Long Croatian Trip Report (cont)
Jul 16th, 2006, 09:08 AM
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Long Croatian Trip Report (cont)
(Not sure what happened on my earlier post, but I hit some key that posted the message before I was finished. Let me try again.)
Home after a wonderful week on the Croatian coast and I wanted to get this written before I forget the details.
We spent six days in Crotia, arriving July 2 in Dubrovnik and departing July 8th from Split. The trip was incredible....following is a summary:
Sunday, July 2, arrived in Dubrovnik around 3:30 p.m. on British Air flight from Gatwick. My bag didn't arrive on the flight, so that caused us to miss the Croatia Airlines bus, and we had to take the taxi into town. Checked into the Hilton Grand Imperial, which is absolutely incredible. Beautiful, luxurious rooms, but with a local feel to them. Service was outstanding and the location, literally steps from the Pile Gate can't be beat. Highly recommend this hotel (though it is not cheap!) Big breakfast buffet is included in the price of the room.
Monday, July 2, the day started off rainy, so we tried to take a bus trip to Ston. Forgot to check the bus schedules and realized we couldn't get back the same night, so walked back to old town from the bus station. A great walk that allowed us to see tne non-touristy side of Dubrovnik. Weather cleared up by noon and we walked the walls and meandered through town the rest of the day.
Tuesday, July 3, took a day trip to Cavtat. We found a taxi-driver who took us down there in his nice Mercedes taxi. We LOVED Cavtat. It is quaint and lazy little fishing town where you can literally sit on the docks and watch the world go by. My husband said next time he would come and stay in Cavtat and go visit Dubrovnik, instead of the other way around. There is a great walking trail with pine trees on the one side of the trail and the beautiful blue waters of the Adriatic on the other. Life definitely moves at a slower pace in Cavtat. We took a boat back to Dubrovnik, which lasted about 45 minutes and cost 50 kunas per person. Arriving back Dubrovnik by boat gives you another perspective on the gorgeous walls in Dubrovnik.
While in Dubrovnik we ate dinner at the following places:
Ragusa 2 up in one of the higher side streets to the left as you enter through the Pile Gate. Great atmosphere and good food. One of many restaurants situated in that area.
Restaurant Jadran, just inside the Pile Gate. Also a very nice courtyard setting with good food.
Proto--probably my favorite place. Great meal and wonderful service from the owner and his sister. It is a family run affair and the restaurant is named after their grandfather who was a stonemason and came to Dubrovnik in the 20s to work on the bell tower. Proto is a croatian nickname for stonemason, and that is what the grandfather was called. A most enjoyable meal and evening.
After Dubrovnik, we headed to Hvar, but had some trouble figuring out how to get there because the ferry schedules were not compatible with our schedules. We were initially planning on taking a bus to Split and catching the ferry to Hvar. At the last minute, our aforementioned taxi-driver, Miso, offered to drive us to Drvenik (much closer than Split) so we could take the ferry to Hvar from there. It turns out that the Drvenik is much closer than Split (only about 90 minutes from Dubrovnik) with much more frequent ferry crossings to Hvar, but the ferry drops you off in Sucurajyon the other end of Hvar Island from Hvar Town. Our cab driver Miso offered to drive us all the way to Hvar Town, which turned out to be a great deal for us, but a LONG day for Miso. The road is breath-taking but windy, narrow and treacherous. But we did see Hvar as few tourists see it and saw all the lavender the island is famous for. The drive was one of those unexpected adventures we are glad we had after the fact, but were not quite so sure about it while it was happening. The drive from Sucuraj to HvarTown took almost three hours.
We arrived in Hvar Town around 5 p.m. and Miso let us off as close as he could to the Riva, leaving us with about a five minute walk to our hotel, Hotel Riva. The hotel is newly renovated (had been open less than two weeks when we were there) and has a great location right on the riva with a great outdoor bar, where they offered us a welcome drink. The hotel location and service were great. However, as I posted in my mid-trip report, the hotel is just too hip and trendy for our tastes. We are no prudes (in our 40s and 50s), but I don't need a glass pane from the shower looking into the bedroom. I also like a solid wall, instead of a glass enclosure to my toilet. They are clearly catering to a more youthful and trendy crowd. Oh well.
We loved Hvar. This is a town you could just lose yourself in. Beautiful, relaxing, charming, I could have stayed much, much longer than our two days. We walked the town, saw the fortress, went swimming, walked some more, stopped and had coffee or wine in one of the many sidewalk cafes, sat on the square.... We had probably the best two meals of our entire trip while in Hvar. The first was lunch at the Konoba Menego, a traditional tavern restaurant beneath the fortress walls just above the town where they serve only traditional cold dalmatian specialties in a dark restaurant built into the wall with Dalmatian proscutio (prsut) hanging from the wooden beams on the ceilings and candles on the table. Incredible meal. Be sure and ask them to bring out the world atlas where they have guests sign on the pages of their home towns.
