I think I’d go out of my mind with boredom staying in Perast, but that is just me. It is very pretty and would be extremely relaxing. I don’t stay in Kotor old town - I stay outside and walk in or drive and park in the municipal parking which is .90 euro cents an hour (maybe it will go up by September, but not much.) I usually stay in Škaljari on the hill above Kotor or in Dobrota, just north of Kotor. If you have a car, you should make sure your accommodation has parking.

Herzeg Novi has a lovely bay front area with cafes and restaurants but depending on your flight time may be easier to visit en route to the airport, then either drop your car and stay at the airport or stay in Cavtat close to Dubrovnik airport.

KarenWoo are you thinking about the earthquake, not flood, in Zagreb? This is why many museums had to close. For the most part the city has recovered but some museums remain closed. It’s such a great place to sit in cafes and people watch, that’s a museum in itself..

Rialtogirl thanks for the reminder about the earthquake…we thought it odd that most museums were closed when we were there in June 2023. It was disappointing but now understandable.

Zagreb also has a nice market that we enjoyed despite the rain. In fact everything looked quite beautiful in the misty rain.

Thanks for the shout our for Kotor, based on some other comments that seems like a good choice

Thanks for your suggestion about Perast. So let's say you go to Dubrovnik airport, pick up a car, you could then take a long day for stopping in Herzog Novi and maybe Perast on the way to Kotor? Then spend a couple of days in Kotor or more around the coast. Or maybe drive to the other place Centinje you mentioned before. Do you have a place you like to stay in Skaljari? Finally, if you know, Whitehall mentioned that he took a ferry out of Cavtat to an island. I forgot which, will review. My Google map doesn't show ferry lines going out of Cavtat. I know not to depend on Google maps, but in your experience, are there a number of lines that go to different islands out of Catvat? It seems very convenient to go out of there on a ferry vs. Dubrovnik

Stop the Presses, Whitehall ferried out of Orebic not Cavtat! My bad.

Rialtogirl, yes, I am thinking about the earthquake in Zagreb. My mistake.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. We are now thinking of renting a car in Dubrovnik after the tour ends and doing three days around the Kotor Bay. Maybe using Kotor as a base. Is the best place to rent a car at the Dubrovnik airport? After that we have maybe another three days and we would like to pick one island to just chill for three days with a final day in Split before we fly home. Kind of decided to fly out of Split. Can you take a ferry from Dubrovnik to Hvar? We are visiting Korcula on our Rick Steves tour so may not need to go there again. Someone suggested we could rent a car in Hvar town and tour the island. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Catamarans from Dubrovnik to Hvar:
https://www.krilo.hr/en/sailing-sche...lit-dubrovnik/
https://www.jadrolinija.hr/docs/defa...rsn=d961581a_1

or just keep the car and drop it off in Split.

There are rental offices in Dubrovnik. I can’t see any reason to pick up a car at the airport unless you are flying out of there.

car rental on Hvar: https://www.dinorenthvar.com

Rialtogrl - Thanks this is great information.

Croatia is a real mecca for yachting. If you have a whole month in this region, you can easily take a week-long yacht charter or a day trip to the nearby islands. Be careful when choosing a yacht for rent - now there are a lot of offers online.
By the way, for flights I often use Skyscanner or KAYAK, and to find the best prices on yachts I use Boatscribe.com. I can easily compare prices for both flights and yachts, which makes planning easier and faster.

For yacht charter, I recommend the regions of Dubrovnik and Zadar, a very large selection of yachts at reasonable prices.

Hello Fodorites, I'm back! So we are putting together our trip and this is what we have so far:
Fly into Zagreb 3 nights
Train to Ljubljana 2 nights
Rick Steves Tour 14 days
Ending in Dubrovnik and rent a car for 3 days to go to Montenegro, probably Perast, Kotor and Centinje.

Now we have around 7 to 8 days after Montenegro and this is where I need info. We will most likely spend the final 2 days in Trogir before we fly home from Split. I'm thinking about a couple of options

Option 1 - Keep the car we will rent in Dubrovnik and ferry to one or more of the islands on the way to Split and drop off the car there.
Option 2 - Return the car in Dubrovnik after Montenegro and take a ferry to an island, maybe Hvar, and rent a car there. This eliminates a drop off fee.

