Sell Croatia to me

naughtysmurf

I've been looking at Croatia for the last couple of weeks for a family holiday, late June 2020, ten nights but need convincing, two adults & one teen, initially thought we'd do a few days in either Split or Dubrovnik & then a week on one of the islands, maybe Havr or Brac or one night in Dubrovnik or Split, island week followed by a couple of days in either city

Concerns.... Dubrovnik will be heaving during the summer so less enjoyable, maybe better done in the off season? Split I'm not sure
Good quality hotels seem quite / very expensive in both cities, ideally need a decent pool, fair enough it's close to high season, AirB&B seems reasonable value though but don't plan on having a car so being close to stuff is important & pools are rare
Beaches, used to enjoying majestic sandy beaches so not sure about how enjoyable we will find the Croatian coastline ( I'm sure it's beautiful to the eye )
Worried we'd be bored sh1tless for a week on an Croatian island

Things we like to do....some days absolutely nothing, just chill in the sun by a nice pool or beach, other days get up & do / see stuff, love wandering around old historic places possible in the morning before it gets too hot, nice meal in the evening, few drinks, nothing mad

Budget 3K-4K max

Sell Croatia to me & any advice on where to base ourselves whether on the mainland with day trips or a two centre holiday will be much appreciated

Thanks

uck51js9zml2yt

I think the Croats might object to their country being sold.

My brother said it's nice. I've never been.

Ferris_Bueller

Have been to both Dubrovnik and Split (although not family holidays, I'm late 20s), Dubrovnik is absolutely beautiful, the old town is very picturesque and fantastic place to walk around, probably one of the nicest places I have been. Great weather, extremely safe, plenty of good day trips you can do (Islands, Montenegro, Bosnia) but not sure if that would be too much travelling with kids. It is full of stairs, basically on a slant so there is a lot of uphill walking involved, as far as I know there are more hotels/resort type places slightly to the north of the old town (Lapad/Babin Kuk area) which might be more suitable for families and children but would be a bus journey from the Old Town.

Split is more of a destination for younger people I felt, lots use it as a destination to get to some of the party islands like Hvar. Old town centre area is very nice as well and it has better beaches than Dubrovnik, probably cheaper to stay here and cost of eating out etc would be cheaper too. Croatia in general wasn't as cheap as I expected it to be and I felt you paid a lot for average meals in a restaurant, beautiful country and found the locals very friendly in Split anyway (hard to find locals in Dubrovnik!), but I'd say if you wanted to get the most out of Croatia then having your own car and a lot of travelling/moving around would be involved.

iamwhoiam

Stay outside Dubrovnik in Cavtat . You can get the water taxi to Dubrovnik and it is stunningly beautiful along the coast .Cavtat is fab and very east access to Dubrovnik.

italodisco

CEVAPI

naughtysmurf

Thanks, I think the choice will probably come down to Cavtat as a base for Dubrovnik & islands or Split as a base for Hvar & other islands, I’m leaning more towards Split & using AirB&B , further research required no doubt.

grimm2005

I was in Dubrovnik for a week there beginning of October and it was beautiful, felt like the perfect time to go, weather was really nice, sun everyday but not sweltering hot, old town was busy during the day but not crazy but I could imagine it would get pretty hectic in high season. We stayed in an Airbnb high up in the hills with incredible views between old town and the newer part in the west. It was about a 25min walk downhill to the old town but we used Uber to and from the old town which was really handy and way cheaper than regular taxis.

Tonnes to do in Dubrovnik as well so you shouldn't be bored, it felt like a really nice mix of a sun holiday and a city break.

Posy

Plitvice national park sells itself. Was there about 4 years ago when I stayed in Zadar. Stunning.