Nancy: <BR>Sounds like a busy trip! You will have a great time. I really don’t know anything about the Bellevue or the location. From what Kris says it sounds very nice as well. I’ve really always liked the area where Excelsior is. It’s a really nice area and the beach right there is fantastic. <BR><BR>I haven’t stayed at the Hotel Palace on Hvar, but it looks very nice. Hvar is a lovely island. Be sure to check out the fort on the hill. There are numerous restaurants/caf&eacute;’s right on the marina overlooking the water. When are you going? Be prepared for lots of tourists (mainly Italian) on Hvar.<BR><BR>Nancy & Mark:<BR>If you decide to walk the walls in the old town (Dubrovnik) be sure to wear good shoes (and a camera). The stone can be very slippery in some areas. If either of you can make a small trip to Cavtat I would recommend it. It is about a 20 minute drive south of Dubrovnik. You can have lunch or a drink at a caf&eacute;.<BR><BR>Nina<BR>

To add to Nina's post, if you want to go to Cavtat you can also go by boat from the harbor in the old town. It gives you a really nice view of the old town from the water and I always prefer take a boat over a car. I think it was longer than 20 minutes by boat, maybe 30-40 minutes but a scenic ride.<BR><BR>And if you walk the city walls, there is no shade so try to do it before the midday sun.

Nancy - <BR>You probably already have this bookmarked:<BR><BR>http://www.slovenia-tourism.si/index.htm<BR><BR>A couple more Croatian web sites:<BR><BR>http://www.croatia.net/islands/<BR><BR>http://www.croatia.net/index.html<BR><BR>Nina - <BR>Does Dubrovnik close down for lunch like in Spain? Also - at night does it get chilly to justify bringing a light jacket?

Mark: Yes, most places close down like Spain for lunch. As far as needing a jacket at night - perhaps if you are going late September you may need one. Anything before that, not very likely. There may be a few colder days.<BR><BR>Nina

Nina + Kris - <BR>Any towns slightly north of Dubrovnik (30-60 minutes away) that you would recommend?

I can't recommend any towns North of Dubrovnik because I've only driven by them but never actually stopped. Sorry.<BR><BR>Nina

Kris - great point about avoiding the afternoon sun while walking the walls! Are you also going soon?<BR><BR>Nina

Nina, no we were there in May 2001. I'd love to go back and see all that we didn't see the first time but alas the world is a big place and I'm visiting Iceland/London next and then somewhere in Eastern Europe that I haven't selected yet. I really should be out researching those but I try to help with the more obscure countries as it's hard to find info.<BR><BR>Mark, we only visited Split, Dubrovnik, Cavtat, Lokrum (not very exciting but a nice short boat ride of about 15 minutes) and Montenegro as our time was quite short. I'll mention again that Montenegro was quite lovely and relatively unspoiled. I wouldn't recommending trying it alone but the bus tours from Dubrovnik looked like they stopped at all the places we did. I assume that if they still offer the day trips that it's safe to go over.

To island of Brac, place called Bol. I was born in Split and trust me, thinking about the beach in Bol is the only thing that keeps me alive throug the winter.

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/countries/story/0,7451,750679,00.html<BR><BR>Nice article about northern coast of Croatia

Great article Mark! Thanks for the link! I'm so looking forward to leaving next week :-)<BR><BR>Nina

Yes, thanks for the link, Mark!<BR><BR>Nina, have a great trip. Where all are you visiting this time? And are you recommending insect repellent for a specific time of year?<BR><BR>Mark, yours is coming up soon too. We're not going until May of next year, so I hope to hear some details of both of your trips to tide me over.<BR><BR>

Nancy: We'll be travelling the entire Croatian coastline. Starting in Istria and heading south all the way to Dubrovnik. We plan on doing a daytrip to the Island of Brac and also Venice. Undecided about taking a ferry to Venice for the day or just driving.<BR><BR>I'm very excited about seeing Rovinj & Opatija and all of Istria since (especially after reading the article that Mark had posted) I have never been there but have heard lots about it.<BR><BR>The insect repellent is for the summertime. Lots of mosquitoes!<BR><BR>Nina

Nina, <BR>I hope you are back before i leave (9/8)<BR>so i can hear all abt your trip, sounds like we are doing almost the same thing. Have a great time!!!<BR>Carla<BR>

Thanks Carla - we'll be back at the end of August.

http://www.istra.com/rovinj/eng/index.html<BR><BR>Rovinj was mentioned in the "honeymoon in Croatia" thread - did a search and found this web site. Rovinj look beautiful.

http://www.badel1862.com/wines/index.html<BR><BR>Informative website regarding Croatian wines - be sure to click on 'a selection of wines'