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Long Trip With Croatia in the Middle - Itinerary Thoughts?

Posted by (Portugal) on

We may be a bit mad, but we (retired, 72 & 68) have set ourselves up for a six week trip. (BTW, we live in Portugal, so no really long flight involved here.) First part of the trip involves mostly Bavaria, but that leg end with a flight from Brussels to Vienna, where my wife's brother joins us for three nights at an AirBnB where we will do some laundry and see a few thins (but that is for another country forum.

The three of us land in Dubrovnik mid-September and spend 5 nights there at an AirBnB in the old town. We have booked a day trip to Montenegro (Perast, Kotor and Budva) and another to Pedjesac Peninsula (with a stopover to Korcula) while in Dubrovnik. On the day we leave, we pick up a rental car (from Uni Rent) and drive to Mostar for two nights.

Next stop is back in Croatia for a night in Sibenik (with a swing by Krka NP en route). Then we have two nights in Split, where we have booked a walking tour of Diocletian's Palace, etc. We part ways with my B-I-L here and drive up near Plitvice NP (our cabin has a private hot tub, so two nights here).

Next we drop the rental car in Opatija and take an Uber back to Rijeka, where we spend the night in order to board a ship the next morning. It is a small vessel (max 40 passengers) and we cruise for 7 nights (Krk, Rab, Zadar, Kornati NP, Dugi Otek, Losinj and Cres) returning to Rijeka where we disembark early. Plan is to again Uber back to Opatija (it is early October now) and stay at the Miramar (and have them do our laundry!).

Next day, I have hired a transfer to drive us to Rovinj, where we stay two nights, with a day tour booked to take us to Porec and Motovun. We leave Rovinj via catamaran to Venice (but that is a story for another forum).

What do people think? I know we miss Zagreb, but otherwise are there things we might change? We like food, wine, history, architecture, nature and art.

Posted by
26452 posts

This is all preference, so nothing is wrong with any of your plans. My favorite part of your trip is Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina. I keep returning to Croatia but because friends and family insist, and its nice, but when I can talk one of them into doing BiH or Montenegro then I really get happy. I am 24 days away from my next departure to Montenegro. A quick 8-night trip. Like you, I live close so I can go back to places I love every year if I want.

Your day trip from Dubrovnik to Budva and back is not less than 6.5 hours of driving. That gives you maybe 3 hours out of a car to see something. I am assuming you are flying from Vienna to Dubrovnik, so why not fly from Vienna to Podgorica instead? You can be in Podgorica by 10:15 and in Budva for lunch. Then drive over the mountain, visit the prosciutto houses eat good ham and local cheese, spend a night in Kotor then make a leisurely trip to Dubrovnik with stops in Perast, take the boat out to the Islands, then Herceg Novi for a look see before crossing the border. At least you can really see some of Montenegro. Make it two nights and there are good wineries and a chance to sample some olives and visit an orchard and see the oil being made … maybe an oyster farm too.

Dubrovnik for 5 nights? Based on the pace of the rest of the trip, 3 nights wouldn’t be silly. I know a good guide if you are interested).

Outside of Mostar, there is the Blagaj Tekke and on the way up there are the Kravica Waterfalls. This is a one-night trip. Two if you have a reason but … Beyond Mostar I know several wonderful places (Sarajevo of course, but Jayce and Travnik and Ključ where sits my most favorite escape reality hotel on the river), but 2 nights isn’t enough, you would need 3 without Sarajevo. For the cost divided by 4 of you, hiring a transfer to Mostar with all the good stops is cheap and the driver knows where to stop, what to show you, what to see, etc. Then return to Split where you pick up your rental and start moving up the coast per your original plan. I know guy (of course LOL … actually I have a contact for this and the Montenegro leg if you are interested.) The rest of the trip I sort of love what you have.

Posted by
207 posts

Those are all good ideas, thanks. Unfortunately, I have many masters and maybe should have researched more sooner.

That said, Kravica Waterfall on the way up was already on my radar and I discovered Blagaj Tekke recently. Was thinking the latter for lunch on our full day in Mostar.

Posted by
26452 posts

I understand completely.

Do think about doin less on that Montenegro day trip. Go as far as Kotor and thats it. It will give you more time to explore. To be honest, read my posts about Montenegro ... I would rather spend 2 days in Montenegro than a week in Croatia ... but if the choice is a day trip to Montengro I would stay in Croatia and get better use out of the time.

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