Dayne

Hi fellow travelers. I will be traveling for a month in September female solo and I'm having trouble deciding whether to go to Turkey, Croatia or Greece. I'd like to get the best of dramatic scenery, culture/interesting architecture, clean water and beaches for snorkeling/diving, nice people, easy to get around, affordable. Being single, it would be great to have some fun too. It looks like the camping in Croatia is a great way to go. Any advise would be great.
Thanks,
Dayne

Lina

Of those three, I've only been to Croatia (Greece this fall!). I highly recommend Croatia with some time in Montenegro. I visited Dubrovnik, Cavtat, and Trogir, but the Croatia forum has lots of info about other areas. There are no trains, but buses run regularly and reliably. The scenery is beautiful.

LEANNA

Been to all 3 and just got back from Croatia!!! Its my "new" place!!! Go to Porec! Nothing else is needed....old Roman walls, cafes, an old church w/ great mosaics, fun shopping, good cafes, I will go back and back until it gets over ran!!!

ReddVelvet

Croatia..I haven'tyet been to the other 2 but have been to Croatia twice now and am going back next summer.
Great food, great people, crystal clear turqoise blue water, great architecture, charming villages and still very affordable. I could go on and on. Makarska is the equivalent to the french riviera. Fab beach and great nightlife. Go island hopping-Hvar the land of lavender, Korcula, Trogir, and Dubrovnik is to die for.

relliea

I agree with the others, Croatia. The Makarska Riviera scenery is beautiful & the water so clear. We didn't camp but still had a wonderful time.
Greece is lovely also but was too crowded hot & dry in mid-June.

TylerTraveler

Turkey or Croatia. Turkey has a bit more substance in my mind and Croatia has a bit more of a vacation feel to it. It depends what you are looking for. All the water, beaches, nice people can be found in any of those 3 places. I've been to Greece as well but enjoyed the other 2 more. That's just my 2 cents

I'm jealous!

Dayne

Thank you all for your replies - it really helps. Since I have a month, I can actually spend time in Croatia and either Greece or Italy. I'm a little apprehensive about Turkey with what's going on in Lebanon & Israel and what might develop there. I've found cheap flights from CA, USA to London and from London to both Zagreb & Venice. Maybe Greece & Turkey will be another trip and I'll do Croatia & Northern Italy - Never been to Italy!
Thanks again for the advise.
Dayne

bobludlow

First of all, please stop posting the same question in multiple posts. I count 3 different posts with practically identical verbage in less than 24 hours. If you are worried about getting the post noticed, just "top" it with another entry.

As for your question, although there have been some terrorist-related bombings in Turkey lately, I wouldn't tar them with the Israel/Palestine brush. Turks may be Muslim but they aren't Arab, and in many ways they feel closer to America than to Palestine. That said, a single female traveler might have to put up with some uncomfortable attention in Turkey...a Croatia/Italy trip sounds wonderful.

tcreath

bobludlow, I'm assuming that the op may have posted three times, each time marking each post as "Turkey", "Croatia" and "Greece" respectively, not realizing that all posts go into the same pot. Fodors doesn't do a very good job of explaining this so people who don't post a lot don't realize that they are doing it.

Unfortunately I can't answer the question yet, as we are going to Croatia in November and Greece next year.

Tracy

JaneB

And REALLY, what difference does it make if Dayne does post 3 times. Who's the forum monitor--is it bobludlow???
Jane

bobludlow

JaneB-

If we all starting posting multiple identical questions this website would become much less user-friendly for everyone. The poster might well miss some of the responses as well as miss out on the back-and-forth as posters argue with each other about the best advice. And it would certainly take longer to scroll through the message board for interesting posts.

I'm going to throw the question back at you, JaneB - how would posting multiple IDENTICAL emails instead of simply topping the first one benefit anyone, Dayne included?

Dayne

Apologies for the multiple posts. I added Greece to the other as it became a serious consideration. I also didn't know it took a day to get it posted so when I checked this morning it wasn't on their and I posted it yesterday morning. Then both showed up. I would delete it if I could (can I?) but no reason to get worked up - this is supposed to be fun. Ignore them if you want. Again, I'm really excited about this trip and all your comments are appreciated.

Dayne.

TylerTraveler

Don't worry about safety in Turkey. It's probably one of the safest countries in Europe. I went in with the same nervous misconceptions that you did and now that I've been... I miss the country possibly more than any other in Europe.

travelllover

I would choose Turkey, although Croatia is nice too. I really don't like Greece cuz people are so non hospital. On the other hand Turks are so nice...

MikeBuckley

Dayne,

I've been to Italy a couple of times, to Greece once (that included a LOT more than the islands), and will be going to Croatia this fall. If I had not already been to Italy, I would definitely be going there instead of Croatia. My point is that if being in Croatia is a great excuse to go to nearby northern Italy (assuming you mean Venice, Florence and maybe the lakes region), by all means use that combination.

However, northern Italy won't offer you the snorkeling and diving and it isn't as cheap as Croatia from what I can tell. As an example, if you want cheap and incredible, consider Thailand.

With so many great places on the planet, it's really difficult to decide where to go next that we haven't already been to. I simply don't see how going to Croatia and Italy could be a bad choice.

susanteach

A single friend of mine was going to relax before starting a grad. program position abroad. She told me that while she loved the Greek isles in terms of beauty, the MEN were horrendous and she was repeatedly harrassed to the point of being pinned up against a wall, and therefore was too anxious her entire time there. She related to me that stays in Turkey and Cyprus were just the opposite.

zwho

I really love Turkey, and the Med and Aegean coast are beautiful, chock full of ancient ruins and fairly easy to get around in. I have only been to Dubrovnik, but it impressed me so much, that we are planning to go back and travel around Croatia. But as a single female, Turkey may be a little more then you want. When we were there, my husband was in a leather store in the grand Bazaar and I decided to go shop and told him I'd be back for him. The shop owner insisted I take one of his workers with me. I explained that I was capable and very used to shopping on my own, but he really didn't get it. I am a 50 something and while I don't think I'm an old hag, I'm no playmate either. I still don't know if they were worried about my safety or just proper appearances. Everyone was very friendly and respectful and I've never had more fun. Its just very exotic. Everyone should have your problems!

eurotraveller

I haven't been to Greece yet but I was in Turkey last year and Croatia the year before.

if I had to choose right now where I would go back to it would be Turkey, although I loved Croatia.

The people in Turkey are as friendly, if not more friendly, than the people in Thailand.

If you are looking for spectacular scenery you MUST go to Cappadocia, Turkey!

I would say that both Turkey and Croatia are inexpensive and I would feel safe traveling to either one by myself.

Istanbul is incredible. We spent 6 nights there and I could have stayed another week!

On the other hand, Dubrovnik is an amazing city but so incredibly crowded with cruise ship passengers that it is most enjoyable early morning and after the passengers get back on the boat.

We did quite a bit of driving in Croatia and drove past some beautiful camp sites. I kept thinking that I would want to return to Croatia with my baby sister. She would love it.

You can see my trip photos for both countries at www.windjammer.smugmug.com.

If you are interested in reading my trip reports you can provide your email address and I will forward both of them to you.

Cheers!