Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ Croatia (English only), DO NOT answer in Romanian in this topic!

I think Boris will recommend Mlijet Be careful, there are lots of things to see in Croatia, so if it is your first visit there, I would recommend that you skip the islands and just visit the mainland (it takes a lot of time to get to an island and back, you will basically loose two half-days - i.e. a day in total). Of course, if you have a long vacation (more than 14 days), it is well worth the effort to go to visit the islands.

I think Boris will recommend Mlijet
Be careful, there are lots of things to see in Croatia, so if it is your first visit there, I would recommend that you skip the islands and just visit the mainland (it takes a lot of time to get to an island and back, you will basically loose two half-days - i.e. a day in total). Of course, if you have a long vacation (more than 14 days), it is well worth the effort to go to visit the islands.

Hi Boris

Me and my wife are planning to make a trip to Croatia this summer and we need some help in order to choose the best itinerary (at this moment this is Bucharest -Zagreb-Trogir- some island - Dubrovnik - return home).
By reading all this thread, we figured out what to do in this trip, but we have no idea in which island to spend two days. So we need your help in this issue. We planned to visit Hvar island. Is this a good choice? Is there another island more beautiful than Hvar ?

Thank you!

Regards,
Dan

Hvar is an excellent choice. I visited Hvar two times, both times I was in the town of Hvar and I had a great time. I must say that I still have a lot of Hvar to see, because I was only in the town of Hvar.

To answer you question "Is there another island more beautiful than Hvar ?", Croatia has 1,185 islands, islets and reefs (I had to look up the number on the net). I can not pick a most beautiful one, and I can not say if there is a more beautiful island than Hvar, it wouldn't be fair to all the other place I haven't seen.

I have sailed with my grandfather in his boat, and I have have visited a lot of islands in the "central part" of the coast (or to say in the Zadar aquatorium), also I have visited some of the Croatian islands as a tourist arriving by bus and other pubic transportation means.

It would help if you could say what type of environment you wish to find. Urban with a lot of parties or some isolated island with piece and bars closing at 10 pm?

Mljet is also one of my favorites , but I still have to visit it

I will be glad to help if you have any other questions

LATEER EDIT:

As "vv" said, take yout time and for the first visiit see one part of Croatia, Croatia is a beatifull and slow country , there is a lot to see here.......

This post has been edited by Boris: 13 Feb 2006, 20:10

Thanks Boris.

Got your message. It is really hard to choose when it comes to Croatia..especially when you go there for the first time.

I think we will stay in Hvar for couple of days, before heading to Dubrovnik.

But do you have any ideas for accomodation near Split. I was thinking about Trogir, but then I read it is quite expensive...Should we stay somewhere else?

Waiting for news from you
Dan

Roxana,
I stayed in Kastela; you can easily find accommodation there. But it only works if you go by car
If you go by train/bus, go to the port, you will find a lot of people offering accommodation. It is not quite as nice as the ones in Kastella, but at least it will be in the middle of the city.

Ok VV...
Kastela it is.

Actually it might be even better than Trogir since it is closer to Split..
In which of the 7 Kastelas did you stay?

And by the way, where did you swim? This is tricky isnt it?

Roxana.

Here's a little bit more about Kaštela

http://dalmacija.net/kastela/

http://www.kastela.org/

I've never stayed there, just drove through so vv's a better source of information about Kaštela.

Boris

This post has been edited by Boris: 22 Feb 2006, 08:27

Thks Boris,

I will check the websites and wait for VV to give me some extra infos...

By the way, should we spend one night in Zagred or rather in Karlovac?


Roxana

@roxana1806

Definitely Zagreb, Karlovac is allso a nice town, but....

I live in Zagreb, Zagreb is bigger, and ..., so I recommend Zagreb, but if you only plan to sleep and go on there's not much difference.

I don't remmember which one, just go on the streets that lead to the beach and you will find plenty of rooms for rent. Or simply drive on the main street and you will see the 'sobe'/'zimmer frei'/'free rooms' signs. A piece of advice - don't rent the first free room that you will find. There are plenty of choices, look up and in 15 -30 minutes you will surely find something you really like.

