My wife and I just completed twelve days in Europe- 5 days in Rome (one too many), and 7 days in Croatia, which we absolutely loved. I thought I would recap here.
Split- we flew from Rome to Split direct. We picked Split to start as we planned to go on to Korcula and Dubrovnik via ferry. Flying into Split was easy, and the Platanus bus service is right outside the terminal and you can buy tickets at a kiosk, 10 euro each. The busses are there waiting and take you to main bus station, about a 30 minute ride.
In Split we stayed at the Hotel Villa Harmony, while a tad pricey, was on the Bacvice Beach. We had our own balcony with a beautiful view. We walked the beach in the morning, and swam one afternoon. It’s a 5 minute walk from the bus station and a 10 minute walk from the Riva.
Two days was sufficient for Split, and most of it you’ll spend walking the Riva and Diocletian’s Palace. Great places to eat and drink, and amazing ruins. The Green Market is fun too to see the locals selling their home grown produce. With an extra day in Split we would have taken a day trip to Krka but we didn’t have the time.
We then took the TP Line from Split to Korcula, I think the cost was 30 euro; we bought far in advance. Very efficient, right on time from Dock 8a. We got there about 30 minutes ahead of time, but it’s not necessary to get there more than 15 minutes.
We spent two nights in Korcula and wished we had spent another at least. We stayed west of town in an AirBnB, a short walk to Old Town. It was great to sit there and watch the sail boats and small cruise ships come into port. Korcula felt like vacation. We spent one day walking Old Town and at the beach. The other day we spent out in Lumbarda going to visit wineries (Cipre, Popic, and Vitis). Don’t go to Vitis without a reservation, the other two were fine. We met some folks who bought a 20 euro day pass for the water taxi that hops around Korcula and out to Lumbarda, that seemed like fun. There are so many little islands you can hop to for the beach or relaxation. Finally, we saw the Moreska sword dance on Monday night which was incredibly fun. Not a long show (1 hour), but very local and historic.
Finally, we concluded by taking the TP LIne to Dubrovnik for 3 nights. It lands in Port Gruz, then we took an Uber to our AirBnb just east of the Ploce Gate. There is a big advantage in my opinion to being east and going to that gate, as all the busses and tour groups come in on the west side at the Pile Gate. Dubrovnik is incredibly beautiful, but is overrun with tourists and groups. Even in September it was very busy. We made the mistake of not buying the Dubrovnik Pass, as the cost to walk the walls was 40 euro, which is the same price as the pass. Buy the pass. I assume you can buy it at any TI or the Port/Airport. 2 days is enough to see everything - walls, sites within the walls, and we went up the cable car to Mt Srd. With better planning we would have taken a day trip to Lokrum or to Bay of Kotor, but this was the end of our trip and we were running low on energy. One thing we did do here was take a kayaking trip from Old Town, which is a fun way to see the town from the water. Also, there is a day trip to Cavtat via ferry that would have been fun to do, it’s an artsy resort village down near the airport. We also rode the Platanus bus back to the airport for 10 euro, it leaves right in front of the cable car station above the Buza Gate.
One final note- there is zero language barrier. Everyone speaks English.
In summary, a great trip and can’t wait to visit Croatia again, planning northern Croatia and possibly an Adriatic sailing trip.