Later we ate at Restaurant Paladini where they brought out the fish for you to pick out before they threw it on the grill. The specialty of the house was lobster over pasta--not to be missed! The setting is a courtyard full of orange trees. Another amazing meal! And I should mention that all meals in Croatia are events, to be enjoyed and not rushed through. They definitely invite you to sit back and stay as long as you like. No rushing you out to seat another party.
After two nights in Hvar, we took the catamaran Krilo to Split. You have to get your ticket the day before, as the ships fill up fast. In fact, people started lining up to board around 7 for a 7:45 departure. By the time we got in line around 7:30, we were one of the last ones on and didn't get a seat, so we ended up standing for the trip. However, it is a comfortable ship with a.c. so it wasn't too bad. The trip to Split took an hour and dropped us off at the main ferry port in Split which is very close to the bus stations and train stations. Very easy to make connections. We walked th 10 minutes of so to our hotel, Hotel Villa Diana, which we booked through the Croatian travel agency Adriatica.net when we couldn't get into the Peristil. The Hotel is a small bed and breakfast type hotel with 4 or 5 rooms. It was nice enough and looks just like the pictures on the web (www.villadiana.hr). The only downside is that it is a few minutes outside of the tourist area, so you are in the midst of the more industrial part of the city. However, the rooms were large and clean, and reasonably priced. And it was less then a 10 minute walk to the Old Town.
We decided to take a day trip to Trogir and took a bus from the bus station. Our bus was a nice airconditioned inter-city bus that travels throughout Croatia. The ride took about 30 minutes. However, there is also a local bus (#37) that stops at every bus station, has no airconditioning and takes over an hour. A group of American women who took that ride said "it was the ride from hell." They don't tell you that there are different types of buses, so if you are going to take the bus to Trogir, be sure and ask for one of the direct or non-stop buses and don't take the local bus.
Trogir is another lovely, pictueresque Dalmatian town with lots of charm. Reminds me of Dubrovnik on a smaller scale. Lots of good places to eat and relax inbetween the sightseeing. We had lunch at one of the restaurants along the riva (whose name escapes me), and it was tasty and reasonably priced. We returned to Split that afternoon by bus.
We spent our last night in Croatia walking Diocletian's palace. They were getting ready for the big music festival that started this week, so there was a lot of scaffolding and lighting being put up, but it is beautiful nonetheless. We ate dinner at Konoba kod Joze, just outside the north gate (not the silver gate as the Fodor's book says.) Great meal and a more local venue--not quite so touristy. We spent the next day meandering through town. We particularly enjoyed seeing the fish market, where fish was being sold that had literally been caught that morning. It was a really impressive sight. Ate lunch at Tifani Restaurant, in the hotel Peristil. Great meal in a more upscale setting. We made a quick run to the Mestrovic Gallery, which has really beautiful views of the city and the sea.
After a wonderful week, it was time to head back to the airport. Croatia Airlines runs buses from just outside the old town that correspond to departing flights of all airlines. We got there early and were glad we did, because the bus was packed, as was the airport when we got there. Apparently there had been bad weather elsewhere in Europe and the flights were all backed up. The crowd definitely overwhelmed the airport, but our flight back to Gatwick departed pretty much on time.
As I forewarned, this is a long post, but I wanted to provide as much information as I could, because I found this site to be so helpful in my trip planning. We are already planning a return trip! Please e-mail me with any questions you may have!
Home after a wonderful week on the Croatian coast and I wanted to get this written before I forget the details.
We spent six days in Crotia, arriving July 2 in Dubrovnik and departing July 8th from Split. The trip was incredible....following is a summary:
Sunday, July 2, arrived in Dubrovnik around 3:30 p.m. on British Air flight from Gatwick. My bag didn't arrive on the flight, so that caused us to miss the Croatia Airlines bus, and we had to take the taxi into town. Checked into the Hilton Grand Imperial, which is absolutely incredible. Beautiful, luxurious rooms, but with a local feel to them. Service was outstanding and the location, literally steps from the Pile Gate can't be beat. Highly recommend this hotel (though it is not cheap!) Big breakfast buffet is included in the price of the room.
Monday, July 2, the day started off rainy, so we tried to take a bus trip to Ston. Forgot to check the bus schedules and realized we couldn't get back the same night, so walked back to old town from the bus station. A great walk that allowed us to see tne non-touristy side of Dubrovnik. Weather cleared up by noon and we walked the walls and meandered through town the rest of the day.
