Solo trip to Croatia
 

I'm looking forward to taking my first solo trip as a 21 year old woman this summer and was hoping for some advice on must see destinations and affordable hostels or BnBs. I want an experience that will allow me to meet as many interesting new people as possible hence why i think hostels would be great as well as my low budget.

I definitely want to see the Plitvice Lakes. I am also very active love the outdoors and beaches as well getting acquainted with local cuisine and customs!

Any itinerary suggestions for a 3 week trip?

no suggestions from me since I'm not much a a seasoned traveller, but I have to say, YOU GO GIRL! I respect you for venturing off on your solo adventure. I envy your moxie! Hope you have an amazing time.

If you have three weeks, I highly recommend adding some time in Slovenia as well. I've done two trips to the area - you can read my trip reports by clicking on my name. I am planning to go back in May to Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are lots of other Croatia trip reports here as well if you search for them and read up.

In Croatia, the "highlights" would be roughly:

Dubrovnik
Korcula
Hvar
Split
Plitvice Lakes
Rovinj

I haven't been to Zadar but a friend who was there a few years ago, doing roughly the kind of trip you seem to want to do now, loved Zadar and highly recommended it.

Croatia has a decent bus system (try the site www.buscroatia.com ), and the buses aren't too expensive (almost no trains on the Dalmatian coast). In Slovenia and Croatia you'll find people advertising "sobe" (private rooms) as well as hostels; sometimes there is overlap. I've used several of the main hostel booking websites like hostelbookers, hostelworld, etc. to book sobe in Croatia and Slovenia and there are shared housing options on those sites too of course. There are also "sobe" booking websites that may help.

First, pick the places you want to go. I found Rick Steves's Croatia and Slovenia book helpful. You can also watch his videos of Croatia for free on Hulu. Then look at hostels. Summer is high season so booking ahead might be best, but that gives you less flexibility to change your plans as you go.

You might try this itinerary:

Ljubljana, Slovenia
Rovinj
Plitvice Lakes
Zadar
Krka National Park (similar to Plitvice but more waterfalls, swimming allowed - I've been to Plitvice not yet to Krka)
Split
Hvar (catamaran from Split)
Korcula
Dubrovnik (bus from Dubrovnik or maybe seasonal catamaran)

Hvar and Korcula are islands. You don't necessarily have to go to both. I've been to Korcula not Hvar - I hear Hvar has more of a "party scene" but who knows?

You might find flying into Venice easier to get to Ljubljana or right to Croatia if you skip Slovenia. Flying directly into Croatia can be a challenge from other continents. easyJet has seasonal flights between Croatia and other European cities mostly in the summer months, so that can help too as far as getting to/from Croatia most cheaply.

Welcome to Fodor's!

First and foremost, I recommend that you get a very good guidebook or two. Of the half-dozen I used when planning my time in the area, I found the Rough Guide BY FAR the best. As a 2nd guidebook, you might consider the Lonely Planet, which is IME particularly helpful for low-budget traveling. (The Rough Guide is good for that budget range, too.) You might want to look them over at your local bookstore or library, or just purchase them, as their cost will be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip.

For my trip to the area, I spent 3 full weeks in Croatia and another week visiting other parts of what was once Yugoslavia -- and I loved EVERY place I visited! Here's what I did: Sarajevo, Mostar, Dubrovnik with a day trip to Kotor, Korcula, Split, Stari Grad and Hvar Town, Trogir, Sibenik and the Krka National Park, Zadar and Nin, Rab, Lovran, Rovinj and Porec, Gracisce and the Istrian hill towns, the absolutely magnificent Plitvice Lakes National Park; Cigoc, Zagreb, Varazdin and Cakovec, Ljubljana and the Skocjan Caves; and -- finally -- Lakes Bled and Bohinj. BUT I didn't visit any beaches -- not something I seek! ;-)

We can suggest itineraries, but only YOU can decide what suits your interests. The good news is that Croatia is beautiful, so you should have a wonderful time. :-)

And BTW, I'm one of the many women on Fodor's who travel solo by choice -- it is such a wonderful self-indulgence to be able to go where you want, when you want!

Hope that helps!

Hi, I'm from Split, Croatia.
Split is nice during summer, there's twice as many people in it than usual because of tourists. Also, since you're young I'm sure you would enjoy it's night-life as well. If you went to some smaller town like Dubrovnik, Rovinj they are a lot smaller so they don't have as much stuff happening in them.
But in Split and around it there's also A LOT of historical sites to visit.

So my suggestion would be the Split-Trogir area. There are some hostels in Split too that aren't expensive.

If you choose to go to more cities than that would raise the cost of the trip as well...

I went to Croatia on May/June last year alone. As a 23 years old woman it was not my first experience in travelling solo but I always make sure Im in safe places.. a little adventure is good but not too much!lol. for the first week I I went with Intersail club for cruise along the Adriatic coast, we really had fun. Then I spent other 7 days on land but I was completly alone so it was less fun obviusly...

Will you rent a car or use public transport? If taking the bus to Plitvice, you may wish to stay in one of the park hotels and should budget accordingly. Otherwise, accommodation may be problematic due to having to walk along the main road to the park. It won't break the bank or anything.
Private room rental is the norm in Croatia, so in places where there is not a hostel, you could book this through a tourist office. You could tell them you only wish to rent from families.
See where you can fly in and out of, and then we can offer itinerary suggestions.