Hello!! I am planning a trip to Europe for 5 weeks this summer. Right now the preference is that we fly in June 25 and my partner leaves July 6. On July 6 I’ll be heading to Nice, France. I’m trying to decide where we should fly into from Richmond VA to get to Vienna and northern Croatia. I know there not right next to eachother but this is where we’re leaning into right now. I was thinking Paris but will this be a nightmare having to do that back and forth on June 26 and July 5. We might spend a day in Paris but I’ll be going there later that month. Really just need advice on these logistics and any northern Croatia tips too. But also most importantly if anyone knows where to fly into from RVA that’d be great
Posted by
Sioux Falls, SD, USA
3046 posts
Vienna is not right next door to N Croatia, but it's not that far away. There are lots of ways to go from one to another. Mostly you go thru Slovenia, or thru E Croatia. What we did in our 2011 tour was Vienna-Budapest-Zagreb-Split-Ljuljana-Graz-Vienna.
I'd fly to Vienna. You can probably train to all these destinations. It would be helpful where in "N Croatia" you are going. Pretty much there is Zagreb and some smaller towns. It's the less touristy part of Croatia for sure.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
We’re thinking of zadar, rovinj, Rijeka, Pula (everywhere looks so similiar so we haven’t narrowed that down) DEF plitvice but have not narrowed it down since we’re not sure if this trio will be realistic with the time we have. Flights to Vienna are more expensive than anywhere else sadly and the worst part is having to return there at the end since it isn’t super close to N Croatia like you said. We’re wondering if we should just do a Netherlands, Belgium, western Germany trip instead and then I can hit Croatia solo at the end of my trip.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Our other though is to just do Croatia but no idea where we’d fly into for thatZ
Posted by
Irving
2961 posts
So, you and your partner are flying from RIC to either Vienna or Zagreb? Because you are going to Nice, fly from RIC to Zagreb and then take a nonstop flight from Zagreb to Vienna. There are no nonstop flights from Zagreb to Nice but there from Vienna to Nice.
Check Google Flights: https://www.google.com/travel/flights. If you find an airfare you like check the airline’s website to see if the price is nearly as good as what you’re finding on Google. It’s best to buy from the airline in case something goes wrong so you can work with the carrier instead of a consolidator. Although I have purchased tickets from a consolidator and never had an issue.
From RIC expect two transfers to Zagreb. Check prices using multi-city or one-way options to see which is cheaper. If you purchase multi-city tickets, you may be able to add the Zagreb to Vienna segment so all airfare is on the same record locator.
Posted by
Massachusetts, USA
1610 posts
You mention that you might consider Croatia only. Do you mean for both you and your partner for the 2 weeks between June 25 and July 6? Where is your partner currently planning on fly out of to get home?
If you decide on only Croatia for the 2 of you, you could fly into Dubrovnik and then fly out of Zagreb, or if you want to venture into Slovenia, you could fly out of Ljubljana, which is a very pretty city. When we did our trip in 2019, we flew from Boston to Dubrovnik and home from Ljubljana.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
268 posts
In 2018, we took the non-stop Flix bus from Vienna to Zagreb. About 5 hours. Left mid-morning from Vienna and arrived mid-afternoon in Zagreb, wIth time to check into our hotel and catch the “free” 5 pm guided walking tour of downtown Zagreb.
The bus was deluxe.
After Zagreb, rental car to Split, via Plitvice Lakes, Zadar, Krka NP and Trogir - with one night near Plitvice and one night in Zadar. From Split, we had a guided bike tour that included islands of Brac, Hvar and Korcula, and concluded with van and bike journey to Dubrovnik. We stayed overnight in Dubrovnik and flew home the next eve. 10 nights total in Croatia.
The company we used for the bike trip from Split to Dubrovnik (Meridien Ten - https://www.meridienten.com) also has Istria trips, as you mention you are interested in northern Croatia. (Our first three nights, rental car and the National Parks tickets were a pre-tour add-on that we arranged through them. ). Everything about Meridien Ten was lovely, though a tad pricey for us.
PS. Our return from Dubrovnik was through Frankfurt, so you might fly into Croatia through Frankfurt, or perhaps Rome. )