day trips out of Dubrovnik

If you enjoy wine, then I would suggest a day trip to the Peljesac Wine Peninsula. We had a private guide for the day. After picking us up, we visited several wineries where he had arranged tours and tastings. Lunch at a small, locally owned restaurant was also a terrific experience.

worthwhile and interesting, off the beaten track destinations

Check out Trebinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We sailed on the Infinity which is part of the Catarina Line. The Infinity is usually booked by University tour groups but the captain told us that Catarina line has many ships which book individual guests. Each is owned and captained by the owner. We had a delightful 7 day trip the end of May. Ships have about 20 cabins. We had 6 couples and 5 singles on our trip. Itinerary is great. You go many places it would be nearly impossible to reach on your own.
For day trip out of Dubrovnik we booked a car and driver to Mostar with Niko from Dubrovnik Transfer Services. Great driver, good English. He also does trips to Kotor. Advantage is he takes you across less traveled border crossing without long queue of buses. It can take 1-2 hours to cross the border because you are leaving EU.

With or without Niko save Kotor for an overnight or several nights of sightseeing in Montenegro.

Mostar is a managable day trip if you skip the good stops along the way. Great overnight with good stops up and back.

About going in April ... I wouldnt. I would feel that I would miss too much of the style of Croatia. For April I would do Bosnia & Herzegovina and northern Montenegro. Tge coast i hold for 1 June to 21 June. But just me.

Okay, but despite all l love Dubrovnik, so, I would fly into Dubrovnik and do 3 nights. Then Mostar for 1 or two nights. Then maybe Kljuc fir 2 nights, then Sarajevo for 3 nights and then home or onward from Sarajevo. A peefect holiday. What i didn't detail are tge stops along the way. Derivish Monasteries, water falls, winerues, olive plantations, glorious rivers, hilltop fortelresses. Cool weather, yes, in tge high country, magnificent churches and mosques and one of a kind culture.

Mr. E......I not sure what you are saying about not doing Croatia in April. We are flexible between mid-April to mid_-May but cannot travel in June.
What is the issue with April in Croatia?

I appreciate your advice on Kotor and Mostar. So rather that stay a week with Dubrovnik as a base, would you suggest that we split that time between Dub and Kotor?
We also will be using the ferry system to see a few islands.

I sent you another idea above. Might be way off your interests, but came to mind.

As I write this i am sitting about an hour south of Kotor and I cant imagine having this level of enjoyment in cool and wet April. But I was here about the 3rd week of May last year and it was very okay but that early can go either way as weather is less predictable. The later you can travel, the better for my taste.

More shortly ...

For April it will be about the places inbetween and a lot of flexibility and changing plans around the weather. Who wants to do that great ferry to the island if its 65F the wind and spray are in your face. But thats a fine winery day. The trouble is that changing plans means transfer changes ... the Balkans arent like going to Rome.

I didn’t answer your question. Yes, I would fly into Dubrovnik and out of Tivat or Podgorica if you went on that route. Or fly out of Sarajevo if you go that route. Both are very interesting trips. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dubrovnik and Kotor (I was there yesterday). That ferry to the island from Dubrovnik can be wonderful or it can be cold and wet in April so look for Plan B’s. I will be doing 8 days in September. I have (unfortunately) 3 competing ideas and I can not decide, but one idea is Podgorica to Dubrovnik to Klujc Bosnia (fishing) to someplace in the high country of Montenegro (fishing) to Podgorica. My fishing in Montenegro in May last year got rained out upon arrival. Fortunately, I know people in Montenegro so I could change plans on the fly. But I still learned to keep Plan B handy when a holiday involves a place with beautiful out door views and activities.

Thank you Mr. E for your generosity with information. Gives me more to consider when planning our timing and destinations

julienk. I never said I was correct about anything.