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An aerial view of a walled city beside the Adriatic

Croatia · Dalmatia

Croatia

A walled city on the Adriatic, a Roman palace you can still live inside, and over a thousand islands between them. Croatia rewards moving around far more than it rewards a fortnight in one hotel.

2h 45m direct · DBV / SPUNo visa for UK passportsMay–Oct seasonGuide price from £479pp

The short version

Dubrovnik is a two-night city, not a two-week base

It's the most beautiful walled city on the Mediterranean and it takes a day and a half to see. It's also expensive, short of beach, and receives several cruise ships a day in summer — by eleven in the morning the main street can be shoulder to shoulder. Two or three nights, and then move. The coast north to Split and the islands off it are where the actual holiday is.

People walking a stone-paved street in an old town

The walled city

Walk the walls, then get out of the way

Two kilometres of city wall you can walk all the way round, a marble main street, and a cable car up Srđ for the view. Do the walls at opening — they're on the sun all day and there's no shade at all. Then be somewhere else between eleven and four, when the cruise passengers are ashore. Stay inside the walls if the atmosphere matters, or in Lapad if you want a beach and a pool.

Two hours north

Split, where people actually live

A Roman emperor's retirement palace with a city grown inside it — shops in the cellars, bars in the courtyards, washing hung between fourth-century columns. It's cheaper than Dubrovnik, livelier, and the ferry hub for the islands. If you're choosing one base for a week, choose this one.

An aerial view of the Croatian coast and islands

Pick your base

Two cities, and the islands between them

Dubrovnik (DBV) and Split (SPU) both take UK flights and are about three hours apart by road, or a fast catamaran along the coast. Flying into one and out of the other is usually the same price.

Red rooftops of a walled city above the sea

South · 25 min from DBV

Dubrovnik

The walled city and the suburbs around it. Spectacular, expensive, and short on sand — the beaches here are pebble and concrete platform.

Inside the walls: Small hotels and apartments in the old town. No cars, no pool, and stone steps everywhere.
Lapad & Babin Kuk: A peninsula twenty minutes out with the resort hotels, a bay and a promenade. Where families stay.
Ploče: Just east of the walls. The smartest hotels and the classic view back at the city.
Cavtat: Twenty minutes south, near the airport. A quiet harbour town and a much cheaper base.

Centre · 30 min from SPU

Split & the Makarska riviera

The liveliest city on the coast and the long pebble beaches south of it, under the Biokovo mountains.

Split old town: Inside Diocletian's Palace. Atmosphere, restaurants, and the ferry port on the doorstep.
Bačvice: Split's own sandy beach, ten minutes' walk from the palace. Rare on this coast.
Makarska: An hour south. A long pebble beach, a mountain behind, and proper resort infrastructure.
Brela & Baška Voda: Pine-backed coves along the same stretch. Quieter and very pretty.

An aerial view of a coastal town and harbour

Ferries from Split & Dubrovnik

The islands

Over a thousand of them, about a dozen with hotels. Each has a completely different character, and the ferries make hopping easy.

Hvar: The glamorous one. A Venetian square, a fortress above, and a serious summer scene.
Brač: Closest to Split, and home to Zlatni Rat — the shifting sand spit on every Croatian poster.
Korčula: A miniature walled town on a peninsula. Quieter, greener, and full of vineyards.
Vis: Furthest out, closed to visitors until 1989, and the least developed. Blue Cave day trips from here.

North · via Pula

Istria & the north

A different Croatia — Italian-influenced, hilltop towns, truffles and wine. Cooler, greener, and much less British.

Rovinj: A Venetian fishing town on a peninsula. The prettiest place in Croatia and it knows it.
Poreč: Bigger, more resort-led, with a UNESCO basilica in the middle.
Pula: A Roman amphitheatre in the middle of a working port city.
Motovun & the interior: Hill towns, truffle woods and wine roads. Twenty minutes inland and no coast at all.

Our speciality

Split, an island, then Dubrovnik

The trip almost nobody books and everybody should. Fly into Split, spend a few nights in the palace, take a catamaran to Hvar or Brač, then work down the coast to Dubrovnik and fly home from there. No backtracking, and three completely different halves.

Split3 nightsDiocletian's Palace and Bačvice beach.
Catamaran · 1h
Hvar4 nightsVenetian square, fortress, and the Pakleni islands by boat.
Catamaran · 2h 30m
Dubrovnik3 nightsThe walls, the cable car, and fly home from DBV.

