discussion Tips for travelling in/around Croatia? 🇭🇷

[mercurialworld]

Hi! I know there are some Croats on this forum, as well as people who have visited Croatia, and Balkan users in general. My family and I are planning to visit for 10-14 days in June. We have an Airbnb booked near Pag island for 7 days, and were thinking of driving down the coast to Dubrovnik for a few days, and potentially visiting Bosnia as well. Just wondering if anyone has any tips or recommendations for our trip, for places to visit, things to do, and any general advice for travelling in this region. What are your favourite foods/beverages? What are must-see places? What should we avoid? Any advice is appreciated!

 

 

[ariananext]

I've never been so other users will tell you better, but all my friends who've been there have liked Split more than Dubrovnik. Also I've heard good things about Brač too.

[ontherocks]

2 minutes ago, mercurialworld said:

Hi! I know there are some Croats on this forum, as well as people who have visited Croatia, and Balkan users in general. My family and I are planning to visit for 10-14 days in June. We have an Airbnb booked near Pag island for 7 days, and were thinking of driving down the coast to Dubrovnik for a few days, and potentially visiting Bosnia as well.

 

 

If you make it to BiH, don't miss out on Sarajevo. Been four times, such an interesting city. I prefer Centar, not the old town (Stari Grad).

 

Unpopular opinion, but my favourite place in Croatia is not the coast (although its beautiful). It's Zagreb. 

[Jimmy.]

I really adore Split and Trogir and have visited several times. We usually ate in our apartment but there's some great restaurants too and the sausage burgers and shrimp burgers from small stores/stalls are nothing fancy but I love them. 

[Hot Volcano]

Too many great cities to recommend. For me the most beautiful city is Rovinj, followed by Zadar and Trogir. Dubrovnik is extremely expensive so be ready for that. I'm Croatian, so If you wanna know anything particular ask away.

 

1 hour ago, ontherocks said:

If you make it to BiH, don't miss out on Sarajevo. Been four times, such an interesting city. I prefer Centar, not the old town (Stari Grad).

Mostar is far superior to Sarajevo. Only thing better in Sarajevo is the variety of food.

[ontherocks]

26 minutes ago, Hot Volcano said:

Too many great cities to recommend. For me the most beautiful city is Rovinj, followed by Zadar and Trogir. Dubrovnik is extremely expensive so be ready for that. I'm Croatian, so If you wanna know anything particular ask away.

 

Mostar is far superior to Sarajevo. Only thing better in Sarajevo is the variety of food.

It's really not. Aside from the Old Bridge there is not that much in Mostar which is a shame, been on the western and estern side of Neretva. It was lovely, but Sarajevo has a way more urban lifestyle which I appreciate (hence why my favourite city in Croatia is Zagreb) plus all the history and museums, Zuta Tabija overlooking the entire city, Akademija Likovni Umjetnosti, Marijin Dvor, a ride with the cable car, Vijecnica, the recently renovated Beledija and my favourite café which I will shamelessly promote Kawa. 

Edited December 9 by ontherocks

[Bloodflowers.]

I live in Zagreb, and I have never been southern than Šibenik (because I went there to see Lorde's Solar Power tour concert in her mother's grandparents birth town hihi) so I cannot help you with that since you will be visiting south Croatia. I usually go on vacation in Istria and around that region, this summer I was in Krk!

 

You should check out Plitvička jezera if you can somehow! 

 

Maybe other fellow Croatians @greeneyedsoul, @blackstar, @Hurem, @Torturo, @Komet, @Plague, @Thickorita @Pulse and @mystery can help you better! 

 

 

[Bloodflowers.]

May I ask you where are you visiting us from? @mercurialworld

Edited December 9 by Bloodflowers.

[Thickorita]

12 minutes ago, Bloodflowers. said:

Maybe other fellow Croatians

Not this Greater Croatia fantasy

 

 

 

Sounds like you'll already be in the area - Makarska Riviera has the prettiest beaches in Europe in my opinion. My personal favourite village is Podgora, easy to get parking plus not super crowded like Makarska town itself. Promajna is also a cute choice for a beach day. 

 

 

Edited December 9 by Thickorita

[Bloodflowers.]

51 minutes ago, Thickorita said:

Not this Greater Croatia fantasy

 

 

 

There's a saying here that goes Slovenians are just our Alphs Croatians brothers and sisterns hihihi

 

 

Btw. I am seeing Slovenian mother Raiven in March when she's touring Zagreb

 

 

[mercurialworld]

1 hour ago, Bloodflowers. said:

May I ask you where are you visiting us from? @mercurialworld

canada! thank you everyone for the help btw  i appreciate it

[Hurem]

The way Croatian politics made me loathe my country and then I see so many appreciation posts in this thread  Glad at least someone is able to enjoy it and I hope you will too @mercurialworld 

[Komet]

The coastline road (D8) can be messy during the turist season, but tbh it's worth it. The stretch from cca Makarska to Ploče especially is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and that's from somebody who doesn't really give af about nature. I drove a few times during the summer when visiting my relatives and it's always gaggy. 

There are a few national parks in the area if that's your thing. 

 

The typical monuments for sightseeing can be found in any ~bigger city down the coast, Zadar, Šibenik, Trogir, Split etc, it depends what you want to see.

As for clubbing, there should be parties all the time everywhere, just check what fits your schedule. Look for 'cajke' clubs if you want a local flair 

 

Food is mostly great, but it can be overpriced in typical touristy areas such as city centres and near the beaches; check google maps for reviews and price menus.

 

Don't be scared of asking the locals for any kind of help, they're usually happy to even if they look grumpy, that's just the way we look lol.  The younger people esp should know english pretty well.

