PeteB44

Were planning to go to Croatia in 2020, plenty of planning time, but I just want to get ideas. We need to end up in Budapest to join a river cruise. We know we want to see Split and Dubrovnik, but were not sure how to work our way up to Budapest.Should we travel to someplace lite Trieste or Zagreb. Were not concerned with any time table. Any suggestions for an itinerary that you may have followed.
Thanks Pete

neckervd

In a normal (non covid) year, there are usually direct flights from many European airports (Budapest too) to Split and Dubrovnik during the holiday season
You may use trains and buses too.
Trains (all the year round): Split - Zagreb, Zagreb - Budapest, Rjieka - Ljubljana, Ljubljana - Budapest, Trieste - Vienna, Vienna - Budapest
Bus lines (all the year round): Dubrovnik - Split - Zagreb, Dubrovnik - Split - Zadar - Rijeka, Rijeka - Zagreb, Rijeka - Trieste

yorkshire

Whether you have two weeks or two months (and what months) does actually determine recommendations, but Croatia is mostly skinny--you can just move up the coast from Dubrovnik, hopping over to islands as you go (most popular are Korcula and Hvar, but there are plenty others depending on your preference for cultural activity versus nature). You could then diverge to Plitvice national park and then Zagreb before heading to Budapest, or go over to Istria (where it is best to rent a car) and explore hill towns before heading to Budapest.
If you are more of a nature nut like me, look up the many parks in Croatia. Sea-lover? Then explore the less commented on islands of Dugi Otok, or hop from Zadar to Mali Losinj and Cres, where you can connect to Istria.

PeteB44

Thanks neckervd for the information

PeteB44

Thanks Yorkshire for you help and information

KarenWoo

Since you want to see Dubrovnik and Split (both are beautiful cities), I would recommend flying into Dubrovnik. Are you comfortable renting a car? That is what we did. My husband does the driving, and it was very easy driving.

This was our itinerary:
Dubrovnik - 3 nights - hired a private driver to spend a day driving around the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, and making stops along the Bay.
We then picked up our rental car the morning we left Dubrovnik.
Split - 4 nights - drove from Dubrovnik to Split
While in Split, we spent a day on Hvar Island. Took ferry from Dubrovnik to Hvar Town. Also visited Trogir on another day.
Plitvice Lakes National Park - one night - highly recommend - it's beautiful
Then drove from Plitvice to Zagreb.
Zagreb - 2 nights - we dropped off rental car here.
Ljubljana - 3 nights - Took train (2.5 hours) from Zagreb to Ljubljana. Rented a car for a day to drive to lake Bled.

I assume you can fly from either Zagreb or Ljubljana to Budapest, but obviously you need to check that out. Go to Rome2rio website.

This itinerary worked well for us. Of course, you could spend a couple nights on Korcula or Hvar. Hvar is beautiful and we loved Hvar Town. Because we were there in September, Hvar Town was not party central.

Lolazahra

KarenWoo - nice itinerary. Taking notes.

KarenWoo

If you wish, you can click on my name to read my trip report from September 2019.

PeteB44

I want to thank everyone for their reply and help in planning our trip. I'm sure we will love Croatia and look forward to selecting a date to travel.
Thanks again,
PeteB