Multigenerational family trip to Croatia, help with basics

You have a major undertaking and a lot of research to do.
Public transportation in Croatia = bus
Airports, well a few, but depends on why you want to be near them because none are overly served.
Beaches, but it's a country with a long coast line
Car rental, for what purpose?

For grins, why dont you contact this individual. She will have some insight and recommendations for you. She knows Croatia, BiH and Montenegro.

Dijana Krkotic
Executive director
Doclea Travel
Address: Bulevar Sv. Petra
Cetinjskog br. 79
81 000 Podgorica
Phone: +382 20 675 197
Mob: +382 69 277 749
E-mail:dijana@docleatravel.com
www.docleatravel.com

Thank you. I will reach out.
As far as convenience to airports, I'm really just trying to figure out where we should fly into so that we don't have long drives to the gathering point (i.e. beach villa/house for 12-14 people). Reading through others' proposed itinery plans, it looks like most plan to do a lot of driving and/or moving every few days. Because we are such a large group I'd rather just pick one spot for several days, then let everyone make their own touring plans before or after we're all together. I assumed a car rental would be preferred given that others have mentioned it's relatively easy to rent, and probably more cost effective with so many of us.

Mr. E is right about having a travel agent arrange your trip. First of all, you'll need to find a centrally located place to stay.

Most all the flights go into Zagreb and it's not close to the coast. Just about all the larger international gateway airport have flights into Zagreb. I've also seen people flying into Venice and even Trieste to get to the Croatian coastal cities. Ferries also go across the Adriatic from Venice.

I was in Croatia last month and have a good recommendation: Island Hotel Katarina on St. Katarina's Island off Rovinj. It was stunning! The island is off Rovinj, but a ferry runs between the island and central Rovinj from 8 a.m. to midnight. It takes 15 minutes. The beautiful hotel is a resort. It has its own beach plus pool, spa, amazing food spread and other amenities. Here's the site: https://www.maistra.com/properties/island-hotel-katarina/#/

Rovinj is a beautiful town on the Adriatic Sea. It's like stepping back 500 years. Though it caters to the tourist trade, I believe mostly Europeans stay there.

Also, it's worth visiting Plitvice Lakes National Park. Great hiking. We stayed at the Hotel Plitvice: https://np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/ .

I can't recommend a specific place to stay (hotel or house), but I too can rave about about an island, Vis, where I stayed for a few days last month. it was the end of the season and pretty slow in October, but I still loved Vis. I'll bet it is lovely in June.There is regular ferry service from Split (to Vis but also several other islands). It takes just over two hours by ferry (a little faster by catamaran). So you could fly into Split, which is a small airport but still gets international flights. I flew from the US to London and then London to Split on a British Airways jet. The airport bus takes you right to the ferry port in Split, but people arriving earlier than others could just stay Split for a few days and do other things (other islands or day trips) before meeting the rest of the group.

Maybe just find someone who rents several adjacent apartments, then rent three or four of them vs. a single house. Try AirBnB, see what hosts have to offer and message a few of them.

Google to learn more about the island of Vis and the attractions it offers. You could certainly stay on another island like Hvar, Korcula, or Brac - all well connected to Split by ferry In June all will likely be busy though.

I would be shooting for something within 45 minutes of Split or Dubrovnik. I don't think you need to pinpoint specifics so much as just start searching. I like Booking.com and their map function is fairly user friendly. Near DUB I would include Cavtat and near SPU, I would include Trogir/Ciovo, but otherwise it's just sprawl (not meant in a negative sense). Bus service is fairly good, but I would plan on making use of the rental car.
Both of those airports are likely to have the most connections, whether you fly through Zagreb or another European city.

Yea, as the poster above recommends, you’re requirements basically narrow it down to an hour circle around either split or Dubrovnik.

If you go to split you could easily take a ferry to either Korcula or Hvar. Dubrovnik, even the airport is 30+ minutes south of the city so taxis or busses will still be required coming and going.

I probably wouldn’t venture too much further than that given your requirements. Imo Plitvice and that area would be impossible without a car rental.

Thanks all for the helpful replies. At this point, we're reconsidering the destination. It just seems like too much to figure it all out, especially because of limited public transportation, with so many of us coming in separately and not all able to rent a car. We're now looking at Crete, although that may be the same issue. The costs of flights from the US and the flight times and scheduling make it even more difficult to plan. I'm thinking that Croatia may be a better destination for us to do in smaller groups.

Is this not part of a longer trip for the group? Less than a week is kinda tight for anywhere in Europe really, but look at Italy to--public transport in coastal areas is generally great. Perhaps the Amalfi coast or anywhere in Liguria. Still not a ton of direct flights but likely easier. Maybe see what air carrier you all have in common?

I recently watched a video or read an article about a direct flight between Boston and Dubrovnik which is a bit of an anomaly from the USA, you could look into this flight

It was with one of the big American carriers If I remember correctly