[Hobbes]

I visited Croatia twice last year (and Bosnia once briefly!) and I really enjoyed it. I'm planning to go again next summer!

 

If you find yourself near Dubrovnik definitely get up early to see the old town in the morning before all of the other tourists get there. It gets busy from like 10am. Cavtat is a very beautiful town and you can get there by boat (takes about 40min) from Dubrovnik. Far less crowded, but still quite touristy I guess. I suppose you can't really escape that on the Croatian coast. I don't know where you're travelling from but the service is more hit and miss at restaurants than in the UK. Some places will go above and beyond for you and others won't bother with the niceties at all. It's not a bad thing, just a difference in culture.

 

If you can find it (I'm sure you won't have trouble), try some Kruškovac - it tastes like pear drop sweets! There's a whole bunch of other liqueurs too! I struggled food-wise as a vegetarian and mostly ate pizzas but if you're a meat/fish-eater you'll be fine. Little tip for pronouncing words you don't know, say from a menu or a place name: when you see a C/S/Z with a 'v' above it, imagine it's followed by an H. Č = ch, Š = sh, etc. And a C makes a Ss sound, as opposed to a Ck sound. Obviously I don't actually speak the language but we found this to be true and helped us with ordering food and getting around.

 

Be mindful that Croatia, Bosnia, and a number of neighbours were involved in the war really recently so there are a lot of derelict buildings and sites. In fact, near Dubrovnik is a beach called Kupari with five abandoned hotels. It's a bit spooky but also really cool to see. While you're on the coast book in some water sports like paddle boarding, parasailing, etc. The sea is so lovely.

 

Bosnia we found to be quite similar in a lot of ways but different in others. They haven't got as big a tourism industry as Croatia, so we found the English-speaking to be far less, but also far cheaper to eat and drink. A lot of places were cash only, and they use the Bosnian Marka as opposed to the Euro.

 

Mostar was cool, the old bridge (Stari Most) was beautiful (rebuilt after the war!), and all of the little bridges and restaurants along both the main river and the feeder streams were so pretty. Once you get out of the old town it's suddenly very brutalist and urban, and we found there wasn't a huge amount to do, but we were only there for two nights if I remember correctly.

 

Kravice Falls are worth a visit, but be warned, they're far more touristy than as depicted on Google images. There's a couple of restaurants, a boat, and a visitors centre. On Google it looks like the kind of place you might stumble upon in the middle of nowhere but it's an established site (and you have to pay).

 

Do your research, make sure you take cash, and have a great time!

[OrgVisual]

You have to go to Plitvice Lakes, it's like heaven on earth  

[mercurialworld]

7 hours ago, Hobbes said:

I visited Croatia twice last year (and Bosnia once briefly!) and I really enjoyed it. I'm planning to go again next summer!

 

If you find yourself near Dubrovnik definitely get up early to see the old town in the morning before all of the other tourists get there. It gets busy from like 10am. Cavtat is a very beautiful town and you can get there by boat (takes about 40min) from Dubrovnik. Far less crowded, but still quite touristy I guess. I suppose you can't really escape that on the Croatian coast. I don't know where you're travelling from but the service is more hit and miss at restaurants than in the UK. Some places will go above and beyond for you and others won't bother with the niceties at all. It's not a bad thing, just a difference in culture.

 

If you can find it (I'm sure you won't have trouble), try some Kruškovac - it tastes like pear drop sweets! There's a whole bunch of other liqueurs too! I struggled food-wise as a vegetarian and mostly ate pizzas but if you're a meat/fish-eater you'll be fine. Little tip for pronouncing words you don't know, say from a menu or a place name: when you see a C/S/Z with a 'v' above it, imagine it's followed by an H. Č = ch, Š = sh, etc. And a C makes a Ss sound, as opposed to a Ck sound. Obviously I don't actually speak the language but we found this to be true and helped us with ordering food and getting around.

 

Be mindful that Croatia, Bosnia, and a number of neighbours were involved in the war really recently so there are a lot of derelict buildings and sites. In fact, near Dubrovnik is a beach called Kupari with five abandoned hotels. It's a bit spooky but also really cool to see. While you're on the coast book in some water sports like paddle boarding, parasailing, etc. The sea is so lovely.

 

Bosnia we found to be quite similar in a lot of ways but different in others. They haven't got as big a tourism industry as Croatia, so we found the English-speaking to be far less, but also far cheaper to eat and drink. A lot of places were cash only, and they use the Bosnian Marka as opposed to the Euro.

 

Mostar was cool, the old bridge (Stari Most) was beautiful (rebuilt after the war!), and all of the little bridges and restaurants along both the main river and the feeder streams were so pretty. Once you get out of the old town it's suddenly very brutalist and urban, and we found there wasn't a huge amount to do, but we were only there for two nights if I remember correctly.

 

Kravice Falls are worth a visit, but be warned, they're far more touristy than as depicted on Google images. There's a couple of restaurants, a boat, and a visitors centre. On Google it looks like the kind of place you might stumble upon in the middle of nowhere but it's an established site (and you have to pay).

 

Do your research, make sure you take cash, and have a great time!

omfg, thank you so much for the info spread. adding it all to my notion! also, been so curious about the liquors there, especially orahovac/walnut 🤤 thank you everyone else! can't wait to share pics here once im back

[Homebrand]

I mainly went to Trogir and Split, I think Trogir was much more interesting, chill and overall better atmosphere than Split tbh.  

 

I found Croats to be pretty rude tho, and my ex was from there and spoke fluent  could of just had a bad personal experience. There is some real nice beaches around the Trogir area and surrounds from memory, cant remember the names of them though! 

 

Best foods were from markets & street vendors. I found most the restaurants overpriced & average.