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itinerary advice for 1st time visit 14 day trip to Croatia family 8 adult

Posted by (Ocala Fl) on

I am organizing a family get together for 8 of us- myself, my husband, and our 3 adult children (age 25-32) and their partners to Croatia. it will be the 1st time we have all been together since our son's wedding in August 23. We are love the outdoors, -hiking/paddle-boarding /kayak, biking etc., good food, drink and culture. mid range budget
here is my preliminary Croatia itinerary:

  1. Zagreb- 9/8 and 9/9 -Zagreb ideally stay at Piano and downtown apts which are 2 apt in same bldg. and allow us to get over jetlag and explore this large city
    http://www.inzagreb.com/reservations/reservation.html RENTAL VAN THAT SEATS 8 FOR OUR TRIP AND RETURN AT SPLIT AIRPORT

  2. Plitvice park - 9/10 drive two hours to Plitvice and spend the night at https://www.plitvice-croatia.com/about-us
    have a fabulous breakfast and then enter the park with a box lunch

  3. Zadar- 9/11/and 9/12 drive one hour and fifty minutes to Zadar ideally stay outside the city so we can park our car stay 9/11 and 9/12? Time there flexible. ANY RECOMMENDATION FOR APT OR HOUSING?

  4. Krka Park- 9/13 to drive to Krka Park (one hour twenty min) stay nearby and tour the monastery and then do the park in the am on 9/14/24 ANY HOUSING RECOMMENDATIONS?

  5. Split 9/14 and 9/15 via Trogir possible get dinner in Trogir then continue to Split Drive one hour fifteen minutes to Trogir for 1 night or just to Split – this needs to be determined Trogir is a smaller town 30-minute drive north of Split. Split is the 2nd largest city in Croatia Return rental car. IF WE ARE DOING A BOAT TRIP - DO WE NEED 1 OR 2 NIGHT IN SPLIT? HOUSING RECOMMENDATIONS?

  6. Dalmatian Island Boat trip 9/15-9/18 or 9/16-9/19 on https://gulet-prviodisej.com/#home Boarding would be in the port of Split. These are the captains recommendation: the island of Brac, the port of Milna, the island of Hvar, Stari grad, the island of Solta, the port of Stomorska. Then end up in Korcula, we would then take a catamaran line from Korcula to Dubrovnik
    HOW MANY DAYS WOULD YOU SAIL? WHAT ISLAND WOULD YOU RECOMMEND? HAS ANYONE SAILED WITH THIS CHARTER?

  7. Arrive either 9/19/ or 20 Dubrovnik - via via ferry from Korcula - PLEASE GIVE RECOMMENDATION ON WHERE TO STAY AND FOR HOW LONG, WE WERE PLANNING ON FLYING OUT ON 9/22/24 WHAT ARE YOUR TOP RECOMMENDATIONS

thanks in advance to all who respond
Jenny Salpeter

Posted by
3849 posts

Just a thought or two:
You could drop off the car in Trogir, walk around, have dinner (it is very small) then either ferry or bus it to Split for the night or two. One day in Split is enough for most people. When we were driving 7 people around in a minivan, we dropped the car in Split and did a day trip to Trogir.

In Dubrovnik stay in the old town, even if you need to split up. It is also very small inside so you wouldnt’t be far from each other. You could try and contact Bed+Breakfast Andio, they can accommodate 8 people as can Dubrovnik Gardens. But at DG the 2/3 apts are down the street and up a staircase.

I can’t recommend apts in other cities cause we stay in hotels.

The islands the captain recommends are fine. You really can’t go wrong with any of them.

Posted by
4095 posts

I wish I had help but you have a bit of a unique situation, plus you appear to have researched well. I hope Krka will not be a bit of a disappointment after Plitvice. It is beautiful, but just on a much smaller scale. I also looked at your boat trip, which definitely appeals! But it looked like it is a 5 day trip. You are probably doing a charter - so they let you just do 3 nights? I will be interested to hear how all this went afterwards so I hope you come back and add your new expertise to the collective experience here!

Posted by
4 posts

we are taking a charter boat so have options. we can either a 4 night or 3 night boat trip .....
if we do 3 night, it give us 2.5 days in Dubrovnik prior to flying home. is this enough time in Dubrovnik?

I really appreciate everyone expertise.

Posted by
267 posts

You mention a pretty active oriented group and you mention biking. We did a 6 day, seven night guided bike tour in Croatia before the Pandemic. That was spendy, but you could do a self-guided bike tour for a fair bit less. Either way might be a nice alternative to your steps ## 6 and 7. Worth a look.

There were lots of bike tour groups that we saw. A nice way to see a good number of islands and cities. We did Split to Dubrovnik with a 3 nights in Split (with a day trip to Brac), then Hvar, Korcula, and the Peljesac peninsula, ending in Dubrovnik. Guides on the bike tour were locals, very nice. One rode with us while the other drove the van and set up snack breaks with anything and everything you’d want. Art tour on Brac and wine tasting on Korcula were included, to boot.

Around the islands, we used ferries some. We went from Hvar to Korcula on a zodiac, while one of the guides took ferries and drove the van and bikes around. The zodiac was a hoot.

We used Meridien10, based in Split, and we loved them. Plus they have self-guided. There are also other operators.

Biking is a great way to see the area. Very close to the ground and the local people. Through the back door as RS would say.

We have since done 2 weeks of self-guided biking in France (2023). And we will do a week of self-guided biking in Puglia (Italy) this coming April. The operators arrange luggage transfers, hotels and bikes (or e-bikes if you choose).

BTW, we added a “pre-tour package” with Meridien10 that very closely mirrors your steps 1-5. It was a great 5 day (4 nights) tour on our own before the biking and then with a group for the 7-night bike tour (6 days of biking), plus one more night and day on our own in Dubrovnik at the very end. (Total was 12 nights.)

It was life changing. And we now bike 2000 to 2500 miles a year here in Washington state.

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