We've been twice. Stayed further south, Lapad then Cavtat. Cavtat was amazing. We did package holidays with Jet2. Would use them again. Try the tripadvisor Croatia forum. Lots of helpful advice on there.
Me, DH, and 2 baby dc went for a week last September and really had a great time. I had never been to Croatia before as was very surprised how much I liked it.
We stayed in the Grand admiral hotel in Slano which was 60 minutes drive from Dubrovnik airport, we hired a car from the air port which was really simple.
First photo is the hotel in Slano, other 2 are of Slano too
We flew to split and got the ferry straight out to the islands. Brac was the best, we stayed in Bol which was beautiful but with a bit of a touristy buzz that we needed with teens in tow. We then visited Sibenik and stayed in a campsite near Krka national park. Was utterly amazing.
It's really easy to get to Bol from split, you can get the catermaran from split harbour directly over to the town. We didn't hire a car because you don't really need one on the islands, they're pretty small. Bol beaches are amazing. There's a monastery with its own beach... And another beach that sticks out into the sea like a tongue of sand. There's a beach every few paces. The sea is the most beautiful colour. I'll dig out some more photos...
We went a couple of years ago, flew direct to Split from Gatwick for super-cheap (much cheaper than flying to Dubrovnik) and spent a few days there, absolutely gorgeous. There are shuttle buses running from the airport direct into town. Then got the ferry to Hvar and then Vis, Hvar was beautiful but pretty busy, Vis was tiny and remote but still gorgeous. Stayed in AirBnBs everywhere, they were fab. Would absolutely love to go back!
Split town is about 20 mins from Split airport depending on traffic. It's easy to get a taxi or a bus into the town or straight down to the port where you can get boats out to the islands. Split is worth a good look around, it also has town beaches.
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