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Is this Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro itinerary doable?

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I'm so excited! Our tickets are booked. We fly into Zagreb and out of Sarajevo, but I need advice!

Our interests: Scenic drives, beautiful viewpoints, hiking/walking/strolling, we don’t swim but we love nature (and we do like history that connects with us).

Is the below a do-able itinerary? We don’t want too much moving around (unnecessarily, that is). Also, I want so badly to Zipline over the Cetina River (Omis) near Split (there’s a tour that does that). My husband, I’m not so sure. How could we possibly fit that in? We also want to use a car as little as possible (only when it saves us time). I was thinking to squeeze in Korcula (or Hvar) but they seem so inconvenient, especially because we don't swim. Advice?

Night 1 (6/7): Fly into Zagreb (Zagreb) Friday

Night 2 (6/8): Wander around Zagreb (Zagreb) Saturday

Night 3 (6/9): Wake up early, rent car and drive to Plitvice Lakes (Plitvice Lakes) Sunday [car]

Night 4 (6/10): Drive to visit Krka National Park (3 hours?) (entrance is at Lozovac, parking is free, Skradinski Buk waterfall, Roski slap waterfall (beautiful trail)) then Klis Fortress (needs 1 hour) then Trogir (2 hours) then end in Split (possibly stay at Palace Judita Heritage hotel) (Split) Monday [car]

Night 5 (6/11): Get rid of car (?), Diocletian’s Palace, stroll the seafront promenade, visit Marjan Hill (?), Split (Split) Tuesday

Night 6 (6/12): Day trip to island of Brac (Zlatni Rat Beach, Brac Olive Oil museum (?) and hike Vidova Gora, highest point in the Adriatic Sea) (Split) Wednesday

Night 7 (6/13): Take bus (scenic route) to Dubrovnik (Dubrovnik) Thursday [bus]

Night 8 (6/14): Walk the walls, view from the cable car, wander the old town, visit Fort Lovrijenac Dubrovnik (Dubrovnik) Friday

Night 9 (6/15): Day trip to Kotor, (we may opt for a group tour to make it easier on us, they stop at Perast, option to visit island of Our Lady of the rocks, St. Stefan, Old Town of Kotor and Budva around $60) Montenegro (Dubrovnik) Saturday

Night 10 (6/16): Day trip to the Island of Korcula (Dubrovnik) Sunday [OR replace by doing the zip line from Split earlier in this trip?]

Night 11 (6/17): Bus to Mostar (maybe stay at Hotel-Restaurant Kriva-Cuprija) Stari Most (old bridge) and wander around (Mostar) Monday [bus]

Night 12 (6/18): Rent car (from Mostar?) to drive to see Pocitelj, Blagaj Tekke, Lake Jablanica, Konjic as we head toward Sarajevo (Sarajevo) (possibly stay at the Courtyard Marriott) Tuesday [car]

Night 13 (6/19): Walk the Old Town Sarajevo (Sarajevo) Wednesday

6/20: Drop off car to airport and Fly out of Sarajevo Thursday

Posted by
27104 posts

Having visited Plitvice Lakes National Park on a day-trip from Zagreb in 2015, I can tell you that your plan for June 9 is not a good one. Plitvice is a magnificent place, but it gets totally slammed with day-trippers to the point that the walkways are utterly packed. That's not a good way to experience one of Europe's top sights. I saw Plitvice before the tourism surge as well as in 2015, and it makes a huge difference if you can get into the park ahead of the hordes. You really, really, need to get to Plitvice the day before your visit so you can enter the park when it opens. If you can manage to arrive around mid- to late-afternoon, that may work as well, allowing you to see part of the park late that day after the peak period and finish up the next morning. I believe the park sells two-day tickets, and I've read on this forum that if you sleep at the park hotel, it can endorse your one-day ticket to allow a visit on Day 2--though I have no personal experience with that.

I like Zagreb a lot, and I realize what I'm proposing could cause you to have very, very little time in that city. I have never been to Krka, so I don't suppose my suggestion that you skip it in order to have time for proper visits to Zagreb and Plitvice is particularly helpful, but that's what I would do.

Posted by
5687 posts

Sorry, I'd say this is much too fast - and I travel fast myself.

I probably wouldn't bother renting a car for Bosnia unless you have the opportunity and time to stop along the way - and you really don't have the time. Take the bus and try to relax from the hectic pace of travel that you've endured in the prior week, at least. Even if you can rent the car in Mostar and return in Sarajevo, I think it's not going to be cheap - but see what you can find, if you really want to drive there. (It's easy to drive in Bosnia otherwise.)

First adjustment: spend the first night in Zagreb, but rent your car the second afternoon, and drive to Plitvice then. Stay the night at Plitvice, enter the park at 7am the next morning when it opens to avoid the big crowds that ill be there by mid-morning. If you can stay at one of the overpriced but convenient park hotels, they will stamp your park ticket from the first day so you can enter the second day again for free. So if you arrive early enough the first afternoon, you could see some of the park the first afternoon and the rest the next morning; grab lunch in the park at one of the snack bars (burgers maybe) then move on by the afternoon from Plitvice.

Spend the next night perhaps in Skradin at the park entrance. See Skrandinski Buk (big waterfall) the next morning and move on to Split or Trogir. It might be easier to keep the car if you stay in Trogir (I drove in Trogir, easy enough; didn't have a car in Split). Having the car a few extra days would save you some time you'd otherwise waste with public transportation, waiting for buses, transferring, etc. With such a rushed schedule, the car is worth keeping until Dubrovnik.

I'd drop Korcula - it's lovely but you don't have time. Too much time lost getting back and forth. Add the saved time in somewhere else to slow down your itinerary a little.

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