Visiting Rovinj with home base in Dubrovnik

We did a day trip from Dubrovnik to Montenegro. I think Split is too far for a day trip. Maybe Korcula.

Rovinj is a lovely, charming little seaside town, but it's tiny. It's a great base for exploring Istria if you have a few days there or a great stop on the way to/from somewhere else - but it's not worth hours and hours to go out of your way to see. Rovinj isn't in itself worth it as a destination all by itself in my view. You can explore the little old town in about two hours, taking your time.

There is a lot to see in northern Croatia and Slovenia, and I would rank Rovinj in the highlights but wouldn't put it at the absolute top. Why make a separate trip of 1-2 weeks and check out the area?

Places nearer to Dubrovnik: Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. Towns in Bosnia like Mostar, Trebinje. Korcula. Split would be a long day trip.

Way, way too far from Dubrovnik to Rovinj for the sole purpose of seeing Rovinj. There are dozens of equally beautiful towns in Croatia.

Yep, forget Rovinj and plan a future visit to Istria. There are a number of places to visit close to Dubrovnik. If you are trying to work in an overnight or two somewhere else, Korcula and Split are both four hours by bus. Mostar and Kotor about three hours.

I agree that Rovinj is too far from Dubrovnik to be practical side trip. Even if you could get a direct flight to Pula one way, it would be a very long drive or multi-stop flight the other way. Split with a visit to nearby Trogir could be an option, and an overnight stay would be advisable due to the 4 hours of travel each way. You could also add an overnight in Mostar on the way to or from Split, which is what I did. Montenegro was my favorite day trip from Dubrovnik. I took a full day (7am-7pm) tour offered by Atlas Travel and really enjoyed it.

Thank you so much for the insight everyone, we'll save Rovinj for another day. I went there as a kid and was hoping we can spend a day scuba diving or snorkeling.

I just found out that a day trip to Mostar is a part of our trip, so now I'm looking to plan an overnight trip to one of the other cities mentioned above. Exciting times!

We stayed 2 nights in Kotor and loved it at night when all the day tourists were gone. We also hiked up the walls three times, at least and took a boat to Perast and the island. So fun and relaxing. We loved Rovinj for the same reasons - wonderful in the evenings and dinner on the waterfront was lovely. We use it as a base to tour Istria. Agree that it's much too far from Dubrovnik for a day trip. Mostar was very interesting and had great food and is completely different. I would recommend trying to spend 1-2 nights outside of Dubrovnik in either Kotor, Split or Mostar which are all much easier to get to. We did not stay on an island, but that might also be possible for a vacation from your vacation.

There is lots to do in the Dubrovnik area. My wife and I have been there 3 times. Leave the old city and walk to the new city where the big ships dock. Cheaper restaurants there. The entire city is small - plus there are buses. You can take a boat to Cavtat - about 30 min. Cavtat is very small, but a nice visit. Kotor is a 2 hr bus ride, and worth a visit. Going to Mostar is also a great thing. Mostar is small, and the big draw is the bridge, so a day trip is the way to go. If you have 3 days, at the beginning or end, you can take the boat to Split. It's about 4 hours, and you see several islands.