Switzerland-Crotia 15 days itinerary
 

We are based in US and planning on Switzerland-Croatia trip this summer. Would appreciate your feedback on the following 15-day itinerary. We are family of 4 with 2 kids, 14 and 9 year old. We love nature and like to visit those places with more of natural beauty to see.
I have searched on this site as well as in general to get info on distance and travel time. I have listed it based on what I found.

Day 1
Travel to Zurich, JFK-Zurich

Day 2
Zurich - Rhine falls?

Day 3
Zurich to Lucerne - 1hr, by train
Lucerne

Day 4
Lucerne-Engelberg-Mt Titlis, day trip

Day 5
Lucerne-Interlaken, 2 hrs, by train

Day 6
Interlaken
Interlaken-Jungfrau, 35 mins

Day 7
Interlaken

Day 8
Interlaken-Zurich, by train, 2hr 40mins; 13 trains everyday, every 1hr 40mins
Zurich-Zagreb, by flight, $140 non-stop

Day 9
Zagreb?

Day 10
Zagreb to Plitvice

Day 11
Plitvice
Plitvice to Split, 3.5 hours by bus

Day 12
Split

Day 13
Split to Dubrovnik, 4.5 hours by bus or lesser by private transfer

Day 14
Dubrovnik

Day 15
Dubrovnik-Zurich, by flight, $180 1-stop
Zurich-JFK

8-consecutive-day Swiss Travel Pass has your name written all over it for that itinerary where taking public transports daily (which is great) -kids get a free Family Pass for just beingunder 15 (16?) and never pay a cent for anything you have a pass or ticket for. Great sources Swiss trains - www.sbb.ch; www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

In Croatia forget any passes - buses and trains so cheap anyway.

I must admit that it seems to me that you are spending a LOT of time in transit for a relatively small amount of time to actually see the places you will be stopping. Instead of trying to fit Croatia into this trip, you might consider more time in Switzerland or Austria or Slovenia or Italy.... Just a thought.

Nothing especially riveting about Interlaken for 2 days but consider taking boat rides on the two lakes bookending Interlaken - each offering a lot of neat places to go - Swiss Passes fully valid on boats (as well as city transports and postal buses and gives free entry to hundreds of museums and sights -including the popular Ballenberg Open-Air Museum overloking Lake Brienz:

https://www.ballenberg.ch/en/

Kids will love that place plus the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne (1/2 off with pass):

https://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en

Be sure to take boats on lovely Lake Lucerne too! Like on Titlis day - can take boat part way and join train to Engleberg.

A decent plan but definitely does things "once over lightly". I would not put these two destinations together for a vacation.

When responding earlier, I should have added: Given an interest in natural beauty, your plan calls for spending a surprising amount of time in cities. Beautiful cities, but cities nonetheless.

Some train journey times you mention may look a bit strange:
"Interlaken-Jungfrau, 35 mins"
Interlaken-Zurich, by train, 2hr 40mins; 13 trains everyday, every 1hr 40mins
Zurich-Zagreb, by flight, $140 non-stop.

It should be:
Interlaken - Jungfraujoch: 2 hrs OW
Interlaken - Zurich: 2 hrs, trains every 30 min from 5am until 8am, plus at 9pm, 10pm and 11pm (totally 34 trains)
Interlaken - Zagreb by train: Interlaken dp 18.30 - Zagreb ar 10.43, sleeping cars Zurich - Zagreb
Berne - Zadar or Brac by flight, 179 CHF, non stop

BTW: don't forget the many good answers yo got in the TT Forum

Somewhere I saw someone asking why Croatia was so expensive - another thread but Switzerland is much much more expensive than Croatia by far. And, the two could not be more contrasting in many ways - like public transit - Switzerland about the best in Europe in many regards and Croatia for trains at least some of the worst.

@ PalenQ: Croatia is not expensive, or at least, it is relatively easy for most people to travel there on a budget. The thread to which you refer -- which you could have checked -- was about the price of a private tour for one. And yes, trains in Croatia are limited, but the public transportation system there is quite good -- it's just based on buses, ferries, catamarans, etc.