Vacations in Croatia

[Ssin]

I'm going to Croatia in June.
Any advice as to what should be seen or visited?
Any recommendation regarding lodging, food, behavior, etc.. ?

Any answer would be appreciated

[GuchiGuh]

Croatia?
urgss......
have fun man~
i've never been there so u tell me once u come back

[Goc]

Hello from Croatia...

Continental part (where I live) isn't very interesting, but the coastal part is.
If you're planning a tour, I suggest you start in Dubrovnik and work your way up the coast. IMHO, the southern Islands are the best: Korcula (Marco Polo born there), Brac, Mljet, Hvar... Split isn't bad, but it isn't very tourist appealing if you ask me. You should definitely visit the town Zadar, then turn a bit to the inland part and visit Plitvice (National park with a system of lakes and small rivers), then the northern part that you can skip all the way to Rijeka, and then you should go and explore the inner part of the Istra peninsula. If you have the time maybe you could visit Zagreb, as it is the capital city, and the old, central part is a prime example of Habsburg monarchy architecture. You can also have a nice nightlife there, if you know the right places.

Concerning lodging, food, behavior, etc.. :
My advice is to stick to private accomodation... It's fairly cheap, people are very friendly and will most likely offer you traditional cuisine meals for a price bonus. Also, try to explore as much nature and small villages as you can. It's striking to see that mediterraenian way of life that is almost extinct in all other tourist countries with the same appeal.
Anyway, keep out of hotels, for they are pretty expensive and offer very little, eat lots of fish and seafood, as it is always fresh and the taste is pretty specific.

If you're interested in anything else specifically, just ask. I'll be glad to help you if I can.

[Ssin]

Thanks Goc for the informations. I think we're going to stick to the coast then

I'll tell you what when I come back from there

[Goc]

If you give me some leads to what's your general area of interest, I could maybe give you a list of interesting happenings and locations you can visit...
Other than that, I wish you a good stay in Croatia, and lots of fun and good times.

[UtwigMU]

WRT to Croatia, I second private accomodation. There are quite a few historically interesting sites (Rome, preromanic churches, rennaisance, mediterranean...).

WRT to language, most tourist workers speak English or German adequately, most of younger generations speak English, but I speak Croatian well enough that it takes a few sentences for people to tell I'm not Croatian, so I'm proabably not the right person to ask. Also all bars have multilingual menus, etc....

Croatia has a long time tourist tradition, so people are friendly near the coast. Also girls are very pretty.

Also southern parts (middle and southern dalmatia, Zadar and south) have better beaches and are less mass-touristic.

Islands (Korcula, Hvar, Vis rule). Renting a yacht and sailing is recommended. Also lot's of diving sites if you're interested.

WRT to prices: It's genearally slightly more epxensive than Greece. Cigarettes are expensive as hell, so stop at duty free shop and stock up on them if you smoke. If you're travelling by car, there are duty frees at Slovenian-Croatian borders.

Roads are being built, and coast doesn't have a highway, so travelling by car might get lenghty.

Outside of tourist areas, prices are very low, so sometimes it's good to ask locals, explore....

[Ssin]

WOW guys Wow!
Goc you have one gorgeous country! I'll post pictures as soon as I get them on CD-ROM.
I just have one thing to add go in June and not after : prices are low and there's not alot of ppl to bug you. We came back on the 24th and already the places were crowded.
..and oh yeas, second thing : Croatian girls are HOT! and beautiful!