The twelve days

Times are suggestions, not appointments — the fixed points are the peka on Sunday at 18:30, the kayak on Monday at 17:00, Restaurant 360 on Tuesday at 21:00, the 08:00 boat on Wednesday, whatever you book from the checklist, and the 06:00 flight on the last morning. Each day notes its sunrise and sunset for the bed you are sleeping in; where the heat, a closing time or a boat timetable drives a decision, the times are in the day text. Solid dots on the timeline are flights, boats and drives.

Sunday — land, swim, go up the mountain, eat under the bell

Sunrise 06:01 · Sunset 19:39

08:45

DL 8403, Paris → Dubrovnik

Two hours and a quarter, Air France Hop regional jet, a coffee. The coast appears under the left-hand windows from about Split onwards; the last twenty minutes run down the islands you will be crossing by boat on Wednesday.

DL 8403 · CDG 08:45 → DBV 11:00 · 2 h 15

11:00

Land at Dubrovnik (DBV)

A Schengen arrival, so no passport control: bags, then the kerb, realistically by 11:30. The airport is 20 km south of town; the villa's car, or an Uber or Bolt from the rank (€30–45), takes 25–35 minutes along the coast road. The Platanus shuttle to Pile is €10 each if the car falls through.

~12:00

Check in — Villa Leoni, Kralja Petra Krešimira IV 22

The street is the one the cable car starts from (the lower station is at number 10A), just above the Ploče gate on the east side of the old town. If the room is not ready, leave the bags and go straight down to the water.

12:45

Banje beach, four minutes downhill

Frana Supila 10B. Pebbles, a lido with loungers for hire and a bar, and the walls of the old town across the water. The sea is about 25°C. Eat something light at the beach bar or walk five minutes into the Ploče gate for a sandwich; do not attempt the old town properly today.

15:00

Siesta

The forecast says 31°C with a 25°C night. Shutters, air-conditioning, an hour of sleep; this is what makes the rest of the day possible.

17:00

Cable car up Srđ

Lower station at Petra Krešimira IV 10A, opposite the fire station, 200 m from the villa. €30 return per person, cash or card at the desk, no need to book; the ride is under four minutes and the summit is 405 m. Your timing beats the crowd: the queue builds in the 60–90 minutes before sunset (19:39), and you need to be down by 18:15. Forty minutes on the terraces is enough; the fort up top holds the Homeland War museum if you want the sobering half-hour.

PhotosThe view from Srđ at sunset ↗

18:30

Peka at Konoba Dubrava — booked

Bosanka village, on the plateau behind Srđ, +385 95 420 4000; 15 minutes by taxi or Uber from the villa door (the walk is a goat path in the dark). Peka (PEH-kah) is meat or octopus slow-cooked under an iron bell in embers and has to be ordered hours ahead, which your reservation did. Order a salad and the house wine and nothing else; the bell feeds two generously. Uber collects from the restaurant.

PhotosKonoba Dubrava and the peka bell ↗

21:30

Home along the Ploče shoulder

Ask the driver to drop you at the Ploče gate and walk the last 300 m along Frana Supila with the walls lit below you. Then bed — no heroics tonight; tomorrow starts with the early swim.

Jet lag, handled

Tonight at bedtime your bodies think it is mid-afternoon in Detroit, and at 07:00 tomorrow they think it is 01:00. The fix is boring: stay up until 22:00 tonight, get morning light on the water tomorrow, protect the Monday siesta, and expect evenings to feel easy all week. The plan leans on that.

If the heat or the wind turns: the cable car stops in strong wind or lightning; if it is not running, walk the Ploče waterfront instead and ride up on Wednesday evening from Hvar's Fortica, which has the same job.

Cut for a slower day: drop the cable car entirely. Banje, siesta, peka. The view from above can wait for the walls on Tuesday.

Monday — an early swim, the cool rooms, the kayak at five

Sunrise 06:02 · Sunset 19:37

07:30

Banje before anyone else

Your bodies think it is 01:30 in Detroit, so you will be awake. Four minutes down to Banje for the swim that locals take before breakfast, when the water is flat and the loungers are still stacked. Coffee at the beach bar or back at the villa.

09:00

Rector's Palace — activate the 3-day Pass here

Pred Dvorom 3, open 09:00–18:00. Buy the 3-day Dubrovnik Pass online tonight (€50 each) and scan it here first: it covers this palace (€15), the Franciscan museum (€10), the walls tomorrow evening (€40), city buses, and 20% off the Lokrum boat. An hour: the atrium, the state rooms, the prison. The inscription over the council chamber tells the rectors to forget private business. The cathedral next door is free and takes ten minutes.

10:15

Franciscan monastery and the 1317 pharmacy

Just inside the Pile gate on the Stradun (STRAH-doon), open 09:00–18:00, on the Pass. The cloister is the cool room of the old town; the pharmacy still sells its rose cream. Forty minutes, then the market on Gundulićeva poljana for figs. You are out of the old town by 11:30, when the coaches are in it.

12:00

Lunch at Barba

Boškovićeva 5, two lanes north of the Stradun, 11:00–24:00, no bookings. A family seafood counter: the octopus burger, fried squid, tempura prawns, about €15 a head, at a handful of tables or carried to the harbour wall. Trattoria Carmen is closed on Mondays; the Arsenal terrace on Pred Dvorom is the sit-down alternative.

PhotosBarba's octopus burger ↗

13:00

Siesta at the villa

Three hours. The kayak is two hours of paddling; the people who regret the sunset tour are the ones who did a full day first.

