Dalmatia without a Car?
 

I'm planning a trip to Eastern Europe this August, and I am hoping to not have to deal with a car.

I am planning to visit Dubrovnik and Hvar in Croatia- after some family related travel in other countries. I have about 6 days to distribute, and I am open to visiting other countries in between if it makes sense, flight or travel wise.

I would prefer not to drive- if I fly directly into Dubrovnik, I understand there is a ferry I can take to Hvar? Is Dubrovnik navigable without a car or will I be really missing out?

In Dubrovnik, a car would be a handicap. The city is compact and easy to get around.

As for the rest of the Croatian coast, ferry is preferable to road.

Where will you fly out of? Years back, I flew into Trieste, and took the bus down to Opatija (not an immensely exciting journey), worked my way down the coast, stopping at Split, Hvar, Krk and Dubrovnik among others, then took a flight from Dubrovnik up to Zagreb. It was an incredible journey, and all the better from seeing the islands up close.

Slovenia and Croatia are countries I could go back to time and again.

Ferry operator http://www.jadrolinija.hr/

That sounds amazing- I am still trying to plan the other parts of my trip, but I will either be coming from Macedonia (Ohrid) or directly from NYC.

Thanks for letting me know about this option. Do you think this is practical to do within 6 days?

Won't not apply to you but in the off-season (pretty much beginning of October until sometime in spring), a lot of the coastal ferries stop working and this is something that started only in 2010. For example, the car ferry from Rijeka in the north that connects to Bari via Split and other places stops (only does Bari-Dubrovnik). There's also no Dubrovnik-Korcula ferry either.

Plan well ahead (but recheck closer to the time!) as the sailings don't always operate daily.

Last autumn, my wife and I were planning to take the overnight ferry from Rijeka to Split, then to Hvar, Korcula, Dubrovnik and Bari, renting a car only in Dubrovnik for day trips. At the last minute (well, about 4-8 weeks before we left Canada), the Rijeka-Split ferry sailing disappeared (part of the car ferry that goes to Bari) and so did the Korcula-Dubrovnik ferry. We had to rent a car in Opatija and drive to Split (but that gave us a chance to see Istria), and get a shuttle for Korcula-Dubrovnik.

The Split-Hvar-Korcula legs (foot pax only sailings) were on fast cats and unfortunately you're in the enclosed cabin for these sailings.

The drive between Rijeka and Split isn't very interesting either (there was one city we had to miss due to lack of time but we wouldn't have seen it if we ferried).

Not sure if the car ferry seasonal curtailment is due to all the fast toll roads.

Six days is just enough to do the itinerary I suggested, but it depends on how the transport works out. I would want at least two days and two nights in Dubrovnik, and a full day and night in Zagreb. Then you could drop in as many stop-offs as you like along the coast, but remember not to pack the itinerary to tight. Maybe Split and one island?

I'm not sure how you would get from Orhid. By road, you're looking at going through Kosovo or Albania, Montenegro, and possibly BiH. Lots of border crossings, possibly some hassle, and either several changes of bus or a hell of a car paperwork headache. It's not a simple journey.

There's allegedly an airport (OHD) with infrequent service to Belgrade and Ljubljana, amongst others. You could fly to Ljubljana (my favourite city on earth) and take the the train to Rijeka on the coast, then begin your slow journey down the Dalmatian coast from there. Once you reach Dubrovnilk, you could fly either to Zagreb, or to your next stopping point in Europe. But you would want a couple of days in Ljubljana, and then your 6-day timeslot begins to look a bit small.

If the flights from OHD are no-go, then it's a few hours by road to Skopje, where there's a bit more choice.

I guess what I'm saying, is that the far south of Croatia, where Dubrovnik is, is a bit of a dead-end as far as easy, reliable, comfortable travel goes. From there on you're looking at long bus journeys and complex border crossings. While that makes for a memorable trip, it's perhaps best saved for when you have a bit more time! In fact, if you don't want to backtrack by ferry or plane towards Zagreb, the best escape might be on the overnight ferry to Bari in Italy!

Remember, also, that with cheap flights and slow land travel, it might make sense (financially and timewise) to fly via London or Vienna etc to get from Skopje to Dubrovnik.

Overland coast to Zagreb takes a long time by train (6 hrs+), a little bit less by bus. FWIW, SPU/Split's airport is quite a long way from town (had to drop off a rental car there and bus into Split).

As far as rental cars go, not difficult driving into BiH or MNE. Just make sure your car rental agency allows it.

Just be aware train frequency isn't great. It was just 2x (maybe 3x) daily in early October last year.

