Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Women-only Croatia: Zagreb, Plitvice, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik
9 days for women only, from Zagreb to Dubrovnik with a woman See Sight Tours guide: a slow first evening, Plitvice Lakes at opening, a home-cooked lunch in Split, two nights on Hvar and Dubrovnik's walls first thing.
9 days · Zagreb to Dubrovnik · up to 12 guests
Split from the air: Diocletian's Palace and the Riva Photo: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luftbild_vom_Diokletianpalast_in_Split,_Kroatien_(48608754492).jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 9 days, 8 nights
- Start and end
- Zagreb to Dubrovnik
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Activity level
Moderate
Most days are 2 to 4 hours on foot over stone streets and steps. Plitvice is the longest walk, about 8 km in 4 to 5 hours on boardwalks and forest paths. Dubrovnik's walls are about 2 km with many steps, and the Fortica climb on Hvar is about 20 minutes uphill. Each of these has an easier version, and the longest drive is about 3 hours.
- Meals included
- 8 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 2 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 690 (estimated price)
- Season
- May to June and September to October
Highlights
Why this trip
- A slow first evening in Zagreb: rest after the flight, an honest briefing at 6:30 pm and a welcome dinner a short walk from the hotel
- Zagreb's Upper Town by funicular, and the statue of Marija Jurić Zagorka, Croatia's first woman professional journalist, on Tkalčićeva
- Plitvice Lakes from the first entry slot, with the lower lakes and Veliki slap before the crowds
- Diocletian's Palace at 8 am, then a market lunch cooked with a Split home cook, a woman where confirmed
- Two nights on Hvar, with the Fortica at first light and a boat day on the Pakleni Islands
- The walls and salt pans of Ston, and oysters at Mali Ston on the drive south over the Pelješac Bridge
- Dubrovnik's city walls at opening, then a farewell dinner and the walk back to the hotel together
What makes this trip different
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 690 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Zagreb
Zagreb Airport to your hotel in the centre of Zagreb
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Zagreb
- Drive about 30 min
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. Your hotel is in the Lower Town, the 19th-century grid of squares, parks and blue trams below the old hill towns. Nothing is planned until 6:30 pm, so check in, sleep off the flight or take a slow first walk through the green horseshoe of parks towards Ban Jelačić Square. At 6:30 your See Sight Tours guide, a woman, meets the group in the hotel for a briefing: covering shoulders and knees in churches, the swimwear rules in Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik, Hvar's bar scene, licensed taxis and ride apps, and the places where it is easy to eat alone on free evenings. Your room is shared with a woman we matched you with, or is your own.
Evening
At about 7:30 we walk a few minutes to a welcome dinner of Zagorje dishes such as štrukli, baked dough filled with fresh cheese. You are back at the hotel by about 9:30.
Included
- Pick-up at Zagreb Airport (ZAG)
- Welcome briefing with your guide at 6:30 pm
- Welcome dinner a short walk from the hotel
Free time: Free until the 6:30 pm briefing
Zagreb's Upper Town, Rastoke and Plitvice
Zagreb to Rastoke, then Plitvice Lakes
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Plitvice Lakes
- Drive about 2 h
Morning
After breakfast a licensed local guide, a woman where one is confirmed, takes us up to the Upper Town on the funicular, one of the shortest public funiculars in the world and in service since the 1890s. 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 and its tiled roof, then through the Stone Gate, where candles burn before a painting of the Virgin that survived a fire in 1731. On Tkalčićeva street we stop at the statue of Marija Jurić Zagorka, Croatia's first woman professional journalist and a bestselling novelist, and end at Dolac market, where farm women sell cheese, cream and fruit under red umbrellas.
Afternoon
Around midday we drive about an hour and a half to Rastoke in Slunj, where the river falls through old watermills, for a sit-down lunch. It is then half an hour to our hotel near Plitvice.
Evening
Dinner is at a family farm-kitchen nearby, women-run where one is confirmed, since there are few places to eat near the park.
