Please sign in to post.

A Week in Croatia - where to stay?

My husband and I want to honeymoon in Croatia this September. We are currently thinking Dubrovnik, Korcula, Split, possibly Zagreb. I wanted to ask about traveling within Croatia - is it easier to stay in one place (i.e. Dubrovnik or Split) and take day trips to places (Korkula, Plitvice Nat'l Park, Bay of Kotor), or to just plan to stay in 2-3 places? Also, how far is it to travel to Lake Bled, Slovenia? And how easy is it getting through borders at Slovenia and Montenegro? I saw a post in the Graffiti Wall about being strip-searched at the Slovenian border..... Any tips or suggestions are highly appreciated!!

Posted by
5 posts

I forgot to mention - we don't know yet whether we are flying into Zagreb or Dubrovnik (or some other place), but we're planning on taking a train down to Dubrovnik if it ends up being Zagreb - we love trains! Also, we're hoping to see all this in a week. We are planning about 10 days total, but we want to fly to London for 2 days, so that will leave roughly a week for Croatia, etc.

Posted by
11294 posts

I haven't been to Croatia, but I have looked at Rick Steves Croatia and Slovenia. I recommend you get a copy, as even with my basic knowledge I can see several problems: 1. Taking a train to Dubrovnik will be very difficult, as the train from Zagreb terminates at Split, and no trains go to Dubrovnik. However, there are lots of other ways; here's a website with them: http://www.croatiatraveller.com/southern_dalmatia/Dubrovnik/GettingtoDubrovnik.htm#.T_DQc5FQR4I 2. Dubrovnik is at the very tip of Croatia, far from the rest of the country, and would therefore would only allow daytrips to some places (Korcula, yes; Plitvice, no way). It's very close to Montenegro - and VERY far from Slovenia, unless you fly. 3. Split is a bit more central, but the transit is still problematic for day trips. So, you'll probably want several bases.

Posted by
157 posts

Christie, I was in Croatia for 10 days last October and I recommend that you focus on Croatia with a week. Fly in to Zagreb or Dubrovnik and go south or north the coast. Zagreb - half a day to a full day or skip it depending when you arrive. (2 hrs to PL) Plitvice Lakes (a must see) - 2 nights, 1 full day in order to fully appreciate the beauty of this place (4-5 hrs to Split), Split - 2 nights (day trip to Trogir or Hvar) (4-5 hrs to Dub) Dubrovnik - 2 days ( i recommend a day trip to Cavtat, 45 min bus ride from bus station). I was there during off season and the boats to Korcula was limited so I did not go. Public buses are very efficient but keep in mind that each journey take time as the speed limit is not very high due to the narrow roads. You have more flexibility if you rent a car. Here's the link to the bus schedule if you choose not to drive. It would be helpful to know the name of the cities/sites in Croatian when you enter your destination. Have fun planning and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me. http://www.autobusni-kolodvor.com/en/timetable.aspx

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks for the information, guys! We will definitely have to check out the transportation issues... We have decided to dedicate the full 10 days to just Croatia (and maybe Slovenia if we can manage).

Posted by
2119 posts

I think you'll be glad you're spending the whole 10 days in Croatia. Lots to see and do. Instead of a day trip to Cavtat, though, you might consider staying in Cavtat, and making day trips to Dubrovnik! Cavtat is located near the Dubrovnik airport, so it's easy to fly in and be picked up (or take a taxi) to your hotel. It's a gorgeous little town, where you could relax and recover from your jet lag. You can still take your day trip to Bay of Kotor from Cavtat (highly recommended). Great place to stay in Cavtat: Villa Andro (#1 B&b on trip advisor), if he has an opening. After 3-4 nights in Cavtat, you could move on to Korcula, then Split (with trip to Plitvice Lake) and fly home from Zagreb? By the way, there's a group of RS travelers who meet the 3rd Saturday of every month at Panera in Aspen Grove (near Santa Fe & Mineral) -- 10 am. We'd love to have you join us. Let me know if you'll be there and I can bring some Croatian maps, etc.

Posted by
2298 posts

Re: Slovenia border. Croatia is not (yet) in the EU so there is border control. I recently traveled through northern Croatia on a tour bus. On the way in to the country (from Hungary), a guard got on the bus and took our passports, then brought them back to the bus. On the way to Slovenia, we stopped at Croatian border guard, they got on bus and looked at passports, then we drove to the Slovenia side and got off the bus and had passports stamped. It took about 20-30 minutes at each stop. That said, you won't have time to see Slovenia given your time frames - you'd spend way too much time driving and waste your precious honeymoon days. I recommend Rab Island as a great stop - quick ferry ride and lovely little retreat. If you can spare the time, Plitvice is a must see, but you'll probably need a car to get there in an efficient way - the bus goes but I've heard it takes forever.

