Croatia itinerary

My two summer experiences in Split were not that memorable. Both times I was there when the city was overrun with Drunk European Trust Fund Brats. I am an old fart and just didn’t want to be around it. That aside, because everyone else tells me I just picked a couple of bad days, years apart, and it’s not typical, I also ran out of interest in a few days. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/11/02/soaring-rent-drunken-behaviour-and-peeing-in-public-split-locals-have-had-enough-of-party-

You seem to know what you want to do but I will still bore you with what I would do. Split for 2 nights, then the ferry to Komiza 2 or 3 nights. Then the ferry to Hvar for a day trip, then the ferry from Hvar to Dubrovnik for 2 nights then back to Split for a night before the trip home. If you have enough nights for that. I would hire transfers for the trip. Of course I know a transfer company. For some reason I keep ending up back in Croatia.

Plan B, anything that cuts the number of nights in Split.

Ignore the post above.

Vis has great skin and scuba diving with some of the clearest water in Croatia and it’s a great place to get your feet wet and try out diving.
Diocletian’s Palace— the Palace of the only Roman emperor ever to make it to retirement—is the heart of Split. The palace encompasses an incredible variety of Roman archaeological monuments, including the completely intact Temple of Jupiter. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Try to stay at an accommodation inside its walls, if you can.

Trogir can be visited by bus #37 or by a ferry that runs during the high season from the port adjacent to Diocletian’s Palace.

The historic Croatian town of Sibenik with its 3 fortresses is one hour away by bus from Split. Sibenik makes for a fantastic daytrip from Split.

Split also has a beautiful municipal beach with a snack bar and showers just a 15-minute walk from Diocletian’s Palace. It’s called Bacvice Beach.

Hvar Island is just one hour away via the catamarans departing from Split’s ferry port adjacent to Diocletian’s Palace. There is a castle you can hike to above Hvar Town. The catamarans dock directly at Hvar Town.

Have a great trip!

Vis is really special. We rode scooters all over the island and would just park and scramble through the the brush paths to spectacular beaches. We also hiked up to "Tito's cave." I think Konoba Vatrica is the name of the place we had one of our most favorite seafood meals ever. So I think three full days here will be well spent, and especially with your Komiza day (hope you will make some fruitful connections there). You can do boat trips, rent bikes or kayaks, it's all about the nature.
Do you have a guide book--what has stood out to you so far? It helps to know your interests. If you want less time in Split, you could stop in Hvar or Brac for a couple nights en route back to Split, but I am partial to longer stays and you can so easily fill the four days in Split + day trips. And city time might be warranted after the bliss of Vis--it really just depends on what you want out of it.
https://www.jadrolinija.hr/en/travel/split_-_milna_brac_-_hvar_-_vis
https://visitsplit.com/en/1/welcome-to-split
We were told that a lot of Italians come to the outer Croatian islands in August, so I would book early.
I think Montenegro and Dubrovnik is a different trip.

And Komiza is where the family comes from so its a must. Never been, looks lovely. I had a typo, I would spend more than a night. Its the soul of the trip I bet.

And I just realized the OP hadnt bought the London to Croatia tickets yet. So, yes, Montenegro is a stretch (but when you do go, I hope you love it as much as I do), but I dont think Dubrovnik is a stretch if you fly back to London from Dubrovnik. Its a shame to be so close and miss it. If it works, if not, well, there is next time.

Your plan sounds lovely.
In Split check out the Hotel Peristil. We stay every trip we make to Split, at least 3x. They are a small, family run hotel right within the palace walls. There is no elevator but they always bring our bags up and down from our room.
We took a fun cooking class there one year, splitcookingclass.com. It’s a short walk from the palace. I can also recommend a wonderful guide for a short walking tour around Split and Trogir. His name is Pero Ugarkovič. His email is [email protected]. Very affordable. We take a tour with him every time we visit with friends or family.
We didn’t like the beach in Split, too crowded all the time. We save all our beach time for the islands. Usually more choices.
We haven’t been to Vis cause our family is from Korčula and Vrnik, but I’m sure it’s a beautiful island, they all are!

Hello all, thank you all for your input. I have come up with a couple of different itineraries. I am torn with not moving around too much and exhausting ourselves but also wanting to see it all. We are spending 3 nights in London, as that is where our credit card points got us. Please tell me if this is too much moving after London....