Included
- Zagreb Upper Town with a licensed local guide: the funicular, Lotrščak Tower terrace, St Mark's Church, the Stone Gate
- The Marija Jurić Zagorka statue on Tkalčićeva
- Dolac market
- Rastoke village of watermills in Slunj
- Sit-down lunch in Rastoke
- Farm-kitchen dinner near Plitvice Lakes
Free time: Late afternoon free at the hotel
Activity: About 2 hours on foot in Zagreb, mostly downhill after the funicular, and short paths with a few uneven steps at Rastoke.
Plitvice Lakes at opening, then Split
Plitvice Lakes National Park, then south to Split
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Split
- Drive about 3 h
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.
Afternoon
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.
Evening
The evening is free on the Riva.
Included
- 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
Easier option: Walk the lower lakes to Veliki slap only (about 4 km), then take the boat and wait at the lakeside café by Kozjak.
More active option: Carry on to the top of the upper lakes at Prošćansko jezero and ride the shuttle down (about 10 km in total).
Free time: Evening free in Split; your guide offers an informal pay-your-own dinner on the Riva
Activity: 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.
Diocletian's Palace early, Trogir at golden hour
On foot in Split, then Trogir and back
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Split
- Drive about 1 h
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. People still live, shop and drink coffee inside its walls. We start in the vaulted cellars, 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.
Afternoon
Then we walk to the Pazar, the open market by the palace's east gate, to buy figs, cheese and greens with a Split home cook, a woman where one is confirmed, and cook and eat a Dalmatian lunch with her at a kitchen table nearby. The early afternoon is free for a swim at Bačvice or a rest through the heat.
Evening
At about 4 pm we drive half an hour to Trogir, a medieval island town listed by UNESCO in 1997, where a local guide shows us Master Radovan's carved portal of 1240 and the Kamerlengo fortress in the evening light. Back in Split for a free evening.
Included
- 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
- Pazar market shop and a home-cooked Dalmatian lunch with a Split cook
- Trogir with a local guide in the late afternoon: the Cathedral of St Lawrence and Radovan's portal, the Kamerlengo fortress
Easier option: Skip the bell tower stairs and take a slow coffee on the Peristyle steps; in Trogir, stay on the level waterfront.
More active option: In the free hours, climb the steps from the Varoš quarter up Marjan hill to the Telegrin viewpoint (about 2 hours return).
Free time: Early afternoon and evening free
Activity: 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.
Car ferry to Hvar, via Stari Grad
Split by car ferry to Stari Grad, then Hvar town
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Hvar
- Drive about 30 min
Morning
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 Paros in 384 BC, and behind it lies the Stari Grad Plain, listed by UNESCO in 2008, where the stone walls 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 the poet Petar Hektorović built around a fishpond.
Afternoon
After a sit-down lunch in Stari Grad we cross the island, about 25 minutes, to Hvar town for two nights. In the late afternoon, where the Benedictine convent is open, we stop at its small lace collection: the nuns are known for lace made from the threads of agave leaves, a craft listed by UNESCO in 2009 as part of Croatian lacemaking. Then your guide walks us through St Stephen's Square and past the Arsenal.
Evening
The evening is free by the harbour.
Included
- 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
Optional experiences
- The Benedictine convent lace collection in Hvar town, where it is open (small entry fee, paid locally)
Free time: Evening free in Hvar town
Activity: Easy walking on level stone streets. Cover shoulders and knees if you visit the convent. The ferry crossing is about 2 hours; sailings are confirmed with your final itinerary.
Fortica first thing, then the Pakleni Islands
Hvar town to the Fortica, then by boat to Palmižana and back
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Hvar
- By boat
Morning
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.
Afternoon
Swim, walk the island paths, or sit in the shade, then sit down together for a long lunch at a konoba near the water.
Evening
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.
Included
- 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
Easier option: Take a taxi to the top for the fortress and walk down, or skip the climb and meet the group at the boat.
More active option: Walk across Sveti Klement to the coves on its south side and back before lunch (about 1.5 hours on rocky paths).
Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Hvar town; your guide offers an early pay-your-own dinner before the bars fill
Activity: About 20 minutes uphill on a stepped path to the Fortica; bring water shoes for pebbly coves.
Across Hvar to Ston, then Dubrovnik
Hvar town to Sućuraj, car ferry to Drvenik, the Pelješac Bridge to Ston, then Dubrovnik
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Dubrovnik
- Drive about 4 h
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.
