Croatia: Zagreb, Plitvice, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Zagreb

   Zagreb Airport to your hotel in the centre of Zagreb

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Zagreb
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Zagreb Airport (ZAG), about 17 km south-east of the city, where a driver meets you in the arrivals hall whatever time you land. Plan to arrive by about 4 pm to join the evening briefing; the exact time is sent with your final itinerary. Your hotel is in the Lower Town, the 19th-century grid of squares, parks and blue trams below the old hill towns. If you arrive early, walk the green horseshoe of parks from the main station towards Ban Jelačić Square, or sit at a café on Tkalčićeva street, where Zagreb spends its evenings. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the nine days ahead: how the early starts work, what to pack for Plitvice and the islands, and how the ferries fit together. Then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner of Zagorje dishes such as štrukli, baked dough filled with fresh cheese.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Zagreb Airport (ZAG)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Jour 2 : Zagreb's Upper Town, Rastoke and Plitvice

   Zagreb to Rastoke, then Plitvice Lakes

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Plitvice Lakes
   Détail du jour 2

   After breakfast a licensed local guide takes us up to the Upper Town on the funicular, running since 1890 and one of the shortest in the world. From the Lotrščak Tower terrace the view runs over the red roofs of the Lower Town. We walk the cobbled lanes of Gradec to St Mark's Church, whose tiled roof carries the coats of arms of Zagreb and the old Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, then through the Stone Gate, where candles burn before a painting of the Virgin that survived a fire in 1731. Down at Dolac market farmers sell cheese, cream and fruit under red umbrellas. Around midday we drive about an hour and a half south to Rastoke in Slunj, where the Slunjčica river falls through old watermills into the Korana, for a sit-down lunch. It is then half an hour to our hotel near Plitvice. There are few places to eat near the park, so dinner tonight is included.

   Compris

   • Zagreb Upper Town with a licensed local guide: the funicular, Lotrščak Tower terrace, St Mark's Church, the Stone Gate
   • Dolac market
   • Rastoke village of watermills in Slunj
   • Sit-down lunch in Rastoke
   • Dinner near Plitvice Lakes

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free at the hotel

   Activité : About 2 hours on foot in Zagreb, mostly downhill after the funicular, and short paths with a few uneven steps at Rastoke.

   

3. Jour 3 : Plitvice Lakes at opening, then Split

   Plitvice Lakes National Park, then south to Split

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Split
   Détail du jour 3

   We are at the gate when the park opens, about 7 am in summer and 8 am in spring and autumn, on tickets booked for the first entry slot. Plitvice Lakes, Croatia's oldest national park and listed by UNESCO in 1979, is a chain of 16 lakes stepping down through beech and fir forest, held back by barriers of travertine that the water itself builds, so each lake spills into the next in hundreds of small falls. With a park guide we take the boardwalks of the lower lakes to Veliki slap, at 78 m the highest waterfall in Croatia, then cross Lake Kozjak on the electric boat and climb gently through the upper lakes while the paths are still quiet. By about 1 pm we are out for a sit-down lunch near the park. Then it is about three hours south by motorway, through the Lika plateau and down to the coast, reaching Split late in the afternoon. The evening is free on the Riva.

   Compris

   • Plitvice Lakes National Park entry on the first slot, with a park guide
   • Electric boat across Lake Kozjak and the park shuttle
   • Sit-down lunch near the park
   • Drive to Split with your guide

   Option plus facile : Walk the lower lakes to Veliki slap only (about 4 km), then take the boat and wait at the lakeside café by Kozjak.

   Option plus active : Carry on to the top of the upper lakes at Prošćansko jezero and ride the shuttle down (about 10 km in total).

   Temps libre : Evening free in Split

   Activité : About 8 km in 4 to 5 hours on boardwalks and forest paths, some wet and uneven, with steps. Swimming is not allowed in the lakes.

   

4. Jour 4 : Diocletian's Palace early, Trogir at golden hour

   On foot in Split, then Trogir and back

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Split
   Détail du jour 4

   At 8 am, before cruise passengers and day-trip coaches fill the lanes, a licensed local guide takes us into Diocletian's Palace, built around AD 300 as the Roman emperor's retirement home and listed by UNESCO in 1979. The town grew inside its walls, and people still live, shop and drink coffee in it. We start in the vaulted cellars, which copy the plan of the rooms that once stood above, come up into the Peristyle, and enter the emperor's mausoleum, now the Cathedral of St Domnius; climb its bell tower for the view to the islands. From late morning you are free: lunch where you like, a swim at Bačvice or a rest through the heat. At about 4 pm we drive half an hour west to Trogir, a medieval town on a small island joined to the mainland by bridges and listed by UNESCO in 1997. A local guide shows us Master Radovan's carved portal of 1240 on the Cathedral of St Lawrence and the Kamerlengo fortress, as the evening light warms the stone. Back in Split for a free evening.

