Croatia help

Considering you are going in October, my advice is to do the following... I would suggest flying into Dubrovnik and spend 2-3 nights there. This town is a gem, and especially beautiful at night. There are many day trips from Dubrovnik. Some include Mostar, Montenegro, and many surrounding islands. From Dubrovnik move north up the coast to Split stopping wherever you choose along the way. I really like Makarska. I would spend 2 nights in Split. Stay in Diocletians Palace. An easy day trip to Trogir is recommended. From there I would travel inland to Plitvice Lakes National Park and spend the night. From Plitvice you can return to Split or extend to Zagreb. If you go to Zagreb you can fly out from there. I think 1 night in Zagreb is plenty. You want to stay in the old square and not near the airport. Everything that was mentioned above is possible to do by bus or train. If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks Ryan! I'm having some trouble looking into flights. I thought it would be a good idea to arrive/leave Dubrovnik/Split but all the flights I'm seeing have ungodly layovers (some are 26 hour trips, and I saw one that was almost 80!) It's bizarre. Is this normal for Croatia flights? From the looks of things I might have to cut some sightseeing down and just fly in and out of Dubrovnik.

Did you try flying into Dubrovnik and out of Zagreb? That might give you more options.

Yes, tried that and it is not that bad. My only concern is that my sister and I will only have 8 days. Is that enough time -without feeling rushed- to do Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb? (assuming we'd have 1 night in Zagreb before flying out)

If you have 8 days on the ground - not including getting there, you have time to do this. Dubrovnik - 3 nights (old town do-able in 1 day, other could be a day trip somewhere. Split - 3 nights (be sure to take a bus to Trogir or better yet, stay in Trogir and take a bus to see Split for a day). Zagreb 2 nights maximum (one day is plenty) - we had 6 hours between arriving by bus and leaving by train and that was enough time to see the old center. This assumes 8 nights, too. You will definitely lose travel time taking the bus/train, so you have to factor that in, but each place, by itself, is doable in a day of wandering. The extras (Split AND Trogir) would take 2 days. Any extra time would be "soak up the atmosphere" time for us, just wandering the back lanes, etc. - Trogir, Split and Dubrovnik are great for that - I wouldn't spend extra time in Zagreb - just enough to see a bit and make your flight easily. It's a beautiful country.

Thanks! Do you suggest flying from Split to Zagreb since the train seems to take a long time?

I would recommend taking a bus from Split to Zagreb, and stopping overnight at Plitvice National Park along the way.

Hi Not sure if it is any help, but we had the same problems trying to fly into Croatia from Australia. Eventually I looked at flying into Rome instead. We arrive to romme at about 7.15am and then getting a Easyjet flight from Rome to Dubronvik at 11.15am for about 98Euro for 2 of us including 20 kilos of check in luggage.
Return journey Split to Rome for 118E for 2 with 20 kilos luggage This is what I have booked and it has worked out to be much cheaper and also time saving. However the Easyjet flights are only in the Summer months and finish sometime in August or September I think.

Hello, We were in Croatia in October 2009 and had a blast. It was more economical for us to fly to London and head to Croatia from there. We flew into Dubrovnik, and went to Korcula, Hvar and Split. We then flew out of Split back to London. We did it all without a car. A few suggestions: 1. Think of this as your first trip to Croatia. You do not need to see it all, you are going this time to get a taste. 2. Pick an area to focus on, and really get to see it instead to spreading yourself too thin. 3. Hire a driver for 1 day. It was amazing experience. Have fun!