A friend and I will be leaving Dubrovnik on Saturday, June 28, 2008, with a rental car. Our ultimate destination is Zagreb, where he leaves early on the morning of July 3rd.

That means we have four nights to spend somewhere between Dubrovnik and Zagreb.

While I would like one of those nights to be in the Piltvice Lakes area, I'm not sure what to do with the others.

I am the type who likes to know where I am staying ahead of time but this time I think we would like to "play it by ear."

So here's where I need your help: Where should we spend those nights, what should we see and can we find reasonably priced rooms/sobes/apts without having reservations ahead of time?

We have budget-minded tastes and don't mind basic accommodations where we might end up sharing bathrooms with others. Thanks for your help.

Hiya, SS, just tagging along to see what the folks say. We are going to spend a week in Croatia next year !

Anyone?

Since no one has replied yet, I will! My caveat: I don't know how busy Croatia will be late June.

BUT considering you will have a rental car AND are not terribly choosy, I feel comfortable saying you'll do fine without reservations (although do get them for Dubrovnik).

For Plitvice, there are sobes dotting the road for miles and miles on the way to the park. Even if traveling at a popular time, the only question will be how close you get to stay. Not so important when you have your own car.

For in-between, you might consider Orebic or Korcula. Orebic will have rooms when Korcula is packed, and Korcula is only a very short ferry ride away. Some people prefer Orebic because it has some "sandy" (less rocky) beaches. But Korcula is more charming.

Look for the tourist information (TI) offices. They will be able to help you find accomodation if that task proves difficult or confusing.

We had absolutely no problem winging it last year, but we were there in September.

We visited Croatia for two weeks two summers ago and loved it. Hopefully you will have some time in Dubrovnik which has to be one of the most interesting and beautiful older cities I've visited. We were there in July/August and it was incredibly hot, so June should be nicer. These are just suggestions based on what we did but with your time limited, you perhaps have to pick and choose. We took the ferry from Dubrovnik to Split and along the way there are several small islands that are very well worth a visit - Hvar and Brac are suggestions. We didn't stop at the islands but it was a leisurely ferry ride and a nice way to see some of the coastline. We spent a few days in Split, which is worth a look-see but not more than a day or so. We picked a car up there. The Plitvice Lakes were breathtaking and if you are walkers, definitely worth a two day stop, IMO. We did a day and a half, stayed with locals who were delightful - didn't speak a word of English and we had to get the car up a farm track but we smiled at each other all the time and the accommodations were very clean and perfectly adequate. Our last stop before Zagreb was a two night stop on the island of Krk which is accessible via a causeway. It's beautiful and from there Zagreb is an easy drive. We rented a small house on the water with a terraced garden and old armchairs out on the porch.

I loved Zagreb but I have a penchant for cities with trams anyway. The outdoor market is fun, the cathedral beautiful but the one must see is the cemetery. It's fascinating and peaceful. The Croatians love to sit and drink and there are outside cafes everywhere. Their local beer is excellent as is the coffee but you have to find which coffee you prefer and it's sometimes trial and error. Zagreb still has some relics from the old regime, including some state built hotels that are rather bleak but interesting. We took a family room with three beds all neatly lined up in a row. The fist evening because we were travel weary we all took showers....not long ones but enough....the next day when we returned to the hotel, we discovered the shower curtain had been removed. We reckoned there was a meter and a warning went up that room 506 had exceeded its water allowance so down came the curtain! We laughed heartily about it and no one in the hotel was ever able to solve the missing shower curtain mystery!!

Enjoy your visit. I loved Croatia and would go back in a heartbeat. If you would like links to places we booked through, please shout. I don't have them at the tip of my fingers but can easily find them for you. Croatia is becoming more and more popular and you need to remember that it's also a spot that Europeans are visiting in droves for their vacation. A lot of Northern Europeans don't go south until later in July and/or August so you might miss the crowds.

Hope this helps.

I travel quite often to Croatia as my wife is of Croatian decent. As you are going to be travelling during the tourist season I would suggest that you stay away from the tourist areas on the coast. Or, stay in the smaller towns on the coast. Split and Trogir will be booked up. Try staying in Makarska on your first night - it is near Split on the sea. There are some very nice restaurants and taverns. Look for a B & B. Next day, drive up to Split, spend the day and then go inland to Klis (an old Venetian fortress town or further inland to Sinj - nice town) to spend the night. Next day, take the road from Sinj to Knin and then on to Gospic. Stay there. Next day drive around the park and head to Karlovac for the night - they will have hotels. Other than your first night you will be inland, so it will be far less touristy. Most of the roads heading to Zagreb are in the interior, so you can't follow the coast line easily. Be warned about the ferries (if you wre thinking of island hopping) - they will be very busy (so you might not get on) and we found that they were often late.

I would speak to the tourist office in each of those towns - they will have B & B's. Sinj has a nice small modern hotel.

Thanks to all for your comments. This will be my second trip in two summers to Croatia.

This past summer my wife and I spent three days in Dubrovnik and part of a day in Zagreb. This coming summer, a friend and I will spend 3 nights in Dubrovnik (reservations and deposit made!) and then spend a few days getting to Zagreb.

We need to find a room for a night in Zagreb and I am finding nothing reasonably priced. If anyone has any ideas, I am open to suggestion.

Thanks again.