture, and we love food. My wife also likes the water.

2) I am not sure what to do with transportation. My current thought is that we would

• Fly into Dubrovnik - rent a car and drive straight to Split
• Return car in Split and take ferry to Korcula (will we need a car in the island?)
• Take ferry form Korcula to Dubrovnik
• Fly home from Dubrovnik

Does this make sense?

Thanks in advance for any input.

KarenWoo

Have you looked into open-jaw tickets (or multi-city) where you would fly into Dubrovnik, for example, and fly home from Split? This would save you time because you wouldn't have to backtrack. And I think it would be better to start off in Dubrovnik rather than pick up a rental car on the same day you arrive. You will have jetlag on the day you arrive. Will you be alert and awake enough to drive 3+ hours to Split?

How many nights do you have on the ground? 8 or 9? I think 3 destinations makes sense for your length of trip. So perhaps 3 nights in Dubrovnik, 2 or 3 nights on Korcula and 2 or 3 nights in Split.

I haven't been to Korcula so I don't know if you need a car. We visited Hvar Town for a day from Split and we absolutely loved it!

CaKnK

I agree in that I would recommend flying into Split and flying out of Dubrovnik if at all possible. It will make your trip within Croatia smoother and then you won’t even need a rental car.

Travel_Nerd

I agree with KarenWoo on the open jaw/multicity flights. You may find flying RT out of Dubrovnik or Split will cost you much valuable time and money on an already relatively short trip to return back to Dubrovnik.

I have not been to Hvar but have been to Korcula. A car would be a hindrance on Korcula. Sure, you could explore the island a *bit* more, but Korcula town is mostly no car traffic and most of the highlights are in a very small area of stari grad. If you want to explore more, say to Lumbarda, you can get by around neighboring islands/communities around the island via local ferry or by bus.

You can take ferries to/from all of these destinations. Start in Split, take ferry to Hvar/Korcula, and then take your last ferry to Dubrovnik. This is pretty much how I traveled between the 3 locations in September 2022, except I had to take a bus from Sibenik, stopping in Split for my ferry onto Korcula.

thursdaysd

Entirely agree with flying open jaw, and certainly, if you arriving from the US or Asia, do not drive the first day. (Look up micro-sleeps.)

I haven't been to Korcula but I have been to Hvar and I did fine without a car.

I don't know whether the crowds have diminished post-Covid, I suspect they may now be back up, but the last time I was there it was mobbed. I would be inclined to spend time in Montenegro instead, but on a short trip you may just want to do a day trip. (Use the buses, or find a local tour.)

KarenWoo

Following up with thursdaysd suggestion of visiting Montenegro for a day, we hired a private driver who drove us around the Bay of Kotor. We made 3 stops: Budva, Kotor, and Perast. This was one of our favorite days of our trip. My husband drove throughout Croatia, and it was very easy, but we hired the private driver for the Bay of Kotor so that he could enjoy the scenery, and he didn't have to worry about parking the car in the villages/towns we visited.

thursdaysd

In Montenegro I spent a couple of nights) admiring this view: https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...-sveti-stefan/

rholt

Thanks very much folks. Not sure why I didn't consider flying into Split with an open jaw - makes perfect sense - will explore. The idea of doing the entire trip without having to rent a car is pleasing to me.

rialtogrl

Early September will be very busy in Croatia. Last year was crazy. I would not delay on getting accommodation. Book your catamaran tickets in advance too. There are two companies, Jadrolinija and Krilo. You could do that all the way, but if you get seasick the last hour into Dubrovnik can get a bit rough.

rholt

We have the flexibility to push to late September. Would you recommend that? We are looking for the magic intersection of a) still warm) and b) not too crowded.

rialtogrl

late September will be much less crowded, but on the islands things can start to shut down.

Usually weather is good, but if storms come it affects the catamarans, especially late in the season. However there are always solutions like car ferries and buses

panecott

One thing is certain: No matter where you go or stay in Croatia, it will be spectacular! And definitely fly into one city and depart from the other. RT to one city will cut into your time and will not save you much money, if any at all. I learned this when planning a similar trip last year and checked out air fares. I wound up flying into Dubrovnik from NY and out of Llubljana, Slovenia, and the airfare was still very reasonable.