Help required in finalizing itinerary for Croatia for April 2019

I see two problems, both closely related. Not surprisingly, these are the two biggest and most common mistakes made by first-time travelers...

1. You have too many places for the time you have, and,
2. You have failed to account for the fact that every time you pick up and move yourself to a new location, that typically consumes most of that day.

So...

You have 8 full, usable days, on the ground in Europe (not counting your arrival nor your departure days). Your itinerary includes at least 5 different locations (Dubrovnik, some island, Split, Trogir, Budapest). Five locations in 8 days simply won't work.

Getting around in Croatia is not super fast. Ferries take time (and waiting for the ferry takes even more time). Taking a bus (and waiting for it) takes time. Worst of all, you are planning to spend a whole day on a bus going from Croatia to Budapest? You only have 8 days to play with and you're spending one of them on a bus.

It's important to recognize and accept that the basic, mundane tasks required to stay alive, function, and be reasonably happy/comfortable will consume a significant part of every day, even when you are staying put in one place.

On top of that, the tasks required to move from one location to another consume more time than you think they will - for experienced travelers, going from one city to another, with excellent, efficient train connections, takes at least half a day: you have to wake up, eat, gather your things, check out of your accommodations, find your way to the train, wait for your train, ride it for hours, exit the train, get oriented in a new unfamiliar city where you don't speak the language and everything is at least a bit different from what you're used to, find your way to your new accommodation, get lost once or twice, check in, go out, grab a bite to eat, etc. etc. The time required for these tasks add up - and as this is your first trip, you will not be efficient!

As a rule of thumb, if you say you have X days in any location, then you really have X-1 days to actually spend there. So "one night stands" -- which you have a lot of -- means your day is spent getting there, then you have (at best) a few hours in the evening around dinner time, then you sleep, wake up, and move on, and repeat. You spend almost all your time getting someplace, and almost no time at all actually being someplace (and enjoying it).

With 8 days, you should pick two locations (at the most, maybe three), not five. And don't spend one of those days sitting on a bus (I don't know anything about bus service between Croatia and Hungary, except that any bus is going to take way too long).

Basically, your trip as planned will give you 2 days in Dubrovnik, 2 days in Budapest, and a lot of time in between, rushing past some of Europe's most interesting places, which you won't really get to see or enjoy.

I would suggest you pick either Croatia or Hungary for this trip, not both. You don't have time for both. You barely have time for just some of the major highlights of one.

You say you have a flight booked to Zagreb. But you don't want to spend any time in Zagreb. So why fly there then waste most of a day getting to Dubrovnik, which seems to be where you actually want to go? Fly to Dubrovnik!

I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but it's what you need to know, before you make a great mistake that turns your trip into a grim death-march, leaving you with memories only of what you saw briefly through the windows of a bus.

Hi David.

At the outset, I would like to thank you for taking out the time to share such a detailed response!

I just wanted to add that while this is our first trip to Europe, we have extensively travelled across India and are therefore aware of the challenges involved in inter-city travel and switching between cities and accommodations. Though I'm sure the difficulty level just moves up a notch further when you're doing it in another country itself.

Also wanted to point out a couple of things. First, we have already booked the Delhi to Zagreb, Zagreb to Dubrovnik and Budapest to Delhi flights. The reason for taking a flight to Zagreb and then Dubrovnik is because it is the cheapest one available, and the cost differential is huge. Even if I would have chosen to fly directly to Dubrovnik, I would anyways have to change flights at Zagreb as there are no direct flights.

Secondly, I guess you have misunderstood the timings for the bus from Split to Budapest in the original message as you have mentioned that I would be wasting the entire day on the bus. However, it is actually an overnight bus, which would leave at 12 AM from Split and would get us to Budapest at 11:30 AM in the morning (with a 2 hours halt at Zagreb at 6 AM). This has been chosen due to two reasons - cheap mode of travel and the fact that no suitable flights were available between Split and Budapest (the one flight which is decently priced has an 11 kg baggage limit).

Keeping these two things aside, I would really like your advice on the middle days. I guess doing Dubrovnik on 11th-13th is fine, and leaving for Budapest on 16th night/17th early morning is also fine. That ways we will get 3 nights in Dubrovnik and Budapest each. Please suggest me the most suitable choice for 14th-16th, keeping in mind that I will have to be in Split on 16th evening to catch the midnight bus. I had included Trogir in the itinerary as I had read in a few blogs that it can be done as a day trip from Split, since it's a small town located 30 mins away. From what I am being able to understand, I would have to choose between the following:

1) Split (with or w/o Trogir) - 14th to 16th

OR

2) One Island (14th and 15th) and Split on 16th just for the transfer

Looking forward to your valuable feedback.

