Hi There!
I'm going to Croatia in August with my boyfriend. We are having a hard time narrowing down the places to go with the time constraints we have. We're starting out in Dubrovnik on the 17th of August. From the 26th of August to September 2nd, we'll be in Pula. However, during that time we will not be exploring because we'll be at a music festival. So, it's really August 17-26 that we have to travel and experience the country.
We are flying into Dubrovnik and plan on staying two days. From there, we want to see an island or two, head to Split for a night (if for no other reason than that it's a stopover point), head to Plitvice, and from there, go to Istria.
We're in our late 20's/early 30's and want to focus on culinary exploration, historic sites, cultural immersion, and, sports activities (water!), some relaxing time by the sea. We want to get in a good hike somewhere and possibly take out a boat. We've both decided that we want to explore Istria quite a bit, visiting towns and wineries, tasting olive oil and slow food cuisine along the way. Since we won't have time to do that while we're based out of Pula, we need to fit this in beforehand. We also have a hot air balloon ride scheduled around Umag, which we're looking forward to.
All this being said, we're having a hard time picking out an itinerary. We're open to renting a car, bikes, motorbikes, or whatever else is needed for the various parts of our trip. This is a list of some of the places that have peaked our interest and a tentative itinerary:
Dubrovnik (Aug 17-19)
Mljet
Vis
Split
Plitvice
Istria
Pula (Aug 26-Sept 2)
I've read wonderful things about Mljet and Vis, and I'd love to spend more than a day trip on each island. However, I'm not sure we'll have time to fit that in. We want to take our time and really relax and explore everything. We don't want to rush through as many places as possible. Cutting out Plitvice would allow us more time for the islands and to explore Istria, but I don't think we can miss Plitvice after all I've read and heard about it.
What do you think about our proposed itinerary? How long do you think we should stay in each place? What should we cut out/add in? Any help would greatly be appreciated!
Thank you so much in advance! We are so very excited for our first visit to Croatia!
