While you are in Croatia, I highly recommend to visit the other cities as well, and not just stay in Zagreb, because honestly, it’s the other cities that got me!

Ready to fall in love with Croatia? Here is my 1 week itinerary in Croatia

Itinerary Overview

Day1 :Zagreb (1 night)
Day 2-3: Plitvice Lake National Park(1 night)
Day 4: Split(2 nights)
Day 5-6: Dubrovnik (2nights)
Day 7: Zagreb (Head home!)

Day 1: Zagreb

Fly into Pleso International Airport(Zagreb)

There was a delay in my flight from Vienna, Austria to Zagreb so I arrived later than expected. It was quite a shame because then, I couldn’t explore Zagreb on my first day.

Get Online:
The first thing I did was to buy a SIM card because I need to know how to get to my hostel. I bought the SIM card in one of the newspaper stand at the airport for 80kuna. It gives me unlimited data for 7 days. Exactly what I need!

Stay at Main Square Hostel:
I checked into this pretty hostel for a one night stay. Since it’s a design hostel, it does cost more than other hostels. But it is surrounded by the famous street, Tkalčićeva Street and Jelačić Square, so I didn’t mind pang more.

Eat at Tkalčićeva Street:
For my first night, I decided to check out Tkalčićeva Street. While I was looking around, I was quite surprised that the famous street was not crowded. Maybe because it was still early and the street is famous for it’s bars and nightspot. But since the next day I have to catch my bus early, I decided to have an early dinner and get a rest.

Day 2 & 3 : Plitvice Lakes National Park

Zagreb to Plitvice Lakes National Park by bus (Approx. 2 hours)

Stay at Hotel Grabovac:
I booked a small bungalow at campsite Korana with the national park because I was planning to do 2 days tour around the National Park. The bad news is, the upper part of the lake was close due to the cold weather (it was snowing). with the upper part closed, one day is definitely enough to see everything in the National Park. But the good news is, due to the bad weather, my room was upgraded to a private room in Hotel Grabovac.

Explore Plitvice Lakes National Park:
With a student card, I paid 45kuna for the entrance fee. This includes the electric boat and the panorama bus. There were 2 lake tour programmes available at that time, which were Program A ( 2-3 hours/3500m) and Program B (3-4 hours/4000m). I opted for Program B, since I had more than enough time.

Even with the thick snow, I still found the national park very beautiful. Although being there during the summer would mean more beautiful view, I’m sure the park would be crowded. So I am satisfied to be there in spring!

Day 4 : Split

Plitvice Lake National Park to Split by bus (Approx. 4 hours)

Stay at Design Hostel Goli & Bosi:
I booked a bed in a 6-bed mixed dorm but as I checked in, the room was full so they upgraded my room to a private room with my own bathroom! It is also located just 10 mins walk from the bus terminal and is very close to the Diocletian’s Palace and Riva Harbour.

Explore Split:
In just one day, I get to see a lot of Split’s attractions. Starting from the Diocletian’s Palace, the People’s Square (Narodni Trg Pjaca), the Green Market and the Marjan Hill. I even planned to go to Trogir since there's nothing else to do in Split, but due to a traffic jam, i was stuck in an 1 hour traffic jam before I decided to walk back to the Riva (the bus was still 15 mins away from Split) and it took me 1 hour.

Day 5 and 6 : Dubrovnik

Split to Dubrovnik by bus (Approx. 5 hours)

Stay at Hostel EuroAdria: My hostel is again located just 10 mins walk from the bus terminal. I was greeted by a very friendly receptionist and he told me that I bring great weather to Dubrovnik (it was raining for a few days before I arrived). He definitely knows how to make one’s day!

Explore Dubrovnik:
The main attraction of Dubrovnik is the City Wall, where Game of Throne is filmed. The Old Town is surrounded by the City Wall and it’s free to tour but the City Wall entrance fee is 150 Kuna, which also includes the entrance to the Lovrijenac Fort.

The weather in Dubrovnik was really nice but later in the evening, the wind gets stronger and we saw a group of people kayaking in the rough sea. It was fun to watch them crashing into big rocks (but it was not fun when you get sick due to the strong wind after that)!

Day 7: Zagreb

Dubrovnik to Zagreb with an overnight bus (Approx. 8 hours)

Explore Zagreb:
After seeing all the other cities, I was less excited about Zagreb. With 5 hours left before going to the airport, I decided to drag my tired body to see at least a little bit of Zagreb. However, after being in the strong wind in Dubrovnik the day before, I fell really sick (yup, what a way to end a trip). So I only managed to take the Funicular to the Upper Town. The Funicular costs me 4kuna for one way. There’s also an option to take the stairs to get to the Upper Town.

From the Upper Town, you can get a view overlooking the lower city. If there’s one thing I must not miss in Zagreb, that would be St. Mark’s Church. I’ve seen it through other people’s vlogs so I really wanted to see the colorful roof with my own eyes. And sure enough, it was impressive. After staring enough at the church and eavesdropping some of the tour guides’ explanations about the roof, I decided to head back to the Lower Town. Although I really wanted to stay until noon but my tired body couldn’t cooperate. Every day at noon in Zagreb, a cannon is fired to commemorate the day when the cannon was fired at the Turks, who were camped across the Sava River.

Croatia is a really beautiful country to visit. If I ever have the chance, I will definitely want to revisit Croatia and maybe go to the other places that I didnt get the chance to visit, such as Trogir, Hvar Island and Lokrum Island. But even with 7 days, you get to see quite a lot of Croatia

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I hope you like it and if you do, do poke the upvote button!!
P/S: All picture is taken with my Sony A6000
With Love,
Vael Riey