London to Dubrovnik (2 nights)
Dubrovnik to Split (3 nights) - Day trip to Hvar or Trogir maybe
Split ferry to Vis (3 nights)
Back to london (3 nights) then head home

My other itinerary was:
London (3 nights)
London to Split (4 nights) with day trips to Hvar and Trogir
Split ferry to Vis (3 nights)
Ferry back to Split, spend a day/night in Trogir, then head back to the airport to fly back to London.

Just not sure if we have time to squeeze Dubrovnik in.

Appreciate all of you!

If this trip is about visiting your roots and using the points to get to Europe is important and you only have 14 nights then maybe you save the Croatia tour for when you can do it right. This trip 1 night in Split on the way into Vis, 3 or 4 nights in Vis and one night in Split on the way out of Vis, and the rest you enjoy in London.

Or you might find that if you fly direct to Croatia and stay 14 nights that, even as expensive as Croatia is, it might not cost much more than a free flight to London (points), a second RT flight to Croatia and a week of super expensive London tourism/hotels.

London to Dubrovnik (2 nights)
Dubrovnik to Split (3 nights) - Day trip to Hvar or Trogir maybe
Split ferry to Vis (3 nights)
Back to london (3 nights) then head home

My other itinerary was:
London (3 nights)
London to Split (4 nights) with day trips to Hvar and Trogir
Split ferry to Vis (3 nights)
Ferry back to Split, spend a day/night in Trogir, then head back to the airport to fly back to London.

For both of these, do you have another night in London at the end? When you switch carriers, you are out of luck if you miss the second flight, so be sure you have all of that lined up well, especially if you have to switch airports in London.

Wait til you see Komiza — you’ll wonder how your family could have left this lovely spot. And on your first sunny day, do the boat trip to the blue cave —- it’s spectacular. We absolutely loved Vis! We had 4 nights there & it was not too much.

okay so we decided to skip London all together and do the following:

Dubrovnik 3 nights
Vis 4 nights
Split 3 nights.

Considering day trips to possibly Kotor and Hvar. Briefly thought about tacking on another city but didn't want to be rushed and can always do day trips as there have been a ton of suggestions.

With only 3 nights in Dubrovnik, I wouldn't bother going to Kotor. There are small islands close to Dubrovnik that you could day trip to if you have the time. You could do a day trip from Split---we didn't enjoy Split as much as Dubrovnik. We did not have time to get to Vis but it looks fantastic.

I think you have made a wise decision. Now you have to decide how you will get from Split to Dubrovnik. With some planning there are some interesting stops and oysters along the way. I know someone who can set it up for you, and I know a most excellent guide in Dubrovnik.

As for Kotor, Montenegro is my most favorite country in the Balksns, so save it for when you can do it right. Better yet, add 10 days to your trip.....

Regarding getting from dubrovnik to split, we were recommended either bus or ferry, but leaning towards bus as i have heard there are great views. I am open to private transfer, depending on the cost, but we plan on catching an afternoon ferry to Vis, so we don’t want to take all day.

Question about where to stay in Split. Is it really worth it to stay within the Diocletian palace, or is staying just out side of it or "steps away" as many rooms state, no different. I want to get the full experience, but unsure if being just outside of the Palace will give you the same feel as inside?

As I stated above, we always stay inside the palace in Split, just as we always stay inside the walls in Dubrovnik.
If cost is a factor, then by all means stay outside but check google maps for the route and length of time it takes to walk to the palace.
One comment I will make about visiting Croatia. Except for Zagreb, the cities along the coast and islands are the museums themselves. There are small museums and churches to visit, but most of your day will be spent just strolling along the waterside, looking at the architecture, having a tea/coffee/juice and people watching. This is why not many days are needed in each city. Except for the church in Split with a bell tower climb, I have never encountered a site with a long entrance line. Croatia is a very relaxed country to visit.

Regarding getting from dubrovnik to split, we were recommended either
bus or ferry, but leaning towards bus as i have heard there are great
views. I am open to private transfer, depending on the cost, but we
plan on catching an afternoon ferry to Vis, so we don’t want to take
all day.

Both have great views--check departure times and trip lengths to see what works best. This is not a situation where I think a transfer would be worth the cost.
Note you can possibly put two catamarans together and stop over in Hvar for example en route to Vis, rather than via Split. Be sure to check schedules carefully.

https://www.krilo.hr/en/
https://www.jadrolinija.hr/en/travels