   Compris

   • Diocletian's Palace with a licensed local guide at 8 am: the cellars, the Peristyle and the Temple of Jupiter
   • Cathedral of St Domnius and bell tower entry
   • Trogir with a local guide in the late afternoon: the Cathedral of St Lawrence and Radovan's portal, the Kamerlengo fortress

   Option plus facile : Skip the bell tower stairs and take a slow coffee on the Peristyle steps; in Trogir, stay on the level waterfront.

   Option plus active : In the free hours, climb the steps from the Varoš quarter up Marjan hill to the Telegrin viewpoint (about 2 hours return).

   Temps libre : Late morning, early afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 3 to 4 hours on foot over the day on polished stone, with about 180 steps up the bell tower if you climb it.

5. Jour 5 : Car ferry to Hvar, via Stari Grad

   Split by car ferry to Stari Grad, then Hvar town

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hvar
   Détail du jour 5

   We drive our vehicle onto the morning car ferry from Split to Stari Grad, about two hours across the channel past the island of Brač, with coffee on deck and the luggage staying on board with us. Stari Grad was founded as Pharos by Greeks from the island of Paros in 384 BC, and behind it lies the Stari Grad Plain, listed by UNESCO in 2008, where the stone walls and plots laid out by those settlers still divide vineyards and olive groves. A local guide walks us along the harbour to Tvrdalj, the fortified summer house that the poet Petar Hektorović built in the 16th century around a fishpond. After a sit-down lunch in Stari Grad we cross the island, about 25 minutes, to Hvar town, where we stay two nights. In the late afternoon your guide walks us through St Stephen's Square, past the cathedral and the Arsenal, whose upper floor holds a public theatre opened in 1612. The evening is free by the harbour.

   Compris

   • Car ferry from Split to Stari Grad with our vehicle
   • Stari Grad with a local guide: the harbour, Tvrdalj and a view over the Stari Grad Plain
   • Sit-down lunch in Stari Grad
   • Orientation walk in Hvar town: St Stephen's Square, the cathedral and the Arsenal

   Temps libre : Evening free in Hvar town

   Activité : Easy walking on level stone streets. The ferry crossing is about 2 hours; sailings are confirmed with your final itinerary.

   

6. Jour 6 : Fortica first thing, then the Pakleni Islands

   Hvar town to the Fortica, then by boat to Palmižana and back

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hvar
   Détail du jour 6

   We walk up to the Fortica, also called the Španjola, early in the morning while the path through the pines is still in shade. The fortress was built above the town in the 16th century, when Hvar was an important Venetian harbour, and from its walls you look straight down on the harbour and out over the Pakleni Islands. Back in town we board a taxi boat for the short crossing to Palmižana on Sveti Klement, the largest of the Pakleni Islands, where pine woods run down to small coves and the water is clear enough to see the stones on the bottom. Swim, walk the island paths, or sit in the shade, then sit down together for a long lunch at a konoba near the water. We are back in Hvar town by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours: a siesta, a walk along the shore to the coves east of town, or an evening drink on the square as the light goes.

   Compris

   • The Fortica (Španjola) fortress entry
   • Return taxi boat from Hvar town to Palmižana on the Pakleni Islands
   • Time to swim on the Pakleni Islands
   • Sit-down lunch at Palmižana

   Option plus facile : Take a taxi to the top for the fortress and walk down, or skip the climb and meet the group at the boat.

   Option plus active : Walk across Sveti Klement to the coves on its south side and back before lunch (about 1.5 hours on rocky paths).

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Hvar town

   Activité : About 20 minutes uphill on a stepped path to the Fortica; bring water shoes for pebbly coves.

