Just returned 10 days ago from Croatia and Rome, we had a wonderful time and thought I'd write up some notes about our trip. We were a group of three women in our forties/fiftyish. I was the designated travel arranger and reserved the apartments and hotels before we left.

Everyone on this board was right - Croatia is really beautiful. Dubrovnik, our first stop, was our favorite. We really liked it and easily could have spent a couple more days there, maybe with some day trips. We did one, the wine tasting tour with Atlas which was lots of fun. We wanted to do the Montenegro tour but the one we preferred wasn't available on the days we could go and the 7:15 am pickup time didn't sound so appealing either (the wine tour bus picked us up at 10:20). We didn't do much else -- we just had three days -- walked the walls one day and just soaked in the atmosphere. We really enjoyed our time there.

In Dubrovnik we rented a 2 bedroom/ 2 bath apartment called Sipa Apartment (http://www.sipa-apartments.com) for 130 euros per night. It was quite large, clean and the furnishings were newish but best of all was the view -- so nice to sit on the terrace and watch the boats go by and look at the old town. Very nice! Also, the owner takes American Express which was a big plus as I didn't want to hassle doing a money transer with my bank. (I know its probably easy enough but I just didn't want to deal with it.) It's about a 10-15 minute walk to town -- and so pretty we didn't mind it -- the return is a bit tougher because its all up hill. It's located on the street above Excelsior Hotel and Hotel Argentina (kind've between the two) and its easy to cut down to the Hotel Excelsior (where the tour bus picked us up) by taking a flight of stairs right down the street from the apartment.

Hi Coll, "In vino veritas!" (ring any bells?) Glad you enjoyed Dubrovnik. Did you go to any other places in Croatia? How was Rome?

Sorry...but I'll have to continue this later. I typed up the whole darn thing and then only the first two paragrapsh appeared. It also doesn't show up in the general travel and Italy section and I thought I had selected those as well. Oh well....I'll try again.

Ouch! I hate it when that happens. Be sure to copy what you type before you click post. It saves a lot of time. Looking forward to more.

CollK,
Thanks for the info – I was looking for accommodation in Dubrovnik for our trip and villa Sipa looks very nice. Can you please tell me more about the wine tasting tour? Which company? Did you find it/book it there? Pre-arranged from home?

Also, if not staying in a hotel that also serves breakfast, what options does a tourist have in Dubrovnik?

We did the wine tasting tour through Atlas Travel - here's their web site with a short description of the tour - hopefully it'll work -- http://www.atlas-croatia.com/en/inde...&Itemid=41. We went to their office in Dubrovnik, located by the Pile Gate, the day before and booked it directly with them. We didn't have a problem but we were there in low season and we were in a big bus which was pretty full so it might be better to book ahead.

The tour itself was good, our guide was great, her English was very good and she also spoke German and Croatian. I think she's half German/ half Croatian and grew up in several places in Europe before returning to Croatia as a teenager. She also took the time to talk to everyone individually and answered lots of questions about Croatia (i.e. politics, the war, tourism, lifestyles, etc.).

We went to three wineries and had a small lunch at one of them. It was kind of plain but good-- just soup, cheese, meat and bread. It was the perfect amount for us but I know if my husband was there he'd be looking for more.

The scenery was nice and interesting we went through some small towns and made a few stops. We got to taste lots of wine (some better than others) and the hosts were very informative and friendly. I think the cost was about $60 US each.

Can't answer the breakfast question - we bought milk, cereal, pastries, etc. and always had breakfast in the apartment. There's a grocery store five minutes from the apartment. We went out for all our other meals but we though it was nice to have our coffee and cereal before we had to face the world. I really enjoyed having my first cup of coffee on the terrace with the wonderful view -- great way to wake up and face the day!

I'm really going to finish my report soon -- we also went to Hvar, Trogir and then on to Rome -- so discouraging after typing it all and losing it. I've sort've run out of steam but in the meantime if anyone have any questions, please feel free to ask.

We are thinking of Dubrovnik and Rome next summer. How did you get travel between the two?

Croatia is on my list of possible destinations next year too, so I would be interested in hearing all about your time there. How did you get from there to Rome? How did you get to Croatia - from the States? Did you enjoy the food? How was the weather? as this is the time of year I will probably go. Looking forward to reading more.

Well I think I should finish this up and I'll also try and answer a couple of questions. So here goes......

We arrived in Dubrovnik on October 9, stayed four nights (at Sipa apartments) then took the ferry (from hell!) to Hvar spent two nights and stayed our last night in Trogir.

We were really lucky with the weather - it was beautiful in Dubrovnik - sunny and blue skies maybe in mid 70's during the day and pleasant enough in the evenings to eat outside with just a sweater on. It did feel like it was getting progressively cooler every day and was quite cool and rainy on the day we left Dubrovnik and headed to Hvar. Fortunately, it was our travel day so not really that big of a deal. Luckily the next few days warmed up and we had sun, blue skies and warm weather (maybe low 70's) again.