I think a better plan for your middle days is to take a bus from Dubrovnik to Split and visit an island as a day trip from Split if your itinerary allows. April is low season, which has much less coastal boat service than high season. You can check sailing schedules on the Krilo and Jadrolinja websites, but I think you'll find it's going to be difficult to efficiently get from Dubrovnik to an island to Split by ferry or catamaran in April. With so few days for the middle part of your trip, you'll want to minimize your travel time between locations.

According to the Krilo ferry company's website (https://www.krilo.hr/en/) the ferries begin service on April 8th between Dubrovnik, Korcula, Hvar, and Split. It's a late afternoon ferry from Dubrovnik, so you'll probably need to choose just one island.

I second the suggestion to do a day trip to an island from either Dubrovnik or Split, and take a bus between those two cities. Several companies run day trips from Dubrovnik to beautiful Korcula island. I did a great day with Select Dubrovnik in June 2018. There were probably 20 people on our small bus, which picked up and dropped off near Pile Gate. You'd need to do some research to figure out if a day trip to Korcula can also be done with public transportation; the ferries have very limited schedules. (Repeating Frank's great advice: "You can check sailing schedules on the Krilo and Jadrolinja websites"). The public bus from Dubrovnik to Split takes about 4 hours (with one 20" stop) and can be pre-booked on-line (Look at rome2rio.com for bus companies and links to those). Hvar would best be a day trip from Split.

I hope that your ticket from India is booked through to Dubrovnik and not booked as separate tickets.

April is not a time to be visiting the islands, as much is closed. Plus there is a significant possibility that the daily afternoon catamaran between Dubrovnik and Split maybe cancelled due to adverse weather conditions and you don’t have any leeway in your schedule to spend a second or third night on that island.

Split is worth a full day and Trogir at least half a day. I would reduce your Dubrovnik stay by one night.

I hope you get some sleep on the night bus, otherwise your first day in Budapest will be a tired blur. It maybe false economy.

I too am worried about that connection in Zagreb.

If you have trouble with the other flight due to weight it sounds like you have checked luggage. A 2 hour and 20 minute unprotected connection after a long haul flight sounds brave to me. In April. So Immigration and baggage reclaim and then check in to a different airline with luggage? How long does the second flight require for baggage check and check-in?

Sorry for the late reply guys. I was travelling constantly for work trips. I appreciate you raising the airport transfer concern. Unfortunately, I had to book both flights separately. Will try to ensure that I get baggage on time, do web check-ins and rush it through queues so that I am able to catch the flight on time.

I have made certain changes in the itinerary, as mentioned below. Let me know your thoughts on this (particularly w.r.t. the chances of ferries getting cancelled, plan B in case the ferry from Hvar to Split gets cancelled, the choice of Hvar over Split etc.)

11th – Leave Delhi and reach Zagreb at 12:20 PM by flight (tickets booked). Leave for Dubrovnik at 2:45 PM by flight (tickets booked). Reach Dubrovnik at 3:40 PM. Stay in Dubrovnik (Booked)

12th – Stay in Dubrovnik (Booked)

13th – Stay in Dubrovnik (Booked)

14th – Leave Dubrovnik. Leave for Hvar at 4:30 PM (Krilo Star). Stay in Hvar Town.

15th – Stay in Hvar Town.

16th – Leave for Split at 10:30 AM. Reach Split at 11:20 AM. Leave for Budapest at 11:59 PM by flixbus.

17th – Reach Budapest by 11:30 AM. Stay in Budapest (Booked). Probably relax at the Thermal Baths for a good portion of the day.

18th – Stay in Budapest (Booked)

19th – Stay in Budapest (Booked)

20th - Leave for Delhi

I would consider the advice to take the bus to Split and enjoy Split and Trogir and skip the Island this time. You have to catch that bus to Budapest and what if there is a weather issue that prevents the ferry from getting you to Split? I found Split quite interesting and very different from Dubrovnik. Especially If you can swing it budget-wise to stay within the walls of Diocletian's palace, you will not regret spending the night in Split. If you are into such things, you can do an interesting bike tour with Red Adventures that will focus on the things outside of the walls.

Thank you for that wonderful advice! It has helped me in crystallizing my plan. If I leave for Split early morning by bus, I will be in and around Split on 14th, 15th and 16th. So would you suggest to just cover Split and Trogir, or should I cover Sibenik as well. Alternatively, should I cover Sibenik instead of Trogir? And how should I allocate my three days between the suggested places.

Looking forward to your thoughts on this.

You can do a day trip to Krka National Park and Sibenik from Split on your whole day, or maybe even the day you leave. Look and see if it interests you. I think it's less than 2 hours each way. Trogir is closer - less than an hour, but won't have the National Park. It depends what you like.