Croatia and where else

What are your interests/ activity level/ budget constraints? How many nights do you have for the trip? Please provide more information so that fellow travelers will be able to provide thoughtful suggestions.

Are ten to eleven days equivalent to eleven to twelve nights? You can easily spend this time in Croatia alone. Remember, traveling from one place to the next can take an entire day. If you add IT, fly in and out of Croatia and Venice. There’s a direct ferry between Rovinj and Venice: https://www.directferries.com/global/index.html (3h 15m).

My daughter and 2 friends are going to Croatia and they are also going to Italy. Daughter and one friend have both been to Italy - just going to a “new to them” region. One factor that drove their choice was booking a direct easy jet flight from Croatia to Italy. You may want to research and see where you can travel easily via a nonstop flight (or train, but not sure of rail system) from your last city in Croatia.

On my first trip to Croatia, we flew into Rome and took the train to Tivoli and spent a night or maybe two. From there we took the train through central Italy (the Abruzzo region) staying a couple of nights and then headed north to Ascoli Piceno, and then to Ancora, where we boarded a boat for an overnight trip to Split, Croatia. We then visited other places in Croatia. I believe we had two weeks total which Is more time than you have, but the general route may work for you. Although, I hope that your 10 to 11 days is on the ground and not counting travel days.

First, if you are thinking about June 2026, better get on your horse.....

Croatia is a long, thin, country, and if you want to go to Split and Dubrovnik
and perhaps the islands (which is where most people want to go), getting
around takes a bit of doing, and flights out of SPL or DBV are not as frequent
as in other major European tourist areas. And if you want to go to Plitvice
and Zagreb (often overlooked but worthwhile), time will start to get scarce.

So, as salbeachbum says, if you want to go someplace in Italy, I would look
at the flight options from whatever airport you want to depart from and use
that as a starting point.

Ten to eleven days in Croatia is the minimum I would consider for just the coast. Add Zagreb and Plitvice Lakes National Park and you’ll need two weeks for a relaxing vacation.

With more time for your plan. Puglia in southern Italy is directly across the Adriatic from Dubrovnik. There are Jadrolinija ferries that travel from Dubrovnik to Bari, Italy in eight hours.

I would recommend a minimum of ten days in Croatia and a minimum of ten days in Puglia. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on a lot, and likely will feel rushed in places that are best enjoyed at a relaxing pace.

www.DirectFerries.com

Plan A

I will let the others tell you how to spend two weeks in Croatia. I think the idea of two places is smart. If one turns out to be a bust in your mind, the other saves the trip.

Plan B as you asked:

I always look for a solution. With the solution you can decide if it’s all that you had wanted it to be or if it comes up short. As the others have said, with so little to go on, it’s a tough question. There is nothing wrong with saving northern Croatia to pair with Slovenia and Northern Italy and Western Austria on the next trip. This is the 21st century and Schengen did away with a lot of borders so maybe we need to quit thinking of traveling to countries but instead travel that gets the most out of the time and expectations for diversity.

DAY 1 11 June depart the US
2 12 June Arrive Dubrovnik mid-afternoon
3 13 June Sightseeing in Dubrovnik
4 14 June Get an early start and hire a guide / driver up the peninsula and take the ferry across to Korcula. I would do it this way so I could stop at a winery or two on the way. Or you could just take the morning ferry from Dubrovnik.
5 15 June Day in Korcula
6 16 June Morning Ferry to Split / Day in Split
7 17 June Day in Split
8 18 June 07:45 – 08:50 Ryanair Flight to Rome / Sightseeing in Rome
9 19 June Sightseeing in Rome
10 20 June Sightseeing in Rome
11 21 June Sightseeing in Rome
Day 12 Return to the US

That’s not a bad solution. If Rome doesn’t light your fire, depending on the day of the week, there are also direct flights to Milan and Naples and to Athens.

