Anyone?

I'll bet Dubrovnik will be dead; the guy who rented me my soba in Dubrovnik closes up for the winter months and goes to Miami. I'll bet the same goes for the islands. You might have better luck in Split since it's less of a tourist spot and more of a real city than the other Dalmatian Coast cities to the south.

We were in Croatia in November of 06. We loved Dubrovnik! I wouldn't call it dead, but it definitely didn't have too many tourists. I prefer it this way, as I couldn't imagine visiting when it's overrun with people. A cruise ship landed on our final day and for an afternoon there were lots of tourists so I got a taste of what Dubrovnik must be like during the peak season...no thanks! We had the Buza Bar to ourselves one night, and it was amazing watching the sun fall in such privacy. Most of the restaurants were open, as were the shops, so we had no issues there.

The same cannot be said for some of the smaller towns, unfortunately. We based ourselves in Trogir for a night and the town was dead. There was literally one place open to eat in the old town, and it was just basically a pizza parlor.

We were planning on visiting Hvar but I could not find any accommodations. This may have changed, since as I mentioned we were there in 06 and tourism to Croatia seems to have increased dramatically since then.

We had a fabulous time in Croatia. I'm from the midwest, and am used to the cold weather, and we didn't find it all that cold. I was even able to ditch my jacket for a few days.

Tracy

We would be hitting these places: Zagreb · Zadar · Sibenik · Split · Hvar · Dubrovnik · Bay of Kotor · Korcula · Mostar · Neum. Part of the trip is by bus and part on small ship (50 passengers, I think.)

Andrew: Didn't think about how "dead" some places may be this time of year.

tcreath: Glad to hear that Dubrovnik was just fine. We're better with less tourist activity (i.e, less people). Was in Venice in September and were taken aback by the crowds!

Any comments on the places we'll hit that I mentioned above?

I visited Split in the winter...it was cool and sunny.;
a big city - nothing "dead" about it.
The coast does get some windy and rainy weather ...but , like the weather anywhere - not predictable...
Zagreb is the capital, tourism does not influence it a lot.
Mostar should be o.k.
Have not been to small coastal towns outside the season.

kenav, we almost always travel during off-peak or shoulder season because we don't like crowds. It was so nice being able to truly be able to visit some of the towns without the throngs of people everywhere.

I re-read my original post and I meant to say that we couldn't find any accommodations in Hvar that were open during the time we would be there. It seemed like, at least back then, some of the islands seemed to close down for tourism during that time. Surely there should be restaurants and shops open, I would assume, to accommodate the passengers on the boat.

As mentioned above, Split was fine. A big city so there were plenty of people just going about their business as usual. Definitely not dead, nor was Zagreb.

We also visited the Bay of Kotor. Kotor itself was fairly lively. There was a small cruise shipped docked just outside the city walls so the restaurants, cafes and shops were nicely filled. It was gorgeous the day we were there, nice enough to sit outside at a cafe without being too chilly. Budva, on the other hand, was completely dead. We could not find any place to eat, and most shops were also closed. I definitely got the sense that it was more of a warm weather resort-like destination.

I do have pictures from our trip if you are interested. You may be able to get a feel for the crowds (or lack thereof) and clothing necessary by seeing them. They can be found at www.kodakgallery.com/tracybates. Just pan down until you get to the Croatia album.

Happy planning!
Tracy

I looked at your pix tcreath; funny, it reminds me or Sirmione on Lake Garda in Italy. We were there this past September.

kenav, I was just passing on what my landlord told me in Dubrovnik. He just said Dubrovnik was dead in the winter. Actually, I think the Buza Bar closes in the winter; I'm surprised another poster in this thread visited it in November. There was another thread this fall asking when the Buza Bar would close for the year, and I think it closed in late October.

I myself am not a partier - I don't even drink, so when I travel I didn't care what clubs are open at night or something. Yet while I don't care for mobs of tourists during the days, somehow it's less fun if the place you are visiting seems like a ghost town. Korcula felt a bit like that when I visited in mid-October last fall - Saturday night the place seemed almost empty. But - Korcula isn't Hvar, maybe that's just how Korcula is? Not sure, I wasn't there long.

FYI, you can check out my pics from Croatia (and Mostar) as well, starting here:

http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,5D0IMG57485,302,1,0,0-dubrovnik-croatia.html