14-day Croatia Itinerary with Island Hopping

Posted by kate.g.krieg on 08/03/24 07:39 PM

I'm planning a 14-day trip to Croatia and would love this group's advice. I'm mostly interested in scenery, water, architecture/walking, and food. The timing is likely to be in shoulder season, either late September/early October or March/April.

It seems like flying into Dubrovnik is cheapest, but the islands that we want to visit seem more accessible from Split.
The places we'd like to visit include Dubrovnik, Krka Park, Hvar, Korcula, and Brac. We'd like to visit the islands via ferry and stay 1-2 nights at each island.

If these are the places we'd like to visit, what's the best place to fly in/out? Recommendations on how many nights in each place? Must-see sites? Must-eat restaurants?

Posted by TexasTravelMom

TX, USA

08/03/24 07:52 PM

4580 posts

I think I would choose Sept/Oct over Mar/Apr.

It’s easy to fly in to Dubrovnik for 3 nights, then ferry on to Korćula, then Hvar, then Split. I haven’t checked ferry schedules for Brac. I would spend no less than 2 nights in each place (1 full day), if at all possible.

You could do a day trip to Krka from Split.

Does your 14 days include travel days or actually 14 nights in country?

Posted by kate.g.krieg OP

08/03/24 08:20 PM

2 posts

@TexasTravelMom, the 14 days includes travel days.

Posted by Paul-of-the-Frozen-North

Sioux Falls, SD, USA

08/03/24 08:30 PM

3100 posts

We were in Dubrovnik in early Nov. It was cool, but not cold. We needed a light jacket to be comfortable. The crowds were minimal. Check the ferry schedule to ensure that it continues to run - you can also travel from Dubrovnik to places by bus. You don't mention Plitvice Park - not to be missed.

Posted by shoeflyer

Chicago

08/03/24 10:44 PM

592 posts

I think you are looking at flying into Dubrovnik or Split, and returning from
the other. Otherwise, you are looking at a half-day or more of backtracking
to get back to where you started from.

If you add Plitvice Lakes to your itinerary (a worthy addition IMO), that does
complicate the routing a bit, as Plitvice is heading away from both Split
and Dubrovnik. In that case, you might fly one way through Zagreb, which
tends to be cheaper than either Split or Dubrovnik.

As always, you should plan your travel times carefully; depending on your arrival
and departure times, 2 nights can add up to not much more than 1 day in the place.
In which you might want to skip a stop just so you're not packing/unpacking all
the time.

Posted by TexasTravelMom

TX, USA

08/04/24 01:57 AM

4580 posts

So, you have 12 nights. Only you can look at your flights and determine what price is worth your time. Timewise a multi-city flight maximizes your days. Sometimes there’s not much difference in price (especially after factor in the cost of transportation back to your starting point) - but sometimes there is a significant difference.

With 12 nights, you might consider 3 nights Dubrovnik, 3 nights Korcula, 2 nights Hvar (I would make this choice of which stop gets 3 nights and which gets 2 based on the time of ferries), 2 nights Brac, and 2 nights Split. However if you need to return to Dubrovnik for your return flight, and want to include a day trip to Krka, I think you might need to cut one island: Dubrovnik 3, island 3, island 2, Split 3 nights (day trip to Krka), 1 night Dubrovnik. And of course, there are other variations! You just have to keep your focus on your priorities (I don’t think you have time to add more).