16:45

Meet at Brsalje 8, the Pile bus stop — booked

Look for the Dubrovnik Walks representatives under the orange umbrella, not the beach; arrive fifteen minutes early so you are in a kayak by 17:00. Bring swimwear under your clothes, a towel, sunscreen and nothing you cannot lose; they supply dry barrels, snorkels, water and a glass of wine. The route goes out of Pile bay under the walls, around Lokrum, into Betina cave for a swim, and back to Pile as the sun drops. Roughly two hours; sunset is 19:37.

19:30

Dinner in the old town, twenty minutes from the kayaks

Tonight it is Proto (Široka 1, seafood, +385 20 323 234 — book it today for 20:00) or, for something easier, a table at Dubravka 1836 at the Pile end (Brsalje 1, 08:00–24:00, book for the wall-side terrace). Proto is the better meal; Dubravka is closer to where you will be standing, salty and tired.

PhotosProto's rooftop terrace ↗

21:30

A glass at D'vino, and one errand

Palmotićeva 4a, off the Stradun, open until 02:00. A flight of three Croatian wines with a cheese plate is the right size for it. On the way, ask at the Pile ticket office (or read the board) what time the walls close tomorrow: 19:00 is the August figure on the current schedule, 19:30 appears in some guides, and Tuesday's evening is built on the answer.

Hold the timing

Everything today exists to get you to Brsalje 8 at 16:45 rested. If the morning runs long, skip the monastery, not the siesta.

If the heat or the wind turns: the kayak cancels in wind or rough sea; the operator offers another day or a refund. If it cancels, walk Lovrijenac fort at 18:00 on the Pass and have the Proto dinner anyway.

Cut for a slower day: drop both museums and sleep until ten; the swim, lunch, siesta and the kayak are the day.

Tuesday — Lokrum, the walls as the light goes, dinner on the wall

Sunrise 06:04 · Sunset 19:36

09:30

Coffee at Bistro Revelin, then the Old Port

Sv. Dominika bb, under the Revelin fort, tables under the pine from 09:00. The Lokrum kiosk is on the Old Port quay (Luža pier), five minutes from the villa through the Ploče gate.

10:00

Boat to Lokrum

Tickets at the kiosk: €30 per adult, €27 each for a party of two, and 20% off with the 3-day Pass; the fare includes the nature-reserve entry. Boats run at 09:00, 10:00 and then every 30 minutes until 19:00; the crossing is ten minutes. The 10:00 boat lands you before the late-morning wave.

10:15–14:00

The island, slowly

Walk to the Benedictine abbey ruins and the botanical garden, then the Dead Sea — a salt lake connected to the sea, warm and calm — for a swim, then the rocks on the south side for a second one. Fort Royal on the top is a 20-minute climb for the view back to the walls you will be standing on at six. There is a café by the abbey and no fresh water; carry what you drink. The peacocks are not to be fed.

14:15

Boat back, a quick lunch

Returns run every half hour; the 14:15 puts you on the Old Port quay at 14:25. Lunch is twenty minutes at Barba (Boškovićeva 5, the octopus burger, no bookings) or the port-side tables at Gradska Kavana Arsenal if you want a chair and a view. Keep it light; dinner is five courses.

15:00

Siesta

Back at the villa by 15:00 with the shutters closed until 16:45. You are about to do the best two hours in the city and then walk and eat until midnight.

17:10

Walk to Pile

Fifteen minutes from the villa, through the Ploče gate and along the Stradun, or around the outside by Frana Supila if the Stradun is a river of hats. Water, a hat, the Pass on the phone, and the shirt for dinner in the day bag.

17:30

Onto the walls at Pile, anti-clockwise

The circuit is one-way: Pile → Bokar → the sea walls → Fort St John and the Old Port → up the Ploče side → the long north wall → Minčeta → down to Pile. Two kilometres, steps throughout, no re-entry, no shade until the light drops. The sea side first means the water is on your right for the first half hour and the old town is under your left hand all the way round.

18:30

The bar on the north wall, below Minčeta

Your hole in the wall: a kiosk on the walkway near the end of the circuit with a few tables and the steps up beside it, the highest seat in the city after the tower itself. The beer costs what a view like that costs. Sit for half an hour as the roofs go from terracotta to gold; the sun is low behind Lovrijenac and Lapad, and the light rakes across the town toward Lokrum, where you were at noon. Then the last stretch past Minčeta and down.

19:00

Off at Pile; the sun into the sea from the Lovrijenac rock

The walls close at 19:00 in August on the current schedule (confirmed on Monday); sunset is 19:36. From the Pile exit it is five minutes down the steps to the Lovrijenac rock and the Šulić cove path, where the sun goes into the sea with the fort above you; Fort Lovrijenac itself is on the same ticket if it is still admitting. If the walls in fact close at 19:30, enter at 18:00 instead and everything slides half an hour.

PhotosSunset from the Lovrijenac rock ↗

19:45

The old town lit, at walking pace

Back in through Pile as the lamps come on: the length of the Stradun, the Orlando column, the Sponza courtyard, the Old Port with the boats, then up one of the stepped lanes on the north side (Prijeko) and down another. A glass at M'arden (Od Domina 8, a walled garden, until 23:00) if there is time; there is if you keep it to one.

21:00

Restaurant 360 — booked

Sv. Dominika 2, inside the walls by the Ploče gate, +385 20 322 222. Dinner only; two five-course tasting menus at €178 per person (Antologija, the chef's signatures; Republika, Renaissance Dubrovnik reworked) or an abbreviated à la carte; the terrace runs along the parapet over the Old Port, so ask for it at the door if the booking did not specify. Dress is elegant; change into the shirt at M'arden or go home at 20:15, which the timeline allows. Expect to finish around 23:30.

PhotosRestaurant 360's terrace on the walls ↗

23:45

Pack for an 07:00 taxi

Ten minutes to the villa through Ploče. Bags by the door, tickets on the phone, swimwear in the carry-on. Tomorrow's boat does not wait.

