When I first suggested a trip to Croatia to my husband, I assumed it would be a more affordable alternative to Greece or Italy, offering similar Mediterranean charm. However, as I researched further, I quickly realized that Croatia is far from a budget destination. While you can save money by staying outside of major tourist hubs, even the cost of food and drinks can add up quickly. If you’re planning a trip to Croatia and need to create a vacation budget, keep reading!
Croatia Trip Cost: A Detailed Breakdown for Your Vacation Budget
When planning a trip to Croatia, understanding the Croatia trip cost is crucial to creating a realistic vacation budget. Many travelers assume Croatia would be a cheaper alternative to destinations like Greece or Italy, but costs can add up faster than expected. While staying away from major tourist hotspots can help reduce expenses, even dining and transportation costs are higher than anticipated.
In this guide, I’ll break down the costs of a trip to Croatia, including airfare from the U.S., accommodations, transportation, activities, and food, so you can plan your budget accurately. You’ll also find our personal spending breakdown and tips for traveling more economically.
If you just need a quick answer, a 10-day trip to Croatia for two people traveling from the U.S. in the spring or late summer will cost around $10,769 USD, or about $538 per person, per day.
Don’t let these costs deter you! Croatia offers an incredible Mediterranean experience with stunning Old Towns, ancient Roman ruins, scenic coastlines, and the crystal-clear waters of the Adriatic Sea.
Croatia Travel Budget Assumptions
While Croatia can certainly make an excellent family vacation or group trip destination, for that type of trip you may be better off either renting a house/apartment or chartering a sailing yacht. Since Croatia is such a great couples trip destination, I’ve created this budget based on two travelers sharing one room and staying in hotels.
In this budget, airfare is based on flying from the United States. Obviously if you are based in Europe, you can get cheap flights to Split, Dubrovnik, or Zagreb and significantly lower the overall budget. I’ve priced things out based on flying from Boston, since that is what we did during our trip. It is also based on travel either early or late in the summer season (we visited in late August through early September.) You can save a bit more if you visit in late April or early October, just keep in mind that many places on the islands will start to shut down by late October through mid-April.
Since 10 days is a popular time frame for a trip to Europe and you can certainly see many Croatian highlights during this period of time, this Croatia trip cost is based on a 10-day trip, even though we actually stayed 12 nights.
For simplicity, I’ve also used US dollars instead of Euro and I typically use xe.com to get up-to-date currency conversion rates.
How Much Does a Trip to Croatia Cost?
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Airfare to Croatia Cost
Croatia is a long, skinny, somewhat mountainous country clinging to the Adriatic Sea. If you want to explore a good amount of the country, it will be best to fly into one city and fly out of another and rent a car to drive in between. If you only have a week or less, you may want to consider focusing your trip on the Dalmatian Coast and flying into Dubrovnik and out of Split (or looping back to Dubrovnik).
Otherwise, you can fly into either Zagreb or Dubrovnik and fly out of the other. Both have a number of direct flights from hub cities in the USA. We decided to fly into Dubrovnik. There are direct flights from the US, but we flew Delta out of Boston and connected through Amsterdam.
On the way back, we decided to fly out of Venice, Italy instead of Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, since both were equidistant from our location. However, this ended up being a mistake due to car rental drop off fees, which I’ll explain later. But just trust me that it will be cheaper to fly out of Zagreb.
Our airfare for Boston to Dubrovnik via Amsterdam and Venice to Boston via JFK cost us $1238 each. However, as I sat down to write this post, I got an alert for flights to Zagreb for $540 from Boston for May of next year. So flight deals are possible!
I recommend subscribing to an airfare deal site such as Going to look for sales and get alerts when flights go on sale.
If you want to use points and find the best way to accumulate points and miles through credit card spending and sign up bonuses, I’d suggest downloading the Travel Freely app to track your credit cards and learn how to earn points.
Total Airfare Cost: $2400 ($1200 x 2)
Accommodation Costs in Croatia
Like many destinations, accommodations costs can really vary in Croatia. If you want to save money, you need to book a rental and/or stay outside of the main tourist centers. For example, look at Cavtat instead of Dubrovnik, Stari Grad instead of Hvar Town, etc. Hotels in town centers can get extremely expensive, especially in Dubrovnik.
Another thing to keep in mind when choosing a hotel is how you are going to get to the actual hotel. Many of the town centers are pedestrian-only zones built with cobblestone streets and lots of stairs. This is not ideal for walking with luggage! These town centers can also get extremely crowded during the day with cruise ship tourists (especially Dubrovnik and Split) and are loud at night with partiers (such as Split and Hvar Town). So while staying in the town center sounds nice, it may not be the right choice for you.
