If you want to see a lot of Croatia in a short amount of time, without feeling like you’re on a race across the country, this route worked really well for us.
We planned our spring break trip for March 28 – April 5 and started like we always do: opening the “Anywhere” map on Google Flights and Kayak. The most interesting, affordable options were Copenhagen or Croatia. Since we were hoping for a bit of sun and less of a chill, Croatia won and it ended up being the perfect early spring destination. Game of Thrones land where winter hasn’t yet come.
We booked Lufthansa flights into Zagreb and out of Dubrovnik from Washington Dulles. The prices were comparable to closed jaw round-trip tickets, so we didn’t have to worry about circling back. This made it easy to keep moving south without retracing our steps.
Our 8-Day Croatia Itinerary
- Day 0: Overnight flight to Zagreb
- Day 1: Arrive in Zagreb — took it easy to recover from the red-eye
- Day 2: Day trip from Zagreb (we decided on Ljubljana and Lake Bled, Slovenia)
- Day 3: Explore Zagreb and then drive to Plitvice Lakes
- Day 4: Hike Plitvice Lakes and then drive to Split
- Day 5: Explore Split and nearby towns (we did Trogir, Solin and Klis)
- Day 6: Bus to Dubrovnik + explore the city.
- Day 7: A day in Dubrovnik + Lokrum Island
- Day 8: Fly home
Flights: Lufthansa, into Zagreb / out of Dubrovnik (from IAD)
Transport:
- Rental car from Zagreb to Split: Plitvice Lakes National Park is located midway between Zagreb and Split and it was great to stay overnight in an awesome cabin in the park.
- Bus to Dubrovnik: We considered other options like driving directly, driving via Mostar, and a ferry from Split to Dubrovnik. However, bus won because it was conveniently timed, quicker than the ferry, relaxing compared to driving and gave us time to explore Dubrovnik in the afternoon.
Total time on the ground: 7 days
A Good Balance of Sightseeing and Downtime
Looking at the itinerary, it might seem like a lot, but in reality, the trip had a great rhythm. We structured it so that each travel leg was short and led us somewhere completely different: from inland cities to national parks to the Adriatic coast. By keeping most of our drives to a few hours and planning some lighter days, we saw a lot without feeling rushed.
One thing that really helped keep things manageable was the fact that most of the sightseeing in Croatian cities (like Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik) is packed into very small, walkable areas. This made it easy to explore at our own pace and take breaks in between. We’ll go into more detail on each city’s highlights in our upcoming posts. For now, just know that the cities are super easy to explore without needing lots of transport.
This route is perfect if you want a broad taste of Croatia’s highlights in a single week. It’s also easy to adapt for a slower or longer trip. If you want a shorter trip, I’d skip Zagreb and do a day trip from Split to Plitvice lakes. For longer trips, you can add Mostar or day trips into Montenegro from Dubrovnik.
Ask away in the comments about anything you wish to know about the trip.