The closing time is the hinge

If the Pile office says 19:00, enter at 17:30; if 19:30, enter at 18:00 and take the 14:45 boat back from Lokrum. Either way the north wall comes in the last hour of light, and the sun itself is watched from the rock below Lovrijenac after you are down. Re-entry is not possible, so there is no going back for a forgotten hat.

If the heat or the wind turns: Lokrum boats stop in strong wind; the fallback is the Šulić cove and the cloisters. Wind does not close the walls, rain is not forecast, and the dinner stands.

Cut for a slower day: drop Fort Royal and the second swim, take the 13:15 boat back and sleep until 16:30; the island, the walls, the sunset, the walk and the dinner are the day.

Wednesday — up the islands by boat

Sunrise 06:05 in Dubrovnik · Sunset 19:42 in Hvar

07:00

Taxi to Gruž harbour

Fifteen minutes from the villa at this hour, €10–12 by taxi, Uber or Bolt; the Pass still covers bus 1A/1B until 09:00 but bags and a 07:30 quay argue for the car. The catamarans leave from the ferry port at Gruž, not the Old Port. Be on the quay by 07:30 with the e-ticket open.

≈ 15 min · taxi €10–12

08:00

TP Line 842, Dubrovnik → Hvar

Three hours forty, foot passengers only, luggage carried on by hand. The boat calls at Korčula around 10:00, then Hvar at 11:40 and on to Split. Sit on the starboard (right) side for the Pelješac coast; the water past Pelješac can be lively, so take anything for seasickness before boarding, not after. The café on board does coffee and a sandwich.

≈ 3 h 40 · €50–55 pp · calls at Korčula

11:40

Land on the Hvar riva

Everything is walkable and nothing is drivable. Vinka Pribojevića 9 is inside the old grid above the main square, roughly five minutes uphill with bags. The booking page does not state a check-in time; message the host from the boat and, if the apartment is not ready, leave the bags and go to lunch.

12:30

Lunch at Fig

Ivana Frane Biundovića 3, on the steps just off the square, 09:00–23:00, no reservation needed at lunch. Flatbreads, a mango-and-courgette salad, Hvar Brewing Co beers on the list; the right first meal on an island that otherwise sells you grilled fish at €40 a kilo.

15:00

Settle in, then the town at walking pace

St Stephen's square (the Pjaca, PYAH-tsa) is the largest in Dalmatia; the cathedral, the Arsenal with its theatre upstairs, the riva with the yachts. Forty minutes covers it. Swim from the rocks along the western waterfront past the Franciscan monastery, ten minutes from the square, or at Pokonji Dol, 20 minutes east (loungers €20, umbrella €10).

19:00

Sunset on the riva, dinner at Konoba Menego

Kroz Grodu 26, up the lane toward the fortress, 18:00–22:30, closed Sundays (which does not affect you). A family konoba (KOH-noh-bah, a tavern) with no pizza and no pasta: gnocchi, marinated anchovies, their own zucchini soup. Walk in at 19:00; it fills by 20:00.

PhotosKonoba Menego's lane ↗

21:30

A pint on the water

Hvar Brewing Co, Šetalište put Križa 21b, on the promenade south-east of the harbour, until 23:00: a lavender sour, the harbour lights. Early night; the fortress opens at 09:00.

Both answers are right — the Korčula stopover

Get off the 08:00 boat at Korčula (about 10:00), walk the walled old town, swim from the rocks below the walls, take a long lunch, and reboard for Hvar at 15:15 (TP Line, arrives 16:45) or 17:00 (arrives 18:25). Tickets are bought as two legs, about €25 each. It costs you Wednesday afternoon in Hvar and buys you a third walled town; the spreadsheet was right to wonder how different it is. I would go straight through, and I would not argue with the other choice.

If the heat or the wind turns: catamarans cancel in strong wind, usually announced the evening before; if the 08:00 is cancelled, the bus to Split plus a catamaran is a full day, so the operator's later sailing or the next morning is the fallback. Keep Wednesday's Hvar plans unbooked.

Cut for a slower day: nothing, it is already loose. Skip the swim and sleep off the boat.

Thursday — the fortress at opening, then the older town

Sunrise 06:12 · Sunset 19:40

08:30

Coffee on the square, then up

The path to the Fortica starts from the lanes above the Pjaca (follow the signs through the north gate); fifteen to twenty minutes of zig-zags under pines. Go before the heat, and take water.

09:00

Fortica (Španjola fortress)

Open 09:00–22:00, €12 at the gate. The Venetians built it in 1551 and the whole town sheltered here when the Ottomans burned Hvar in 1571. Walk the ramparts for the view over the roofs to the Pakleni islands; the old prison is the cold room. An hour, then down by the same path.

10:30

The town without the crowds

The Benedictine convent (lace made from agave thread), the Franciscan monastery at the end of the western riva (a 15th-century refectory and a cypress older than the town), the fish market under the Arsenal. Gelato on the riva. By 12:30 the day-trippers from Split have landed; that is your cue to leave.

13:00

Lunch at Leporini

Kroz Grodu 7, one lane from your apartment, 12:00–23:00, +385 91 796 0796; book a table this morning. Beef tartare, lamb ravioli, a serious wine list; the kind of lunch that makes an afternoon nap compulsory.

14:30

Siesta

Two hours. The 16:30 bus is the plan; the 12:15 one would have you in Stari Grad for the hottest hours of the day.

16:30

Bus to Stari Grad

From the bus station behind the Pjaca by the Konzum supermarket; Cazmatrans, 20 minutes, €2–4 cash to the driver, timetable subject to change (16:30 is the last afternoon departure). Arrives at the edge of the old town; five minutes' walk to the riva. A taxi is €30–45 each way if the bus fails.

