Croatia - June itinerary & lodging help
 

My husband and I are planning a "last minute" trip to Croatia for 11 days at the end of June/beginning of July 2008. (I say last minute because I'd prefer to have more notice to plan and book hotels!) We're early 30's, active, and are looking for a 55-45 mix of quality relaxation/beach time plus cultural and active exploration. We like having great restaurant choices and the option of nite life, but won't be staying out much past midnight. We're flying into Split and out of Dubrovnik.

1) Please critique itinerary:

Day 1 - Arrive Split (8pm) - stay night in Split

Day 2 - wake early, bus to Trogir; explore Trogir; return to Split in afternoon (possibly do Diocletian’s Palace); ferry to Hvar; stay night in Hvar

Day 3 - 6 (4 nites, 3 full days) Hvar; Day 6 travel from Hvar to Korcula

Day 6 - 8 (2 nites, 1 full + 2 partial days) Korcula

Day 8 - 11 (4 nites + 3 full days) Dubrovnik

2) Are we spreading ourservles too thin? Should we skip Korcula and split the time between Hvar and Dubrovnik? (or skip Hvar and stay in Korcula?)

3) Any recs for lodging in:
- Split
- Hvar town
- Korcula town
We are happy with 3* accomodation (sobe) as long as it is clean, friendly and within walking distance of the town center. Regardless of location, we like to have a balcony/terrace with a splended sea view. Looking to spend < 150E per night on lodging.

4) Needless to say competition is fierce for rooms in Dubrovnik during this time (June 30 - July 4). I'd like to stay outside the old city, preferably near Ploce Gate, in room with balcony and view of old city. Many of the rooms Fodorites prefer are already booked including Villa Adriatica (boo!). I found apartment Antonela for 120E per night and it looks great (esp the view!) - just worried about distance from old city, and whether the price is reasonable

http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/apartments_antonela/

I found some posts from 2005/6 that seem to indicate distance isn't prohiibitive, but love more recent reports and/or recommendations.

Many thanks! We can't wait for the trip!

Definitely see Diocletian's palace! It would be a crying shame to be in Split and not see that amazing place. If you are up for a stroll on your first night, it is really atmospheric at night, especially the place where the columns and Egyptian statues are. Keep an open mind about Split--it is a working city with all that entails, but there are some interesting old neighborhoods. You can store your luggage at the "garberoba" at the port and walk around before your ferry to Hvar.

I think you have a good amount of time for Hvar and Korcula. If you wanted to do a lot of hiking in nature, I'd say one or the other, but I think that amount of time is good and it breaks up the long boat rides from Split to Dubrovnik. Also, Korcula restaurants are better imo.
Here is a place to search Hvar accommodations: www.hvar.hr.
I liked the Križna luka area, a neighborhood setting less than 15 minutes walk to old town with views.

The Dbv apartment looks nice to me. I don't mind walking or stairs in the slightest though--it is worth it for that view and perfectly safe to walk home at night.

Yorkshire: can I join in here?
I too am trying to organise a Croatia trip and have found accommodation in Dubrovnik at last (expensive in my view but travelling alone that's the way it is). Also have somewhere sorted in Korcula. As yet no joy in Split. I need to be central for the airport bus. Any suggestions?

I'm afraid I don't have a recommendation for Split, but one of the neighborhoods I was referring to is Veli Varos. I walked through on my last visit there and thought this is where I will stay next time!
www.visitsplit.com has a list of tourist agencies that books private rooms. You could also go to an office upon arrival (if I was traveling solo this is what I would do to try to get something less expensive than what it offerred online). good luck

We stayed at Apartments Suzi (google it) and Apartments Olga in Split. (http://www.croatiasplitapartments.com/) Clean & modern sobes but I do recommend leaving lights on at night b/c cockroaches will make appearance. I found this only in Split!

Apartments Ana Dujmovic in Hvar. (http://www.hvar-croatia.com/dujmovic/indexeng.htm) It has balcony w/ sea view. 10 minute walk to town. Owner will pick you up/drop you off at the ferry terminal.

Sobes may have minimum stay requirements in July so keep that in mind.

Enjoy, you will have great time!

Villa Depolo in Korcula. Ask for the room with the balcony - it has a fabulous view of the water and Old Town. It is a short 5 minute walk to the Old Town. We were there in the off season and it was around 33 Euro/night.

id stay in trogir and visit split
trogir is magic
as for accommodation - find the tourist bureau down past the church on the waterfront and ask for a private apt
we stayed at Miro's apt for 300 kunas a night - he even got us free parking within the old town
this is the number he gave me when we were leaving.. Ana at 'Carol rooms' 0038 595 881 9593
we stayed with niko and ivanka( 300 kunas again and dinner thrown in - they own a pizza restaurant) in the old town of dubrovnik
again we just rolled up and asked at the tourist bureau in the old town..loved staying in the old towns!

We went to Croatia last spring and stayed at the Hotel Diana in Split. It was about a 5 minute walk to the center of town. It was a very decent place, modern and had air conditioning. The only thing is--no elevator--and you have to carry your luggage up the stairs. Also, the place was very difficult to find so get directions if you want to try the place. The price was reasonable too.

