DD1 has a conference in Croatia and wants to see something else in Europe, maybe for 4-7 days traveling around. We know August can be ridiculous in Europe, hot and crowded and tourist filled. She is thinking maybe to fly to Italy or Greece and then take a ferry across. DD is also pretty heat sensitive.
Any of you who know the region, what would you do in August to experience or explore a town or two? Small towns are great, Museums are unlikely to be on the list.
I hate heat so I’d probably go somewhere in the Alps, probably Austrian Alps as the closest. Does she like nature? Croatia itself has a lot to offer too, but likely to be hot.
You have probably already found this ferry information https://www.croatiaferries.com/maps/ferries-map/
If it were me I would go to a little spot in Croatia such as Hvar http://www.island-hvar.info and soak up the atmosphere. I haven’t been to the national parks but they are on my husband’s bucket list https://www.chasingthedonkey.com/national-parks-in-croatia/
Depending on the cruise ship load, Venice is always a winner. On a heavily impacted day we head out of the center into the less touristed neighborhoods. The schedule is here http://ports.cruisett.com/schedule/Italy/733-Venice/August_2019/ If you look around the internet some you may be able to find a schedule that will give total numbers of cruisers for you. There is a big difference between a day with 11,000 and a day with 1,500.
Croatia is fantastic in the summer. Dubrovnik is filled with tourists (especially because of Game of Thrones) but there are tons of little islands that aren’t crowded. Hvar is probably the only other crowded town. Korcula is lovely and so is Split, but there are so many other small islands with beautiful beaches and few crowds. We took public ferries from place to place. To get to Italy, it was easier to fly on the cheap airlines rather than take a ferry. We planned our trip using the Lonely Planet message boards and the Rick Steve’s guidebook. Good luck and have fun!
Places I’ve been that I’d recommend - Dubrovnik; Plitvice lakes (national park in Croatia with lots of gorgeous waterfalls. It’s about 2 hours drive from Zagreb); Lake Bled in Slovenia (cute small town on a lake, little island in the middle of the lake with a church on the island that you can take a boat to, castle overlooking the lake, nearby hiking and outdoor activities); Salzburg, Austria - lots to do there including Sound of Music tourist sites, Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave (not in Salzburg but nearby), etc. Places that I haven’t been but want to go to - Trieste, Italy; more of Slovenia including some cave explorations; Hvar, Croatia; Rovinj, Croatia; lots more of the small towns on the coast.
I accompanied someone to a conference in Split. We had the weekends and a day or two extra, so not much time, about the same as yours. We met up with family in Germany so then had a road trip with them through the Alps, which I loved but there really wasn’t much time for it. It all felt a little rushed though and if we hadn’t wanted to take the opportunity to meet up with the family, I wouldn’t have covered so much ground. I would have just flown into Zagreb and out of Split, or vice versa, and I would just stay in Croatia or Slovenia, as some of the others have mentioned. Dubrovnik is insanely crowded and I would say don’t even go there in August if you don’t like crowds. (I went in the afternoon, and the end of the day walking the walls was reasonable for crowds, the evening was quite nice for strolling around, early morning as well, but I actually left earlier than I had planned to on the second day because it was so crowded I just went to the bus station and left) but there are lots of other places that are not crowded. Read Rick Steve’s site for recommendations about crowds and timing. We loved the Diocletian Palace in Split, which was not crowded during the less poplular times. We took ferry to Trogir and then taxi shuttle boats to beaches that were not too crowded. I would have loved to have gone to more hiking/outdoor places. It was so beautiful! I don’t think it is worthwhile trying to get somewhere else, like Italy or Greece, unless you have plenty of time.