Plan C

To take advantage of where you will be and to see some things you might never return to if you dont do it now, think about Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. It is more my idea of a great trip if you have the resources (although it wouldn’t be terribly expensive) would be:

Day 1 11 June depart the US.
2 12 June Arrive Podgorica mid-afternoon / Transfer to Kotor https://youtu.be/G7QgBl7XNKU?si=pK1etsEr8UcAlofr by way of the P1 https://youtu.be/QSz5hZVNxQ8?si=kAUpMBWDbSSztzt5 and my favorite prosciutto shop https://youtu.be/08il6EXog3o?si=PkQ6Rrueu6c_-U98
3 13 June See Kotor and do a boat tour of the Bay/ Islands/ Caves/ Swimming. https://youtu.be/47OC3SbIfeg?si=DBS63Y4xyXRhSC0G
4 14 June Private Transfer/Guide to Dubrovnik with a stop in Herceg Novi (arrive Dubrovnik about 3pm). Or you can take the bus and save a lot of money but see and experience less.
5 15 June Day in Dubrovnik.
6 16 June Get an early start and a private Transfer/Guide up the peninsula and take the ferry across to Korcula. I would do it this way so I could stop at a winery or two on the way. Or you could just take the morning ferry from Dubrovnik which is cheaper and faster and gives you more time in Split. But no wine (?)
7 17 June Day in Split.
8 18 June private Transfer/Guide to Kravica Waterfalls for a little swimming, https://youtu.be/BJfmJVvGGs4?si=vpjfQ-qvrHLCgnuI, then on to the Blagaj Tekke monastery for lunch https://youtu.be/CrhhgoN5tXY?si=dzrzkQC8NFnFSZap, finally Mostar for the night https://youtube.com/shorts/bKmIJ_cvD04?si=WS8Hr2nNSsBk4-d5 . You can probably find a package tour for this that might be cheaper.
9 19 June Sightseeing in Mostar
10 20 June Train to Sarajevo / Sightseeing in Sarajevo https://youtu.be/WhwnkXvmrRA?si=suCZjUs84vJOE4EA
11 21 June Sightseeing in Sarajevo
12 22 June Sightseeing in Sarajevo
Day 13 23 June home to the US

This one works pretty good too and if you are interested, I know where the resources are to put it togehter.

Plan D
If you are more into incredible views and tourism without the crowds of tourists. This is a little like Croatia before the tourists came.

1 11 June depart the US
2 12 June Arrive Split mid-afternoon
3 13 June Sightseeing in Split
4 14 Morning Ferry to Korcula
5 15 Late Ferry to Dubrovnik
6 16 Dubrovnik
5 15 June Dubrovnik in the morning then afternoon Transfer/Guide to Kotor with stops in Herceg Novi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOqLXoeE_o4 and Perast, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd6ErEHPHmg
6 16 June Kotor https://youtu.be/G7QgBl7XNKU?si=pK1etsEr8UcAlofr and the bay boat trip. https://youtu.be/47OC3SbIfeg?si=DBS63Y4xyXRhSC0G
7 17 June Transfer/Guide to Ostrog Monastery https://youtu.be/ixrJu6qv46M?si=9QWkwFz29VmgmpbD then the Restaurant Sokoline for lunch https://youtu.be/0fdbD9upFP4?si=KAnxVV80rYk4sZpd and on to the Tara River Canyon. https://youtu.be/9aGMZB8hB5Y?si=MQ-xXvRlIDkYEzpI and Motel MB Tara, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QhSY9uWkrY
8 18 June Tara River Canyon
9 19 June to Stari Bar https://youtu.be/OBU56OT78fw?si=tzF65lSmOXSEpWKZ
10 20 June Stari Bar to Budva https://youtu.be/TKhHJsb9A0w?si=WsnjJJ_j95TfFAvO
11 21 June Budva
12 Return to the US

Not a perfect solution. Some still needs to be thought out, but will work.

I would also choose one or the other— unless I was planning on really close-together, efficiently linked places (I try to avoid flying in the middle of a short vacation, and some of the ferries are long and not especially appealing). So basically the only pair I would consider is Venice plus Istria.
Tell us more about what you are considering so we can provide specific help applicable to your plan.

With only 10 days, I'd just stay in Croatia, maybe with an overnight trip to Mostar. Slovenia is wonderful but you really don''t have time for it.