Croatia - Do's & Don'ts

Cartman78

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been covered before but couldn’t find another thread –

Heading off to Croatia in August, and to be honest, haven’t done a whole lot of research on it yet (apart from the fact that is gonna be very hot and very scenic:cool:)

We’re staying for a week in Makarska and a week in Dubrovnik.

Would be grateful to hear any travel tips, do’s and don’t, must-sees, tourist traps, food & drink recommendations etc. that people have on Croatia in general.

Many thanks in advance, cm

P. Breathnach

I don't think there are many don'ts, except for the classic "don't mention the war".

While tourism is the major economic activity on the Dalmatian coast, I didn't experience much in the way of unscrupulous activity. Prices are very low by Irish standards, but probably high enough by local standards to yield good profits without having to con you. Obviously, a waterfront restaurant or café will charge a bit extra, but that's normal anywhere.

Makarska is fairly small, but pretty. Dubrovnik is stunning, but not huge. I expect that you might enjoy outings to other places. Some of the best outings are by boat. Korcula appealed to me.

I hope you like fish. Every restaurant seems to offer a good choice: this fish, or that fish, or the other fish, grilled and served with mangelwurzel. I liked them all!

Cartman78

Thanks for the info PB -
Luckily I'm a fish lover so will be right at home by the sounds of it.

Anyone else got any recommendations?

Cheers cm

curly from cork

heading to croatia in 2 weeks this will be our 2 nd time. 2 yrs ago we went and loved it. we flew into split . then went to a small island for a few days, solta. then moved onto hvar for the remainder of the week.
this year we are doing a totally differerent holiday, as we are sailing for the week. we fly into dubrovnik and are sailing as far as korcula and back. i would like to hear from anyone that has sailed this route and could share some tips
many thanks

P. Breathnach

curly from cork wrote: »

... this year we are doing a totally differerent holiday, as we are sailing for the week. we fly into dubrovnik and are sailing as far as korcula and back. i would like to hear from anyone that has sailed this route and could share some tips
many thanks

Are you handling the boat, or are you joining one of the organised cruises?

curly from cork

on our own. just chartering for the week

P. Breathnach

Can't help you much, then, because I don't sail. I was on the water there, but on a 70-foot schooner. There can be a bit of a swell, but if you sail out of one of the Cork harbours, it will seem like nothing. The scenery is fantastic, and you will have plenty of company on the water.

madrabui

I'd second Korcula. It's a very chilled out place.

SlimJ

Heading to Makarska for a week on Friday myself- any Must See's?

Cartman78

SlimJ wrote: »

Heading to Makarska for a week on Friday myself- any Must See's?

Hi SlimJ, i'm still on Croatia countdown here - I'll be expecting a full report when you get back:)

MOH

Only got to spend one short night in Korcula due to a ferry cancellation, and it was deluging rain, but looked like the kind of place I could have spent at least a full day.

Day trip from Dubrovnik to island of Mljet was nice, not a ton to see there but nice scenery, did a bit of a hike around, and then arrived back at the dock to find the catamaran home had been cancelled due to high seas. Locals were very friendly, found accommodation for everyone overnight.

Did a day trip to Montenegro with stops in Kotor and Budva, which is probably worth doing if you want to tick off another country, although after Split, Korcula and Dubrovnik the novelty of another walled city was wearing off a bit. And after travelling by road a lot through Croatia, Montenegro did look a bit similar. (We'd actually booked to go to Mostar instead, but the idiot rep put us on the wrong trip. Although we met someone on the Montenegro trip who'd done it, and said it was pretty much 3 hours bussing it each way to see the Mostar bridge, nothing much else, although the architecture in Bosnia was a bit different).

(Hmm, looking back on it quitea lot went wrong!)

Spent a few days in Hvar, a night in Split, and a night in Zadar (not an awful lot to see there apart from the sea organ, which is pretty impressive, especially at night).

In Dubrovnik itself, obviously do the tour along the walls, though if it's a hot day leave it towards the afternoon, and bring water, you can get pretty parched up there.

Miaireland

One thing I was told while I was there a few years ago by the owner of the apartments I was staying in was do not wander onto scrub land etc in remote places as there may be old land mines etc.

I'm not sure if it was true or he was just teasing us but we never took the chance.

faigs

Miaireland wrote: »

One thing I was told while I was there a few years ago by the owner of the apartments I was staying in was do not wander onto scrub land etc in remote places as there may be old land mines etc.

I'm not sure if it was true or he was just teasing us but we never took the chance.

Nope he wasn't teasing you, it's true. Was there for the first time 3 years ago and there were forest fires all around Dubrovnik with the heat, every once in a while you'd hear explosions of the land mines going off in the fire. It is also mentioned in the Lonely Planet guides.

Fizzical

If you're going to Dubrovnik, stay inside the walled city! We loved it there. And go for a swim off the rocks - through the door in the city wall, beside the cafe/bar.

faigs

Fizzical wrote: »

And go for a swim off the rocks - through the door in the city wall, beside the cafe/bar.

I can second that, great little place called Buza Bar, there are two of them, they're kind of hidden but you can search here or google for directions. One of them can be seen from the city walls.

There is also a nice small beach just outside the city heading up the hill past the harbour on the right, pretty popular most days and only a short walk from the old town.

Get yourself a Lonely Planet guide it you're doing a bit of traveling around Croatia - definitely worth it and you'll be back again!