   

7. Jour 7 : Across Hvar to Ston, then Dubrovnik

   Hvar town to Sućuraj, car ferry to Drvenik, the Pelješac Bridge to Ston, then Dubrovnik

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Dubrovnik
   Détail du jour 7

   We leave Hvar town at about 8 am and drive the length of the island, past lavender terraces and hill villages, to Sućuraj at its eastern tip, about an hour and a half. A 35-minute car ferry takes us to Drvenik on the mainland. We follow the coast past the Neretva delta with its mandarin orchards and cross the Pelješac Bridge, opened in 2022, which keeps us inside Croatia rather than through the border strip at Neum. Ston guarded the Republic of Dubrovnik's salt pans, and its walls, begun in the 14th century, run over the hill to Mali Ston. Walk a stretch of them, then sit down to lunch at Mali Ston, starting with oysters from the bay. It is about an hour on to Dubrovnik, arriving late afternoon, the longest driving day at about three and three-quarter hours in short legs. After check-in your guide walks us in through the Pile Gate and down the Stradun as the lamps come on. Dinner is your choice.

   Compris

   • Car ferry from Sućuraj to Drvenik with our vehicle
   • The walls of Ston
   • Oyster tasting and sit-down lunch at Mali Ston
   • Evening walk through the Pile Gate and along the Stradun

   Option plus facile : Skip the wall climb and walk the level salt-pan path in Ston, then meet the group at Mali Ston.

   Option plus active : Walk the full stretch of wall over the hill from Ston to Mali Ston (about 1 hour with steep steps).

   Temps libre : Evening free in Dubrovnik

   Activité : The longest drive of the trip, about 205 km, broken by the ferry, the Ston walk and lunch. Leave the oysters for something else if you prefer.

   

8. Jour 8 : Dubrovnik's walls at opening

   On foot in Dubrovnik's Old Town

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Dubrovnik
   Détail du jour 8

   We are at the city walls when they open, about 8 am in season, before the cruise passengers and the heat. The walls run for about 2 km around the Old Town, with towers and bastions, and from them you look down into lanes and gardens and out to the island of Lokrum. Allow an hour and a half to two hours for the full circuit. Afterwards a licensed local guide takes us through the Old Town, listed by UNESCO in 1979 and rebuilt with care after the shelling of 1991 and 1992: the Rector's Palace, seat of the Republic of Dubrovnik's government, the Franciscan monastery with a pharmacy working since 1317, the Sponza Palace, and the Orthodox Church of the Holy Annunciation. From early afternoon you are free: take the boat to Lokrum for a swim among its pines, ride the cable car up Mount Srđ for the view at sunset, or swim off the rocks below the walls. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner together.

   Compris

   • Dubrovnik city walls entry at opening
   • Old Town walk with a licensed local guide
   • Rector's Palace entry
   • Franciscan monastery and pharmacy museum
   • Farewell dinner

   Activités en option

   • Boat to Lokrum island (extra, price shown at booking)
   • Cable car up Mount Srđ (extra, price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Walk only the sea-facing section of the walls from the Pile Gate and come down at the next exit, then rejoin the group for the Old Town walk.

   Option plus active : Walk up the zigzag path to the top of Mount Srđ for sunset instead of the cable car (about 1 hour up), and ride down.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free

   Activité : The walls have many steep steps and little shade; bring water and a hat. About 4 hours on foot in the morning.

   

9. Jour 9 : Depart from Dubrovnik

   Dubrovnik to Dubrovnik Airport

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 9

   The last morning is free until your transfer. If you have an afternoon flight, it is a good time for what you missed: an early swim at Banje beach just outside the Ploče Gate with a view back to the walls, the morning market on Gundulić Square, where farmers from the Konavle valley sell figs, lavender and dried fruit, or a coffee on the Stradun before the day's visitors arrive. Your guide checks your flight times the evening before, and our driver takes you to Dubrovnik Airport (DBV) at Čilipi, about 22 km and half an hour south along the coast, whatever time you fly. If you would rather stay on, we can book extra nights in Dubrovnik, or a day across the border to Kotor in Montenegro, as an extension when you request your trip.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Dubrovnik Airport (DBV)

   Temps libre : Free until your airport transfer

   Activité : Any flight time works; for a free morning in Dubrovnik, book a flight after about 1 pm.

Faune et météo : May and June are warm, with the sea warming through June; September is often the warmest month for swimming and October is mild with fewer crowds. Plitvice is greenest in May and June and turns gold in October. We avoid July and August for the heat and the crowds.

• Zagreb1 nuit
• Plitvice Lakes1 nuit
• Split2 nuits
• Hvar2 nuits
• Dubrovnik2 nuits