I think your itinerary and the amount of time in each place sound excellent. Don't skip Korcula. Also the trip (we took the bus) from Hvar to Korcula is beautiful. Well, it's all beautiful!

I don't have places to recommend because we went in June 2001 and stayed in rooms/apartments which we got when we arrived in each place.

We were in Croatia two years ago and stayed in the Hotel Peristile in Split. The hotel is located in the walls of Diocletian's palace - which is not to be missed. We stayed in Split 2 nights, but could have done it in one.

I like your trip itinerary.The airport in Split is very far from the city where you want to see the palace and catch the boat to Hvar. I stayed at Hotel Bellevue http://www.hotel-bellevue-split.hr/ which is ideally located for rolling out of bed, seeing the palace in the morning or evening, close to good restaurants.

If the weather is good when you are on Hvar or Korcula, consider just staying there and skipping the other island, each place in Croatia is more beautiful than the next but there is a similarity so moving locations on the islands won't necessarily be worth the travel time. Honestly.

Be sure to pack light (I suggest one carry on rolly bag each) because you will have to move your own luggage everywhere and you can pick up some inexpensive clothes lots of places. Some of the best sobas (views, terrace, rooftop patio) are going to be on the tip top floor of a house so that's why I mention the luggage.

Also, cash is important, can cash travel checks at banks but credit cards will limit your choice of good restaurants. I have lived in Selce (near Crikvenica) for one year and I can tell you that I once dropped a wad of cash on the main square, went to have coffee and on the way back, my cash wad was still just laying there on the plaza! Its a very proud and honest population with a tradition of accepting paying guests into their homes, no matter what income class they belong to. And a point of pride to have the same tourists returning to their soba every year!

It is difficult to book in advance on the web for the best sobas, its easier to arrange with the tourist bureau or any private agency when you get to a town (again, the rolly bag is key) even though this seems kind of unplanned, Croatia is a tourist based economy and for the independant traveller, this is how the tourist services are arranged. Most average people are using cell phones and especially text messages rather than the web for business arrangements I find.

You may have to look at a couple of sobas, its not weird to turn down a place as they are all clean so its just going to be personal preference. It takes some time (couple of hours) to get to the agency, see the places, pick one and move luggage to it. Usually there is a 3 day minimum stay at the best choices. The star system is a little screwy by my american way of thinking, e.g. the seperate kitchen from the dining room gets you another star but blows the whole great room concept and makes for some funky layouts and boxed up rooms. Unless you intend to shop for food and cook, the 3 stars are not a quality statement, just a facility issue. So please be open to the 2 star or even 1 star places, you will not be staying in anyplace that isn't super clean and I doubt you will be in the soba much anyway. Look for a nice view for sunsets, sunrise and a reasonable size water tank in the bathroom. I didn't use air conditioning last summer at all (the local word is "climat")but I'm from Seattle so maybe that is just me.

The soba owner is the best resource for the good places to eat even though it may seem like at first they are just hawking one place. Croatians are very fond of good food and will not steer you wrong as this would reflect poor taste on their part. In fact, some folks won't even give you a suggestion for fear that it won't meet your standards in some way. So even if you stay more off the main drag in Dubrovnik your soba owner could be the ticket to the best experience of your whole trip.

Sretan Put (*Good travels*)

We just returned from Croatia on 05/15. We stayed in Villa Varos in Split. (in the Veli Varos neighborhood) It's a three star apartment. Small rooms, but clean, and our bathroom was enormous, compared to the "bedroom." It's a very short walk to Diocletian's Palace and the Riva.

We really enjoyed Split. I know a lot of people don't, but I'm so happy we went there and spent three nights. There's so much history in the city.

If you have time, I definitely recommend taking a walking tour that leaves from the laundromat located in the Veli Varos neighborhood. It's run by a husband/wife from Australia. Right now the name escapes me. I'll post back after I look in my Rick Steves book. It was very interesting to gain a perspective on living in/having a business in Croatia from an ex-pat.

As for Trogir...pretty...but I guess after being in Dubrovnik for six nights, it wasn't really that exciting for us. Just our opinion though!

What a wonderful trip you have planned! My husband and I just got back from Croatia two days ago. In Dubrovnik we stayed in Room Karla, a sobe with room and bath ensuite (the sign doesn't say it is 3 stars but we thought it measured up). You can google it to get the contact information. It was just up from the Pile Gate and had a rooftop terrace with lovely views of the old town and the sea. We loved Maria (the owner) and her family. They provided useful information about places to go and car rentals as well. Like keg9857, we really enjoyed Split and found it fascinating. We were there for 2 nights and 2 days (we did a day trip to Hvar for one of the days as Split's primary sights can be covered in a day) and stayed at Villa Anna (or is it Ana?) which is just 5 minutes walkiing from the Riva. It was perfectly clean and lovely (as well as affordable). The Riva was so beautiful and I don't know of anywhere else in the world where you will find store fronts and cafes built into ruins in a way that allows the ruins to live the way they do in Split. I do think that Split has to grow on people a little bit as I didn't immediately love it. But the Riva is so beautiful and the old town so splendid and unique that it doesn't take long! Enjoy!

If you choose Korcula, do chose www.rentadriatic.com