From Dubrovnik we took the 7 1/2 hour ferry to Hvar. I had been warned that it would be the ferry boat ride from hell and I guess I have to agree. The first half was the worst - for 3 1/2 hours the boat was packed - we were lucky as we had seats but a lot of people didn't and they were sitting on the floor, the steps, the hallways or just standing awkwardly around. It was rainy and cold so that chases a lot of people indoors. Conditions improved after we stopped in Korcula -- a bunch of people got off and it stopped raining, so then we only had to deal with the large, chain smoking family who sat next to us. Looking back I'm not sure if the alternative would be better -- bus to Split and then ferry over to Hvar - maybe both options are a pain and there is just no easy way to get to Hvar from Dubrovnik.

Hvar was nice and beautiful -- I'm just not sure it lived up to its hype (at least for me). We just thought it was a pleasant little town - could be we just weren't there long enough to do it justice. I hear its a huge happening, party place in the summer but it was pretty dead quiet while we were there (which I'm not complaining about!). We only had one full day so we hiked up to the fortress above town and took in beautiful views and also walked quite a ways along the pedestrian walkway that hugs the shore which was quite nice. Some people were even swimming and sunbathing -- not us though. It was pretty comfortable walking weather but didn't feel like it was quite warm enough to get wet. Its easy to see how it would be a nice place to hang out when the weather is warm. And I wished we would've had another day to see different parts of the island -- I'm sure there are some great drives with lovely views and nice charming villages to check out.

In Hvar we stayed at the Palace Hotel which I would consider just marginally OK. We ended up getting two rooms because we had requested three beds which they confirmed but come to find out is not actually possible so they gave us a double and a single. I was in the single - the room was small but perfectly OK but the shower and bathroom could have used a major overhaul. Come to think of it the furniture could use an overhaul too -- its all pretty dated (maybe left over from the communist days??). The location is excellent though (and I hear really loud in the summer) and the breakfast was good. The total for two rooms for two nights was 1500 kuna (or about $245 US).

From Hvar we took the fast ferry (an hour) to Split where we stayed for a few hours. Lots of hustle bustle there and it was Saturday so there were masses of people -- hardly an empty seat in the cafe's. From there we headed to Trogir where we were spending our last night. We took the public bus which was really easy - it leaves every half hour from the main bus station, it went directly there with no stops and takes about a half hour . Cheap too - 67 kunas for three of us with luggage (about $11 US).

We really enjoyed Trogir -- its small, quaint, charming and quiet. There's not a lot to do though, you can pretty see the town in a couple hours, and we felt one night was just about right for us. There's probably some nice day trips which would make it a good base -- better than Split in my opinion.

We stayed at the Hotel Pasike (http://www.hotelpasike.com/) right in the old town. Great little place -- very charming and the staff was very nice. Our room was large and furnished with antiques and a great big, modern bathroom with a good working shower. The had a small snifter of some sort of alcohol waiting in the room for us -- we didn't try it but it was a nice touch! It also comes with breakfast and they'll make eggs, omelettes, etc. as well. We paid 660 kunas ($107 US) for a triple.

We used Europe by air (www.europebyair.com) to fly from Split to Rome and it worked out great. We paid $99 per ticket plus the tax which we paid at the airport. We flew on Croatia Airlines and the flight is really short (I think they said 30 minutes flying time). It was really easy to do -- they mailed us the vouchers and we had a reservation on the flight, at the Split airport on the day of departure we paid the tax at the Croatia Airlines Information booth which was 691 kunas for the three of us (about $113 US - a little less than $40 each) then we went to the Croatia Airlines ticket counter with the paperwork saying we paid our taxes and our vouchers and they issued tickets, seat assignments, etc. Worked out perfect.

I'll be happy to answer any questions. I'll continue the Rome part later.....

Barb -- We flew from SFO to London, London to Vienna and Vienna to Dubrovnik. We used FF miles on United so probably not the most direct route but then again they were free tickets so we weren't about to complain. The return wasn't much better Rome (a 7:00 am flight!) to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to London and then London to SFO.

The food was good but we're not real fussy either -- nothing like Rome of course but it was OK. We ate a lot of pizza and rissoto. I tried the black rissoto but didn't like it at all -- maybe it was the color -- anyway its very popular so people must like it, just not me! Our favorite restaurant was called Rozarij located on the corner of Prijeko and Zlatarska -- their fish soup was really yummy, our waiter was nice and friendly and its in kind of a charming spot right next to a church. I got that recommendation from slowtrav.com and I think it was the only one that I brought with me. I had carefully written down recommdations for various things (places to see, restaurants, etc.) and forgot to pack it -- along with my 'Rough Guide to Croatia" book so we just kind've winged it when we were there. (And I was way too cheap to go out and buy another one).

I think I covered the weather question in my previous post. Let me know if there's anything else.

CollK,

Thank you for an informative report. I'm marking it for future reference.

Byrd

Thanks so much. This is very similar to a trip we took and one I'm helping a friend plan. Very helpful info.

Thanks for the info - I've printed it out and it's going in my trip planning file. Was the money easy to figure out?

The money was pretty easy to figure out -- it was about 6 Kunas to $1 US dollar.

Also forgot to mention earlier that another good point of staying in Trogir vs Split is that its much closer to the airport. It was less than 10 minutes to go from our hotel to the airport, so its very convenient if you are flying out of Split.