Croatia Montenegro Itinerary Help

I'm not a huge fan of Split, Dubrovnik yes, the islands mas o menos, so I leave Croatia to you. Montenegro, if you give it 4 or 5 nights, for some makes them ask why they wasted time in Croatia. Just to see Kotor is barely worth the effort. I will send you a PM.

We flew into Dubrovnik, headed straight to Kotor for a few days via private driver, then headed to Korcula for a short stay en route to our main destination of Lastovo (loved it!) before returning to Dubrovnik for a short (Dubrovnik and Korcula were repeat visits). Trip was slightly shorter. The backtracking was a bit inefficient, but we accomplished what we wanted.
If you are set on revisiting Hvar, I’d definitely fly in or out of Split.
Kotor Bay area was interesting, but I’d really like to get to the mountains. Mr E can sell you on that.

I don't know if you need to add another island, I might take that time and reprogramme into Montenegro. But if you are looking for a really beautiful island between Korcula and Dubrovnik, the Krilo Star stops at Mljet, half of which is an extremely scenic national park.

This thread has a list of short videos of places in Montenegro. Might help you understand why I love it: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/montenegro/podgorica-to-dubrovnik-by-car

Flying into Split and out of Dubrovnik (or reverse) is most efficient, but flights may dictate that. I could envision an itinerary where you skip past an island and hit it on the way back if you were forced to backtrack.

Brac seemed the third island on the itinerary of everyone I met who were island hopping, and I believe is best accessed from Split/Hvar.

It sounds like you’d almost prefer skipping Dubrovnik altogether this time. If that’s the case, I’d propose Cavtat instead. It’s easy enough to get to/from Dubrovnik, and is closer to the airport and Montenegro. I just hung out there for the day, but it stuck with me. Cavtat has island vibes. Lovely and gentile, nice restaurants and some unheralded beaches.

Flying into Split and out of Dubrovnik (or reverse) is most efficient,

Unless you are going to Montenegro, then flying out of Podgorica to Tivat might be more efficient.

Korcula (3 nights)
Another island TBD (3 2 nights)
Dubrovnik (1 night)
Montenegro. (3 5 nights)

Okay, skip Dubrovnik and for the "another Island" maybe you stay 2 nights at a winery on the Pelješac peninsula and explore the peninsula.

Day 1 after Croatia: Then on to Montenegro. You shoudl be able to ge to Hereceg Novi before lunch, do the tour and have lunch. 2 to 3 hour drive depending on where on the peninsula you stay. Then on to Perast for the tour of the islands and then evening. I like Hotel Conte.
Day 2 after Croatia: On to Kotor for the tour and lunch in Kotor then up over the mountains on the P1 road to to see a prosciutto making house. Try some samples then on to the old capital of Cetinje for the tour. End in Budva early evening. Night in Budva inside the walls.
Day 3 after Croatia; In Budva. Relax day mostly or do a boat tour. Night inside the walls.

OPTION 1 Day 4 after Croatia: Go inland to the Ostrog Monastery and lunch at Sokoline Hotel. Then on to the Tara River Canyon and the Tara Motel MB.
OPTION 1 Day 5 after Croatia: Zip line the canyon or raft the canyon or ….. lots of stuff. Night at the Tara Motel MB

OPTION 2 Day 4 after Croatia: go down the coast to Stari Bar ghost town tour and lunch and end in Ulcinj old town. Night in Ulcinj.
OPTION 2 Day 5 after Croatia: Day in Ulcinj maybe tour the lake take a boat trip. Lots to do, need some input on interests. Possibly a trip to a ancient village with a winery in it. Maybe home cooking day ….. Olive Plantation and sampling maybe.

Day 6 after Croatia head to Podgorica for the flight onward.

Dijana is a lot better at this than I am.

Thanks all, lot of great information here, into Split out of Montenegro flight wise makes the most sense. Will craft itinerary from that.

kpapagelis, Montenegro is stunning. If you are there in the early summer look for me.

I agree with Mr. E, Montenegro is stunning.

But you haven’t mentioned how you’re going to move around. A rental car will be the most convenient, but dropping off the car in a different country can be very expensive (unless some local rental company makes it bearable). Check out the costs, flying back from DBV instead of Tivat would require more time of course.