≈ 20 min · bus €2–4 · taxi €30–45

17:00

Stari Grad on foot

Founded by Greeks from Paros in 384 BC and quieter than Hvar town by an order of magnitude: a bay, a riva of locals, limestone lanes, the Dominican monastery. Swim from the rocks on the north side of the bay if the evening is warm, which it will be.

18:00

Tvrdalj, the poet's house

Trg Tvrdalj Petra Hektorovića 12, open 10:00–14:00 and 18:00–21:00. Petar Hektorović built it in the 1500s around a fishpond with mullet in it and carved Latin mottoes into the walls; the garden is the point. Half an hour.

PhotosTvrdalj fishpond, Stari Grad ↗

19:30

Dinner on the Stari Grad riva

Konoba Zvijezda Mora, Petra Zoranića 6, in a courtyard one lane off the harbour, 12:00–23:00, +385 99 477 3844; grilled fish, mussels, tuna, live music some nights. Or any of the riva terraces with the harbour in front. Sunset is 19:40 over the bay mouth.

22:05

Last bus back to Hvar town

From the bus station by the Studenac supermarket; check the time on the board when you arrive at 16:50, because summer timetables change. If it has moved, a taxi is the €30–45 answer and still worth the evening.

≈ 20 min · last bus · confirm on arrival

Hold the line

This is your second protected day. One fortress, one lunch, one older town. Every good thing you could add to it makes it worse.

If the heat or the wind turns: nothing breaks; the fortress and Stari Grad are both fine in wind. In real heat, swap the 16:30 bus for the 12:15 one only if you skip the fortress.

Cut for a slower day: drop Stari Grad and spend the evening at Pokonji Dol beach, 20 minutes east of the harbour, with dinner at Aria on the way back.

Friday — the islands, then the full moon

Sunrise 06:13 · Sunset 19:38 · full moon (06:19 this morning) rising over the harbour around sunset

09:00

Bakery breakfast, then the riva

Pastries from any of the bakeries around the Pjaca, eaten on the harbour wall. The taxi boats line up at the west end of the riva, in front of the Arsenal; the skippers tell you their return times.

10:00

Taxi boat to Palmižana

Sveti Klement, the largest of the Pakleni islands; about 20 minutes, roughly €15 return per person, boats every 30 minutes, last returns hourly 16:00–19:00. You land in the ACI marina bay on the north side and walk ten minutes over the saddle through pines to Vinogradišće bay on the south side, where the beach and the restaurants are. Loungers on the main beach in front of Toto's.

≈ 20 min · taxi boat ~€15 return

10:30–15:30

Vinogradišće bay

Swim, read, swim. The water is the clearest of the trip. For a quieter cove, the paths east and west along the shore reach rock ledges in ten minutes. Bring water shoes, a hat and cash.

13:00

Lunch at Meneghello

Palmižana 8, on the south bay, 08:00–22:00, +385 91 478 3111, book in the morning. The Meneghello family planted the botanical garden around the restaurant a century ago; gregada (greh-GAH-dah, a white fish stew with potatoes) and black risotto are the orders, and the portions are for two. A private boat day, with lunch at The FisherMan's House in Vlaka bay instead, is on the On the water page.

PhotosVinogradišće bay, Palmižana ↗

PhotosMeneghello's garden restaurant ↗

16:00

Boat back, shower, nothing

The 16:00 or 17:00 return; the apartment; an hour with the shutters closed.

18:30

Hula Hula for the sunset

Petrićevo šetalište 10, on the western waterfront past the Amfora hotel, 15 minutes on foot from the Pjaca, 09:00–22:00, cash only. Call +385 99 213 0516 in the morning and book a table for 18:30; walk-ins stand. Sunset is 19:38, and the full moon comes up behind the town while the sky is still pink.

PhotosHula Hula at sunset ↗

20:30

Dinner at Aria

Fabrika 32, on the western waterfront five minutes back toward town, 12:00–23:00, +385 95 799 8739; book for 20:30 today. Monkfish, truffle gnocchi with prosciutto, tuna carpaccio, the best cocktails in town; tables with the harbour in front.

22:30

The riva under the moon

Ten minutes along the harbour to the square and up the lane to bed. Bags packed tonight; tomorrow's boat is 11:30.

If the heat or the wind turns: taxi boats stop in a strong wind (a bura from the north or a jugo from the south); the fallback is Pokonji Dol, 20 minutes east on foot, and Hula Hula still serves.

Cut for a slower day: skip Hula Hula and eat at Aria at 19:30, or skip the restaurant and take a pizza to the riva wall for the moonrise.

Saturday — an hour across the channel to Split

Sunrise 06:14 in Hvar · Sunset 19:37 in Split

09:00

Last Hvar breakfast, bags to the riva

Coffee on the Pjaca, a final swim from the rocks if you are quick. Leave the apartment by 10:45; the catamaran boards on the riva and queues form fifteen minutes before.

11:30

Jadrolinija catamaran Hvar → Split

About an hour, ~€23–25 each, book 3–5 days ahead in August; Krilo and TP Line run the same hour-long crossing at other times if it is full. You land at the Split ferry port, a ten-minute walk along the Riva to the palace.

≈ 1 h · €23–25 pp · book ahead

12:45

Drop bags, find lunch

No Split bed is booked yet (see the checklist). Whatever you book, choose inside or just beside the palace walls, so that the evening and the Sunday morning are on foot. Lunch is Villa Spiza, Petra Kružića 3, just outside the Golden Gate: a handwritten daily menu, cash only, no bookings, open Saturday 13:00–22:00; arrive at 13:00 sharp or queue. Otherwise Bokeria, Domaldova 8, all day.