For our trip, we spent three nights in Dubrovnik, one night on Korcula, three nights in Hvar, one night in Zadar, and four nights in Istria. I think a typical 10-night trip would be:
- 2 nights in Dubrovnik
- 3 nights on Hvar and/or Korcula
- 1 night in Split or Zadar
- 3 nights in Istria
- 1 night in Zagreb (depending on your outbound flight time)
Since we planned this trip to celebrate my completion of breast cancer treatment, we wanted to splash out with a bit more luxury and relaxation than many travelers may be looking for. Even still, we couldn’t afford to splurge for the luxury hotels in places like Dubrovnik or Hvar. Over $800 a night is too rich for my budget. We looked for a combination of boutique hotels and 4 to 5 star properties. If you are looking for an opportunity to use points, Dubrovnik and Zagreb will be your best bet.
Below I listed where we stayed, what we paid, and possible alternatives. I want to reiterate that I was NOT trying to make this a budget trip and I gravitate toward boutique and affordable luxury hotels:
- Dubrovnik: We stayed at the Rixos Premium Dubrovnik for $568 per night for a superior sea view room. I booked it through American Express Travel and it is part of its Hotel Collection and with my Platinum Card I also received a $100 resort credit and free breakfast. Another good option that is similarly priced is the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik, which is a shorter walk to the Old Town. You are unlikely to find a nice hotel under $300 a night in Dubrovnik. To save money, you can always stay in nearby Cavtat and take a ferry or water taxi to the Old Town.
- Korcula: We stayed at the Aminess Korcula Heritage Hotel for $354 per night for a double room with a seaside balcony, including breakfast. This was directly across from one ferry port and a five minute walk to another, so we loved the convenience for a short stay. If you wanted to save some money, there are a number of other Aminess hotels on the island, including the Marko Polo, which is not too far from the Old Town, which will run you under $200 per night.
- Hvar: We stayed at the Beach Bay Hvar Hotel, which was a less than five minute walk from the ferry port in a lovely but quiet location. It cost us $444 per night including breakfast. Hvar is an expensive island and to save money, you may want to stay in one of the other towns other than Hvar Town, such as Jelsa or Stari Grad, but then you will probably want a car on the island. One option would be the Hvar Places Hotel & Villas for about $250 per night.
- Zadar: Many people may choose to stay a night in Split but to cut down the long drive to Istria, we opted to visit Split and then stay in Zadar instead. We stayed at the Hotel Bastion in the Old Town since it was a short stay and they offered parking for 15 euro per night. We paid $323 per night and I booked it through the Chase Travel Portal and used my $50 per year credit offered through my Chase Sapphire card to reduce the price. Another recommended option is the Art Hotel Kalelarga, which is slightly cheaper.
- Istria: In Istria we splurged for a truly beautiful wine hotel and stayed at the Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery in a one-bedroom residence for $750 per night including breakfast. We were going to stay in a cheaper room, but it wasn’t available for all four nights. For us, this was worth the extra splurge, but for those not looking for such a luxurious stay, you may want to consider something like the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj by Maistra Collection for around $500 or one of the collection’s less expensive properties.
- Zagreb: As I mentioned before, we flew out of Venice and didn’t get to visit Zagreb, but for those looking for a place to stay the night before flying out, I was initially looking at booking the Canopy by Hilton City Centre for $189 per night.
As you can see, nice hotels in Croatia are not cheap. Sure there are hostels, guest houses, and plenty of rentals where you can save money but if you are looking for four or five star hotels, this is what it will cost you in the high or shoulder seasons.
If you are looking for similar style hotels, your total cost will be:
Total Accommodations Cost: $450 average/night x 10 nights = $4500
Transportation Costs within Croatia
Where you go in Croatia will determine how you will get around. You can certainly spend a week in Croatia without renting a car, but you will need to build ferry tickets and bus or cab fare into your costs. If you want to get to the northern part of the country including Istria, Zadar, and Zagreb, you will need a car or to pay for a daily driver.
What we did was fly into Dubrovnik and then take a ferry to Korcula (we actually took a day trip to the Pelješac Peninsula and then took a very short ferry from Orebić to Korcula), then a ferry to Hvar, and a ferry from Hvar to Split. In Split, we picked up a rental car for the rest of the trip.
