Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfisti
OK my 2c. Caveat I do these trips with family a lot, both to Australia and country hopping to Europe from Toronto.
That's a LOT of faffing about man, a LOT. Always go direct, price be damnded, not sure if you've bought tickets but a layover adds time, complication, lost bags and general headaches. If you are set on the layover then that means the rest of your trip just has to be less zig-zaggy.
Rome to Florence is fine but i'd head east not west for coastal Italy. Every step one way is a step back if you head in the opposite direction to the next destination. YOu're carting 5 people and luggage..... you gotta, gotta, gotta simplify your routing.
Not sure where to go east but you could cut through San Marino and find a beach, maybe Pesaro? There's a ferry from Ancona direct to Zadar.
Now issue here is, Plitvice is fucking amazing BUT it'll be hot as hell, crowded like crazy and it is rough, tough terrain to walk it. You're carrying that 3 year old at some point, it's inevitable. It's a tiring, full day out, this is not a "drop by and see it" experience. I would make it a day trip and stay in Zadar as it's a 90 minute drive, that's a full day out.
From there I see you want to head south, I'd skip Split if you're doing Dubrovnik, Split really is just the old town, there's no decent beaches etc, we were just there this past summer. I'd drive from Zadar to Omis, have lunch and swim there, it is beautiful. Then keep driving to Makarska and stay there a couple of nights, it's perfect for kids with excellent beaches and you can pay for the euro style pontoon jumping water park right on the beach. Lovely promenade etc. Then drive to Dubronik and after 2 days fly home.
Kids don't tolerate too many days looking at old buildings so Split and Dubrovnik makes no sense as their prime attraction is old buildings and the old town. Dubrovnik has far nicer beaches too though still not great tbh. And don't stay in old town Dubrovnik, it's a serious PITA as you have to walk in.
Other than the trip to Plitvice you're always travelling in one direction.
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In terms of direct flights - I'm very used to having layovers. I've almost exclusively travelled to different asian countries (have mostly neglected most of Europe till now) and pretty much any destination in Asia requires a layover somewhere coming from the US. So they don't bother me at all - and 2 hours is very doable... The worst ones have been layovers which were very long, but not long enough to leave the airport (i.e. 5-6 hours layover in Narita airport near Tokyo) on my way to Malaysia.
So going East instead of West is intriguing... however I was looking and it seems like a ferry from Ancona to Zadar is a 9 hour ride. Would you still recommend that? The only backtracking we're really doing is heading back to Rome from Cinque Terre to catch a flight to Croatia. I wish I could just fly out of Pisa or Florence but there's unfortunately no direct flights from there and they all end up being super long ordeals.
As for Split - I suppose we're not too interested in Split itself - just figured it was a decent home base for a few days while we do day trips to Plitvice and Zadar. Split is cheap and easy to fly into from Rome (direct flights less than an hour long, $100), and it's a 2.5 hr drive to Plitvice (unlike Dubrovnik which is a solid 4.5 hours drive).