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Best way to get from Dolomites Italy to Dubrovnik in June

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Hi,

My family and I will be leaving from JFK in New York and flying into Venice in June. We plan on staying a week in Lake Garda then another week in the Ortisei, Dolomites. We would like to travel to Croatia for another week or two. When I first started planning this trip, it looked like there was several options to get over to Croatia pretty easily, but now I am not finding so many options. It seems insane to me that there’s no direct flights when it says it’s only an hour and 20 minutes from Venice to Dubrovnik. If we take the ferry over from Venice to Pula or Rovinj what is the best way to get down to Dubrovnik? Or another option is starting the first part of Croatia a little more north, such as Split.

I have only found a direct flight between Bari and Dubrovnik but that doesn't start until 7/5 or 7/8. Even if I switched my travel dates I would need to get from Ortisei to Bari by 10:00 am on 7/8 which seems impossible.

My goal was to travel 6/7 to either 6/28 or 7/5. I didn't want to be away during the height of both Croatia and Italy's busiest time.

Posted by
11902 posts

The Dolomites encompass a large area. Where, exactly, will you be staying?

Posted by
5613 posts

If you have one week, I think traveling Venice to Dubrovnik would be too much, but if you have two weeks, then starting in Istria would make perfect sense.
First, I’d check all flight options, but I don’t think it is guaranteed to find something direct. Skyscanner is a good site to use to check flights.

Posted by
11902 posts

You might look at flights out of Milan to either Split (which is very nice) or Dubrovnik. You might have to spend a night in Milan prior to the flight, though.

Posted by
21691 posts

There are mid-afternoon flights from Milan to TGD on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Depending on the date the flight starts at $38 (about $85 with a checked bag) and takes 1:45.

I can suggest someone who can set you up with the transfer to Dubrovnik it thats all you want (about 3 hours) or set up on a beautiful tour on the way to Dubrovnik. Go to https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/montenegro/podgorica-to-dubrovnik-by-car where i posted a few videos of Montenegro and take a look at Kotor, Perast and Herceg Novi as they are all on the way to Dubrovnik. Or better yet, hang around Montenegro for a few days (there a travel planner linked in that same thread).

Montengro? Imagine Croatia before the tourist found Croatia.

Posted by
5613 posts

I meant the timeline for just the Croatian portion needs to be nailed down. Two weeks works fine if you want to start with travel by ferry from Venice. If you have only one week to get from there to Dubrovnik, then you will need to fly.

Posted by
21691 posts

If I drove from Zagreb to Dubrovnik and hit maybe 2 islands, I could maybe stay busy for two weeks. But wouldnt be my first choice for a holiday.

Early June would be very good for Croatia (or Bosnia or Montenegro). I dont mind some crowds and would put up with it for the weather. But with 2 weeks, if thats what I really had, I would do a sampler of Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. Or at least 2 of the 3.

If I went just to Croatia, by mid-July I would be wishing I had planned the trip to Montenegro instead, just because of the number of tourists in Croatia, and maybe because of the heat.

By August if I were in Croatia I would be heading north to Bosnia & Herzegovina or Montenegro to be by a mountain river to avoid tourists and heat.

All equal destinations if you havent seen them. Once you have seen all 3 I suspect one of the 3 will stand out as a place you might want to return to, to explore more (different for everyone).

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