Collsy

Hi. My husband, 18-month-old daughter, and I are planning to travel to Croatia for about a week in April. We can go the week before Easter, or the week after (we might even be there on the actual day). I'd really appreciate input on which week we should choose. Will lodging places (hopefully private apartments), restaurants, and shops even be open?

mjz_kc

We will be in Dubrovnik over Easter and were thinking of driving to Montenegro on Easter Sunday for the day. Our agenda for the day is pretty open as we plan on enjoying the drive and natural beauty. I assume we're going to find a lot of restaurants and shops closed?

LittleVicky

Which part will you visit?

mjz_kc

As stated in my post, I'll be in Dubrovnik over Easter. I received an email from the hotel today, and as I assumed, it will be a quiet day in Dubrovnik in regards to restaurants/shops/sights, etc. The hotel indicated that this would be an ideal day for our side trip via rental car to Montenegro and that more businesses would be open there.

Dubrovniktravelady

Most restaurants and shops will begin to open after Easter Sunday, slowly. The small boats will begin to return to the harbor for trips to Cavtat, Lokrum and the Elefiti islands. The season begins on 01 May and there isn't much available prior to that time.
Just spoke to my friend, Milan, yesterday and he has a small charter boat and he also mentioned nothing will be happening until after Easter, again slowly.
Dubrovncan's do not move quickly and they march to their own tunes. This town is not like any other town on the Dalmatian Coast, it has it's very own game plans for "The" season. We don't really talk about low or high season, it's always referred as "The" season which is from 01 May until 01 November.
Croatia is mostly a Catholic country and there will be only a few restaurants open on Easter Sunday if you're lucky and I do suggest eating at your hotel. This is a family day for us, lunch at the family home and the rest of the afternoon spent drinking coffee, eating and pastries and spending time together..
Depending on weather it would be a great day to walk in Stari Grad (old town).


Dobrodosli
An American in Dubrovnik

Ackislander

Croatia is a _very_ Roman Catholic country, whereas Montenegro is more Orthodox, so it probably is a good day to go drive to Montenegro. I would inquire locally however and be prepared to eat at the hotel if you learn differently on site.

Also, does Croatia celebrate Easter Monday as a holiday? And what is likely to be open on Good Friday?

mjz_kc

Thanks for the posts. Below is what I received from the hotel. We're perfectly fine with Dubrovnik being a bit slower during this time as well as the fact that families will spend the holiday together. It will make the experience all the more enchanting.

Thank you for choosing Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik. My name is . I am Bell captain and Concierge in Hilton Imperial and I'll be available to you for any question or assistance related to your stay in Dubrovnik and Croatia. Many tourist oriented services will be available to you during most of your stay in Dubrovnik. Based on all my previous experience, a variety of restaurants in Dubrovnik will be open during your entire stay (including Sunday). I doubt that some recent negative macroeconomic trends will seriously affect many of them. Many shops in Dubrovnik will be open during most of the day during most of your stay. Many shops on Saturdays are open only in the morning but some shopping experience is possible on Saturday afternoon as well. Shops are closed on Sundays but due to some recent controversies regarding labor regulations and the fact that Easter is always considered as the official beginning of tourist preseason, some small souvenir and grocery shops in the Old Town area close to Hilton Imperial might be open. It is very unlikely that Dubrovnik will be lively on Easter Sunday. Most of local people will probably spend a lot of time at homes and it is momentarily not possible to expect that many tourists will arrive. I would personally prefer on Sunday to have a car and be able to drive to some surrounding areas (including Montenegro). It is not only because Dubrovnik can be too quiet on holidays out of the main tourist season but also some recent impressions that I got during my visits to Montenegro. I must say that I haven't been there on holiday but many people would agree that Montenegro is in certain sense more tourist oriented, offering tourist services with more flexible working dates and hours. I can not see any reason why going to Montenegro on Sunday would be a bad idea. I will be glad to answer any further question or assist in any way that can make your holiday as pleasant as possible. For my daily attention regardless of my official working hours and presence in the hotel, feel free to write at

sessa

We were in Dubrovnik over Easter last year (we flew out on Easter Sunday). Everything was open on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. In fact, the old town was really busy on Saturday evening with people going to mass, walking around, etc. We stayed near the Old Port and could hear the music coming from the cathedral - it was really beautiful how they decorated the exterior with white lights.