Driving from Plitvice to Dubrovnik without leaving Croatia

Kay, yes, this is now possible. It was not possible two years ago unless you took a ferry somehow to bypass the Neum Corridor sliver of Bosnia you used to have to drive through to drive between Split and Dubrovnik.

Thanks Andrew! Certainly one less thing to have to worry about while planning this trip. Now all I have to do is figure out where to pick up/drop off a rental car, whether to go to Split or another coastal town and where to stay in Plitvice, Rovinj, Split (?) And Dubrovnik! Also how to use the Volotea website. So again, many thanks!

I would recommend that you check out Zrinka House in Plitvice. It is a gorgeous B&B run by Zrinka and her daughter Barbara. They have mastered the art of hospitality! Also, when driving in that area, be very aware of speed limits, as they change frequently and there are cameras everywhere. Zrinka told us that they love to give citations. You can find the B&B on Booking.com

Thanks, Travel Bug! I will certainly look them up!

Is there a reason to avoid the Neum corridor?

Entering the Neum corridor means exiting Croatia and entering Bosnia - leaving the EU - and then if you continue south back to Croatia, you are entering the EU again. This can have legal implications e.g. for a visa for travelers from some countries. And some rental car contracts may not allow you to drive the car out of the EU.

And I suppose there's always the uncertainty involved with having to go through two border checks e.g. delays.

But I imagine most tourists can pass through Neum without incident, as long as the renal car allows it. I know I did a few times. The border crossings were quick and nothing more than a brief glance at my US passport and I was just waved through.

Logically, since it's no longer necessary to pass briefly through Bosnia in order to get from one part of Croatia to another, if a traveler does it anyway, I expect they might get more questions at the border (or perhaps from the rental car company) about why they're going to Bosnia, or coming into Croatia from Bosnia, than was previously the case. I traveled from Dubrovnik to Bosnia (Mostar and Sarajevo) via Neum, Bosnia last month. This was a tour traveling by bus. Our passports were inspected and stamped out of Croatia and into Bosnia. We stopped for a rest break in Neum. There is nothing of interest to see there. So unless I wanted to go elsewhere in Bosnia (which is well worth a visit), I would take that new bridge, stay within Croatia and avoid any possible delay or hassle from two unnecessary border crossings. As of Jan. 2023 Croatia is in the "Schengen" common travel zone with many other countries, so it now has open borders with Slovenia and Hungary, but NOT with Bosnia which is outside Schengen. So the Bosnian border is a fairly tightly controlled one, especially entering Croatia, to fulfill Croatia's new Schengen responsibility (this is also true of the Montenegro border south of Dubrovnik).