Travel Has anyone been to Croatia?

#16
^^^ Dubrovnik was a very photogenic city filled with lots of heritage and history. Very pedestrian friendly and the castle area is fascinating. There's an ice cream shop right outside the entrance that makes heavenly gelato. I second Opatija as well, it makes for a gorgeous seaside stroll, and there's a particular casino/hotel that has stunning architecture.


Attitude towards tourists was very welcoming and hospitable, many younger Croatians speak English so they are happy to help with directions or questions. I find they're happy if you try to speak a couple of phrases. "Hvala" for Thank you, and "Dobar dan" for Good Day
 
#17
I went to Split, Gradac, Dubrovnik, Šibenik, Orebic and places like that.. :smile: If you get the chance, go to dubrovnik! It's really pretty there. And Plitvice is so nice to see once in your life too!
 
#20
One specific question for you all is does anyone have a recommendation for a place to stay for a few days in Dubrovnik? Either a hotel or a private apartment is fine. How can I get a great rate and is there a particular website I should use?
Thanks again.
 
#22
We were in Porec (Istria) 2 years ago, I'm totally in love with it. Porec is fantastic, a compact little town on its own peninsula with awesome architecture: from Roman through Byzantin, romanesque, gothic, renaissance, baroque etc. etc. to art nouveau villas, you name it... The beach and marina is practically in the middle of the town, I loved that :beach:!
Pula is beautiful too, lots of roman & mediæval stuff. The beach is out of town, which was okay as I was there in late October.
Istria (& parts of Dalmatia) is basically like Italy in many ways, they were ruled by the Venetians from time to time. Croatia has everything I need: old towns, sea, sun, gorgeous food & wine. Malvasia is one of the best whites ever, and a lot cheaper (and even better) than in Italy.
In Istria they have truffles too (white, I think) but you need to go in the autumn for that (also for chestnuts and wild mushrooms).

On the 27th I'm off to Zadar (Zára) for two weeks with my son, we'll stay in a tiny old fishing-village near to the town - the house is right on the beach in a pine-grove (looked it up on GoogleEarth!) :sunshine::sunshine:

I found Croatian prices extremely low compared to Ireland (but Ireland is probably the most expensive place in Europe :tdown:)
 
#25
Hold onto chiarissima's great suggestions. You might be there only a few days this time, but I suspect once you see it, you'll be back.

Dubrovink is great - you can even enjoy it in a day (two is better), but given the cruise ship traffic, its beauty is easiest to appreciate very early in the morning and in the evening, when you can walk the walls in peace.

I adore Split (same caveat about cruise ship traffic). There are only two hotels within the old palace walls and it's really worth trying to book one. The layers of history are unbelievable - walking into bank that has a few Roman columns from 6 a.d., then a Medieval window and a bit of Renaissance detailing (and a computer station at the desk) is a unique experience.

On future trips, be sure to see some of the beauty of Istria, the islands (well detailed above) and consider seeing some of the other former Yugoslavian countries.

A great trip is to fly into Slovenia, see Lake Bled (perhaps the most picture perfect fairy tale place on earth), see more of Croatia (including Plitvice Natl. Park) and I highly, higly recommend spending some time in Bosnia and Serbia. The culture and people are far more distinct in character and history that many areas of Croatia.

One final suggestion that can change your experience of the trip - read a bit about the history before you go. As the border territory between the Roman (and later Hapsburg) empires and the Turks/Ottomans, I think this is one of the most facinating regions on earth!

Have fun!!
 
#27
Mostly the islands but also the areas around Pula/Istria have very beautiful beaches, but bring solidly built flip-flops and probably a pad or matt if that's your interest. Most of the beaches we found were very rocky.
 
#29
OK, thank you to all of you that gave me input and advice. I got back from my trip almost a week ago. I went to Dubrovnik for what was supposed to be 3 days but we missed the ferry from Bari by 10 minutes so we had to go the next day. I was amazed but 2 days was plenty to see Dubrovnik. It is SO beautiful! We stayed inside the walls of the old city. I walked the walls in the morning, ate lots of seafood and black risotto, spent some time at Banje beach, went to Buza Bar (the original) during the early day for the view and again at night for sunset, ate yummy gelato every day at the place right inside the Pile Gate (SOOOO good) and toured the city and took hundreds of photos. The best part was the summer festival. We arrived on opening day and the owner of the soba (apartment) we stayed at gave us her tickets to the opening ceremony! It was an amazing celebration of music, a play, song and a spectacular fireworks show afterward. On the second night we watched another show outside in the main square. It was the Zagreb Orchestra and an amazing tenor and soprano. I would go again just for the summer festival. I was amazed at how beautiful a stage the old city is for the shows. I can only imagine what it would be like to see Shakespear or Hamlet in the old fort or any number of shows elsewhere in the gorgeous city.

I would love to go back and see more of Croatia. I keep hearing how amazing Lake Bled is. I would like to see Hvar and many of the other places you all mentioned. Thanks again, you guys are the best!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back