15:00

Siesta

Two hours. Saturday in Split in August is a party town from 22:00; the palace is at its best at 18:00 and 08:00, and you want to be awake for both.

17:00

The palace, in the cool

Start at the Peristyle and the Vestibule (the round hall where klapa (KLAH-pah) singers perform for the acoustics), then the cellars (Iza Vestibula 3, 08:30–20:00, about €10) — the best way to understand the scale of a Roman emperor's retirement home — then the Golden Gate and Meštrović's giant bronze bishop, whose toe is rubbed for luck. The bell tower closes at 19:30; save it for Sunday afternoon.

19:00

The Riva

The palm-lined promenade along the palace's south wall. One drink at any table facing west; sunset is 19:37 behind Marjan.

PhotosKonoba Fetivi's courtyard ↗

20:00

Dinner at Konoba Fetivi

Tomića stine 4, in Veli Varoš ten minutes west of the Riva, 12:00–22:00, closed Sundays — so it has to be tonight; +385 21 355 152, book this morning. A fishermen's konoba with a Michelin recommendation: black cuttlefish risotto, grilled scorpion fish, fried anchovies.

If the heat or the wind turns: if the morning catamarans cancel for wind, Hvar has up to 19 sailings a day in August across three operators; take the next one rather than the Stari Grad car ferry. The Split evening flexes.

Cut for a slower day: skip the cellars and the Golden Gate; the Peristyle at 18:00, the Riva and Fetivi are the day.

Sunday — Marjan before the heat, the tower after lunch

Sunrise 06:14 · Sunset 19:35

07:30

Green market, then up Marjan

Pazar, the open market along the palace's east wall, 06:00–14:00 daily: figs, grapes, a bag of cherries for the hill. Then west along the Riva and up the steps from Veli Varoš (Šperun street) to Marjan.

08:00–09:30

Marjan to the Telegrin viewpoint

Thirty to fifty minutes of steps and shaded path to the top at 178 m, with the city, the islands and the mountains behind; the Vidilica café terrace halfway up is the coffee stop. The heat arrives by 10:00, which is why the day starts here.

PhotosThe view from Marjan over Split ↗

10:00

Kasjuni beach

On the south side of Marjan, 20 minutes down through the pines from the ridge path, or bus 12 from the Riva end (€3, exact change). Pebbles, clear water, some shade, no facilities worth the name: bring water, fruit and a towel. Back in town by 13:00.

13:00

Lunch at Bokeria

Domaldova 8, inside the old town, 08:00–01:00, +385 99 226 0000; Sunday lunch here is a walk-in at 13:00. Clams with pasta, oxtail risotto, a long cool room. (Villa Spiza and Fetivi are closed on Sundays.)

14:30

Siesta

Ninety minutes with the shutters closed. The tower is at its emptiest after 16:00.

16:30

The bell tower of St Domnius

Peristil 2; on Sundays the tower opens only 12:30–17:30, about €8, so this is the hour. The stairs are steep and open; the view is the palace, the Riva, Marjan and the sea in one turn. The cathedral itself was Diocletian's mausoleum.

18:00

Wine in the lanes

The bars in the lanes north of the Peristyle fill from 18:00; one glass of Plavac Mali (PLAH-vats MAH-lee, the local red) in the shade of a Roman wall. Then the car-rental confirmation: tomorrow is 09:00.

20:00

Dinner at Konoba Matejuška

Tomića stine 3, across the lane from Fetivi in Veli Varoš, open Sundays 11:00–24:00, +385 95 521 4706. Fish by the kilo, scallop carpaccio, gregada if you pre-order it at lunchtime. Early night: the car, the road and the lakes.

If the heat or the wind turns: if the Sunday is the forecast's cooler one, do Marjan later and longer; nothing else changes.

Cut for a slower day: drop Kasjuni; the hill, a long lunch, the tower and dinner are enough.

Monday — north to the lakes, in the park after four

Sunrise 06:16 in Split · Sunset ~19:37 at Plitvice (Zagreb figure; the park is within two minutes of it)

08:30

Collect the rental car

One-way Split → Zagreb airport, two days, booked through discovercars.com or direct; pick up at the city office or the port, whichever the confirmation says. Check the one-way fee is on the voucher, photograph every panel, and ask for the toll booths to be explained (card is fine). Load water and the Plitvice e-tickets before leaving.

Pick-up 08:30 · confirm one-way fee in writing

09:00

Split → Plitvice

A1 motorway north from Dugopolje, exit at Gornja Ploča, then the D1 through Udbina and Korenica to the park: about 250 km and 3–3½ hours with one stop, tolls €17–20. Villa Sumrak is at Plitvica Selo 35, a village above the Lower Lakes on the west side; it is 2–3 km from Entrance 1 and the hosts know the back paths.

≈ 3½ h · 250 km · tolls ~€20 · one stop

13:00

Check in at Villa Sumrak

+385 91 810 1989. Two brothers run it for their grandparents; dinner and breakfast are served in-house and dinner is cash only, so book tonight's meal at check-in and carry cash. The lakes sit at 500–640 m and the evening will be ten degrees cooler than the coast: a layer for the morning.

14:00

Lunch and a rest

Eat at the villa if they offer it, or at the restaurants by Entrance 1; then do nothing until 15:30. The coaches leave the park between 15:00 and 17:00 and you are about to have it.

16:00

Entrance 1, the Lower Lakes

Park at Entrance 1 (€2/hour, pay on exit) and validate your tickets at the desk inside your booked hour; from 16:00 on 31 August the adult price is €25, not €40. Take the path right from the entrance to the Veliki Slap viewpoint and the canyon boardwalks, then the Lower Lakes trail to boat station P3; the boat across Kozjak to P2 runs every 30 minutes until 18:30, and the panoramic train from St2 back to St1 by Entrance 1 runs until 19:45. Three to three and a half hours, 5–6 km, mostly level boardwalk.

