Liz & Lizo

Rent a car and drive to Plitvice, explore around.

1. 09:00Slow breakfast, check out. No rush this morning.
2. 10:00Drive Split to Plitvice on the A1. ~2 hr 30, 240 km. Tolls, pay as you go.
3. 13:00Lunch on the road. The roadside grills on the A1 are better than they look.
4. 14:30Check in at Plitvica Hill. Timed entry, 08:00 slot.
5. 16:00Explore around. Plitvica Selo sits at the Veliki Slap end of the park, so you can walk down to the big waterfall viewpoint for a first look without spending a ticket.
6. 18:00Sunset from the ridge above the village.
7. 19:30Dinner at the guesthouse. The area is rural with nowhere to walk to. They cook, and a peka needs ordering in the morning.

Hike Plitvice. Optional: Visit Zadar for a couple hours. Check the ferry schedule and go to Hvar.

1. 07:00Breakfast, check out, load the car.
2. 08:00Enter at Plitvice Entrance 2 on opening. Coaches arrive from 10:00, so this hour is the whole trick.
3. 08:15Upper lakes, the boat across Lake Kozjak, lower lakes and Veliki Slap. Route C or H, about 4 hrs, mostly flat boardwalk.
4. 12:15Back to the car. Everything from here is dictated by the ferry.
5. 12:30If the timing works: two quick hours in Zadar for the Roman Forum and the Sea Organ. Skip it without regret if you are behind.
6. 15:00Drive to the Split ferry port. 2 hr 30 direct from Plitvice, or 1 hr 30 from Zadar. Be at the ramp 60 min before departure.
7. 17:00Car ferry Split to Stari Grad, Hvar. About 2 hrs. Late September sailings from Split run roughly 05:00, 08:30, 11:00, 14:30 and 17:00.
8. 19:15Drive Stari Grad to Hvar Town. ~25 min.
9. 20:30Late dinner. You have earned it.

Explore Hvar with the car.

1. 09:30Breakfast, no alarm.
2. 10:30Drive out to the Stari Grad Plain. Ancient Greek field divisions still farmed after 2,400 years, and a UNESCO site almost nobody stops at.
3. 12:00Vrboska and Jelsa, the quiet side of the island.
4. 13:30Long lunch in Jelsa on the harbour.
5. 15:00The south coast road through the Pitve to Zavala tunnel to Sveta Nedjelja. A single lane tunnel bored straight through the mountain, then cliffside vineyards on the far side. Wine tasting at the bottom.
6. 18:00Back to Hvar Town for the Spanish Fortress (Fortica) at golden hour.
7. 20:30Dinner in Hvar Town.

Visit Pakleni islands (day trip).

1. 09:30Lazy breakfast. Leave the car where it is.
2. 10:30Water taxi from Hvar harbour to Palmizana. ~15 min, boats run all day, no booking needed.
3. 11:00Swim, snorkel, beach bar, repeat.
4. 13:30Lunch at a konoba on the water.
5. 16:00Wander over to Vinogradisce bay for the quieter side, or just stay put.
6. 18:30Last boats back to Hvar Town.
7. 20:00Dinner.

Visit another island (day trip).

1. 08:00Early breakfast. Late September catamaran sailings thin out fast.
2. 08:30Catamaran Hvar to Vis Town. ~1 hr, foot passengers only, so leave the car in Hvar.
3. 10:00Stiniva Cove by taxi boat or scooter. A nearly enclosed pebble cove between two cliffs. The most photographed beach in Croatia, and it earns it.
4. 13:00Lunch in Komiza, the fishing village on the far side.
5. 15:00Vis Town harbour, the old British naval buildings, one last swim.
6. 17:00Catamaran back to Hvar.
7. 20:00Dinner. If you would rather a different island: Brac for Zlatni Rat beach, or Korcula for the walled town.

Drive to Dubrovnik. Walk medieval city walls + cable car.

1. 06:45Early car ferry Stari Grad to Split. Sailings roughly 05:30, 07:45, 11:30, 14:00, 17:30. The 07:45 is the last one that fits the day.
2. 09:45Roll off at Split and drive south. ~3 hr 30, 230 km.
3. 11:00Coffee stop in Omis or Makarska.
4. 12:30Lunch and oysters in Ston, and walk a stretch of the Ston walls.
5. 14:00Cross the Peljesac Bridge. Since 2022 this bypasses Bosnia completely, so no extra border stop.
6. 15:00Check in at Peppino. Inside the old town, which is pedestrian only. Vehicle drop at the Pile or Ploce gate.
7. 16:30Dubrovnik City Walls. ~2 hrs. Late afternoon is the smart slot: cooler, better light, and the cruise passengers have gone back to their ships.
8. 18:45Cable car up Mount Srd for sunset over the roofs.
9. 20:30Dinner in the old town, which is downstairs.

Go to Lokrum island.

