Croatia

[Alkhan]

Hi,

My wife and I will arrive in Zagreb Croatia on November 12th around Noon. We plan on spending the last few hours of daylight exploring the city, plus a taste of nightlife without staying up too late because the next day, we want to get up early and start driving towards our next destinations, unless there are worthwhile things to do in Zagreb the following day, but our time is limited. We could also skip Zagreb if it is not worth wasting time on, but we have a 5 hour drive from our previous destination of Bratislava to Zagreb, so it would be nice to stop and rest


our time in Croatia is limited, only 8 full days total, not counting November 12th because we get to Zagreb mid day. During these 8 days, we would like to see a few of the best places Croatia has to offer, as we drive down the Adriatic coast towards our final destination Dubrovnik. From what I understand, we should spend minimum 2 full days in Dubrovnik? Can anyone here tell me how many days is recommended in Dubrovnik?


If we spend two full days in Dubrovnik, that only leaves us six full days to see the following points of interest;

Plitvice and Krka national parks, Zadar, Rab and Pag islands, Sibenik, Trogir, Split, Hvar, and Korcula

I could skip/omit some of these places. What would you recommend?

is it possible to see all of these places in six days (assuming I need 2 days for Dubrovnik) without feeling rushed? Or should we remove a few places from our list. From the places I mentioned, which ones are the most worth visiting? Also, do we need a hotel in each of those places or can we use one location as a base and take day trips to these locations?


thank you in advance for your suggestions and recommendations

 

[Barbie]

Hey @Alkhan ,

I did a similar Croatia road trip recently — definitely don’t try to fit everything in six days. Zagreb’s worth half a day, but focus more on the coast. I’d do:

Zagreb → Plitvice → Zadar → Šibenik/Krka → Trogir/Split → Dubrovnik (maybe add Hvar or Korčula if time allows).

Skip Rab and Pag — they’re nice but out of the way. Two full days in Dubrovnik is perfect. You’ll enjoy the trip more if you don’t rush it!

 

[Alkhan]

Hey @Alkhan ,

I did a similar Croatia road trip recently — definitely don’t try to fit everything in six days. Zagreb’s worth half a day, but focus more on the coast. I’d do:

Zagreb → Plitvice → Zadar → Šibenik/Krka → Trogir/Split → Dubrovnik (maybe add Hvar or Korčula if time allows).

Skip Rab and Pag — they’re nice but out of the way. Two full days in Dubrovnik is perfect. You’ll enjoy the trip more if you don’t rush it!

Thank you!! Good to know someone who has traveled there recently and can advise. We’re going in November. What month did you go?

Of the 8 days we have, 2 of those will be at Dubrovnik, which leaves us with 6 days for the places you mentioned. After Zagreb the first stop will be Plitvice. We will leave Zagreb at 7 AM which is sunrise and it will take us two hours to get to Plitvice, arriving around 9am, the sun goes down around 4pm, do you think we should stay at the park until sundown and then get a hotel, then check out in the morning and drive to Zadar?
Otherwise we would need to leave the park by 2 PM so we can get to Zadar, which is almost 2 hours away.

Zadar - should we spend the entire day here and sleep here? Or just spend a few hours and continue to Sibenik?

Sibenik/Krka - should we use Sibenik as a base for Krka since it’s nearby? How many days should we stay here?

Trogir/Split - should we get a hotel in Trogir or Split? How many days total for both towns?

If we do 1 day in Plitvice, 1 day in Zadar, 2 days in Sibenik/Krka and 2 days in Trogir/Split, that will be total of 6 days, leaving us 2 days for Dubrovnik, but if we do that we won’t have any time left for Hvar or Korcula

Please tell me what is the best plan, thank you very much for your advise it is appreciated

 

[Alkhan]

Hey @Alkhan ,

I did a similar Croatia road trip recently — definitely don’t try to fit everything in six days. Zagreb’s worth half a day, but focus more on the coast. I’d do:

Zagreb → Plitvice → Zadar → Šibenik/Krka → Trogir/Split → Dubrovnik (maybe add Hvar or Korčula if time allows).

Skip Rab and Pag — they’re nice but out of the way. Two full days in Dubrovnik is perfect. You’ll enjoy the trip more if you don’t rush it!

8 days, so little time, so much to see…

Plitvice - if the weather is good, we can visit and possibly spend the night there, that way we have all day to which the park without rushing to make it to the next destination before nightfall. If the weather is bad we can skip it

Zadar - maybe we can stop by for a couple of hours en route from Plitvice to Sibenik/Krka, or we can skip it if low on time

Sibenik/Krka - if the weather is good we can visit Krka then spend the night in Sibenik, in the morning see the Church and anything else before driving to Trogir/Split

Trogir/Split/hvar - we can stay 2 or 3 nights here? If we spend 3 nights, we won’t be able to spend a night in Korcula because we must save 2 nights for Dubrovnik. Is 2 nights enough to see Trogir, split and hvar?

Korcula - 1 night, but I’ve heard from some people, islands like Hvar are basically shut down, very few things are open in November slow season, but I want to see at least one island, Hvar or Korcula

Dubrovnik - 2 nights

It seems like it’s a choice between spending 3 nights in Trogir/Split/Hvar and skipping Korcula, or spending 2 nights in T/S/H and also spending a night in Korcula. This is assuming 2 nights is not enough to visit all of T/S/H

Thank you very much for your advice

 

[Barbie]

Hey @Alkhan,

I went in late September, so weather was nice — November will be cooler and days are short. For Plitvice, I’d stay until around 3–4 PM and spend the night nearby, then drive to Zadar in the morning.

In Zadar, a few hours is enough if you want to continue to Sibenik the same day. Using Sibenik as a base for Krka works well — one night there is enough. For Trogir/Split, pick one base (Split has more options, Trogir is quieter) and do day trips between them.

Honestly, trying to fit Hvar or Korčula will feel rushed. Focus on the mainland and Dubrovnik — two full days there is perfect.

A simple flow could be:
Zagreb → Plitvice → Zadar → Sibenik/Krka → Split/Trogir → Dubrovnik.