Limited schedule. Only 2x weekly in summer. I think the day crossings are to Italy and overnights back to Croatia. Easier to fly out from there to FCO, Germany or London.

In the off-season taking a bus from Dubrovnik to Split and then the ferry from Split to Hvar would probably work best.

I traveled from Split to Hvar, and then Hvar to Dubrovnik, by ferry, and it was okay--one of the ferries was quite basic, but toelrable. I would not want to drive in Dubrovnik.

Geez, there's a lot of great information already in this thread, and I still haven't been able to decide on an exact itinerary. I was intrigued by the suggestions to travel in by ferry from Italy, but I am trying to have a pretty relaxing trip, and it does sound like those ferries run at strange hours and are probably not going to be what I'm looking for.

It's looking like Split is going to be a better hub for me than dubrovnik, as it is a little more central and the flights are a little easier to come by. Now I'm thinking of an itinerary something like this:

JFK->SKP (by way of Vienna), car service to Ohrid
car service back to SKP

SKP->SPU (by way of BUD)
Trips to Hvar, Korcula, and Dubrovnik by Catamaran

SPU->JFK (by way of VIE).

I'm generally fine with this plan, but there are a few points I'm not that happy with. For one, the layover in Budhapest between Skopje and SPU would be 17 hours, which is pretty frustrating.

What would be the minimum amount of days I could plan to visit Hvar, Korcula, and Dubrovnik from Split without feeling completely rushed?

You can easily see everything in and around Hvar in a day or two. One overnight would work, but spend two nights and relax and party a little.

Do you recall the name of the ferry you took from Hvar to Dubrovnik? I'm having trouble finding that route.

Right now I'm planning on:
Tuesday - Land in SPU at noon. Stay in Split
Wednesday - Ferry from Split to Hvar
Thursday
Friday - Ferry from Hvar to Dubrovnik
Saturday
Sunday - Fly out of Dubrovnik

Sorry to bump my own thread and last post, but I looked into the ferries available from the Jadrolinja website and they don't seem to match some of the itineraries I'd seen elsewhere.

I had been hoping to take a ferry from Hvar to Dubrovnik on Friday, August 12, but it looks like that ferry actually only runs on Tuesday and Saturday? If that's the case, then I'll have to modify my plans to take a catamaran from Hvar to Korcula, and then a bus from Korcula to Dubrovnik? I read that there is a daily bus from Korcula to Dubrovnik, that uses a ferry at some point. Unfortunately, this ferry only takes off at 9 in the morning from Korcula. Are there any other options for getting from Hvar or Korcula to Dubrovnik? Is it possible to charter taxi-boats?

Ferrries are not necessarily daily as you noticed. The Korcula-Dubrovnik bus route is a bus that runs *early*, crosses over to the ferry port for a brief vehicular ferry to the mainland and then goes by road to Dubrovnik. There is a private van service that runs a little later, does pick up and drop offs at Dubrovnik. I learned it is cheaper to book this when you get to Korcula. Their offices is outside city walls, across the road from the path/stairs up to the main gate, and opposite the Konzum.

Be aware that there are at least two ferry terminals in Hvar. One (foot only) in the main town and a vehicular one quite far away from the town (there is a public bus that connects with the ferries).

http://www.korculainfo.com/ferries-korcula.htm is a good place to start your research

Just wanted to thank everyone on this thread for all their great advice! I just got back last night and I had an AMAZING time in Dalmatia. I had been so nervous about all the unbooked ferry and bus rides, and for the most part it worked out smoothly just like everyone said.

There was ONE event that made my heart stop, and that was that I had eventually planned to do the Korcula->Dubrovnik bus route as people had suggested, but when I arrived in Korcula the day before, the next morning's bus had already sold out! Luckily, we ran into some other tourists at the bus station with the same problem, and we exchanged numbers and ended up pooling money to hire a van to take us to Dubrovnik. With 6 people, it only ended up being slightly more than the bus, and we got to go a little later in the day, so we were able to sleep in a little and enjoy more of Korcula. And it ended up being a great way to meet some other travelers and wind up with a good story!

Dalmatia was a great experience for me, because normally when I travel anywhere I book every travel leg and detail ahead of time, but as the ferries and buses don't sell tickets more than 24 hours ahead of time, I was kind of forced to relax and take things easy, and everything ended up working out for the best. Isn't that what vacations are for? :D

I guess that's the hazard of travelling in peak season. We travelled off peak last autumn.

Spoke to my nieghbour last week who spent 3 weeks in Croatia (sort of a journey home for him as his father fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Yugoslav army years ago). His family and he travelled around by private taxi and public transportation.