Dubrovnik, Northern Ibiza or Sicily?

Spins

Myself (36) and girlfriend (33) away on business for a week in July 2010. planning on going somewhere to chillax for a week to ten days thereafter. She wants Dubrovnik, I wanted Ibiza (avoiding San Anto etc.) and both of us wouldn't mind sicily. We just want to relax, sun ourselves, swim and dine out of fabulous seafood. We don't really plan on travelling around too much while there.
Of the three locations above, what would people recommend?
We're on a mid range budget.
Any specific recommendations (acc, food, bars etc.) at any of these locations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Owen

I thought Sardinia sucked. Sicily ftw :

My Sicily holiday

In_tuition

PaintDoctor wrote: »

I thought Sardinia sucked

I didn't.

Exclamation Marc

Was in Dubrovnik about 3 years ago and it was amazing. Couldn't recommend it highly enough. Had such a lovely time, was very cost friendly and accom was cheap for a great location. All I will say is don't spend too much time outside of the old town.

We spent four days in Dubrovnik mainland and three in the "Old Town", and just wished we would have done it 3 days in main, and 4 or maybe 5 in Old Town. It's a lovely spot and I highly recommend it. We also spent some time in the small islands off Dubrovnik (one has a sandy beach; Croatian beaches are generally rocky) and it was lovely for a day or two max.

I haven't been to Sicily or Northern Ibiza so I can't compare.

Columbia

I've not been to or near Ibiza, so can't comment on that.

Dubrovnik is great and one of my favourite spots in Europe, alongside Prague and all of Iceland.

However, for the kind of holiday you describe, maybe Sicily is the best bet.

Reginald P. DuM

I will throw in my two cents worth on Dubrovnik, just to balance things up a little!

Spent 4 days there in 06 as part of a European tour. Would never go back. The old town is beautiful yes but what you'd need to see you'd cover it in 2 relaxing days easy. After that the beachs were rocky, the food was anything but nice and the people were less than hospitable. Everywhere we went we felt we were being ripped off. Different people have different experiences but mine were negative. Good luck with your choices.

milkado

I had a great experience in Dubrovnik this summer! Stayed in Lapad which is cheaper and has the most beaches and is just a short bus ride to the old town. We used to go to the old town every night for dinner then we would drink wine on the pier (everyone did this!) then go to a few bars after. A lot of the bars had cheap cocktail deals and stuff. The old town is so pretty, you should do a walking tour about the recent war, really interesting. Also I know you said you don't plan on doing a lot of travelling but a lot of tour companies do day trips to Montenegro or Mostar, I did both and they're well worth doing particularly the Mostar one!!

seamus

Dubrovnik, definitely, loved it. Stay near the old town, on the Southern side, there's a great beach there. I'm not a seafood eater, but every single restaurant was bursting with it, and the food we ate otherwise was great, so I imagine their seafood is fantastic.

Can't contradict the poster above - we were there in 2002, so tourist culture may have taken hold since then and they might now be something of a rip-off.

Unshelved

Have been to Croatia and Sicily. We stayed in Cavtat which is a resort about 5 miles or so from Dubrovnik. Loved it - beautiful place, nice food - not exactly cheap because Dubrovnik is a stop for a lot of cruise ships so there are many tourists with a lot of money. People aren't the friendliest - but that's more of an eastern-european thing I thought. Dubrovnik itself is beautiful, and it's well worth taking a trip to see the islands as well. Beaches are as we know them are really non-existent, the shore is very rocky but lovely clear sea for swimming.

Sicily is lovely too - we stayed in Taormina (on the east coast), the Aeolian Islands and Cefalu (on the north coast). Again, a great place with fantastic food. Taormina is gorgeous - very cosmopolitan and a little expensive but well worth the trip. The Aeolian islands are spectacular and Cefalu is more of a standard resort with nice beaches and within an easy distance of Palermo. The only real downside of Sicily is that - apart from Taormina and Catania - things tend to close down really early, to the extent that if you leave a restaurant after 10.30 or so everything has shut up and it's impossible to find somewhere for a nightcap. Taormina is a lot more lively. I'd say if fantastic food is the clincher then Sicily is your place.

Spins

Thank you all for your opinions. Generally seem to be good reports about Croatia. Just read today that apparently the beaches around Split are also v. nice and perhaps a bit livlier (altho I'm not sure we want lively). But R.P. Dum, I have also read reports along the lines of your on other websites so you're not alone there. All in all tho, the reports seem quite good. Haven't been able to find out from anybody about Northern Ibiza, a bit more research needed I think.

Sicily would be lovely but it's been demoted to third place behind Croatia or Ibiza.

Other thoughts/views still welcome and appreciated.

Thanks again.

kippy

Another vote here for dubrovnik, worth staying a week in the area.
Also spent a week in Makarska (sp) last time we there there. Would highly recommend it. Booked through concorde travel.

SuperStarHoney

I've been to Dubrovnik twice and really enjoyed it both times. However the beaches are rocky and it is very touristy. If you just want to relax on a beach for the week away from your standard package holiday job I wouldn't really recommend Dubrovnik but further north in Croatia might suit you.

I haven't been to Ibizia (have heard great things though) or Sicily but have been to Sardinia and I would highly recommend it for a chilled out beach holiday. The beaches, particularly on the north coast and the food are AMAZING!