Tuesday, July 3, took a day trip to Cavtat. We found a taxi-driver who took us down there in his nice Mercedes taxi. We LOVED Cavtat. It is quaint and lazy little fishing town where you can literally sit on the docks and watch the world go by. My husband said next time he would come and stay in Cavtat and go visit Dubrovnik, instead of the other way around. There is a great walking trail with pine trees on the one side of the trail and the beautiful blue waters of the Adriatic on the other. Life definitely moves at a slower pace in Cavtat. We took a boat back to Dubrovnik, which lasted about 45 minutes and cost 50 kunas per person. Arriving back Dubrovnik by boat gives you another perspective on the gorgeous walls in Dubrovnik.
While in Dubrovnik we ate dinner at the following places:
Ragusa 2 up in one of the higher side streets to the left as you enter through the Pile Gate. Great atmosphere and good food. One of many restaurants situated in that area.
Restaurant Jadran, just inside the Pile Gate. Also a very nice courtyard setting with good food.
Proto--probably my favorite place. Great meal and wonderful service from the owner and his sister. It is a family run affair and the restaurant is named after their grandfather who was a stonemason and came to Dubrovnik in the 20s to work on the bell tower. Proto is a croatian nickname for stonemason, and that is what the grandfather was called. A most enjoyable meal and evening.
After Dubrovnik, we headed to Hvar, but had some trouble figuring out how to get there because the ferry schedules were not compatible with our schedules. We were initially planning on taking a bus to Split and catching the ferry to Hvar. At the last minute, our aforementioned taxi-driver, Miso, offered to drive us to Drvenik (much closer than Split) so we could take the ferry to Hvar from there. It turns out that the Drvenik is much closer than Split (only about 90 minutes from Dubrovnik) with much more frequent ferry crossings to Hvar, but the ferry drops you off in Sucurajyon the other end of Hvar Island from Hvar Town. Our cab driver Miso offered to drive us all the way to Hvar Town, which turned out to be a great deal for us, but a LONG day for Miso. The road is breath-taking but windy, narrow and treacherous. But we did see Hvar as few tourists see it and saw all the lavender the island is famous for. The drive was one of those unexpected adventures we are glad we had after the fact, but were not quite so sure about it while it was happening. The drive from Sucuraj to HvarTown took almost three hours.
We arrived in Hvar Town around 5 p.m. and Miso let us off as close as he could to the Riva, leaving us with about a five minute walk to our hotel, Hotel Riva. The hotel is newly renovated (had been open less than two weeks when we were there) and has a great location right on the riva with a great outdoor bar, where they offered us a welcome drink. The hotel location and service were great. However, as I posted in my mid-trip report, the hotel is just too hip and trendy for our tastes. We are no prudes (in our 40s and 50s), but I don't need a glass pane from the shower looking into the bedroom. I also like a solid wall, instead of a glass enclosure to my toilet. They are clearly catering to a more youthful and trendy crowd. Oh well.
We loved Hvar. This is a town you could just lose yourself in. Beautiful, relaxing, charming, I could have stayed much, much longer than our two days. We walked the town, saw the fortress, went swimming, walked some more, stopped and had coffee or wine in one of the many sidewalk cafes, sat on the square.... We had probably the best two meals of our entire trip while in Hvar. The first was lunch at the Konoba Menego, a traditional tavern restaurant beneath the fortress walls just above the town where they serve only traditional cold dalmatian specialties in a dark restaurant built into the wall with Dalmatian proscutio (prsut) hanging from the wooden beams on the ceilings and candles on the table. Incredible meal. Be sure and ask them to bring out the world atlas where they have guests sign on the pages of their home towns.
Later we ate at Restaurant Paladini where they brought out the fish for you to pick out before they threw it on the grill. The specialty of the house was lobster over pasta--not to be missed! The setting is a courtyard full of orange trees. Another amazing meal! And I should mention that all meals in Croatia are events, to be enjoyed and not rushed through. They definitely invite you to sit back and stay as long as you like. No rushing you out to seat another party.
After two nights in Hvar, we took the catamaran Krilo to Split. You have to get your ticket the day before, as the ships fill up fast. In fact, people started lining up to board around 7 for a 7:45 departure. By the time we got in line around 7:30, we were one of the last ones on and didn't get a seat, so we ended up standing for the trip. However, it is a comfortable ship with a.c. so it wasn't too bad. The trip to Split took an hour and dropped us off at the main ferry port in Split which is very close to the bus stations and train stations. Very easy to make connections. We walked th 10 minutes of so to our hotel, Hotel Villa Diana, which we booked through the Croatian travel agency Adriatica.net when we couldn't get into the Peristil. The Hotel is a small bed and breakfast type hotel with 4 or 5 rooms. It was nice enough and looks just like the pictures on the web (www.villadiana.hr). The only downside is that it is a few minutes outside of the tourist area, so you are in the midst of the more industrial part of the city. However, the rooms were large and clean, and reasonably priced. And it was less then a 10 minute walk to the Old Town.
