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Help with Itinerary and Ferry Transportation

Posted by (Dana Point, CA) on

We are planing a trip to Croatia in May 2024. We have 2 nights in Zagreb (we land really late at night and want to spend one day in the city), then we pick up a car and drive to Rovinji, spending 3 nights there to see Istria. From Rovinji we travel by ferry to Mali
Losinj where we spend 3 nights visiting that island and Cres. It is when we leave Mali Losinj/Cres that the trip gets really confusing for me: re transportation. We will still have our car. From Mali Losinj we want to go for a couple of days both to Brac Island and Korcula Island (like to have our car to explore) before ending in Dubrovnik where we will fly home from via a stop London for a few days.

I've been on the Ferries Croatia website, but it appears that it may be too early for May timetables as I cannot find any information. I just want to know car ferry travel options and what makes sense re: time traveling before I make any more hotel reservations.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
Nancy

Posted by
1005 posts

I think the car ferries to both Brac and Korcula leave from Split so there will be a bit of backtracking in your plan. It looks like tickets aren’t available yet but you can see the schedule from last year and the travelling times online. Based on that I’d be happy to book accommodation especially as you are out of peak season.

Google maps shows the car ferry routes so you can put in your destinations and get a basic route outline that way.

I’m also planning a Croatia road trip for next summer so have been looking at this a little bit.

Posted by
187 posts

To get an overview about car ferry routes check out following link.
https://www.jadrolinija.hr/en/sailing-schedule/local-lines-2023
Most car ferries are operated by Jadrolinija. Click on the maps for Rijeka, Zadar and Split area to see possible ferry routes.
Schedules for 2024 are not published yet, but typically there are not many changes year over year.

Leaving Mali Losinj you could use ferry line 401 to Zadar. In pre-season it runs twice a week only.
I used it once in the other direction (from Zadar to Mali Losinj) It’s a long journey (6-7 hours) because main reason for this line is to connect the islands Ist, Olib, Silba and Premuda with the mainland. But it was also a beautiful relaxing journey including the sight of some dolphins and approaching Mali Losinj by boat is just magnificent.
Thus, going by car via Cres (short ferry Merga – Valbiska), Krk and the Krk bridge would be the faster option, specifically if you plan to include Plitvice lakes on your route.

Posted by
14 posts

We are in the initial phase of planning a 7-day trip to the Croatian islands. Initially, I thought we would travel from Split to Vis to Hvar to Brac and finish in Split. After some research on the Croatia Ferry website it seems it is possible to do this- but without a car. If traveling with a car, you would need to return to Split in between each island visit. We visited Hvar with a car in 2019, and I believe having a car allowed for a lot more adventures on the island. Does anyone have experience with car rental on the islands?

Posted by
9 posts

I don't know when your 7 -day trip is occurring, but the ferry schedule for May, our trip, is not yet published. A link to the 2023 ferry schedule was provided earlier in this thread and might help you plan. We plan on renting a car the day we leave Zagreb and keeping it until our last stop in Dobrovnik. I'm still trying to figure out the mid part of our trip which hopefully involves a visit visit to Brac and Korcula islands. We may just end up doing a day trip to Brac from Split (leaving our car there, but, again I have to check what the ferry (car) and catamaran (no car) schedules look like. I just haven't had a chance the past few days, but hope to figure it out this week.

I'm keeping an eye on this thread for helpful bits of advice based on experience. :)

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