7 day itinerary - Plitvice, Vis, Dubrovnik

A few options are open to you, but if you do not arrive too late in Zagreb, and since you will not have jetlag, you might consider pressing on to Plitvice that night. Then you could awake and enjoy the park before crowds arrive. You could still drive on to somewhere like Zadar or Sibenik for the next night. (I would get somewhere closer to Split if not Split for the night before your ferry.) I think you should have at least three days on Vis.
enjoy!

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Thanks @valadelphia.

We will be reaching Zagreb late in the night, by 8.30 pm. That would be late to drive down to Plitvice.
Will check out the accommodation near Zadar or Sibenik for the next day night.

Good suggestion from valadelphia to stay at Plitvice on Day 0. (Are you flying to Zagreb from Paris? If so, rent a car at the airport when you arrive. It's probably about a 2 hour drive.) Then you can start Day 1 early at the park before the crowds arrive, and you could drive all the way to Split so you don't have to get up and drive the next day. You might have time that evening or the next morning before your ferry to explore Diocletian's Palace for a couple of hours, which is worth doing as long as you're there, or at the very least to stroll along the Riva.

Sorry, missed your response when I posted this. Nevermind! :)

I strongly discourage your plan of driving from Zagreb to Plitvice on Day 1 in order to visit the park that day and move on early the next day. The park has become very, very popular. You really must be there before the day-trippers arrive or (according to other folks) after they leave. Otherwise, you will experience a mob scene on the walkways that is pretty much not to be believed. I waited in line for over an hour just to buy my park ticket, and over the course of several hours I never escaped the crowds. For much of that time there was someone within 1 foot of me to the front and to the rear, plus a constant oncoming stream of people walking in the opposite direction. There are no handrails on the walkways--not dangerous but a bit unnerving. That is not the way you want to experience the wonders of Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Zagreb's bi-level old town is really lovely. I'd suggest spending most of Day 1 enjoying the city and leaving mid- to late-afternoon for Plitvice. Plan to arrive in Plitvice before dark. Then get a very early start in the park on Day 2. The walking-time estimates in the park seemed quite conservative to me (note that I am not a photographer, stopping to make a lot of pictures), and I think you might still be able to reach Vis that evening if the ferries run late; I haven't checked. You could certainly get to Split.

Alternatively, spend a few hours in Zagreb on Day 1 and plan to arrive in Plitvice between, say 2 and 3 PM. Check in to your hotel or guest house and spend the rest of the daylight hours in the park. That will probably give you enough time there, then you can start your drive to Split and Vis early on Day 2.

If you must proceed as originally planned (and I'm tempted to recommend skipping Plitvice in that case), the city of Zadar with its very atmospheric old town on a peninsula is just off the direct driving route between Plitvice and Split. It would be a very nice place to spend the night. It's possible you might find it a bit too similar to Dubrovnik (though without a walkable wall). I'm not sure about that because I visited the two cities 2 or 3 decades apart.

Sorry, but I think that you are trying to cover too much ground in your timescale.

Acraven is correct about Plitvice. Give it sufficient time or scrap the visit. Arriving at 8.30, so 9.30/10 pm out of the airport and with the car means you don't want a 2 hour drive, then trying to find your accommodation at midnight isn't sensible. You may find that picking up the car so late at night could limit your options or cost you more. What if your flight is late?

Zagreb to Plitvice is c 2 hours driving with another 2.5 hours to Split, both without any stops.

Vis is a quiet island, but you are not going peak season, so all the islands will be quiet. The trouble with Vis is that the it is further away than other islands and therefore takes longer to get to and the only ferry option is via Split. If you were to swap Vis for Hvar, you could take the Split - Stari Grad ferry, then drive the length of Hvar and take the Sucuraj - Drvenik 20 minute car ferry, which cuts out 2 hours of driving from Split. Stay in Stari Grad or Jelsa if you like quiet places, rather than Hvar town.

You don't need to buy ferry tickets in advance, just get your car in the queue at the port an hour before sailing and purchase your tickets at the booth. Check out sailings at Jadrolinija.hr.

Thank you all for the suggestions. Very valid!

Thinking of the below changes.

Day 0 - reach Zagreb by 2.30 pm from Paris and take the car, drive to Plitvice (adds up an additional day of leave at work :) But will manage )
Day 1 - Start day early at Plitvice and evening drive to Split
Day 2 - 10 am Ferry to Vis island
Day 3 - Vis
Day 4 - Vis
Day 5 - Take the 7.30 am ferry to Split. Drive to Dubrovnik and drop the car
Day 6 - Dubrovnik
Day 7 - Dubrovnik - evening flight back to Paris

Am still contemplating between Hvar and Vis.

I think that you need to check the ferry timetable for May. If you are taking the 10am ferry from Split, this must be a Friday, otherwise, it runs at 11am. If outward bound is a Friday, the return must be a Monday - this is a 05.30 sailing, so you would need to be there an hour beforehand. There is also a 15.30 sailing, but this is too late if you want to get down to Dubrovnik. The 07.30 sailing is Sundays only from Vis.

Travelling to Dubrovnik from Hvar is c 3 hours shorter than from Vis. Late May, there are 8 sailings a day between Sucuraj and Drvenik, giving you more choice (and a lie-in)!

Looks good to me but verify schedules at http://www.jadrolinija.hr/. They run car ferries and catamarans.
http://www.krilo.hr/en/ operates catamarans only.

Thanks for the responses.

@Jennifer - Noted the Ferry timing. Thank you.

Any suggestions on where to stay in Vis island?

In 2009 we flew from the US to Split, stayed overnight, and caught an early morning ferry to Vis (we had purchased the ferry tickets the night before).

On Vis we stayed in a small apartment called Dis-Vis rooms, in the main town where the ferries dock (I think it's called Luka).
Email: dis-vis@email.t-com.hr
Website: http://www.accommodation-dis.com

It was not fancy, very inexpensive. I think we had a large rooftop patio. There seemed to be more places to stay in Kut, which is the adjoining town just around the harbor.

We really loved the little fishing village of Komiza. It's on the other side of the island. If you have a car, it would be a great place to stay. If you don't stay in Komiza, at least be sure to visit. It is gorgeous, and from there you can take an excursion Bisevo, which has a Blue Cave, one of the more spectacular we've seen.

Vis is a quiet, pretty island with beautiful sunsets, great food and a large yacht harbor. In the late afternoons it was fun to sit by the harbor with a glass of wine watching the yachts sail in and dock ... you could easily pick out the inexperienced skippers! A mega-yacht called Casino Royale docked one day and made quite a stir.

We left Vis on a very early ferry and arrived in Split in time to catch the 8 am (?) bus to Dubrovnik. I see you plan to have a car, but in case you change your minds, the bus station is just across the street from the port in Split. We had not purchased tickets in advance but still managed to catch the bus. I suspect they time the bus to meet that ferry.

Rather than staying in Dubrovnik, we prefer to stay in Cavtat, a beautiful village south of Dubrovnik, near the Dubrovnik airport. You can easily take a bus or boat into Dubrovnik for sightseeing. If you already have non-cancellable rooms in Dubrovnik, you might at least visit Cavtat for a daytrip (if the cruise ship crowds become unbearable).

Hope you enjoy Vis as much as we did!

Thanks a ton, Charlene. Thats a lot of helpful information.

We are yet to book rooms in Dubrovnik. Will definitely consider your suggestion in staying at the near by village. We plan to have a car and drop it off in Dubrovnik.