Afternoon
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.
Evening
Dinner is your choice.
Included
- 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
Easier option: Skip the wall climb and walk the level salt-pan path in Ston, then meet the group at Mali Ston.
More active option: Walk the full stretch of wall over the hill from Ston to Mali Ston (about 1 hour with steep steps).
Free time: Evening free in Dubrovnik
Activity: 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.
Dubrovnik's walls at opening
On foot in Dubrovnik's Old Town
- Breakfast and dinner
- Stay in Dubrovnik
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, a woman where one is confirmed, 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 old Republic's government, the Franciscan monastery with a pharmacy working since 1317, the Sponza Palace and the Orthodox Church of the Holy Annunciation.
Evening
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 sunset, or swim off the rocks below the walls with the group. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner and walk back to the hotel together.
Included
- 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
Optional experiences
- Boat to Lokrum island (extra, price shown at booking)
- Cable car up Mount Srđ (extra, price shown at booking)
Easier option: 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.
More active option: 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.
Free time: Afternoon free; your guide leads an optional swim from the rocks below the walls
Activity: The walls have many steep steps and little shade; bring water and a hat. About 4 hours on foot in the morning.
Depart from Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik to Dubrovnik Airport
- Breakfast
- Drive about 30 min
Morning
The last morning is free until your transfer.
Afternoon
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.
Evening
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.
Included
- Drop-off at Dubrovnik Airport (DBV)
Free time: Free until your airport transfer
Activity: Any flight time works; for a free morning in Dubrovnik, book a flight after about 1 pm.
- Zagreb1 night
- Plitvice Lakes1 night
- Split2 nights
- Hvar2 nights
- Dubrovnik2 nights
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: 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.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Women travelling alone who want company and a woman leading
- Friends, sisters, mothers and adult daughters travelling together
- A first trip to Croatia that covers Plitvice, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik without packing every morning
- Swimmers and island lovers: two nights on Hvar and a boat day on the Pakleni Islands
- Women who want the walls and the palace early, before the cruise crowds
Not for you if you want
- Mixed groups, partners or men: ask for the private version or our mixed Croatia small group trip
- Step-free access: old towns, walls and fortresses mean stone steps everywhere
- A party or nightlife trip: we keep away from Hvar's harbour bars
- A sailing or island-hopping cruise with nights on a boat
- A beach holiday: most days are walking and sightseeing, with swims fitted in
Minimum age: 18
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
8 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Zagreb1 night
- Plitvice Lakes1 night
- Split2 nights
- Hvar2 nights
- Dubrovnik2 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 8 nights: 1 in Zagreb, 1 near Plitvice Lakes, 2 in Split, 2 in Hvar town, 2 in Dubrovnik
- Central hotels of at least 3-star-plus standard, named when we confirm your dates, on lit streets walkable to the old town in Zagreb, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik
- A room shared with another woman in the group at no extra cost, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up at Zagreb Airport (ZAG) on day 1 and drop-off at Dubrovnik Airport (DBV) on day 9, whatever your flight times
- Our own air-conditioned vehicle and driver from Zagreb to Dubrovnik
- Car ferries with our vehicle: Split to Stari Grad and Sućuraj to Drvenik
- Electric boat on Lake Kozjak and the park shuttle at Plitvice
- Return taxi boat from Hvar town to the Pakleni Islands
- The Zagreb funicular
Your guide
- A woman See Sight Tours guide with the group for all 9 days
- Licensed local guides in Zagreb, Split, Trogir, Stari Grad and Dubrovnik, women where we can confirm them, and a park guide at Plitvice
Activities
- Zagreb: Upper Town walk with St Mark's Church, the Stone Gate, the Zagorka statue and Dolac market
- Rastoke: the watermill village in Slunj
- Plitvice Lakes National Park: entry on the first slot with the boat and shuttle
- Split: Diocletian's Palace with the cellars, the Cathedral of St Domnius and bell tower, and a market lunch with a home cook
- Trogir: guided walk with the Cathedral of St Lawrence
- Stari Grad: Tvrdalj and the Stari Grad Plain
- Hvar: the Fortica (Španjola) fortress and the Pakleni Islands
- Ston: the walls and an oyster tasting at Mali Ston
- Dubrovnik: the city walls at opening, the Rector's Palace, the Franciscan monastery and pharmacy museum
Meals
- 8 breakfasts
- 6 lunches: Rastoke, near Plitvice, a home-cooked lunch in Split, Stari Grad, Palmižana and Mali Ston
- 3 dinners: welcome dinner in Zagreb, a farm-kitchen dinner near Plitvice and farewell dinner in Dubrovnik
Not included
- International flights to Zagreb and from Dubrovnik
- Travel insurance
- ETIAS travel authorisation fee, if it applies on your dates
- Lunches and dinners not listed
- Drinks
- Tips
- Optional activities: the Lokrum boat and the Mount Srđ cable car
- Personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 690 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
Who can join a women-only trip?