We decided to take a day trip to Trogir and took a bus from the bus station. Our bus was a nice airconditioned inter-city bus that travels throughout Croatia. The ride took about 30 minutes. However, there is also a local bus (#37) that stops at every bus station, has no airconditioning and takes over an hour. A group of American women who took that ride said "it was the ride from hell." They don't tell you that there are different types of buses, so if you are going to take the bus to Trogir, be sure and ask for one of the direct or non-stop buses and don't take the local bus.
Trogir is another lovely, pictueresque Dalmatian town with lots of charm. Reminds me of Dubrovnik on a smaller scale. Lots of good places to eat and relax inbetween the sightseeing. We had lunch at one of the restaurants along the riva (whose name escapes me), and it was tasty and reasonably priced. We returned to Split that afternoon by bus.
We spent our last night in Croatia walking Diocletian's palace. They were getting ready for the big music festival that started this week, so there was a lot of scaffolding and lighting being put up, but it is beautiful nonetheless. We ate dinner at Konoba kod Joze, just outside the north gate (not the silver gate as the Fodor's book says.) Great meal and a more local venue--not quite so touristy. We spent the next day meandering through town. We particularly enjoyed seeing the fish market, where fish was being sold that had literally been caught that morning. It was a really impressive sight. Ate lunch at Tifani Restaurant, in the hotel Peristil. Great meal in a more upscale setting. We made a quick run to the Mestrovic Gallery, which has really beautiful views of the city and the sea.
After a wonderful week, it was time to head back to the airport. Croatia Airlines runs buses from just outside the old town that correspond to departing flights of all airlines. We got there early and were glad we did, because the bus was packed, as was the airport when we got there. Apparently there had been bad weather elsewhere in Europe and the flights were all backed up. The crowd definitely overwhelmed the airport, but our flight back to Gatwick departed pretty much on time.
As I forewarned, this is a long post, but I wanted to provide as much information as I could, because I found this site to be so helpful in my trip planning. We are already planning a return trip! Please e-mail me with any questions you may have!
Jul 16th, 2006, 07:32 PM
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<< Please read my June Dalmatia trip report. >>
Referring to...
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34834646
Best wishes,
Rex
Referring to...
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34834646
Best wishes,
Rex
Jul 18th, 2006, 07:16 PM
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Thanks for this report -- it was fun to read, and nice to get a July perspective on the places we visited at the end of May.
Interesting to hear about the Hotel Riva in Hvar -- it was under ferocious reconstruction when we were there about 7 weeks ago, and I had predicted that it would be the perfect place to stay (great location!) when the renovation was completed. Besides the glass-and-bathroom combo, was there anything else you didn't like about it?
Also, thanks for clearing up the lavendar question for me--wasn't sure when the plant actually bloomed.
If you are like me, you'll be reading posts about Croatia for weeks to come. Can't get it out of my system!
Interesting to hear about the Hotel Riva in Hvar -- it was under ferocious reconstruction when we were there about 7 weeks ago, and I had predicted that it would be the perfect place to stay (great location!) when the renovation was completed. Besides the glass-and-bathroom combo, was there anything else you didn't like about it?
Also, thanks for clearing up the lavendar question for me--wasn't sure when the plant actually bloomed.
If you are like me, you'll be reading posts about Croatia for weeks to come. Can't get it out of my system!
Jul 18th, 2006, 10:22 PM
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Thank you for your detailed trip report! We're looking forward to the trip, despite having to be there during august's prime tourist time (it was the only time we could get free).
We've looked at ferry timetables online and bus timetables online, but are wondering if you know of more updated summer timetables, or if you came across any interisland ferry times for Hvar (i.e., from Hvar to Vis, for example).
We've looked at ferry timetables online and bus timetables online, but are wondering if you know of more updated summer timetables, or if you came across any interisland ferry times for Hvar (i.e., from Hvar to Vis, for example).
Jul 19th, 2006, 04:18 AM
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Jul 20th, 2006, 03:38 AM
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What a fabulous trip report, really enjoyed reading it. Funnily enough, we seem to have a similar schedule and similar hotel bookings. Staying at the Hotel Riva in Hvar for 4 nights, tried to get the Peristil but couldn't so still looking for a hotel in Split (for one night).
Like someone else just asked, is there anything else about the Riva that you didn't like?
Also, would you happen to have your driver's contact information, would love to have a private car/driver for day trips out of Dubrovnik.
Many thanks!
Like someone else just asked, is there anything else about the Riva that you didn't like?
Also, would you happen to have your driver's contact information, would love to have a private car/driver for day trips out of Dubrovnik.
Many thanks!
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