10 Days in Croatia: Zagreb to Dubrovnik

A 10 day Croatia itinerary gives you the capital, the lakes and the Dalmatian coast without a rushed day. Fly into Zagreb and out of Dubrovnik, and every move runs in one direction: two nights in Zagreb, one at Plitvice Lakes, two in Split, two on Hvar and two in Dubrovnik.

The moves are by car and by boat. The longest drive is Plitvice to Split, about three hours. The sea legs are the best part: a fast boat out to Hvar, then a catamaran down the coast to Dubrovnik. Our 9-day Best of Croatia covers much of the same ground, but treats Hvar as a day trip. Ten days gives the island a proper night.

Ten days is a comfortable pace for this loop. It is not enough for Istria or a full island circuit. Those need more time, and the options are set out below. For the wider picture, see our Croatia destination page.

Four moves fall on days 3, 4, 6 and 8. Every other day is spent in one place, which is where most of the good things happen.

Zagreb is the surprise of Croatia. It looks towards Vienna and Budapest, not the sea. Your driver meets you at the airport, and the first evening belongs to Tkalčićeva, the street of outdoor cafés that has been the city’s favourite evening street since the 1980s. Order a glass of Croatian white, watch the lamps come on, and let the day settle.

On the second day, climb to the Upper Town, where the cathedral’s neo-Gothic spires rise above the rooftops. Then take in the museums. The Museum of Broken Relationships is small and personal: objects given up after the end of a love affair, each with a short handwritten note. The Mimara Museum holds a strong collection of old masters, and a private art historian can shape the day around what you like. Finish at the Dolac market, where locals buy vegetables, fruit and flowers. For dinner, try black risotto, coloured with squid ink, and štrukli, a baked cheese pastry.

Plitvice Lakes is about two hours’ drive south of Zagreb, and it is the hinge of this route. Sixteen terraced lakes sit in beech and fir forest, linked by about ninety waterfalls. The water is cobalt where it is deep, emerald where it is shallow, and white where it pours over the falls.

Stay one night in or beside the park. That lets you go in at opening time, before the coaches arrive. Your guide walks the boardwalks with you to the Veliki Slap, the tallest waterfall in Croatia at about 78 metres, and takes the electric boat across one of the larger lakes. The afternoon is yours, on the paths or beside the water.

After the park, the drive is long. Plitvice to Split is about three hours by road, so allow most of the day. If you want the Roman forum in Zadar, stop there on the way. It makes for a full driving day, so we add it only when you ask.

Split is the centre of this route, and the place to slow down. The Roman emperor Diocletian built his retirement palace here in the early 4th century. When the empire fell, people moved in. Today the palace walls hold flats, shops and bars, and the cathedral sits in what was the emperor’s own mausoleum.

Book an archaeologist guide for the morning. They will show you the Roman street plan that still runs under the medieval lanes, and the vaulted cellars beneath the palace. In the afternoon, climb Marjan, the wooded hill west of the centre. Paths lead to viewpoints over the islands, and small coves offer a swim.

Our 7-day Essence of Dalmatia covers this coast alone. In the evening, walk the Riva. Locals stroll it in the cooler hours, and it is the best people-watching on the coast.

Hvar is about an hour from Split by fast boat, and it is often called the sunniest island in Croatia. Hvar Town is built around a Venetian-style square, with a loggia, a clock tower and an old arsenal that became a theatre in the early 1600s.

Stay in a quieter street a few minutes’ walk from the harbour, away from the late bars. On the first evening, climb to Fortica, the fortress above the town, in time for sunset. The harbour lights come on below, and the Pakleni Islands sit offshore.

On the second day, you choose. Take a water taxi to the Pakleni Islands, about ten minutes out, for pine-shaded coves and clear water. Or drive inland to the Stari Grad Plain, a field system laid out by Greek settlers more than 2,000 years ago and now a UNESCO site. In June and early July, the lavender is in flower.

The catamaran from Hvar runs from about April to October, takes about 3.5 hours and calls at Korčula on the way. Outside that season, the boat links thin out, so we plan the same days in a different order. Check the timetable for your dates before you book.

Walk the city walls first, when they open and before the heat. The circuit is about 2 km, with the sea on one side and terracotta roofs on the other. Then take the cable car up Mount Srđ for the view that postcards use.

The afternoons are open. Take a sea kayak around the walls, catch a boat to the island of Lokrum, or have a long lunch in the old town. On the last morning, walk the Stradun before 10 am. That is when Dubrovnik feels like a town rather than a film set.

In Zagreb, choose a hotel in the centre, within walking distance of both the Upper and Lower Town. At Plitvice, stay inside or beside the park so you can enter early. In Split, stay inside or just outside the palace walls, or on the Riva.

On Hvar, stay a few minutes from the harbour, away from the nightlife. In Dubrovnik, stay in the old town for atmosphere, or on the Lapad peninsula for sea access and an easier arrival with luggage.

We do not name hotels here. We pick them for location, for the season and for the way you want to travel.

May, June and September are the best months for this route. The sea is warm, the days are long and the islands run their full boat schedules. July and August bring heat and the biggest crowds, especially at Plitvice and in Dubrovnik.

From October, boat timetables shrink and some island hotels close for winter. The coast stays mild into autumn, but plan your days around the ferries. For a first look at the country as a whole, read our visit Croatia guide.

Short on time? Our 7 day Croatia itinerary keeps the coast and drops Zagreb and Plitvice. Want more islands? Our 8-day Dalmatian Islands trades the mainland stops for Vis and Korčula.

Got eleven days? Our 11-day Epic Croatia follows the same line from Zagreb to Dubrovnik and adds Vis and Korčula. Want the northern coast too? Our 9-day Croatia & Istria covers Rovinj and Pula.

If Plitvice does not fit, Krka National Park is about an hour from Split and makes a shorter waterfall day.

Every Black Deer Travel trip is private and built for one group. We plan this route around your dates, book the boats and drivers, and check the ferry timetable for your season before anything is confirmed. You get one planner from the first email to the flight home. We are a small team, so we take a limited number of trips and answer each one ourselves.