In Zagreb, it's harder to find good accomodation. you have to plan ahead. I reccomend 'Mirna Noc' ("silent night") look it up on the internet, you will find it and you can make a reservation. But only if you go by car, it's impossible to get there by publict transportation, it's quite isolated.
As to Zagreb vs. Karlovac, I would also pick Zagreb

This post has been edited by vv: 23 Feb 2006, 22:06

I have just noticed this topic (Croatia in English) and I wanted to add my "2 cents" to the discussion. I have visited Croatia in the summer of '05. Stayed in Krk island (in Silo...) for 1 week. All in all it was OK, except the beach, which, of course, is not a beach but a series of jagged rocks and boulders...Very difficult to find a flat place to lay on...I sort of knew this before going in, so I suppose I should not complain too much...Anyhow, my biggest "gripe" was with the police (traffic police). I was driving a brand-new Peugeot 407 registered in France, with sensors to turn on the head-lights if it's dark outside. It was 1 p.m., a nice sunny day and this guy pulls me over (strange way of signaling to stop: guy comes out ON the road and waves at you...if I wasn't paying attention, I could have run him over...). He motions to me to get out of the car and points at the front of the car! OK, says I, what's the problem? He insists on pointing to the car, vaguely in the direction of the head-lights and then points at some passing cars (all had the head-lights on). It took me a long time to realize that he was trying to tell me that I did not have my lights on. Of course I had no clue that this is the rule. Next thing I know, he shows me a document and points to the top where it says "300 kuna". By this time I had realized that he was not the happy cop extending his welcome greetings to a new visitor of Croatia but he was merely giving me a ticket for 300 kuna (at the time, aprox $70, I guess...). So what can you do with a guy who does not speak English, is dressed in a police uniform and asks for money? You pay your fine and keep moving on...I suppose this is true for most any country. It certainly is for California, except you don't pay up front, you go in front of a judge and then pay...Anyhow, back to my encounter with Croatian law enforcement: I guess I had broken the law and the poor fellow was just doing his job in enforcing the law, but he could have just given me a warning or something...(similar thing happened in Hungary, and the cop just let me go...)
To end my post on a HIGH note (and true): I had a good time in Croatia and these things are part of the "flavor" when traveling.

I think we will spend a night in Zagreb..or near it..It depends on the road and when we get there..

I was surfing the net yesterday and found some pictures from Pelsejac peninsula, near Dubrovnik. Has any of you been there? Is it worth spending a day there? Or rather head straight to Dubrovnik?

And for Bilabong, from what I know there is this new rule regarding the lights during the day...so be carreful next time in Europe. Anyway I understand that the rest of the time in Croatia was ok...

Roxana

Boris, VV
Thanks a lot for the information you shared with us (me and Roxana ).

bilabong, when travelling in a foreign country, it is a GOOD thing to check the driving rules at least
But this is just a guess

This post has been edited by danrosu: 24 Feb 2006, 12:12

@bilabong

Well in Croatia you have an option to pay up front, or to get a bill sent to your home address. But if you are a foreign citizen you have to pay up front, or go in front of a judge immediately, and that's a time consuming option.

Actually they do give a warning quite often, I was stoped because one of my front lights wasn't working and just got told to fix it. But it's not that they allways warn you for a "small" thing, sometimes they fine you.

Anyway, glad you had a nice time in Croatia

This post has been edited by cmandrei: 7 Jun 2007, 12:47

@roxana1806

As for Peljesac, go at least to Ston on you way to Dubrovnik, see the town and fortifications and have a nice meal (sea food offcourse ).

I've allready posted some links in this topic.

That's my recomendation.

It looks like you plan to visit a lot of places, how long are you staying in Croatia?

Well, my wife just showed me that we have a leaflet from the hosts in Kastela: we stayed in Kastel Luksic, at 'Apartmani Roko' - e-mail roko.zovic@st.htnet.hr
(it was nice, I recommend this one - but you may also find others you like there)

This post has been edited by vv: 26 Feb 2006, 19:32

This just shows that good service pays off

Well Boris,

I admit I have a problem..
I want to see everythink in 2 weeks which is impossible...

The latest plan is this:
2-3 days in Kastela, 1-2 days on Hvar, 2 days in Zlujana, 3 days in Dubrovnik, 1 day in Plitvice and then home.

It is a little complicated.
What do you think?

VV, thanks for the adress...We will keep that as an option especially if you recommend it.

Roxana

Well it can be done, youll just do a bit of travelling. I really recommend to see Plitvice, I've been there twice and the lakes are really beautifull.

Hope youll have a good time

Thanks for the help.
Maybe we will get to see you during the trip..If not, maybe you come to Romania one day and we can help you too

Roxana

Hello VV

Just one more question.

Did you have any problems at any border when you left?
I mean, if we have enough money, do we also need a reservation in Croatia? Because we would rather find rooms there...then make reservations at a romanian agency.

Thanks
Roxana

we didn't have reservation. But I don't know for sure if the rules have changed or not.

Did you have any problems at any border when you left?
I mean, if we have enough money, do we also need a reservation in Croatia? Because we would rather find rooms there...then make reservations at a romanian agency.