Posted by
157 posts

I went to Kotor from Dub in mid October and there was only one daily public bus (dept @ 10:00a.m) and the same bus made the return trip at 14:45 (only one) which left me with 1 hr 30 minutes in Kotor. The ticket agents told me it was not possible to do the trip in a same day because it takes almost 3 hours to get there (2 border control checks) on a one lane road. I didn't believe them and took my chance. Border control took at least 30 minutes and traffic did not move very fast due to construction, slow drivers and curvy road. Once in Kotor, the old town is a few minutes from the bus station. The climb up the fortress (best view) is tough. It is very steep with many broken steps along the way. It took me 1 hr to complete the hike up & down only because I was running and I do not recommend it. The city within the wall is VERY compact but I wish I had more time to explore the harbor and surrounding areas. The bus ride alone was worth it as the landscape is very beautiful. If you are set on going to Kotor, it is possible to go with a tour there if it is not too late in the season or rent a car.

Posted by
6733 posts

Christie - As pointed out by Harold, your plan may have some serious flaws and you should go get Rick's Croatia book right away, as it will help you sort out many of your questions. No trains to Dubrovnik. We were in Croatia in May (and loved it). With the exception of places well served by ferries, you may (probably will) find that on such a short trip (how long do you really have? start by being brutally honest with yourself - don't count your arrival or departure days...) you won't be able to efficiently move about without a car. We rented a car (three, actually) and were very, very glad we did. Also - be very careful about ferry schedules (and bus schedules, too) as some lines have very limited service or shut down completely after the "high season" (check how they define that). We crossed the border a few times - we entered Croatia (from Slovenia) in a bus. No big deal - official came on the bus looked at our passports, nodded, and moved on. We rented a car for a day (in Dubrovnik) and did a day trip to Montenegro (Kotor - highly recommended). Border crossings both ways were quick and easy, a non-event. Worry about other things. We did not go to Zagreb or Cavtat. We did 2 full days in Dubrovnik which was plenty for us. We loved Korcula (spend the night). We didn't care much for Hvar. Thought Split was interesting but a bit over-rated. 3/4 of a day in Plitvice was enough for us (we arrived around noon, hiked the lakes all afternoon, spent the night and moved on early the next morning). We loved Rab (probably my favorite spot on our trip) and also really liked Trogir. We also liked Sibenik a lot. There's lots to see there - more than you will have time for. You will need to be ruthless (and realistic) about what you can get to. Hope that helps - have fun.

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks for all the help guys! We definitely still have a few things to research! So we've given ourselves 10 days, but I guess it wouldn't be a problem to maybe stay 2 weeks.. We are shopping around for flights from Denver, CO, so that will ultimately decide how long we can stay. We've gotten a lot of responses about renting our own car - we're still undecided on that point, as we love traveling in Europe via train, and are kind of worried about renting a car/driving/finding parking/etc... But we are definitely taking it into consideration based on everyone's recommendations! We've kind of narrowed down what we want to do: We're thinking fly into Slovenia and visit the Bled area first (2 days). (Did you know you can learn how to open a champagne bottle with a knife there! Like Cameron Diaz in the movie What Happens in Vegas.) Then either drive or take a train down to Plitvice area and hike the park and see the waterfalls (stay 1 night). Leave the next day and travel down to Split (and/or some other place close-by - I want to look up some of the recommended places; 2-3 days). I also want to see how far Korcula is from Split - maybe this would be a good day trip? Then find a way down to Dubrovnik for probably 3-4 days. We want to do a daytrip to Kotor in Montenegro if possible. We'd really like to go sailing/swimming in Montenegro, and possibly snorkeling/scuba sometime during the trip, so what areas would be good for this? Also, I'm still kind of worried about the weather - I've seen that the records for early-mid Sept. range 62-70ish.. I'm sure in the sun, the weather will be fine - but just want to make sure... Again, thanks for all your help, everybody! Keep the comments coming!

