Croatia - and where else?

BetsyEllen

Hi all!

I'm already planning my holiday for next September - anything to get me through the miserable winter that is approaching!!

So this year I done Rome for a week and it was unreal.
I'm half tempted to go back to Italy but don't want ot fall into the lazy trap of going to the same places over and over because I feel comfortable there.

I've done a bit of googling and I love the sound of Croatia, in and around Dubrovnik especially as it would be nice to incorporate some sunbathing and relaxing amongst the site seeing this time.

However I'm thinking it would be nice to visit somewhere else this time also as I will have 7-10 days to play with.

So, does anyone have any recommendations? Looking at the map I seem close to Austria, Hungary and Italy.
Have any of you travelled from somewhere in Croatia to another country and how long was your journey/where did you go/would you recommend it?

Or would you use the whole week/10 days to explore Croatia?

Many thanks

ems_12

Croatia is a fantastic place, great choice! It has amazing food (Italian influenced, so lots of pasta and pizza, and more amazing seafood). It has great landscapes and coast. And it has very friendly people.
If you go in September their tourist season will be winding down, so check the timetables for ferrys etc before you plan, but it shouldn't be a ghost town by then!

Zadar is well worth a visit; you could spend a day or two here. Hire a bike and take a ferry across to the islands for a wee spin and coffee by the coast.

There's some National Parks within a few hours drive; Paklenica, and Krka; you could easily spend a few days hiking or kayaking or cycling. There's also Plitvice Lakes; a bit of a drive but gorgeous.

Split is a gorgeous town; again, a day would see the sights, and it's a good point of departure for the islands. I visited Hvar island and really liked it (out of season, so it wasn't packed with party boats, just enough to enjoy a night out). Each island is known for different highlights; party island, nature, etc, so read up on them before you choose where to go.

I didn't make it to either Pula or Dubrovnik. I think Dubrovnik would be very busy with cruise ships but it's meant to be very pretty. And also you could take a day trip to Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina) which looks very scenic.

For info: I stayed in a mix of hostels and low budget hotels, and had a hire car (but didn't bring it to the islands).

BetsyEllen

ems_12 wrote: »

Croatia is a fantastic place, great choice! It has amazing food (Italian influenced, so lots of pasta and pizza, and more amazing seafood). It has great landscapes and coast. And it has very friendly people.
If you go in September their tourist season will be winding down, so check the timetables for ferrys etc before you plan, but it shouldn't be a ghost town by then!

Zadar is well worth a visit; you could spend a day or two here. Hire a bike and take a ferry across to the islands for a wee spin and coffee by the coast.

There's some National Parks within a few hours drive; Paklenica, and Krka; you could easily spend a few days hiking or kayaking or cycling. There's also Plitvice Lakes; a bit of a drive but gorgeous.

Split is a gorgeous town; again, a day would see the sights, and it's a good point of departure for the islands. I visited Hvar island and really liked it (out of season, so it wasn't packed with party boats, just enough to enjoy a night out). Each island is known for different highlights; party island, nature, etc, so read up on them before you choose where to go.

I didn't make it to either Pula or Dubrovnik. I think Dubrovnik would be very busy with cruise ships but it's meant to be very pretty. And also you could take a day trip to Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina) which looks very scenic.

For info: I stayed in a mix of hostels and low budget hotels, and had a hire car (but didn't bring it to the islands).

Excellent advice, thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed reply.

Did you find it easy to drive around? Are they the same side of the road as us?

If I didn't hire a car (which I would be nervous to do to be honest) would I find it easy enough to get about do you think?

ems_12

They drive on the right, so it's different. I found it very easy to drive; I'm quite a confident driver & have driven in Spain prior to Croatia. The coastal road is usually two lanes and quite wide, with tunnels through some of the mountains. The towns weren't too bad; fairly well signposted, certainly better than Italy or Spain.
I think there's a bus service along the coast, but if you wanted to go anywhere outside the main cities (e.g. the National Parks) it would be hard without booking a tour/day trip with a company. Once you're in the ferry's departing town, the islands are fairly easy without a car. I didn't look into this in great depth though, so happy to be corrected!
Also, I just remembered; when you disembark the ferry there's usually people offering accommodation in their houses etc. I didn't avail of this so I'm unsure how nice or dodgy they were!

pjproby

I have done northern Italy and northern Croatia on the same holiday. also on another occasion, southern Croatia and Montenegro. I love Croatia but do note the beaches are mostly stony rather than sandy.

otnomart

I enjoyed Trieste in Italy and Piran in the Slovenian Coast.

Tigerandahalf

Dubrovnik is lovely. It has a great choice of restaurants to eat at.

September might be a good time to go as it can be very crowded and also very hot during the summer.

The beaches around Dubrovnik are stony but you can do some lovely island hopping boat cruises.

Tours to Mostar in Bosnia; Kotor and Budva in Montenegro are popular.

Budva has a lovely beach and walk and nice for a swim.

So you could do day trips and/or stay over for a night.

I have never been up the coast of Croatia but from what I have read it seems a great place for people into outdoor activities.