Anyone who identifies as a woman, aged 18 or over, travelling alone, with friends or with a mother or adult daughter. Your See Sight Tours guide is a woman. Drivers, ferry and boat crews, hotel staff and some local guides may be men, and we tell you which local guides are women when we confirm them.
What does the price include?
Eight nights in central hotels, 8 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 3 dinners, airport transfers at both ends, our own vehicle and driver on both car ferries, a woman See Sight Tours guide for all 9 days, local guides, and every entry in the plan: Plitvice, the palace cellars, Trogir, Hvar's fortress, the Pakleni boat, Ston and Dubrovnik's walls.
Is Croatia safe for women travelling alone?
Generally, yes. The old towns are busy and well lit in the evening, and street harassment is less common than in many places, though comments happen. Watch bags on the Stradun and the Riva, and your drink in Hvar's bars. Your guide covers this on day 1 and walks back with anyone after evening outings.
What should I wear in Croatia?
What you would wear at home. Cover shoulders and knees in churches, the cathedrals and the Hvar convent, so carry a light scarf. Split and Dubrovnik fine visitors who walk the old towns in swimwear, and Hvar town asks the same, so cover up between the beach and the square. Topless sunbathing is common on some beaches; nobody expects you to.
I am travelling alone. Do I pay a single supplement?
Only if you want a room of your own, from CAD 690. Otherwise we match you with another woman in the group at no extra cost. If no match is possible on your date, we tell you before you pay and you choose whether to take a single room. There are no other solo charges and no local payment.
How big is the group and who leads it?
Seven to 12 women, with a woman See Sight Tours guide from Zagreb to Dubrovnik for all nine days. Licensed local guides lead the old-town walks in Zagreb, Split, Trogir, Stari Grad and Dubrovnik, women where we can confirm them, and a park guide joins us at Plitvice.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderately fit. You should be comfortable on foot for 3 to 4 hours on stone streets and steps. Plitvice is the longest walk, about 8 km, and Dubrovnik's walls have many steep steps. Each demanding day has an easier version, such as the lower lakes only at Plitvice or part of the walls.
When is the best time to go?
May to June and September to October. Days are warm, the sea is good for swimming from June into October, ferries and taxi boats run, and the old towns are calmer than in July and August, when heat often passes 35°C and Hvar's bars are at their loudest. Plitvice is greenest in spring and turns gold in October.
How does booking work?
Choose your start date and send a request to book, saying whether you want a roommate or a room of your own. We check availability and provide the final quote, itinerary and booking terms before you accept. No payment is taken when you send the request.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. The trip runs privately for your party only, on a date you choose, with your own guide and vehicle and a woman guide on request, from CAD 7,300 per person sharing. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask from the dates section and we will quote the same hotels, ferries and local guides.
Do I need a visa for Croatia?
Canadian, US, UK and Australian passport holders do not need a visa for a stay of up to 90 days in 180 in the Schengen area, which includes Croatia. The EU Entry/Exit System records fingerprints at the border, and the ETIAS online authorisation is due to start; we confirm what applies to your dates when you book.
Are there women-run businesses on the trip?
Where we can confirm them. We ask for a woman home cook for the Split market lunch and a women-run farm-kitchen near Plitvice, and on Hvar we stop at the Benedictine convent's agave lace collection where it is open. There is no homestay or women's cooperative on this route, and we name every supplier when your dates are confirmed rather than promise one.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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