Itinerary Help - w Kids - July - 2 or 3 Bases

I enjoy Montenegro a lot more than Croatia, but you have never been to either and Croatia seems to be your interest. So, with only 10 days, dont spend it going to Kotor. Kotor is nice, but its a small less impressive version of Dubrovnik. Herceg Novi and Perast are interesting but its a fairly long trip. If you go by car or with a tour then you will spend not less than 5 hours of travel from Dubrovnik (and back) for 3 hours of sightseeing. Again, with only 10 days in Croatia, stay there. Fly into Zagreb then to Plitvice then to Split and to Dubrovnik with stops along the way. I guess your preference is bus and thats doable for the whole trip.

Plan B. Fly into Split 2 nights, Dubrovnik 2 night, Perast/Kotor 1 night, Ostrog 2nights (with day trip to Tara Canyon), Ulcing 2 nights (with day trip to the lake), Budva 2 nights then fly home from Podgorica. All done with private transfers. The cost of private transfers plus hotels in Montenegro will be about the same cost as hotels and a bus in Croatia.

I’ve only had a brief foray into Montenegro, but I think you should give it a miss and perhaps go to the mountains (which seem to me to be the top attraction of the country) with the kids when they are a bit older. The bay of Kotor area was nice, but I think your time would be better spent with fewer bases in Croatia.
Agree that Zagreb would make sense if you want to include Plitvice. If you are fine with Krka, then Split works fine. I’d stay in Split, Dubrovnik, and an island or a smaller mainland spot like Makarska with lots of access to beaches and hiking. Lean in to making time for the outdoor activities. Good luck!

I wouldn't use Split as a base unless there are many things you want to see there---don't miss Froggyland! Skradin is a great town to spend a few nights in. It's on a river with a beach area with swans. You can walk to the boats for Krka NP and rest at the beach later. We spent one day driving to the nearby Raptor Center and visiting Sibenik. Primosten is a bigger town with a lovely beach from which you could do day trips to Split, Krka, etc. Dubrovnik is beautiful but I wouldn't bother driving to Kotor on such a short trip. Make sure you get early tickets for Plitvice and try to walk around Rastoke too. Have you looked at flying into Dubrovnik and home from Zagreb?

I think everyone here will give you a different opinion, so it's up to you what interests you the most. If it were me, and based on your interests, I would fly into Dubrovnik and go immediately to Split. From there it is possible to do a day trip to Plitvice Lakes, tho it is a very long day- many people do do it. Krka however is a lot closer so would make more sense as a day trip. Hvar is only about an hour on the ferry so as long as the schedule times make sense you could also do that as a day trip. It looks like there are also companies that take you on a day trip to Hvar and the Blue Cave from Split.

From there you could then drive to Dubrovnik (about three hours) or spend a leisurely day on the Krilo Star ferry making you way south, and spend a few days in Dubrovnik.

After that, you could spend a few days in Montenegro. I personally really liked Kotor a lot, and the advantage of staying there is you get to be there after the cruise ship passengers have left for the day. We rented a car and did day trips during the day, when the town was very busy, and then got to spend the late afternoon/evening in the town when it was quieter. The drive from Herceg Novi to Kotor is spectacular.

The drive from Kotor to Dubrovnik airport is less than two hours (plus border crossing time- tho when we crossed this border we had no wait at all and basically drove straight through). Depending on the time of your flight you could just drive there directly from Kotor or spend the night before near the airport in Cavtat.

I hope this has been helpful, good luck with the rest of your planning!

I agre with everything above. I will even go along with the Kotor stop if its used as a hub to visit Perast (but the hotel and the bay experience in Perast is 10x better) and to at least visit Budva by the P1 road ... but you miss so much that way that I fall back on going to Montenegro when you have time to do it right; stay in Croatia.

The only thing in Croaia that is to die for is Dubrovnik. After that ..... its all "good". Also, be careful of Plitvice. This group will tell you to spend 15% of your 10 days to getting to, experiencing, and moving on. If that were true, it would not have been worth it for me. But its not and I had a great 4 hours there. I enjoyed Rastoke as much. Split in July? Very interesting. Maybe even 6 solid hours. Okay, 8. July worries me because the university trust fund brats might be a bit much. Dubrovnik, now I show my absolute bias. I loved it each of the 3 times i went. Yes, its an over crowded tourist trap, but its rich and the next to last stop before crossing the Montenegro border where life gets good.

Oh, Kotor to DBV or TGD about the same unless you count the border crossing, then TGD is a bit closer.

Cat has outlined a nice itinerary. I’ll always advocate for a night at Plitvice over a day trip. Crowd avoidance is a must here, and breaking the visit into a late afternoon and early morning is best practice. It’s a place I’ll never forget, and I’d steal a night for it 100%.

Have you checked flights out of Zagreb? It’s a pretty common hub and generally affordable. Cool, underrated and fun city too. I’m leaving Kotor out of this scenario, but if you can manage flying out of there your itinerary become more of a straight line: Dubrovnik (4) - Split (2-3) - Plitvice (1) - Zagreb (1-2).

Thank you all for the information and replies. This will help make a decision about this potential trip.