1. 09:30Breakfast, then the Stradun and the old Franciscan pharmacy before it fills up.
2. 11:00Ferry from the old port to Lokrum Island. ~15 min, runs every half hour.
3. 11:30Botanical gardens, the peacocks, and a swim in the Dead Sea saltwater lake.
4. 13:30Lunch on the island.
5. 15:30Ferry back. Last sailings are earlier than you expect.
6. 16:30Swim at Banje beach with the walls behind you, or just rest.
7. 19:30Dinner.

Drive to Montenegro. Stay in Perast in Kotor.

1. 09:00Breakfast, check out.
2. 10:00Drive to the Debeli Brijeg border crossing. ~45 min. Passports, green card and rental papers. Queues run 30 to 90 min.
3. 12:00Arrive Perast, lunch on the waterfront. The village is closed to cars in season. Parking lots at either end.
4. 14:00Check in, then nothing at all for an hour. The bay is the view.
5. 15:30Drive to Kotor Old Town. ~25 min, and it is a beautiful 25 min.
6. 16:30Climb the walls to St John's Fortress. 1,350 steps, about 1 hr 15 up. Late afternoon is far kinder than midday.
7. 20:00Dinner back in Perast on the water.

Book a boat tour for blue cave + Lady of the rocks.

1. 09:00Calmest sea and best cave light are both between 09:00 and noon.
2. 09:30Our Lady of the Rocks first. It is two minutes offshore and the whole reason Perast exists.
3. 11:00Out to the Blue Cave for a swim, then Mamula island and the old submarine tunnels.
4. 15:00Back on land. Lazy afternoon, nothing scheduled.
5. 17:30Optional: drive the Kotor serpentine road and stop in Njegusi for prosciutto and cheese. 25 hairpins. Go up rather than down if either of you is nervous.
6. 20:30Dinner.

Drive to Lake Skadar and take a boat trip there. Drive to Durmitor. Visit Ostrog on the way there.

1. 07:00Breakfast and check out. Five and a half hours of driving plus a boat trip.
2. 07:45Drive to Virpazar, Lake Skadar. ~1 hr 15.
3. 09:15Boat trip on Lake Skadar. 1 hr 30 to 2 hrs through the water lilies and the bird colonies.
4. 11:30Drive Virpazar to Ostrog. ~1 hr 30.
5. 13:00Ostrog Monastery, built straight into a white cliff face. Covered shoulders and knees required. Allow an hour.
6. 14:30Late lunch in Niksic.
7. 15:30Drive Niksic to Zabljak. ~2 hrs of mountain road, and the light goes at 18:25.
8. 17:30Check in at Nest for Rest. 1,450 m, and it falls to about 4C after dark.
9. 19:30Dinner.

Hike or raft in Durmitor National Park and the Tara river canyon.

1. 08:30Breakfast.
2. 09:30Black Lake (Crno Jezero) loop walk. ~3.5 km, flat and easy, 1 hr 30 with photo stops.
3. 12:00Lunch in Zabljak.
4. 13:30Tara Canyon: half day rafting, or the zipline across Durdevica Tara Bridge. Europe's deepest gorge. Pick one, not both.
5. 17:30Back to Zabljak. If you would rather hike properly, Bobotov Kuk is the summit day at 7 to 8 hrs, but weather up there in October is a coin flip.
6. 19:30Dinner. Tomorrow is the long one.

Drive to Split or Trogir.

1. 06:30Leave Zabljak. Eight to nine hours including the border and stops.
2. 08:30Photo stop at the Piva Lake canyon road or Durdevica Tara Bridge, then keep moving.
3. 11:30Cross back into Croatia. Same paperwork, same possible queue.
4. 12:30Lunch on the coast, or oysters again in Ston.
5. 14:00Peljesac Bridge, then north on the Adriatic Highway. The best stretch of road on the whole trip, which helps.
6. 16:30Leg stretch and a last swim in Makarska or Omis.
7. 18:30Arrive Trogir. Tiramola is inside the old town, which is pedestrian.
8. 20:00Last Adriatic dinner in Trogir old town.

Fly home. Split to Beirut departs 21:10, so the whole day is yours.

1. 09:00Breakfast, check out of Tiramola.
2. 10:00Trogir old town properly, which you only saw in the dark last night. The Cathedral of St Lawrence and its Radovan portal, then climb the bell tower.
3. 11:30Kamerlengo Fortress on the waterfront, then the Riva.
4. 12:30Long lunch on the Trogir waterfront.
5. 14:00Last swim at Okrug Gornji on Ciovo, fifteen minutes away. The sea is still about 21C.
6. 16:00Back to the car. Repack properly, and clear out two weeks of receipts and sand.
7. 17:30Return the car at Split Airport (SPU). Ten minutes from Trogir.
8. 18:10At the airport, three hours before departure as Turkish ask.
9. 21:10Fly. Overnight through Istanbul, into Beirut at 08:35 on Sunday morning.