Catamarans run daily in season and much less often outside it, which is one reason we book them with the holiday rather than leaving them to chance at the port.

When to go

A short, sharp season

Croatia runs May to early October and shuts fairly firmly either side. July and August are hot, busy and expensive, and the Adriatic is at its warmest in late August and September. June and September are the two months we'd point you at.

JanClosed

FebClosed

MarQuiet

AprOpening

May22°

Jun27°

Jul31°

Aug31°

Sep26°

Oct21°

NovClosing

DecClosed

Sea temperature runs 20°C in June to 25°C in September. Note the beaches: almost all of the Dalmatian coast is pebble or rock, not sand. Bring swim shoes and you'll be far happier.

Worth leaving the resort for

What we'd actually book

Dubrovnik city walls

Two kilometres, all the way round, and no shade whatsoever. First entry of the day or an hour before closing.

Diocletian's Palace

A Roman palace with a living city inside it. Free to walk through — it's the streets, not a monument.

Srđ cable car

Four minutes up the hill behind Dubrovnik for the view everyone photographs. Go for sunset.

Zlatni Rat

The sand spit on Brač that changes shape with the current. Ferry from Split, then a bus to Bol.

People walking a street beside old buildings

Hvar town

A Venetian square, a hilltop fortress, and boats out to the Pakleni islands for swimming.

The Blue Cave

On Biševo, off Vis. Best light between eleven and noon, and it sells out — book well ahead.

Krka waterfalls

An hour from Split, and you can swim near some of them. Quieter and more manageable than Plitvice.

Ston oyster beds

On the way between Split and Dubrovnik, with the longest defensive wall in Europe above it.

The practical bits

Things that catch people out

Two airportsDubrovnik (DBV) south, Split (SPU) centre, about three hours apart. Open-jaw usually costs the same as a return.

CurrencyEuro — Croatia adopted it in 2023. Older guidebooks still say kuna.

Beaches are pebbleAlmost the whole Dalmatian coast. Swim shoes make an enormous difference; don't expect Greek sand.

Time zoneOne hour ahead of the UK, all year.

Cruise shipsDubrovnik receives several a day in summer. The old town is transformed between eleven and four.

FerriesJadrolinija and Krilo run the islands. Frequent in July and August, much thinner in May and October.

Tourist taxA small nightly charge per person, collected at the accommodation. Not in your holiday price.

PassportsCroatia is in the EU and Schengen. Three months' validity beyond your return, under ten years old on entry.

Red rooftops of a walled city above the Adriatic

Before you book

Five things worth knowing

Don't base a fortnight in Dubrovnik. Two or three nights is right. It's expensive, the beaches are concrete platforms, and the cruise crowds are real. Move on and it becomes the highlight instead of the disappointment.

The beaches are pebble. Nearly all of them. Beautiful water, hard on the feet. Swim shoes, every time — this is the single most common complaint we hear about Croatia.

Fly open-jaw. Split in, Dubrovnik out, or the reverse. Same fare, and it turns a there-and-back into a proper coastal route.

Check the ferry timetable against your dates. Island services thin out sharply either side of high season. A hop that runs six times a day in August may run twice in May.

June and September are the sweet spot. Warm sea, everything open, and noticeably cheaper than July and August. September has the warmer water of the two.

Next step

Tell us your dates and we'll build the route

Send your dates, party and rough budget and we'll come back with an open-jaw itinerary, the ferries booked, and the payment plan written out in full.

Your money is protected. Trip Tides is a travel agent — we book your holiday with a travel company, and that company is named on your quote and confirmation. Your contract is with them. If your holiday is a package including flights, put together by an ATOL holder, you'll get an ATOL certificate naming that company. We confirm in writing what protection applies before you pay.

Croatia packages

Flights, accommodation and transfers as one package. Every one can be reshaped — different dates, different board, a different airport, or a stopover on the way.

7 nights in Croatia

Half board · Oct–Mar

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
Financial protection confirmed in writing before you pay

from £499per person

Get a quote

10 nights in Croatia

Half board · Oct–Mar

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
The extra nights cost proportionally less — fixed costs don't change

from £649per person

Get a quote

14 nights in Croatia

Half board · Oct–Mar

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
Best value per night, and worth it on a longer flight

from £789per person

Get a quote

Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, accommodation and transfers. They indicate what a holiday of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, board basis, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.