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Our group did a charter through this outfit out of Dubrovnik and it was awesome. They pick you up right at the old town dock.

https://dubrovnikboatandyacht.com/

They have different size vessels and excursions. Our group of 10 did a full day with multiple stops to swim in coves, with a lunch stop at a restaurant on the small island of Lopud.

This was September 2012, so things may have changed. I'll share our rough route with comments.

Zagreb: We did maybe 2 nights here. It's a lovely city with plenty to enjoy, but probably not the highlight of the country. Enjoy the museums, the culture, having a lager at a sidewalk cafe, etc.

We then drove up to Slovenia. Ljubljana is only about 2 hours by car from Zagreb. Easy drive. Ljubljana was amazing. And from there, Lake Bled is less than an hour. Alpine scenery and food. Gorgeous. I highly recommend Slovenia if you can squeeze it in.

We then drove back down into Croatia and around the Istrian Peninsula. Porec-Rovinj-Pula. Porec was great. Rovinj enchanted us. If you like truffles and/or olive oil, you can gorge yourself on either along this route. Pula is also nice a bit further south on the peninsula.

From there we drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Magical (and easy) hiking there with a million streams and waterfalls. Gorgeous. We stayed at a small inn in Plitvice for a night. Excellent.

Then we headed down to Hvar/Split. Hvar is a beautiful and fun island, depending on the time of year. It might get a bit crowded at height of summer and has gotten a reputation as a party island certain times of year. Otherwise it felt the most "vacationy" of all the places we went, i.e. the place to have a spa day and enjoy the sunset. There's some good wine tasting as well. We only stayed in Split for 1 night, so I don't have a ton to say about it. Nothing negative, though.

Then Dubrovnik. Easily the most captivating and interesting city of the lot. But, again, it's an issue of crowds. The famous picturesque part is a walled city which can get overloaded easily. When all the cruise ships dock and unload it's too much. So be mindful of timing (of day, and of year) to get the most out of it. I can't remember any specific restaurants or cafes. Nearly everything was good. I remember copious amounts of seafood risotto and gelato.

And from there it's easy to drive down to Bosnia and/or Montenegro. The only thing I did in Bosnia was stop to take a leak on way to Montenegro, so I don't have anything valuable to offer. Much like I said to the Bosnians. Feels like I might have short-changed them.

Anyway, long post light on specific recommendations I realize. But maybe some of these city/area mentions help.

I have not, but it's on my list.

My brother and three sisters have been to Croatia and my ND roommate to Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. They all rave about it, particulary Dubrovnik and Split, but also the countryside is beautiful, especially along the Adriatic coast. Zagreb they said was interesting for a day or two (max), very heavy architectural influence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But it would be on the cut list versus the coastal towns.

My roommate said Bosnia was fascinating, and Sarajevo and in particular Mostar were well worth it. They said the Montenegro coast was absolutely spectacular, with cliffs, fjords and beautiful towns.

The other thing they said was Croatia is cheap, and Bosnia is dirt cheap. That was like my experience in Budapest, where a meal costs half (or less) than the same meal in Vienna.

a year or two ago.

Any specific questions? I'll ask.

Most of my Balkans time has been spent in Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Novi Sad. Trying to get to our Skopje office soon.

Dubrovnik is awesome, though. Need to go back.