| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | |
Croatia Itinerary Help: Dubrovnik->Istria in 10 Days!Country forums / Eastern Europe & the Caucasus / Croatia | ||
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) 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! | ||
"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." (all of the recommendations are from Dubrovnik towards Pula) Historic sites and culture: Trogir, Šibenik, Zadar If you decide to visit some of those places and don't have enough time, you might drop Vis, since Mljet is much easier to visit from Dubrovnik. | 1 | |
"What do you think about our proposed itinerary?" Begin to plan seriously and you will see that it is not impossible, but hardly advisable: Wed 20th: Dubrovnik dp 9.15 - Mljet ar 10.55 | 2 | |
Thank you both for your input. We realize our proposed itinerary might be too much for the time we have. We're just wondering what you would suggest instead. We definitely don't want to drop Istria. We are thinking we may have to take out either Vis or Mljet, or could do Mljet as a daytrip...although we would prefer to visit the island for at least a couple days if possible. Do you think Plitivice is a must? Will it lose its charm if we're stuck with the thousands of tourists that come in group tours in August? Is there a benefit to Mljet over Vis, or vice versa? | 3 | |
"We definitely don't want to drop Istria" | 4 | |