Two Itinerary Questions
 

Greetings. This board is always my favorite. We are planning an unfortunately short first trip to Croatia in the fall. We had planned on flying into Venice, spend one night; travel through Trieste, spend one night maybe, arrive in Istria. We really want to max out our time in Istria. On the other hand, we've never been to Durbrovnik and have been told it would be a shame to miss it. True? If so and if we only have 8 nights total, what would be best way to get from Istria to Dubrovnik and how many nights should we subtract from Istria to spend in Dubrovnik?

Second question: friends have highly recommended visiting Losinj (big or little) and/or Cres. Opinions?

Thanks in advance,
Winnie

Hi winnie,
You might get more response by reposting this with Croatia in the title. Since there is no Croatia forun here, only Europe, threads that don't have a country/city name can get missed by the experts.

Eight nights, as you say, is very short in Croatia but I am glad you are going regardless! What a joy to hear you want to maximize Istria. Istria is truly a gem and such a pleasure to spend time in.

Those who have told you not to miss Dubrovnik are correct - it is pure magic, especially in the Fall or Spring.

Istria and Dubrovnik are my favourite places in Croatia. It would be great for you to see Plitvice Lakes as well - just gorgeous. Maybe what you could do is rent a car in Zagreb, spend three nights in Istria, drive to Plitvice Lakes for one night, perhaps one night in Trogir (near Split), then drive to Dubrovnik for three nights. Trogir is a lovely town perfect for wandering around in the evening. Then you could fly from Dubrovnik to Zagreb - very short flight, very cheap (only about 50 euros per person) and saves so much time on driving all the way back.

Croatia is chock full of beauty and breathtaking scenery. If I could choose tomorrow anywhere on the planet to go I would choose Croatia.

Just returned from a 9 day trip similar to what you want to do. Explored Istria for 3 days then off to Plitvice and onto Split(This was a very long day, but I'm really glad we did it). Explored Trogir and Split next day. Day 5 ferry to Hvar and relaxed. Day 6 ferry to mainland and then drove to Dubrovnik. Day 7 and 8 in Dubrovnik and then flew at night back to Zagreb for day 9 flight home. This was a very fast paced trip with a lot of driving on 1 day but it was fabulous. If you leave out Plitvice, it can be done in 8 days. If you want to go to Cres, I think there are ferries from Istria (check Jadrolinija for routes) and you could go on your way south from Istria instead of Hvar. What ever you decide, you will have an amazing time .

Thanks to all who have replied. This is very encouraging and most helpful advice. I am glad if it can actually be done in our short amount of time. Thanks again,
Winnie

I can't really help you with your day by day itinerary, but we were just in Istria and we flew into Trieste to get there. It was much less then flying into Zagreb and the drive was very easy. Trieste is a really nice town with a beautiful town square and it's definitely worth spending a day looking around. In Istria we loved Rovinj and Motovun and Pula was nice because it's more of a city, but with really good Roman ruins. Just driving around was fun. The countryside is beautiful.

May I ask for details regarding a direct flight to Trieste? Which airline? Number of stops en route? Why did you choose Trieste vs. Venice? Thanks again.

Hi
Look at kayak.com for flights to Venice and Trieste also Dublin with onward flights to Pula and Venice with ryanair.com

We are going to be in Croatia on a tour in Sept. We have the option of taking a day-long tour of Istria while in Opatjia or doing our own thing, and if possible, taking a bus to Rovinj (SP??). I seem to remember a post awhile back about someone doing this, but can't find the info. Does anyone have any info? Thanks. Ciao!!mhm

As regards a day trip in Istria, i feel it is too rushed. Yes, choose Rovinj for a day trip, it's an easy bus ride and provides a relaxing day in a most beautiful setting.