Croatia - Any advice/recommendations

Cluedo Monopoly

We are planning a 2 week family holiday to Croatia next May/June.

Any advice appreciated. Will probably AirBnB it and hire a car. We love swimming and snorkeling.

LillySV

Fantastic country. We went to Slovenia and then hired cars to travel through that country and then to Croatia, hvar was fantastic , plitvice, pula , Dubrovnik … the whole country is fantastic … definitely consider hiring a car to see the place .. IMO the only way to see a place is to drive from town to town by yourself

HeidiHeidi

There is a fantastic ferry service between the islands of the southern half of the coast - there probably is for the northern half as well, but I haven't used that so can't say for sure.

So don't discount island hopping, there are so many and they're SO beautiful!

LillySV

Ps just read your bit about car, yea definitely the way to go . It was actually my honeymoon that I did this … we had traveled to Venice , got train to Gorizia,Then hired car and over to Slovenia , visited places like bled… fantastic … working our way over to Croatia … did it over two - two and a half weeks …. Was fantastic … might be an idea for ye

dotsman

While hiring a car makes sense for some of the inland places, Croatia's best features are predominantly on the coast and especially on the islands. So, while you can still take a car onto the islands, it will probably cost a lot more with a car than just foot passengers and, depending on the island, you may not really use it.

It's been quite a while since I've last been, but have done Croatia a good few times. Every time , we had a hired car going to/leaving Croatia, but did all the Island hopping as foot passengers. But that was always as groups of young adults. If you have kids, it might be worth have the car just to carry all the luggage etc.

Cluedo Monopoly

Thanks for the advice.

How is the accommodation? Would you recommend hotels in 3/4 locations or is Airbnb good there? We would prefer self catering of any hotels did that.

What's the car hire like?

Strumms

Zadar and Dubrovnik are brilliant... beautiful, stunningly picturesque and very nice people, it’s cheap enough in both places and the food is good... friend of mine is in a long term relationship with a girl here who is originally from Zadar and I was sold on it by seeing her photos taken there and how they both spoke of it... took in Dubrovnik on a cruise.

both cities are worth checking out, lovely to walk around but take a walking or driven guided tour first day to get your bearings...

friend has also spoken highly of pula but I’ve never been there myself.

Skiup

I've been twice and would highly recommend it. We island hopped from Dubrovnik to Split taking in Mljet and Hvar. Mljet is beautiful and very relaxed compared to Hvar. We then rented a car from Split and drove from there to Zadar finishing up in Pula and Rovinj and also a day trip to Venice. We also took the car to Plitvice and Krka national parks which are stunning but extremely busy.

Second time we based ourselves in Zadar as it was a quickly organised holiday and we again rented a car and went to Zagreb for a day trip and also Paklenika national park and day trips to Kornati and other islands by boat.

We used air b and b both times and found the accommodation and hosts excellent and helpful. Renting a car was also hassle free. Food is very good and quite Italian influenced in most places. The people are friendly but not overly so due to the sheer amount of tourists I'd imagine. Prices are extremely good and the euro goes a long way.

The only area we didn't really like was Pula it just felt more run down and if I was to go again i wouldn't go much past Zadar. Inland is very nice and a lot quieter for a break from the tourist hot spots, the main roads are very good and some hidden gems can be found off the beaten track.

dotsman

As it's been a while since I've last been, Airbnb might be worth checking out. All over the Balkans, traditionally, the best accommodation solution was the Zimmerwomen! Basically, these were women who rented out rooms or granny flats and they would congregate around bus stations and ports etc and when you arrive, you would just haggle with them. Typically, these would be older women whose kids have moved out and have converted their house to cater for tourists (B&B but without the breakfast!). Sounds crazy, but everything was legit and it gave you a good personal guide for the duration of your stay (they would give you great tourist advice with a personal touch and some would invite you into their homes to have a drink with them etc). Of the many places I stayed around the Balkans over many years, I was never disappointed! However, as this is pretty much what Airbnb is supposed to be (although most Airbnb are "professional landlords" these days), I imagine many now just advertise their places on Airbnb.

As for locations, they are all amazing along the coast, from the very popular destinations like Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar, to the smaller ones like Rovinj, Rijeka & Pula, to the islands live Hvar, Korcula, Brac, Rab - I've done them all and they are all amazing. If in Dubrovnik, I would even suggest driving down to Montenegro - Kotor (one of the most beautiful places in the world) or Budva etc. Likewise, Sarajevo & Mostar in Bosnia, and Lake Bled and Ljubljana in Slovenia are also incredible locations if you fancy travelling a little (depending on what part of Croatia you happen to be in). With so many places to see, you obviously won't have time to do, but Croatia is definitely one of the places where you travel around and spend a few nights in each of a few places. To be honest, you can do many holidays there and still not experience half the great locations on offer. Regardless of where you visit, one tip for accommodation - try to locate yourself in or very close to the "Stari Grad". This is the Balkan term for "old town" and is usually the perfectly preserved medieval or ancient roman (touristy) district. In the towns, you will pretty much always be walking everywhere, so the closer the better. Likewise, it adds to the experience if you end up staying in an actual historic building!

Car hire was always straightforward. Whatever airport you are flying into or out of should cater for you well. Besides the airports, I have hired cars in Dubrovnik (returning it to Split) and Rijeka (returning it to Trieste). Just make sure that, if you are planning to travel to Montenegro or Bosnia that the car hire company permits it (both countries are outside of the EU, so your default car hire contract/insurance will likely forbid it). Pretty much everybody under 40 speaks good English (especially in tourist areas/industry). Older Croatians tended to concentrate more on German as a foreign language.