19:45

Back to the villa for dinner

Homemade gnocchi and venison stew if they have it; their own wine. Sunset is about 19:37 and it is dark by 20:10; bed early, because Tuesday's alarm is 06:00.

Plitvice, the arithmetic

Two separate tickets cost €25 (Monday after 16:00) + €40 (Tuesday) = €65 each; a named two-day ticket is €60 each and covers both days. Buy at ticketing.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr, choosing Entrance 1 for Monday and Entrance 2 for Tuesday; if the webshop will not sell a two-day ticket starting with an afternoon slot, buy the two singles and lose €5. Each e-ticket is valid only at the entrance chosen and only within 55 minutes of the slot.

If the heat or the wind turns: rain makes the boardwalks slippery but the park stays open; bring the layer and a hat anyway. If the motorway is slow, the 16:00 slot stretches to 16:55.

Cut for a slower day: drive straight to the villa and do the whole park on Tuesday from 07:00, leaving for Zagreb at 13:00; Tuesday's Zagreb afternoon shortens accordingly.

Tuesday — the Upper Lakes at seven, Zagreb by lunch

Sunrise ~06:16 at Plitvice (Zagreb figure) · Sunset 19:35 in Zagreb

06:00

Breakfast at the villa, bags in the car

The brothers serve breakfast early if asked the night before. Drive the 4 km south to Entrance 2 (Hladovina); the lots open at 07:00.

≈ 10 min · Entrance 2 · parking €2/h

07:00

Entrance 2, the Upper Lakes

Validate the 07:00 ticket, walk down to boat station P1 for the short crossing to P2, then follow the Upper Lakes boardwalks uphill past Galovac and the big cascades to the top lakes and station St4 (or St3 if the legs say so). The panoramic train brings you back down to St2 by Entrance 2. Three hours, 6–8 km; by 10:30 the first coaches are on the boardwalks and you are leaving them behind.

10:45

Plitvice → Zagreb airport

D1 north to Karlovac, then the A1 into Zagreb, about two hours; the airport (Pleso, at Velika Gorica) is on the south-east side, reached before the city. Fill the tank on the A1 if the contract says full-to-full. Drop the car at the rental return and take a taxi or Uber into the centre (25 minutes, €25–30), or the airport bus to the main bus station (30 min, ~€8) and a tram.

≈ 2 h · 140 km · toll ~€5 · drop at ZAG

13:30

Check in at B&B Sky, Trg bana Jelačića 3, third floor

The door is a shared entrance on the main square and reviewers find it hard to locate; call +385 91 456 1000 when you arrive and they talk you in. Ask two things at the desk: the airport shuttle at 04:00 tomorrow (they run one for a fee; the flight is at 06:00 and KLM's bag drop wants you there by 04:30), and a breakfast bag for the same hour.

14:00

Lunch at La Štruk

Skalinska 5, the lane between the square and Dolac, 11:00–22:00. Štrukli (SHTROOK-lee, baked cheese-filled dough) in five versions; one savoury, one sweet, shared. Then Dolac market above it (open to 20:00, but the stalls thin out after 15:00) for fruit for the flight.

16:00

The Upper Town on foot

The funicular from Ilica (66 m, the shortest in the world, a minute), the Lotrščak tower and the Strossmayer promenade, St Mark's church with the tiled coats of arms on its roof, the Stone Gate with its shrine, then down through the Grič tunnel (Mesnička 19, 09:00–21:00, cool and free) to Ilica. The cathedral is largely closed for repairs after the 2020 earthquake; the outside is the visit.

18:30

Tkalčićeva street

The bar street below the Upper Town, one drink at a terrace. Then back to the square.

19:30

Dinner at Pod Zidom

Pod zidom 5, beside Dolac, 12:00–23:00 (closed Mondays), +385 99 325 3600; book this morning. Open lasagne with duck ragù, zucchini-flower tempura in season, a thoughtful Croatian wine list. If you would rather eat traditionally, Vinodol (Nikole Tesle 10, till midnight) does štrukli and slow-cooked turkey, and Stari Fijaker (Mesnička 6) does stews in portions for four. Home by 21:30.

21:30

Bed by 22:00

Alarm 03:30. Bags by the door, boarding passes downloaded (check-in opens 24 hours ahead on the Delta or KLM app), the 04:00 shuttle confirmed with the desk, the passports on top.

Two bookends in one day

Lakes at dawn and a capital by lunch; the trick is the car drop. Returning it at the airport at midday means no 03:45 drive on five hours' sleep and no search for a garage in the centre, at the price of one taxi into town.

If the heat or the wind turns: rain in Zagreb is a museum afternoon: the Museum of Broken Relationships is five minutes from St Mark's.

Cut for a slower day: drop the Upper Town and sleep at the B&B from 15:00 to 18:00; dinner and an early night are the point of today.

Every flight, two columns

One Delta ticket, out through Paris and home through Amsterdam, both travelers together; the receipt sent is Mya's (confirmation HLMAMS, ticket 0062452505737), and Kyle's column assumes the same four legs. All times are local to each airport.

DTW Detroit Metropolitan · CDG Paris Charles de Gaulle (Delta at 2E; Hop from 2F/2G) · DBV Dubrovnik (Čilipi), 20 km south of the city · ZAG Zagreb (Pleso), 17 km south-east of the centre · AMS Amsterdam Schiphol, one terminal

The two joints, tightened

Paris, Sunday 06:45–08:45. Delta lands at Terminal 2E; the Hop flight leaves from 2F or the 2G satellite, which is a shuttle-bus ride. In between is the only border of the outbound trip: Schengen passport control with the first-entry biometric registration (fingerprints and a photo), then security again. Two hours is a normal CDG connection and not a generous one: check the screen as you come off and walk, do not browse. Bags go through. Dubrovnik is then a domestic arrival with no passport control, so the kerb is realistic by 11:30 and the host's car should be booked for then.