I think there are some formal rules but I don't know if enyone was ever asked does he have reservations or enough money. Really, I don't know of a case when someone was denied entry.

Anyway, the rules (if they exist) are stupid because we are a tourist country.

I don't think you need to worry you self with that.

LATER ADDED:

OK, so I have looked at the law regulating the entry and stay of foreign citizens in Croatia. I did nor the read the whole law (that would be a bit too much), but I did not see anything that would suggest that you should worry about reservations or money or anything else.

I even found out that if you whant to come to Croatia for a tourist visit and you forgot your passport you can get a temporary travel document based on the information on some oher identifying document (id card or something else).

So if you can get in without a passport (not that I reccomend it) I think you can get in without a room reservation

ANOTHER EDIT

OK, so I have read the laws and regulations a bit more, and here's the situation.

On the border you can (can and not will) be asked to show that you have enough money for your planed stay in Croatia. The sum is 100 EUR per day, or 50 EUR per day if you have a reservation or a similar document. Credit cards, chacks, etc. are allso accepted as proof that you have enough money.


That's what the law says. So you can have a reservation, but you don't have to.

As for the money part, I have NEVER heard of someone being asked to produce evidence that he has enough means to support him self during his stay in Cro.

So they have the right to ask you, but not an obligation. I guess that question is reserved for some susspicious looking characters








This post has been edited by Boris: 8 Mar 2006, 10:43

Thanks a lot to both of you
I feel better now. I knew the situation at the Romanian border, but I had no idea about the Croatian one.

I hope we don’t look too suspicious

Things would be a lot easier if the prices at the Romanian agencies, at least those in Bucharest, weren’t so big compared to what I read on this forum or seen on the net. I can’t find a room for less than 70 euros a day or they want a reservation for an entire week...

So I don’t like it...

Boris, I think I’ll ask you for an update on the roads to Split, sometime closer to our departure. Probably in June. So don’t go away

Roxana

Boris, I think I’ll ask you for an update on the roads to Split, sometime closer to our departure. Probably in June. So don’t go away 

Don't worry

Hello Boris and VV

I just returned from Croatia and I wanted to thank you for all the things you told me about it. It was really usefull.

The trip was great and I loved the country, the landscape, the people. I enjoyd every minute of it and I can't wait to go back sometimes. I recommended it to all of my friends and to my coleagues.

We visited Osyek, karlovac, senj, sibenik, trogir, split (just a little bit, about one hour before we took the ferry), Hvar, Dubrovnik and Plitvice...

Beside the landscape I was really impressed by the roads, which are a thousand times better than ours... It was kind of difficult to get used to our streets when we came back

So thanks and I hope you will have a great holiday to this year.
I have just one regret, I lost the magnet I bought in Dubrovnik...

I forgot to mention Peljesac

I must say a nice choice of places, and I'm very glad you had a nice time in Croatia.

Hope you come back some time.

Boris

Thanks.

We hope to come back soon ... I am sure we have a lot more to see. MAybe you'll visit us some day

Roxana, some financial info can you provide? Ie: accomodation, car costs, gas costs, etc?

Hi Alex,

Since I am Roxana's husband, I will try to provide the information you requested

First of all the currency rate is 1 Euro = 7.2 kuna.

The total cost for our trip was 2000 euros (more or less). We traveled 4150 Km with 6.2 liters of gas / 100 km. You will find same gas prices as in Romania. As far as I remember, the prices at INA gas stations are ~8 kuna per liter.

For highways, we paid 130 kuna for 270 km. This was the biggest highway toll we paid in this trip.

The accomodation prices differ from region to region.

Karlovac: 64 euro, 3 stars hotel, breakfast included.
Trogir: 40 euro, local pension, no breakfast.
Hvar: 37 euro, local pension, no breakfast,
Dubrovnik: 50 euro, local pension, no breakfast.
Plitvice Jezera: 50 euro, pension, breakfast included.
Note that we looked for accomodation colse to city center. So we paid more.

The food costs also differs a lot from region to region. For example, the Osijek restaurants are half less expensive than Dubrovnik restaurants. You can have a pizza/lasagnia lunch for 100-120 kuna or you can eat fish, mussels, squids etc for 300-350 kuna (for 2 persons .. including wine ).
The house wine usualy is 80 kuna / liter, but you can enjoy a beer for 10 - 15 kuna (Karlovacko... very good beer) or you can have a coffe for 5-8 kuna.

However, you can find more info regarding this subject here:
http://www.daciaclub.ro/index.php?showtopic=2479 (in romanian)

Regards,
Dan