We will be spending 5 days in the Split area this July and need your advice!
We're active and love water/beaches but enjoy good food and a bit of nightlife too.
Thanks for the help!
The whole of Croatia will be very busy in July including Krka! Your choice as to whether you have the time for this. I would do either an island or Krka, but not both as you only have 4 nights/5 days and do not want to spend ages in transit.
Some places on the islands have 3 night minimums stays in July, which will limit your choice. Others will have been booked months ago! You will Split opinion as to which is best between Hvar and Korcula lovers. Hvar town in July is full party season for the teenagers and twenty-somethings with loud music going on late into the night - head to the towns such as Stari Grad or Jelsa to the north of the island if you want a more peaceful break. Avoid Zlatni Rat on Brac for the same reason. Brac has the shortest transfer time from Split and Korcula the longest - with your limited time, perhaps a shorter transfer would be preferable? If you are only going for 1 or 2 nights, you are presumably going for the beaches and therefore location is less of an issue as you will not have a car to explore the islands.
Trogir and Split are close to each other, with Split being the larger of the two, but each can easily be explored from the other and are both worth seeing. Avoid Split if your trip coincides with the Ultra Europe Festival and go for Trogir, otherwise, I would stay in Split as there is more to see and a wider choice of accommodation.
Be prepared for all kinds of weather - last year in July we had several days of rain and it was c 24 degrees but in 2012, we had 45 degrees for most of the holiday and no rain for the entire 2 weeks there.
Thank you so much for the insights! This is very helpful. I was worried about Zlatni Rat being too crowded, so we're probably avoid Bol altogether as a result. Is there much to do on Bol beyond the famous beach?
Hvar sounds like it should have a good combination of festivities/nightlife and some towns to escape the crowds.
We'll be just missing the big festival in Split - leaving the day it starts. I'm sure the airport will be extra busy, so thanks for the head's up.
The new plan will probably be this:
Sat (late night): arrive in Split
Sun: Split
Mon: Krka day trip, sleep in Split
Tue: Hvar
Wed: Travel from Hvar to Trogir in afternoon
Thur: Trogir
Fri: Fly home
If we cut out Krka we could spend more time on Hvar or check out Korcula.
We're in a very similar situation but are going in mid-June. After three days in Dubrovnik we will pick up our rental car and drive to Korcula, then take the ferry back to Split and stay there or Trogir. We're wondering whether we should do 3 nights Korcula 2 nights Split or vice versa.
This may depend on which island we might want to day trip, Mljet (from Korcula) or Brac from Split.
Any thoughts on Mljet?
Do we need to make advance reservations for the Orebic-Korcula or Vela Luka-Split car ferries?
You have a fairly full schedule already, but you could do a day trip to Mljet on your way to Korcula. The ferry runs from Prapratno, near Ston to Sobra on Mljet http://www.jadrolinija.hr/docs/default-source/red-plovidbe/2015/832-ljeto-2015-en.pdf?sfvrsn=2 . The ferry is not cheap - http://www.jadrolinija.hr/docs/default-source/cjenici/lokalne-linije/ljeto-lokalne2015/832-ljeto.pdf?sfvrsn=2 , and on top of that you will want to factor in entrance to the National Park - http://www.croatia-expert.com/national_park_mljet/ .
For most ferries in Croatia, you just turn up, buy a ticket, and join the queue. Unless you are travelling on a national holiday, or at the weekend in peak season, provided you turn up 30 minutes early, you should get on the next ferry. That's certainly true for Prapratno - Sobra and Orebic - Korcula, and probably for Vela Luka - Split, though I have not done that route. June isn't peak season, but there are national holidays on June 4th, 22nd and 25th.
June 22nd is the day we're going to do Plitvice, having arrived the evening before, and then drive to SPU, return our car, and fly to Venice. Will Plitvice be particularly crowded because of the holiday?