Amsterdam, Wednesday 08:00–09:20. Eighty minutes in one terminal: follow the signs for the D/E/F gates, through the Schengen exit passport control (the same fingerprints, logging you out) and Delta's questions at the gate. It is a legal KLM connection and a brisk one; both legs are on one Delta ticket, so if DL 9323 is late the rebooking is Delta's to make at the transfer desk in the D pier, not yours. The morning before it starts at 03:30 on the square with the B&B's 04:00 shuttle and bag drop by 04:30.

The to-do, sequenced

Everything actionable in this dossier plus the open items already in your notes, ordered by urgency. The first block is for today and tomorrow; late-August inventory on this coast is finite and you land in the morning.

Book now — today and tomorrow

• Catamaran Dubrovnik → Hvar, Wed 26 Aug, 08:00 (TP Line 842)Gates Hvar · sells out

  tp-line.hr, krilo.hr or ferryhopper.com; two adults; €50–55 each. Fallbacks 14:55 (TP Line) or 15:30 (Krilo). Departs Gruž, not the Old Port.
• A bed in Split, 29–30 AugNothing booked

  Inside or beside the palace so that Saturday evening and Sunday are on foot. Leads: Murum Boutique Rooms (Poljana Grgura Ninskog 3, +385 21 280 060), Hotel Vestibul Palace (Iza Vestibula 4), Grisogono Palace apartments (Kralja Petra Krešimira IV 8). Availability unchecked.
• One-way rental car, Split → Zagreb airport, Mon 31 Aug 08:30 – Tue 1 SepGates the lakes

  Via discovercars.com or direct; confirm the one-way fee in writing, the pick-up location in Split, and that the return is at ZAG. Automatic if you need one; specify.
• Plitvice tickets: Entrance 1, Mon 31 Aug 16:00 slot; Entrance 2, Tue 1 Sep 07:00 slotTimed · caps enforced

  ticketing.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr. A named two-day ticket (€60 each) if the webshop allows an afternoon first slot; otherwise €25 + €40 singles. Arrive within 55 minutes of each slot at the entrance chosen.
• Catamaran Hvar → Split, Sat 29 Aug, 11:30 (Jadrolinija)Book 3–5 days ahead

  jadrolinija.hr or Ferryhopper, ~€23–25 each; 17:25 is the other Jadrolinija sailing, and Krilo/TP Line fill the gaps.
• Airport pickup at Dubrovnik, Sun 11:30

  Message Villa Leoni (+385 91 445 2005) tonight with the flight (DL 8403 from Paris, 11:00); otherwise Uber/Bolt on arrival (€30–45) or the €10 Platanus shuttle to Pile.
• Walls closing time for TuesdayDecides the entry hour

  Ask at the Pile ticket office on Monday evening: 19:00 (current August schedule) means enter at 17:30; 19:30 means 18:00.
• Dubrovnik Pass, 3-day, two adults

  dubrovnikpass.com; the 3-day pass, €50 each, activated at the Rector's Palace on Monday at 09:00: it covers both museums, the walls on Tuesday evening, buses, and 20% off the Lokrum boat.
• Proto, Mon 24 Aug, 20:00

  +385 20 323 234. Or Dubravka 1836 for the terrace (+385 20 426 319) if you would rather stay by Pile.
• Restaurant 360, Tue 25 Aug, 21:00

  Booked. Reconfirm by email and ask for a table on the parapet; say whether you want the tasting menu so the kitchen paces it.
• Konoba Dubrava, Sun 23 Aug, 18:30

  Booked. Reconfirm on landing and tell them 18:30 stands; peka is cooked to the reservation.
• Sunset kayak, Mon 24 Aug, 17:00 (Viator 3494P5)

  Booked. Meet 16:45 at Brsalje 8, orange umbrella. Watch the inbox the evening before for a weather cancellation.

Before Hvar — while in Dubrovnik

• Hvar apartment: check-in time and the host's number

  The booking page gives the address (Vinka Pribojevića 9) but not the window; ask for an early bag drop on Wednesday.
• Leporini, Thu 27 lunch; Aria, Fri 28 20:30; Meneghello, Fri 28 13:00; Hula Hula table, Fri 28 18:30

  Phone numbers on the food file. Book Leporini and Aria two days out, Meneghello and Hula Hula on the morning.
• Konoba Fetivi, Sat 29 20:00; Matejuška, Sun 30 20:00

  +385 21 355 152 and +385 95 521 4706. Fetivi is closed on Sunday, so Saturday is the only night.
• Villa Sumrak: dinner Monday, breakfast at 06:00 Tuesday, cash

  +385 91 810 1989. Ask whether the path from the village to the Lower Lakes is open for an evening walk back.
• B&B Sky: how to find the door, the 04:00 shuttle, breakfast to go

  +385 91 456 1000. The booking is in the city centre, not at the airport; the shuttle is their paid service, and the flight is at 06:00.
• Kyle's flight reference

  Only Mya's receipt (HLMAMS) was sent. Confirm Kyle is on the same record or send his, so the flights page shows both.
• Pod Zidom, Tue 1 Sep, 19:30

  +385 99 325 3600; book on the drive to Zagreb.
• Cash: €150–200 between you

  For the island bus, Hula Hula, Villa Spiza, the Sumrak dinner and the Lokrum kiosk if its card machine is down.