I guess my big question is, it easier to have a car to get from ferry to ferry without having to depend on other transportation. Yes it will be more expensive with a drop off fee, but is it worth it, or is it better to get a car once we reach an island.
Thanks for all of suggestions so far!

I’d keep the car. The catamarans from Dubrovnik to Hvar have become expensive. Maybe they won’t seem expensive to everyone, but for someone who has been using them for a long time, 50 euros is insane. Once in Hvar, to get to Split, you can go on a very early catamaran for a reasonable price (they have to keep prices lower for commuters) but later catamarans are 25 euros. For an hour ride! This is from Hvar Town.

Having a car the whole time will give you a lot more flexibility. If you want to stay on Hvar and really explore the island, drive to the ferry in Drvenik in between Dubrovnik and Split, and drive across the eastern part of the island from Sućuraj to wherever you decide to stay. The road for the first hour is not for nervous nellies but let all the other cars pass you and take it slow, and you’ll be fine. Then when you leave the island take the bigger ferry back to Split.

I sometimes stay in Drvenik the night before, catch a late morning ferry and end up in Hvar Town in the early afternoon. I just did it this week in fact. The ticket was around $15 including my rental car. The ferry to Split is, of course, more expensive because it takes two hours instead of thirty minutes. If you decide to stay in Hvar Town make sure to rent a place with parking.

Since you have a fair bit of time you could even go back to Drvenik and head north from there, stop and have a look at Makarska, maybe an overnight in Omiš…

Rialtogrl, once again, great advice, excuse my ignorance, but by Catamaran, you mean "people" ferries vs a car ferry. Whitehall drove to Orebic and then grabbed a ferry, what is your opinion of driving there and grabbing a ferry vs. Drvenik? I've taken ferries in Greece and going from Vancouver B.C. to Victoria. On the Canada trip, the ferry ride was fantastic because of the scenery. Are the Croatia trips scenic also? It seems like the islands are pretty close so I'm guessing the answer is yes. Once we leave Hvar, I like to idea of going to Sucuraj to Drvenik and then driving to Split. We haven't investigated where to stay on Hvar but I was looking at Jesla, it seemed like a quiet little place. I don't think we would stay in Hvar town, just visit and move on. I've also thought about Stari Grad.

On the car rental, you had mentioned before it didn't matter if I got it in Dubrovnik or at the airport in Dubrovnik, how about dropping it off? I have experienced higher fees at an airport pick up, is that your experience in Croatia. Then drop it off in Split or at the Split airport? We want to go to Trogir for the final two days and it appears the airport is in between Split and Trogir. You mentioned that you just had a rental car this week, is there a rental car company you usually use?

Yes, there are two kinds of boats - catamarans which are passenger only, and ferries that take cars, vans, buses, cargo, etc. I would say the ferries are more “scenic” because you can go outside. But to be completely honest I’m using them as a method to get from point a to b and the less time I’m on one, the better. Others will probably say they love taking catamarans and ferries.

The ferry from Orebić goes to Korčula. If that is the island you decide on, and if you have a car, that is the ferry you want to take. Probably best to look at a map to see what I’m talking about.

Stari Grad and Jelsa are both wonderful, my heart is in Hvar Town but you can’t go wrong with these towns as a base for exploring the island. They both are more central than Hvar Town.Especially in Jelsa, find a place with parking.

I usually pick up cars in towns so I am not an expert on drop off fees. I use MACK, they have an office at Hotel Park in Split and one on Frana Supila in Dubrovnik (super convenient locations) and once I did drop a car off in Dubrovnik airport but I don’t remember a fee. You need to tell whoever you rent from that you are taking ferries and going to Montenegro.
https://mack-concord.hr
They have an office in Split airport too.

I thought maybe Orebic only fed Korcula. I think Drevnik is the place to go. Thanks for the heads up on MACK

Rialtogrl - Is there a place you recommend in Skaljari? As we are now planning to have a car, Old Town Kotor seems pretty crowded, we are planning on two days in Kotor.

I stay at Maritimo apartments in Skaljari. You can Google them. He is often fully booked.

there is also Maison W in Dobrota (though they call it Kotor) and they are easy walking distance but have parking.