You will need a taxi or Uber (Uber is cheaper) in Dubrovnik to get to the ferry and cruise ship port because it isn’t the same port as in Old Town where the boat tours leave from. You will also need an Uber to get to the Split Airport to pick up your car. Alternatively, there is a small Enterprise office in the Split port.
Once you have a car, you need to build in a budget for gas (it’s expensive), tolls, and parking if you want to visit small towns. Remember, the earlier you rent a car, the cheaper it will be. If you want a car with an automatic transmission, it will cost more. Also keep in mind that the roads in Old Towns and through the mountains in Istria are narrow. Unless you plan on only highway driving, don’t get a large car.
Also, we made the mistake of booking our flights before looking into rental cars so we didn’t realize that not only would it be hugely expensive to do a one-way drop off in Italy versus Croatia, but that most car rental companies don’t even allow a drop off outside of Croatia (Enterprise did.) You will be much better off flying out of Zagreb, even if it takes the same amount of time to drive to Venice.
Average transportation costs:
- Car rental = $437
- Ferry tickets = $55 (Korcula – Hvar)+ $18.50 (Hvar-Split) + $88 (Dubrovnik-Korcula)= $161.50
- Taxi/Uber = $80
- Parking = $40
- Gas = $150
Total Transportation Costs = $868.50
Food Costs in Croatia
The prices that surprised me the most were the cost of the food and drink in Croatia. I’m used to going to Greece, Italy, Portugal, France, etc. and being able to find local restaurants that serve up a decent meal for under $20 each and wine for around $5-10 a glass. This was much harder to achieve in Croatia, especially in Dubrovnik and Hvar.
If you just want some good pizza, you can get one for around $15, but if you are hungry you will need more than sharing one pizza. Luckily, most of the hotels include breakfast or you could stop at a bakery to get something light. For lunch, plan on spending $30-50. Dinners will vary depending on your tastes. We ate at some amazing restaurants that ranged from $130 to over $300 (some of that depended on if we got a bottle of wine.)
For local, more affordable food look for the Konobos, they are like the tavernas/tabernas, etc of Croatia. I would budget $200 a day for food. You can get away with much less if you eat from the take-away places and don’t drink, but this should give you cushion to enjoy a few fine dining restaurants as well.
Total Food Costs: $2000
Activities Cost within Croatia
Your activity costs will vary in Croatia, depending on how active you want to be and how much you want to tour and learn about the cities you visit just wander on your own. Given this itinerary, there are a few paid activities that I would highly recommend including:
- Walking the Dubrovnik Walls: 35 euro per person = $77
- Sunset boat tour in Dubrovnik: On our first night in Croatia, we took this private sunset cruise around Dubrovnik and it was the perfect kick off to an excellent trip. I’d highly recommend booking private if you can. = $350
- Lokrum Island: Take the ferry to Lokrum Island for the day to swim, snorkel, and explore. The ferry is about $30 per person = $60
- Walking tours (Dubrovnik and Split): I’d recommend doing a walking tour or Game of Thrones tour in Dubrovnik and another in Split, as there is so much to see in each city. We also did a walking tour in Korcula, but I think you can easily explore that city on your own. = $100 (or $500 if you want private tours)
- Sun beds / lounge chair rentals: These tend to be 15 to 30 euro to rent at beach clubs, with cabanas running 100-200 euros = $66
- Boat tour in Hvar: One of the most popular things to do in Hvar is take a boat tour to the surrounding islands and Blue Cave. Tons of boats line the harbor offering a variety of boat tours. Some of these are packed with people and don’t have a lot of outdoor space, so you want to choose based on the experience you are looking for. Most will cost around $80 per person = $160
- Wine tasting: These tend to run about 30 euro per person, so plan on $70 to do one or you can do two and split a tasting because they tend to offer generous pours.
You may also consider some additional activities such as:
Total Activities Costs = $1000
Total Croatia Trip Cost
Based on the assumptions above, a 10-day trip to Croatia for two people traveling from the United States will cost an average of over $10,000, or $538.45 per person, per day. Sure, there are ways to do this more economically, but most of us aren’t looking to spend 10 days hostel hopping or not enjoying ourselves with activities, food, and drink.
If you are looking for luxury, it can also cost much more. Because we splurged on some private tours, upgraded accommodations, and nice dinners, we actually spent close to $15,000 on our 12-night trip.
| Category | Cost |
| Airfare | $2,400 |
| Accommodations | $4,500 |
| Transportation | $ 869 |
| Food | $2,000 |
| Activities and Tours | $1,000 |
| Total | $10,769 |
Don’t forget to also budget for travel insurance for a trip to Croatia!
Still Deciding Where to Go?
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