Split, Croatia - itinerary help!
 

I'm flying into Split, Croatia for 6 days in late June and am hoping for help with an itinerary.

I'd like to see:
- Split
- a nearby island (Hvar? Brac? Some other island)?
- nearby town (Trogir & Omis? Some other town?)

My questions:
1) Does it make sense to stay in Split and daytrip out OR to stay in Split for a few days and on an island for a night or two?
2) Assuming I stay on an island, which island / town do you recommend? I'm leaning towards Hvar / Hvar Town.
3) Is it worth renting a car to see Trogir / Omis / other nearby towns?
4) How scary is it to drive the Dalmatian Coast? (I've happily driven the LA freeway, the Heart of the Dolomites, teeny-tiny windy roads between Taormina & Castelmola in Siciliy but did NOT have the nerve to drive the Amalfi Coast... where do Dalmatiam Coast roads fall on this continuum).
5) What else is in the vicinity that I should absolutely, positively not miss seeing?

Any and all advice greatly appreciated!

1. Either, depending on your interests and preferences and the timing of the ferries.

2. I've been to Hvar, but not Brac. I found Hvar Town a little too upscale for my tastes, but I readily admit that it is beautiful. If you want a much lower key option, you could stay in Stari Grad, but that town is SO low key that it probably wouldn't suit most people's interests.

3. Trogir is a 1/2 hour bus ride away. And yes, IMO, you would do well to visit it. Given that a car would likely be a detriment in both Split and Trogir, I certainly would NOT rent a car to go there! Can't speak to Omis....

4. I didn't try to drive it, nor would I want to -- I wanted to be able to devote my full attention to that spectacular scenery! And again, depending on where you go, a car could easily be an encumbrance. By contrast, I found the buses convenient and comfortable.

5. IMO, the Plitvice Lakes National Park is the single most unskippable destination in all of stunning Croatia. Part of what makes these lakes so magnificent is that each has unique microbiota, and as a result, the lakes are different colors -- aqua and turquoise and deep blue and emerald and clear and everything in between. 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) -- although you can do shorter walks if mobility is an issue. I recommend staying at the park the night before your visit. You can use public transportation (by bus from Split), but for many people, this is the ONE thing for which a rental car (for just one day) might be worthwhile.

Please get yourself a GOOD guidebook. Of the half-dozen I used when planning my time in Croatia, I found the Rough Guide the most useful BY FAR.

I loved Split -- hope you do, too!

I'd split your time between Split and an island and make a daytrip to Trogir. No need to rent a car, you can take a bus or ferry to Trogir.

Hvar Town is beautiful, and fun - that time of year their will be lots of nightlife and clubs, but you don't have to do that if you don't want to. It depends on what you are looking for.. the rest of the island is vineyards, lavender fields, rocks :) it helps to have a car to explore the whole island.

If you have driven in Sicily, you will have no problem driving the Dalmatian coast. You don't have a lot of time, that is your biggest problem.

Trogir is extremely close to Split airport. Regular local buses from Trogir to Split.
Islands with direct boat/catamaran connections with Split:
Brac, Hvar, Vis, Korcula (Vela Luka and Korcula town).
Google for them and make your choice; spend at least 1 night there.
http://www.crobeaches.com/en/
http://www.croatiatraveller.com/cent...atia/Split.htm
For a day trip along the coast, check Sibenik and the Krka Falls Parks

If I had six days and wanted to be based in Split, I would follow kja's advice, though all of the advice above is good.

You need to allow time in Split to absorb -- not just walk through -- Diocletian's multi-leveled palace. It is a building almost 2000 years old still in daily use.

The road to Dubrovnik is most like, to me, the Coast Highway in Big Sur but without the pulloffs. The scenery is spectacular, but you will see it better from a bus than from the driver's seat. Southbound, sit on the driver's side, as close to the front as possible so you can see through the windshield as well. The highway passes through a tiny and very seedy bit of Bosnia, and if you drive, you will have to deal with border paperwork twice in a couple of miles. The length of time this takes will depend on how the two countries are feeling about each other at the time.

We took a day trip to Hvar on the slow (car and truck) ferry and still had time for Stari Grad and Hvar Town. The ferry was just like the Nantucket-Hyannis ferries, which I ride once a month, except that they permit smoking inside. We're too old for night life, so a long day trip was fine with us. We particularly enjoyed the theater, which is a remarkable 18th century survival.

1) Split between Split and the Islands
2) I like Bol on Brac, either get a room down around the port is pretty good, or there is a classy 4 star hotel along the coast (an easy walk) towards the curved sand spit you can see from google maps, get a deal from booking dot com.
3&4) Trogir, catch the bus and sometimes there is a boat from Split. Driving is easy along the coast but check the car quality if you rent, I've had problems over the years in this area....
5) the lakes, also some island hoping and look along the coast there are defended places like Trogir and Dubrovnik (only smaller) that can be fun for lunch.

There is a fodorite who lives in the area and a lot of chat in the last 2 weeks or so so read about and see where to eat etc.

Thank you for all these terrific suggestions!! I really appreciate your advice!

Was in Split in Oct and took bus from the bus station at the port to Trogir. Did not realize there was more than one bus line to get to Trogir or 2 bus stations in Split.

Unfortunately for me, took the 2nd bus line back from Trogir to Split (a local) and it stopped at the bus area in the modern part of Split, so I did not know where I was or how to get back to the port area. Young or old no one I met acknowledged speaking English, no one understood the words port, ship, or sea and that is all Split is, the sea and port along with the Palace.

Needs maybe 1 1/2 - 2 days, then I would say hit the islands of which Croatia is famous for.

...if you had asked for ferryboat, you would probably had no problem
BTW: I was in the same situation some 10 years ago, asked for luka and kolodvor and everybody wanted to help me.