Croatia: Trogir or Split & which island?

[JRC1]

Looking to go to Croatia in September for a week. Initial thoughts are to stay in either Trogir or Split for 3 nights and then one of the islands (Brac or Hvar) for 3 nights.

From some initial reading online I'm leaning towards staying in Trogir over Split, but welcome opinions from those who have been.

It's closer to the airport and seems more quaint... is it a good base? From here we were thinking of visiting the Krka national park, a day trip to Split, etc. Then onto one of the islands for a few nights.
Would this seem a reasonable plan and a good split (ha) of time?

Car hire seems very cheap, like 5 or so quid per day, so was thinking of hiring a car.

Any particular types of accommodation worth considering or avoiding? (left it quite late to book so probably can't be too fussy)
Any must see attractions or restaurants?

Thanks in advance
James

[JRC1]

Really helpful and insightful post, thanks. Great pics too!

We appear to have left it too late to book a place to stay in Split. Most accomodation that is left is out of our budget, so we are looking at apartments in Trogir - hoping it will be slightly less busy in September. Did you stay in a hotel or an apartment, out of interest?

Sibenik looks nice, so may take a day trip there, or combine it with Krka and go there in the evening or something. Also considering the zipline at Omis?

How was driving out there? Any car hire companies to avoid or anything to look out for?

Thanks!

[JRC1]

Thanks all for the advice it has been most useful.

We are off to Trogir next week, staying in an apartment for 5 full days.

Plan to visit Krka national park, boat to Split, trip to Sibenik & Primosten, Ciovo, day trip to another island and anything else that we come across.

Any final recommendations? We will have a car for the time that we are there.

Cheers

[JRC1]

djsmith74 said:

Excellent. I'm sure you'll have a cracking time. With regards to Krka, there are two main entrances if you are travelling by car from the South (Skradin and Lozovac). Skradin is a little village, that you park up and catch a boat along the river to the park entrance. Lozovac is just a big car/coach park, with shuttle buses down the valley to the park itself. From memory, the drive to Skradin is lovely, and if you've got a bit of time before the next boat, you can hike up to some ruins with great views of the river and surrounding hills. I'd also get to Krka as early as possible as it does get very busy especially if the weather is nice.

As far as Sibenik goes, there are plenty of bars, cafes and restaurants along the front, but the best ones are tucked away in the narrow streets of the old town. If you want recommendations, I can dig out my guidebook and list a few.

During your stay at Trogir, make sure you walk across the main river to the harbour on the other side, where there are some lovely sailing boats and a couple of cracking open-air café/restaurants.

If you need more advice, let me know.

Cheers

Great - will make sure we enter Krka from Skradin.

If you don't mind - a couple of recommendations for Sibenik would be great!

Thanks

[JRC1]

I thought I would report back after a fantastic 6 days in Croatia.

We thoroughly enjoyed staying in Trogir, would highly recommend it. It wasn't too busy (kids back at school) so I would go in September again. The apartment we stayed in was a 5 min walk down to the main square.
Had a few great evening meals here, we religiously use Tripadvisor and it doesn't lie - the places we chose lived up to the reviews.

Despite mixed reviews regarding Split on here, we both loved it and went back for a second day. Hiked up Park Marjan which was great and again had a couple of very good meals. Thought the city was fun to explore, reminded me of Venice some of the narrow streets. Glad we didn't stay here, though.

Visited Primosten & Sibenik and enjoyed both. St Michael's Fortress in Sibenik was a highlight. Ciovo, the island south of Trogir was great - 'beach labadusa' all the way to the south was a hidden gem - a 30 min drive on twisty roads from Trogir but well worth it.

Krka national park was brilliant, as to be expected. Also randomly visited Makarska on the only rainy day we had. Was ok, but quiet and not a lot going on.

Overall, really liked the country and would go back. I think Plitvicka national park and Dubrovnik would be on the list if we return. Thanks all for your hints and tips, they were much appreciated.

[JRC1]

djsmith74 said:

Excellent. Glad you enjoyed it, and hopefully my tips were of some use!. We're hoping to go back next year and do the northern part of Dalmatia, using Pula as a base and visit Plitvicka.

They were indeed, thanks again!

gazapc said:

A bit late now (but may help someone else who searches for croatia threads).. just up behind Makarska is a 1750+m altitude mountain you can drive up. It gets a bit hair raising at points but the views are spectacular, loads of hair pin bends, sheer drops etc.. It is tarmac all the way up but you have to be confident with your hire car; we picked up the car from split and then straight up the road on our first day!! It was early evening so not busy and we could bomb along (relatively speaking) on the way down.

The road features on this website
http://www.dangerousroads.org/eastern-europe/croat...

Saw the mountain and did contemplate driving up it as read some great reviews but this was on our penultimate day and the weather was terrible, very windy and lots of thundery downpours.