Two week Croatia itinerary summer 2026 Split and Dubrovnik or add Zagreb too

My experience has been more of Croatia as a nature lover's paradise, but there are many more towns you could explore. I would do some more reading and determine which places are of interest to you. If you find interest in Istria for example, then you might want to add another stop.
Zagreb-Split-Dubrovnik would be easy by public transport and offer many day trips, but since you will not be doing the things I am more familiar with, you could fit in more towns that are too far for day trips. Make sense?
If you spell out specifically what day trips you are interested in, that might spur more ideas. You could also consider adding in some time in the neighboring countries.

That makes perfect sense, thank you. I’m definitely more into walking around historic towns, visiting museums, castles, and archaeological sites, and I would never pass up a good winery. Based on that, which towns or regions would you say best fit those interests?

I meant more what specific places--like do you want to see each town with historic interest (there is a limited number and they are scattered along the long coast--I'd say roughly Zagreb, Rovinj (Porec, Pula), Krk, Zadar, Sibenik, Split, Hvar, Korcula, Brac (has some pretty towns and a cool monastery), and Dubrovnik are the ones to consider. I am just trying to suss out if you want to replace the "nature time" with more movement to get to more towns, or if focusing on the south would be enough.
It's also summer, so do you want to avoid the islands or only do day trips?
I have heard the Pag region and the area north of Dubrovnik (Peljesac) mentioned for wine. Peljesac would be easy with a private driver. Istria is most difficult without a car, but paid drivers could supplement. the coast is always doable by bus or ferry. The long skinny geography means it sometimes makes more sense to move along rather than backtrack.
If you like a slower pace and lots of day trips, I would put the majority of your time in Split, and make one stop on an island en route to Dubrovnik (Brac or Korcula would be good choices for you I think). With two weeks, four stops would not be too much if you decide to include Zagreb.

I have taken many friends and family members on a tour of Croatia. Our itinerary usually goes like this:
Split, Korčula, Dubrovnik, Zagreb.
These are the cities we know very well and feel you get a nice rounded Croatian Experience.

From Split we usually go to Trogir for lunch and Krka national park for a nice stroll.
From Dubrovnik we ferry over to Lokrum, another national park, for a stroll and maybe beach time.
On Korčula you can go to a winery or take a boat Taxi to a smaller Island to swim.
Zagreb has a nice castle nearby called Trakoscan. But Zagreb has plenty to keep you busy for a few days.

There are other places you can visit as a day trip such as
From Dubrovnik - Cavtat, Mljet, and although a long drive there is Mostar, Medjugorje, and Kotor.
From Split - Zadar, Šibenik, and again a long drive to Mostar.

If you are interested in some day trips with a driver, we have used this company a few times. In fact we have him booked for a day next September already.

Privatedriverguideincroatia.com

Good luck with your planning. And any other questions you have just ask.

I like both Ljubljana and Zagreb a lot. Since they're about 2-1/2 hours apart by either bus or train, they pair very nicely. And they are quite different. Ljubljana is a charming place to wander, though it's true it doesn't have a lot of museums/indoor sights. It's an easy base for a side trip to Lake Bled. The lake is beautiful but so small you can walk around it in a few hours. If walking all the way around the lake isn't something you want to do and you don't care about going up to the castle or taking the boat trip out to the little church in the lake, part of the day is enough for Lake Bled. There's bus service from Ljubljana, and I suspect a taxi would be a reasonable option for a family.

Either of the two Slovenian cave systems (less touristy Skocjan and more touristy Postojna) can be seen on a day trip from Ljubljana. I think public transportation gets you closer to Postojna, but I found Skocjan walkable from the nearest bus stop. There are also bus tours from Ljubljana, of course, but that will run up the cost.

It's too bad there are no express trains (and not all that many trains of any type) in Croatia, because it does slow a traveler's progress from town to town. I'd agree that you will probably want to spend over half your time in Croatia.

Along the coast you can also do the ferries.

https://www.jadrolinija.hr/en

Without much nature sightseeing im not sure how I could spend 2 weeks in Croatia. And not wanting to change hotels often makes it even more difficult. I've been to Croatis 3 times entertaining family and friends, its not too hard for me because I live relatively close, and there isn't a city I would want to spend more than 3 nights in. Compound tgat with the distances and...... but we are all different.

You can fly into Dubrovnik and depart from Split or vice versa.

From Dubrovnik, possible daytrips are: Lokrum Island; Cavtat, walled city of Ston, Kotor.

From Split, possible daytrips include Salona Roman Ruins; Trogir; Šibenik; Krka National Park; Hvar Town which has a castle above the town. These are all 30-75 minutes away by bus or catamaran.

Korcula Town on Korcula Island could be a base between Dubrovnik and Split. There are vineyards that offer wine-tasting both on the island and also on the Peljesac Peninsula which is accessible by a 20-minute ferry from Korcula Town to Orebic.
Korcula Town— which is where catamarans dock, is about 2.5 hours from Split and 2 hours from
Dubrovnik.

You also can swap in Zagreb for Korcula.

Thanks for the suggestions, that really helps. Right now I’m thinking of landing in Zagreb and spending two full days there, then heading to Split for about six days, and then Dubrovnik for another five to six days before flying home to Los Angeles. I want that amount of time in Split and Dubrovnik so I can take plenty of day trips without feeling rushed.

With two weeks in Croatia, you’ll be able to do that!