Another request for itinerary help?

I would be in no condition after the overnight flight to drive to Plitvice or to enjoy the lakes after I arrived, but your family may be different. I hope your driver can sleep on the plane. As I recall, the last part of the trip from Zagreb to Plitvice is on a two-lane, country road. The driver will need to be very attentive. Staying near the park is essential for a good experience, so I hope you can make that work.

For what it's worth, Zagreb has an attractive historic center.

We are lucky enough to be flying business class in lie-flat seats on points, so I’m hoping we will all have gotten some decent sleep on the flight over. And I actually love having an activity on arrival afternoon so I’m not tempted to nap - I find it helps me adjust to the new time more quickly.

I plan my own trips .... except in the Balkans where transportation and good planning can make or break a good trip ... and I go fairly often. For the Balkans I hire a lady who puts the package together. For me it's just planning and connections, but she can do a full blown tour too.

If you are interested i can PM the contact info. Just not in front of me right now.

Don’t short change Zagreb by not spending at least one night there. This city was a wonderful surprise. The next day pick up your rental car and drive to Plitvice and then to Split. I would choose Zagreb over Split in a heartbeat.

I would also suggest staying in Zagreb the day you arrive. Get your rental car and drive to Plitvice on Thursday morning.

To do this, if you don’t have extra nights to add, I would steal a night from Split. Then instead of a boat trip from Split, take one from Hvar to the Blue Cave on your full day there.

I enjoyed Krka, but I had 3 weeks and didn’t go to Zagreb. If you are tight on time, and are going to Plitvice, you could skip it.

Stay within the city walls in Dubrovnik. And walk them while you are there. Take the cable car up Mt. Sri.

I arrived in Croatia in Zagreb on my last visit to Croatia; and i spent the following day in Zagreb as well. Sweet city. Moved on to Plitvice early in the morning the third day in country. Did what had to be done in Plitvice then spent the night in Split. If I could only visit one place, Zagreb or Plitvice, I would visit Zagreb.

Thoughts on your itinerary
Hotel in Split - Hotel Peristil. Great location just inside the palace, breakfast included, short walk to the ferry. Family owned, lovely people.
I would skip Krka since you are going to Plitvice. I have a guide if you want a tour of Split.
We haven’t been to Hvar yet, we always stay on Korčula at Guesthouse Jungher, the owners rent out rooms and live on the property. It is located in the old part of town. You can see it on booking.com. Full disclosure, they are relatives of ours.
Korčula is similar to Dubrovnik so you might want to stay on Hvar. We’re hoping to stop there next trip.
In Dubrovnik definitely stay within the walls. The 3 places we recommend are Dubrovnik Gardens in the main house, the apt has 2 bedrooms, Bed+Breakfast Andio, or Apartment Pavisa.

Obviously this is a fast paced itinerary. My only general comment is that you mention going on an excursion just about everywhere, which is counter productive with so little time. Just consider at least, that there’s no shortage of opportunities for these when you’re on the ground. I wouldn’t book any boat trips before you arrive.

To that end, I would axe Mljet right now. Once you get the guide, you’ll understand why. It’s particularly inconvenient to day trip to, and even with a private excursion will be the whole day. I cut it loose and ate my ferry ticket to just hang around Korcula and didn’t regret it. You’re pretty stuck out there on what is sure to be a blazing hot day. And the trick is, everywhere on the coast is just the most beautiful place already. I couldn’t imagine Mljet was that much better, and frankly I don’t think anyone on this forum has gone and/or advocated for the place.

While I wouldn’t love to drive on day 1, it sounds like you’ve got a decent handle on it and there’s no time to waste. I think where you stay for Plitvice won’t matter a ton as you’ll only be there a few hours. I might just opt for Hotel Jezero for the convenience, comfort and buffet. I would try to stay in the old center everywhere else. Maximize your time in those places. Being stuck out at Lapad for the little time you have in Dubrovnik would be a darn shame. That said, in near peak season and 2-night stays finding ideal accommodations might get hairy fast. Don’t dally. If you see something decent, book it ASAP.

Thank you everyone so much for your help! Based on some suggestions here, I tinkered with our itinerary:

Thursday AM - land in Zagreb. Staying in Zagreb at the Sheraton
Friday - Zagreb in the AM, drive to Plitvice in the afternoon. Staying at Hotel Degenija
Saturday - Plitvice, then drive to Split. Staying at Le Meridian
Sunday - Split. Boat trip TBD
Monday - Split. Tour to Krka waterfall.
Tuesday - drive to Dubrovnik. Stay at Airbnb in Old Town
Wednesday - Dubrovnik. Ferry to Mljet.
Thursday - Dubrovnik. Boat trip around Elaphite Islands.
Friday - begin our trek home that afternoon with a flight to Munich.

