Greetings, I am planning to be in Croatia the last week of July, and we are two active seniors, four 30-somethings, and one nine year old. Does this plan make sense: fly into Zagreb and spend two nights, late afternoon bus to Plitvice Lakes, spend the night in a hotel there, enter the park when it opens and spend the day, bus to Split, and spend six night there with day trips to islands.
My main question is I prefer hotels over AirBnBs. Are there any areas/hotel ideas where we could bus from Split that are more open, beachy, small town feeling? Also, if you traveled with an older kid and have tips, I would love to hear them. Thank you!
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The ideal Plitvice plan has you arriving late that afternoon allowing you a few hours in the park. Then, the next morning head out when it opens and be out well before lunch. This is optimal crowd avoidance strategy. The park is basically in two parts, so you would cover one side in each of those blocks. Doing all this via bus can feel very tricky, but as long as you plan ahead and have your tickets it’s not bad.
Staying in Split that whole time and constantly day tripping would be kind of a drag. You have time, so I would choose an island and base there for a few days at least. You won’t get that relaxing, small town beach vibe in Split. It’s hopping, and full of young folks. You’ll have much better luck basing somewhere on Hvar, Korcula, or Vis. Any of those would work, you’ll have to search around and find what looks best for you. It’s tough to go too wrong though.