5 days in Croatia

Traveling to the islands is not difficult provided that you take the catamaran rather than the much slower car ferry. The northbound catamaran route from Dubrovnik to Split makes stops at Mljet, Korcula, Hvar, and Brac during the trip. The northbound catamaran runs once a day in the evenings. Many travelers will return their rental car before going to the islands and then rent another car after returning to the mainland.

The islands you mentioned, Hvar and Brac, are relatively close to Split and there are multiple ferries that run between Split and those islands. With only a few days in Croatia, you'll want to maximize your time, so it may be wiser to drive from Dubrovnik to Split and then make day trips to Hvar and/or Brac using Split as your base.

You typically don't need an advance reservation for the ferry, but it's generally a good idea to get a ticket a earlier in the day (or the night before on an early morning ferry) as it's one less hassle, especially if you are running late to the port. In late May/early June, you shouldn't have any problem.

Thank you for the reply Mike,

We are renting a car for the entire duration and want to stay 2 days in Hvar, are you saying is better not to rent a car for the island hop?
Also how difficult is to drive thru the Neum corridor?

Thank you!

Many travelers will drop their cars on the mainland because you'll spend a lot more time in transit with a car ferry and you'd have added flexibility as you could take the catamaran routes as well. The car ferries are slower than the catamarans, and you will need to show up at the port early to ensure that you get a spot on the car ferry. Just because you may have purchased a ticket ahead doesn't necessarily mean that there is a parking space reserved for you. The ferries will often have trucks and larger vehicles that take up more space. They pack the cars in as tight as possible, but once there is no more space, there is no more space. Both of these issues can really cut into your time. You only have five days, so time is of the essence.

If you want to take your car to Hvar and/or Brac, I'd suggest driving to Split (or other location with car ferry routes to Hvar/Brac) and taking the ferry from there. To get an idea of how long the trip takes, look at the Jadrolinija schedules (http://www.jadrolinija.hr/en/sailing-schedule/). When you click on a route, the resulting page will say "car ferry" or "catamaran." You can use these for estimates, but check with the port when you're in Croatia to confirm the arrival/departure times.

Regarding Neum, usually travelers don't have problems with the corridor. You will want to check with your car rental agency that the car is allowed to go through the Neum corridor. When you cross the first border into the corridor, there are two lanes: one goes towards the other side of the corridor while the other heads into Bosnia. Just take the lane going to the other side and you should be fine. If you wish to skip the corridor entirely, Jadrolinija operates a car ferry connecting Trpanj to Ploce.

Hope that helps!