We will be visiting our son who will be studying in Zagreb in October. The plan is to fly in to Venice, see the major things there in a day and then take a bus to Zagreb the next day. We would spend a whole day after we arrive in Zagreb there with our son seeing the city, but after that we have some planning to do. We would like to see Plitvice National Park, Istria, Split, and Dubrovnik (maybe in that order, maybe not), but don't know if that is too much in a week. We would look to fly out of Dubrovnik or Split. It being October and reading that places are starting to wind down for the year, should certain places be omitted from this rough itinerary? We are open to ideas.
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Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
27047 posts
There was another post about visiting Croatian islands in October. I chrecked a couple of ferrys and it appeared that they scale way back about 10 October. With that limited research and not much else I suspect that 10 October might be the end date for a lot of Croatia. Dubrovnik is so popular that it might be an exception. I know a guide in Dubrovnik if you want to call her and discuss. Plitvice has a good website with your answers.
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6966 posts
Are you planning to rent a car? Istria can be explored without one, but it will require more research. October is probably a popular time in Istria given truffle season. Let us know what you wanted to see in that region and we can provide inout on whether a week is adequate. I’d choose either Istria by car or the Plitvice-Split-Dubrovnik route, which I found easy by bus.
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Citizen of the World
3979 posts
I did a similar trip last fall from Venice to Ljubljana to Zagreb to Split to Dubrovnik and would say you will need more than a week to visit all the places you have listed. Even allocating only a single day in Venice, followed by a six-hour bus transfer from Venice to Zagreb, you will already be on day 3 if you plan to spend a full day in Zagreb with your son. That leaves you with only three to four remaining days, depending on when your return flight is planned. A trip at such a breakneck pace is not likely to be very enjoyable.
My advice is to reconsider the itinerary and either add time to the trip or cut the number of destinations.
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Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
27047 posts
There might be a big difference between mid to late September and mid-October. Since you want to see Plitvice do it enroute to Split, do 2 nights in Split and you will need 2 nights at a minimum in Dubrovnik. Private transfers would be best if you can afford it. I know one if you are interested. But do a lot of research on whats open for your dates in October before you do any worry about planning and time.