Decisions parked, deliberately

• Wednesday: straight through to Hvar, or off at Korčula for lunch

  Decide on Tuesday night. Straight through needs one ticket; the stopover needs two (Dubrovnik–Korčula, Korčula–Hvar 15:15 or 17:00), bought separately.
• Thursday evening: Stari Grad by bus, or a beach afternoon at Pokonji Dol

  Decide at lunch, by the heat and the legs. No booking either way beyond the Stari Grad dinner.
• Friday: public taxi boat, or a private boat day

  The private day needs a call to Hvar Charter by Thursday morning; the taxi boat needs nothing.
• Plitvice: two singles or the two-day ticket

  Whichever the webshop sells for a 16:00 first slot; the difference is €5 each.
• Zagreb dinner: Pod Zidom, Vinodol or Stari Fijaker

  Pod Zidom is the plan; the other two are walk-ins if you change your mind on the square.

Where to eat, and how

Organized by town. Tags: Book ahead Walk in Already booked. No dietary restrictions are on file, so there are no notes at the table; if one exists, say so and it threads through every entry. The coast sells fish by the kilo (ask the price per kilo and the weight before you nod), a konoba (KOH-noh-bah) is a family tavern, and the word for the bill is račun (RAH-choon).

Dubrovnik

Hvar

Split

Plitvice & Zagreb

Markets of the trip

Getting you onto the Adriatic

You asked for a kayak, a beach list, the islands off Hvar and the boats between towns. The sea is the medium this trip is made of; here is each way onto it, ranked, with the numbers.

When the coast does 31 degrees

The ten-day forecast for Dubrovnik, Hvar and Split is dry, with highs of 30–31°C, nights of 25–26°C and one 15–20% chance of a shower on Tuesday. Rain is not your risk; heat between 11:00 and 16:00 is, and the day pages already bend around it with early starts and siestas. Zagreb is cooler at night and the lakes are ten degrees cooler than the coast. Ranked plays for the hour when even the shade is hot:

What actually gets sacrificed to heat: the Rector's Palace and the monastery on Monday morning if the jet lag wins, Marjan on Sunday if you sleep past 08:00, and the Zagreb Upper Town if Tuesday afternoon hits 33°C. Everything else bends rather than breaks.

The fine print, kept short

Getting around

Dubrovnik's old town is pedestrian; taxis, Uber and Bolt stop at the Pile and Ploče gates. Libertas buses cost €1.73 from a Tisak kiosk (valid 60 minutes, stamp on board) or €2.50 from the driver; a day pass is €5.31 and the 3-day Dubrovnik Pass includes rides. Pile to the Gruž ferry port is €10–12 by taxi. Hvar town is car-free and everything is on foot; the island bus leaves from behind the Pjaca, cash to the driver. Split's old town is pedestrian; the ferry port is a ten-minute walk from the palace, and bus 12 from the Riva end runs to Kasjuni for €3 in exact change. Driving: Croatia has no vignette; the A1 is tolled at booths that take cards (Split–Gornja Ploča about €17–20, Karlovac–Zagreb about €5). Speed cameras are common on the D1. Parking at Plitvice is €2 an hour at both entrances, paid on exit; in Zagreb you will have dropped the car before you need to park.

The heat, explained once

The coast runs 30–31°C by day and 25–26°C at night on your dates, with the sun high enough to burn through a t-shirt by 10:00. Croatians swim before breakfast and after 17:00 and spend 13:00 to 16:00 indoors, and the day pages copy them: every anchor starts by 08:00 and every day has a siesta. Sunset moves from 19:39 in Dubrovnik on Sunday to 19:34 in Zagreb at the end, so evenings are long and useful. The lakes sit at 500–640 m and will be 20–24°C by day and cool at 07:00; pack one layer. Sea temperature about 25°C everywhere on the coast.

Late August, honestly

It is the last week of high season: every beach lounger is for hire, every catamaran seat is contested, every restaurant named here takes bookings and needs them after 19:00, and the cruise ships are still in Dubrovnik (the walls at 08:00 are the counter-move). Prices are at their peak. Pack: water shoes, a wide hat, a refillable litre bottle each, a light long sleeve for the boats and the lakes, one smart outfit for 360, and a cash reserve.

Money & contact habits

Croatia uses the euro; cards work everywhere except the places that say otherwise, and four of those are in this plan: the island bus driver, Hula Hula, Villa Spiza and dinner at Villa Sumrak. Carry €150–200 in cash between you and top up at bank ATMs, not the blue Euronet ones by the gates, which charge badly. Tipping is 5–10% at restaurants, rounded up for taxis. Hosts and small restaurants answer WhatsApp faster than email; the booking phrase is Stol za dvoje u osam, molim (stohl zah DVOH-yeh oo OH-sahm, MOH-leem), a table for two at eight, please, and every one of them will switch to English.

Borders, phones, the sensible extras

Your Schengen entry is at Paris on Sunday morning, inside a two-hour connection; the EU's entry system registers fingerprints and a photo on a first visit, and the exit is logged the same way at Amsterdam on the way home. Dubrovnik is a domestic arrival with no passport control. There is no border on this route after Paris (Bosnia is why Mostar is out). An eSIM bought before you fly is cheaper than roaming; coverage is good everywhere except the Plitvice boardwalks. Tap water is drinkable in all five towns. Pharmacies (ljekarna, LYEH-kar-nah) keep long hours in Dubrovnik and Split; the Franciscan pharmacy is also a working one. Sunday closures: Konoba Menego in Hvar, Villa Spiza and Konoba Fetivi in Split; Monday closures: Trattoria Carmen and Restaurant 360 in Dubrovnik, Pod Zidom in Zagreb. The day pages route around all of them.