[Travel] Croatia,travelling places to visit etc

Going to Croatia early September for around 17 days and starting to plan where to go (and not go) and visit,routes,airports, accomodation etc, using public transport and ideally flying in and out of Gatwick, which may be hard to or from some of the Croatian airports. May consider Pula but its 7 hours by bus to Zadar to head south to Split and Dubrovnic and maybe include an island. Would like to fit in some trekking as well as beaches, cities and historic sites. Any recommendations/ideas?

Spend half a day in Trogir [just North of Split].

Venetian walled medieval city with a super yacht harbour and charters a plenty to the islands. Beautiful.

Barham's tash said:

Spend half a day in Trogir [just North of Split].

Venetian walled medieval city with a super yacht harbour and charters a plenty to the islands. Beautiful.

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I spent a few days staying in Split last year, and I'd second this. We did a boat trip from Split which stopped off in Trogir and headed out to a couple of the islands.

Split itself is a very beautiful city, with some great bars and restaurants.

We also did a day trip to Krka waterfalls. They were impressive, but the whole park was rammed with tourists so I wouldn't put it too high up your list. I've heard Plitvice is a better option.

Went last year. Flew to Split (1 night) then got ferry to Dubrovnik (2 nights). Next a short hop into Montenegro for a night in Kotor and 2 in Budva before flying back from Tivat - cheap as chips on easyJet.

If I was to go again I would defo spend some time on the islands and prob take in the national park.

Good trip tho....

Trogir a must ,i stay on the Island of Ciovo opposite . Some great sites in a small compact City . Primosten up the coast is the same and easy to do in a couple of hours . Split been many times and i can take it or leave it,for a first time trip it's worth the time. Dubrovnik yes every time,but a bit pricey compared to the rest of the Country .

We flew in to Pula (think Shoreham airport), and rented a car from there. Isn’t much to see in Pula besides the colosseum. Rovinj which is just up the road is stunning and is worth a visit. Other than that we drove out to Plitvice national park which is an absolute MUST.

If you are in the north of the country have a day to spare go to Lake Bled in Slovenia

Plitvice National park is incredible, went there in 1984 when it was Yugoslavia. Well worth a trip.

Rovinj is wonderful.

Zadar is lovely, obviously very Italian influence as it used to be a satellite of Venice. With this in mind remember that, especially in the smaller areas of Croatia that it’s steeped in Roman Catholicism meaning very little opens on Sundays.
And catch a sunset over the beach. It’s stunning. They love their football too.

Croatia

Airports Zegrab, Pula and Dubrovnick all good with good transport links.

History Croatia was the bulwark to Europe for centuries for Roman highlights see Split Dioceltions Palace, Pula and its Amphitheatre, for Byzantine Porec Bacillica, Pula the tiny church Mary Formosa, for medevil Dubrovnick Walls, Zegrab museums, Zardar. More resent wars and influences from Austrian, Napoleonic, German, Italian, Russian, Slavic and Serbian lots to see some of it shocking I went to a very small village in the very south less than a mile from the Serbian boarder and the atrocities carried out were horrendous and the road over the mountains in the north of the country down onto a long plain with mountains all around known as snipers ally when I first visited all the villages were abandoned abandoned military hardware everywhere you were not allowed to stop as land mines were still in place anywhere of the designated road.

Nature then Croatia has really good cycle path network, a number of very good national parks Plitvic being one of my favourites with the slim chance of seeing brown bears one appeared opposite bank of one of the many lakes a few years everyone was quite happy until it got in the water and started swimming over mass panic ensued

Food is really nice with influences from all the invaders the north or the country hugging the coast has a very Italian feel while the South feels more Croat but in all the coastal areas it great for fish dishes over the mountains towards Zagreb much more rural much less Englisg spoken and Harty strews of Rabbit and Pork Zagreb is like all city's big sprawling cosmopolitan

Beaches and islands mostly rock beaches that you really need rubber shoes as they will cut your feet to bits some on these rocks have platforms with steps onto the sea some small sandy beaches mostly on the Islands and one I remember at Split where the locals all go and play a round robin handball game worth a visit there are hundreds of these games going on at the same time.

People are very nice to tourists and being from the UK appears to go down well unlike some other nations Serbian being the most obvious the nation appear to be very law abiding never once in any town,city or out miles from anywhere have I felt in any danger the Croats are massively patriotic every and I mean every shop, factory, hotel, bus, taxi, restaurant you will see the Croatian flag, a couple of observations just after the fall of Comunist rule the speed with which any signs of Communisum were esponged in great haste except for one thing and that was the pointless jobs every one had one and the one that struck me the most was when walking through a forest you would find small groups mostly elderly ladies sweeping the forest miles fom anywhere or any roads and just after the war of indipendace no one was seen who did not have fair hair blue eyes I think it was called ethnic cleansing although it's not like that now.

Weather is hot can be very hot from Split down to Dubrovnik and cooler while still very warm in the north best times of year I would say April through to June and then September to November but that's mainly as I am not keen on really stifling hot weather at both ends of these date ranges you get the most amazing lightning storms and one other weather mention the Adriatic has some wild short lived storms that blow up from nowhere water spouts winds rain big waves and then as fast as they start they are gone I have been caught out at sea on a couple of occasions in small boats and it's quite scary on one occasion the captain of one small boat with I guess 25 of us on board sent out a mayday and a passing cruise ship sent out two of its life boats that our little boat was strapped to and escorted into the nearest port

I love Croatia it ticks all my boxes having been countless times and will be going this year to Split, Dubrovnik and several islands

I spent 2 weeks in Croatia last summer as part of a road trip through Europe.

Plitvice was amazing - we were there for 2 nights and spent time exploring the lakes. Wonderful place.

We stayed in a villa in Pisak near Split, right on the coast.

We did a day in Omis and another day canoeing down the Cetina river.

It's a wonderful country with just incredible wine and food.

I'd go back for a longer trip as soon as I can.

I went to Mostar from Dubrovnik on an organised trip. The drive through Bosnia was interesting as you go through what is essentially areas populated by Croats who want to join Croatia so there are all sorts of murals on walls. There is also 3rd most important Catholic shrine in that area. The bridge had to be repaired so not the original but still impressive. In Dubrovnik went up to the mountains behind the city which were the scene of hand to hand fighting 25 years ago which also gives it a strange feeling...

I'd second a trip to Mostar. I drove myself and family and spent the day there. Visit the Museum of War and Genocide - really brings home the brutality of the war.

You should definitely consider plitvice lakes, went there last year when we stayed in Pula.

We also visited Venice one day, I think you can get the boat over from Pula. I know you also can from Porec too.

Loved it there, Mrs Tooting very keen to return. Trogir, Primosten, Split, islands all mentioned already, and the national parks/lakes/waterfalls. We stayed in a small village on the coast called Vinisce, a stop-off for some of the Sunseeker yacht-type holidays going up the coast. Also memorable for bumping into Felipe Scolari on the way to the beach one morning.

The Clamp said:

Zadar is lovely, obviously very Italian influence as it used to be a satellite of Venice. With this in mind remember that, especially in the smaller areas of Croatia that it’s steeped in Roman Catholicism meaning very little opens on Sundays.
And catch a sunset over the beach. It’s stunning. They love their football too.

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They do love their Football ,though crowds aren't the best it's still worth going and very cheap.Most expensive ticket at Hajduk Split is 80 Kuna the cheapest 40 ,roughly 8 Kuna to the £.Interesting fact Trogirs ground is the only ground in the world with a protected monument at either end of the ground .