SportyMom23

Want to visit Venice for two days, then onto Croatia; spend the rest in Croatia, and fly home to Canada from here.
What would be the best way to get from Venice to Croatia….and then an itinerary in Croatia; total trip about two weeks. Three women mid 50s.

Thank you for any information

Andrew

You can take a ferry across from Venice to Croatia. Here's some info from a thread from November:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-croatia.cfm

(I assume some of this may have changed since then.)

I've been to Croatia and to Venice, but I didn't take the ferry - I took a bus from Venice to Ljubljana, Slovenia and then a train from there to Zagreb, Croatia. I stopped for two nights in Ljubljana (beautiful little city, highly recommended) before going on to Zagreb, but I guess you could do it as a long day.

Depending on time of year, you may also be able to fly from Milan or Rome to Split or Dubrovnik via easyJet (probably summer only).

Driving in Croatia is easy once you get there, if you feel like renting a car. (Rent the car once you get to Croatia and drop it in the same country to avoid expensive drop-off charges.) There isn't much train service near the Dalmatian Coast but Croatia has an excellent bus system. Along the coast you can take catamarans and ferries to get up and down the coast, too.

You could start in Zagreb and work your way down to Dubrovnik and fly home from there. There are lots of options.

To get home, you may want to fly from Zagreb, Split, or Dubrovnik on to a western European capitol like London or Paris before connecting to a flight back to Canada. Read up on the past posts and trip reports here about Croatia. I also recommend the Rick Steves Croatia and Slovenia guidebook.

kja

With less than 2 weeks in Croatia, you will need to be very selective. Without knowing your interests, I find it difficult to suggest an itinerary. The guide book that I found most useful for the area is by The Rough Guide. It's a beautiful part of the world - enjoy!

takemewithu

Check easyjet or some of the budget airlines that fly out of Venice. You might have to get off at Split in Croatia since this is a major transportation hub in Croatia. Split is a nice city, worth spending at least night there, also if you're interested in visiting Hadrian's former summer palace. I don't know if you're interested in this but at least this is one of your options. You can take the bus from Split to Dubrovnik, trip is about 2 hours.

sarge56

One thing you won't want to miss in Croatia is Plitvice Lakes National Park. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/98

I'm planning a trip to Croatia for next fall. Can't wait. Going to fly into Dubrovnik and home from Zagreb.

Have a great trip!

kja

Yes, the Plitvice Lakes are worth including in just about any itinerary through the area - they are spectacular! Try to plan on staying in the area the night before and allow yourself at least 6 hours for the park (although shorter and longer visits are possible).

bvlenci

From Venice, you can get ferries to the northern part of Croatia, but not to Split or Dubrovnik. You can also get a train from Venice to Trieste, where you can connect to Croat rail trains to various cities in Croatia.

Last summer there was a 50% discount for catamaran tickets to northern Croatia if you arrived in Venice by a Trenitalia fast train and stayed there less than three days. The same offer may be available next summer. The details of last year's offer are on this page, unfortunately not translated into English:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...008916f90aRCRD

You can past the URL into translate.google.com to get a fairly good translation of the page.

Here is the ferry company that made the offer in partnership with Trenitalia:

http://www.venezialines.com/

If you want to get a ferry to Split, you can take the train south to Ancona and get the ferry there. For Dubrovnik, I believe you have to go even further south, and get a ferry from Bari. For trips to these cities, it would almost certainly be better to fly.

This page is good for finding fares and timetables for multiple companies, departing from, and arriving in, nearly all the ports of Europe.

http://www.directferries.co.uk/

Here is a good site for finding budget airlines:

www.skyscanner.net

LittleVicky

As well as the ferry, taking a train to Trieste and a bus into Croatia is a popular and inexpensive way to travel. www.autostazionetrieste.it
How do you plan to get around and what time of year will you travel? Any special interests?

isabel

With only two weeks total, two days of which will be in Venice you will need to be somewhat selective. Between the Istrian peninsula, Zagreb, the lakes, Split, the islands and Dubrovnik - those are the 'highlights' but there are too many of them. Throw in Slovenia which you have to go through (by land anyway) to get from Venice to Croatia and you'd need closer to twice your amount of time. I've done two separate trips to the area and not covered all those 'highlights'. So decide which places are your 'must sees' and then it will be easier to plan.

For me the top of my list was Dubrovnik and if it is for you also, starting in Venice, it would probably make sense to fly. Easyjet flies from Rome or Milan to both Split and Dubrovnik but not from Venice. Try skyscanner.net If that doesn't work then as mentioned above either a ferry to northern Croatia or train to Trieste and then bus to northern Croatia. There are ferries all along the coast, especially from Split down to Dubrovnik (you can stop in Hvar or Korcula on the way) but they take a while.

rialtogrl

You don't need to go to Trieste to catch a bus to northern Croatia, there is one that leaves from Venice. You could take this bus (or the ferry if it is running that day) to Rovinj which is a fantastic first stop on a trip to Croatia. Rent a car, spend a couple of days exploring the area, then head to Plitvice. From Plitvice drive to Split and then take the ferry over to Hvar Island and spend some time there. Or go to Split/Hvar first, then to Plitvice, back to Zagreb and fly home from Zagreb. Zagreb will be easiest to get home from.

As others have suggested there are many possibilities depending on your interests.

rialtogrl

Oops meant to post the bus line from Venice to Istria, here you go.

http://www.brioni.hr/

Mimar

Split has a big airport. You can fly home from there.

It's really hard to make recommendations without knowing what time of year you will be traveling and what your interests are. In the off-season, everything quiets down. In particular, there are fewer ferries. Last year the ferry between Venice and Istria started service in late April and shut down in October. Here's the link: www.venezialines.com. No 2014 schedule yet.

We flew into Dubrovnik (very beautiful, very interesting, very crowded) and -- eventually -- took a Jadrolineja ferry to the island of Korcula, which we loved. (The Jadrolineja coastal boat only goes twice a week. We were lucky that it fit our schedule.) Later we took a catamaran from Korcula to Split, picked up a rental car, drove to Plitvice, and later into Istria, to Rovinj. We loved this trip, loved Croatia, its laid-back, easy-going style, the beautiful scenery, and centuries of history.