I feel like we’ve got more random exploring time with this itinerary on either side of our travel days in particular. And with boat trips out of Split and Dubrovnik, I felt ok ditching a stay in Hvar or Korcula (plus one less hotel change this way). Thank you to everyone for your thoughts!

It’s a wonderful plan. I think you have done well. We are all different so if it were me I would spend Friday in Zagreb. Zagreb, a 19th century Austro-Hungarian city is going to be unique on your trip; I really enjoyed it. Then take off early Saturday for Plitvice Lakes. I was not going to spend 6 hours walking Plitvice Lakes. I did something less than 3 hours and that long because I wanted to show my daughter that I wasn’t an old man, but would have been happy to leave in 2 hours. It’s a 2.5-hour drive from Zagreb and we arrived about 11am. There were people there, but no, it wasn’t crowded; and it was July. I was starting to get crowded when we left but they were mostly behind us and in the parking lot and starting area. So, 11:00 plus 3 hours is 14:00 plus the 2.5 hour drive + lunch along the way means you reach Split as early as 17:30 which is about right to check in and then do a little city walking.

Then you say you are driving. Driving works well in Croatia because the options are not that good. Renting a car has its issues though. The time to pickup and drop, the cost of gas (maybe $6 a gallon …. Not sure), tolls (also not sure), traffic tickets (read how many on the RS forum have gotten tickets in rental cars and the hassle to pay them), getting lost (fun sometimes actually, other times not so much fun), parking (I would budge 30 euro a night, might be less, might be 50 euro), drop off fee in Dubrovnik (hundreds ?). Still all that being said, and I am certain you have researched the bedoogles out of this, it is an excellent choice for a great holiday. BUT, do this, contact this lady, send her your itinerary and ask her the cost for her to handle all of your transportation. Might be worth it, might not. But never hurts to ask: Dijana Krkotic, Guide & Tour Designer Doclea Travel, +382 69 277 749, [email protected], www.docleatravel.com. If it does work, then you enjoy the ride and let someone else deal with all of the headaches (like drop you at the front of Plitvice Lakes and go wait for you). She can also set up a few tours if you want. Maybe a walking tour in Zagreb and Split.

Where to stay in Dubrovnik. We stayed at the Villa Sigurata. Loved it. Inside the walls, great location, lovely room, expensive. https://villasigurata.com On one trip stayed in an Airbnb about 75m from the gate to the old town, but ..... it wasnt too nice.

A few thoughts for you.

First, after flying from US to Zagreb, I think driving directly to Plitvice might be taxing and agree that you can enjoy a single night in Zagreb with your first afternoon and the following morning to enjoy Zagreb. It's a small city with some interesting sights, including the Museum of Naive Art, a public market, the Museum of Broken Romances and the old shopping district. Leave for Plitvice Fri afternoon, spend the night there and enjoy the lakes Saturday

Second, you have twice mentioned going from Pitvice to Split, but then going to Krka. Why not take a relatively short stop at Krka on the way to Split. Since it's a ways to Split from Plitvice, spend Sat. night in Zadar or in Sibenik and go to Krka Sunday on your way to Split. You can then arrive in Split early to mid-afternoon, Sunday.

Your itinerary suggests you are looking at 4 nights in Split, with excursions from Split. You also mentioend cycling ... as well as some of the islands accessible from Split.

And so, let me suggest the alternative of a "5 day" (actually just five nights with four days of actual cycling) "self-guided cycling" tour based from Split. In 2018, we did a guided cycling tour with a complany based in Split, Meridien Ten. We loved it. (We did their 6-nights with 6 days of cycling guided tour that dropped us off in Dubrovnik where we had arranged our own 7th night stay) Their "5-day tour" out of Split goes to Hvar and two other islands, closer to Split, with each of the four nights night in Split. Self-guided is cheaper than guided and we have come to love self-guided cycling trips. https://www.meridienten.com/en/category/self-guided-bike-tours/cycling-dalmatia/?_gl=1. Looks like they arrange four nights, so you should, on you own, add an extra night at the start - hopefully at the same hotel. That would probably cost you one of your three nights in Dubrovnik, as well as your boat excursion from Dubrovnik or your trip to Miljet, but you woould have already picked up a lot of what you lose.

You could turn in your car when you arrive in Split, but you need to arrange overland transport from Split to Dubrovnik. I suspect that is easier than it would have been in 2018, as the new highway avoids border crossings at Bosnia-Herzegovania.

(LATE NOTE - This still takes into account the Saturday, rather than your revised Friday departure date from Dubrovnik, so maybe this wouldn't work if you arte committed to that departure ... OR, perhaps you could reduce the self-guided bike tripo by a day with the vendor))

In any event, happy travels.