Posted by
6733 posts

Stretch your trip as many days as you can - there's an awful lot of things to do/see in this area, and you will have to make some difficult choices. We drove extensively on our recent trip (May 2012), never had any trouble. Roads are great, driving is easy, and as there are (almost) no trains, it seemed a no-brainer. Sure, parking in any old city is a hassle but we managed easily. Here's a problem with your plan above: if you rent a car in one country and drop off in another, you'll get socked with a stunning "drop off" fee (like 600 Euro). We rented one car in Slovenia, dropped it as close to the border as we could get, took a bus across to Croatia, then picked up another car for Croatia a few days later and drove on. We dropped it at Split and worked our way south (mostly) via ferry after that, then did a 1-day rental in Dubrovnik for a day trip to Kotor. We're scuba divers, too, but decided it was not worth our time to bother with snorkeling or diving on this trip - although there were places where the water looked pretty, I'm sure there was little marine life to see (compared to what we've seen on Indo-Pacific dives - admittedly we're spoiled, but if you've done much diving in a thriving marine environment, I think you'll be very disappointed at what you see underwater in Croatia - and it's just not worth it to lug your gear to see a few sea urchins - YMMV). There are no trains to Plitvice. You need to drive. Korcula is a few hours from Split; there are a couple of ways to get there by ferry. Too far for a day trip, I think, but it's a delightful place to spend the night, I'd give it a full day + 1 night. You can get a "transfer" from Korcula to Dubrovnik, they put you on a small boat, cross to Orebic (nearby but on the mainland) then bus you to Dubrovnik - easy, cheap and about 3 hours IIRC.

Posted by
3039 posts

Truly, I laughed out loud at the "strip search" comment. They will not strip search you. PL is a must see. We stayed in a lovely ski/country lodge just near the PL park. Our hostess, who spoke English nicely (Ich kann Deutsch gesprech, aber), brought us all a shot of slivovitz made by her dad. Wunderbar! We arrived at PL when the park opened. We walked to the top of the Upper lakes, and took the bus down (much smaller crowd - bus was only us). We did everything by 2:30 and my wife walks slowly. We then drove to Split, arriving by 6:30 PM (including a 45 min stop for lunch on the way). While you could spend 2 nights there, I don't see that as necessary. September is very soon. Get on the internet. Look for the sobe near PL. Get it quick. With only 2, you can get some good deals - we had 5, so had to look quite extensively. I loved Croatia. It was so nice - sort of like Italy with no Italians (definitely a plus, IMHO). Get the Rick Steves book. We should have read about Zagreb more - there is a cool art museum that I would have gone to. As for Slovenia, it is also really cool. Ljubljana is a very cheeky little town, with art pieces all over, great bars, very nice people, small and fun. We stayed in the Hostel Celica, which is a converted prison. We only stayed there 1 night, which was a big mistake - we could have stayed 2 days. If you want an opinion, Split is worth doing if you are also driving to Dubrovnik. If you are not driving to Dubrovnik, Split may be a long drive for a less-than-super Roman ruin - the palace is not quite what I expected. I'm glad we went, but it was a total of 12 hours drive (6 each way), and that was a lot of driving.

Posted by
3039 posts

I forgot to notice that you said you were going to London. Why? Boy, is it expensive!! You could spend more time in Croatia (the exchange rate is REALLY REALLY good right now, and avoid London. We had a long layover, and so I thought "We'll go to the British Museum - it's free". OK, free - L16 for 4 = L 64 = $128 to take the train in *)#()(#)(#. L4x4=L16=$32 for bus fare. We had tea. The museum was free. We had lunch at the museum - actually decent. Almost $200 for the free museum. I'd spend more time in Croatia and Slovenia and no time in London, given my choice. BTW, English is not 100% everywhere in Croatia, but much more so in Slovenia (a cross between Italy and Austria, but nicer than both - food can be Italian-like or Austrian-like, very good).

Posted by
3039 posts

We driove everywhere - we had a party of 5. Driving was easy. Roads are good. Parking is OK everywhere except Split. Split is a nightmare parking-wise. I have never seen cars triple-parked before. We drove to Split, parked the car, walked everywhere, drove away. The drivers in one place are lunatics - the mountain roads from Zagreb to PL. Insane locals. But we do enjoy the flexibility of cars.

Posted by
6733 posts

I concur with just about everything Paul says above. Glad to hear we were not the only ones who were a bit let down upon arrival in Split. Yeah, it's interesting to see how the old town grew up around (and inside) the Dioclesian's palace, but we didn't think there was all that much about Split that was so special - it was like pretty much all the other old coastal towns (granted, it was big), but it was really packed with tourists, like Dubrovnik. A few hours in Split would have been plenty for us. We actually preferred Trogir (very nearby) - smaller and not crushed with cruise ship passengers.