Croatia Trip Report
Jun 8th, 2004 | 09:50 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jun 2004
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Croatia Trip Report
I found everyone's postings to be very helpful in planning our trip to Croata, so I wanted to post a trip report that might be of help to others.
Croatia is a wonderful country that is so beautiful. We had only 10 days in late May and could have spent so much more. Fortunately, the weather was sunny and warm most of the time.
We arrived in Zagreb in the early afternoon and spent 1 1/2 days there, which was probably enough if your time is limited. Zagreb is a charming city that felt a little like Prague or Vienna. The architecture is great (too bad there's so much graffiti), and we were amazed by how many outdoor cafes there are. Just sit and have coffee and watch the people go by. Take the short funicular up to the old town. There are several museums that can fill a day or two - we enjoyed the Naive Art Museum and the Mestrovic sculpture gallery in the old upper part of the city. The Boban Italian restaurant was very good - really good risotto. We tried our first Dingac red wine there - yum! We stayed at the Hotel Ilica and thought it was fine (no problems at all, unlike what someone else posted). 449 kuna a night for a small, clean room with satellite TV. The location is good - a 10-15 minute walk straight to the main square down a lively commercial street.
Flew to Dubrovnik on Croatia Airlines. The Zagreb airport is small and the lines seemed short. Taxis are expensive to and from the airport, so take the airport bus if it's convenient. Dubrovnik is a magical city that will charm you (except for all the cruise ship tourists). The area around Dubrovnik really is beautiful as well. We stayed at the Amoret apartments with a room overlooking the Cathedral Treasury and the Rector's Palace. That was great and it was less than $100. We didn't find any great restaurants in Dubrovnik - a lot of tourist places that were expensive and disappointing (ragusa 2), but if you like pizza, try mea culpa and there's a spaghetteria there that's good as well. The "Fast Food" restaurant is good for a burger and fries or a chicken sandwich. Sitting at Buzz Bar on the walls is a must, as is walking the walls. We took an Atlas tour one day to Mljet and one day to Montenegro and would recommend both, especially Montenegro, if you must choose between the two. I had read postings saying that the Montenegro trip was worthwhile, and I strongly agree. It's a long day on a bus, but you see spectacular scenery that's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Kotor is amazing - the setting is spectacular. The whole drive is pretty and interesting.
We rented a car and drove up the Peljesac Peninsula and had our best seafood meal in Mali Ston at Kapetanova Kuca. You look out over the mussel farms. The seafood spagetti was delicious, as was the mussels buzzara. We drove on looking for wineries to visit, but we didn't find much. Grigic (same as Grigich Hills in Napa) was supposed to be open but wasn't. His wine is supposed to be the best Croatian wine and costs about $30. We ended up driving back down the peninsula and the drove along the coast (through Bosnia) to Drvenik, where we took the evening ferry to Hvar. The drive across Hvar took a lot longer than I expected (1 1/2 hours) because of the windy roads that have no shoulders and deep drops.
Hvar is a beautiful island. We had only one full day, which isn't enough. Spend 2-4, if you can and just relax. We really enjoyed eating Dalamatian food at Konoba Menego in Hvar Town. The cheeses and smoked ham were great. The Podstine Hotel was the nicest of all the places we stayed. It looks like they just renovated the place, and it shows.
From Hvar, we took the ferry to Split and drove off the ferry to Diocletian's Palace. Really worth seeing. We spent the night in Trogir, which was a little disappointing. It's small and can be visited in an hour or two. The Fontana hotel was a letdown after the Podstine - the rooms are more motel-like.
We left early to drive north to Plitvice, which was well worth the long drive. If you can spend the night and have time to explore, do so. We spent 3 hours, which isn't enough, but we were so glad we added it to the itinerary. We've never seen anyplace like it. The drive through the heart of Croatia was pretty, but not what we expected. It felt like we could have been in the north of Scotland or somewhere in west Texas, because of how barren and rocky it was.
We spent our last night in Zagreb before flying back to the US through Frankfurt on Lufthansa (where they pack you like sardines in coach). Sorry for the length of this. Write if you have questions and enjoy this impressive country!
Croatia is a wonderful country that is so beautiful. We had only 10 days in late May and could have spent so much more. Fortunately, the weather was sunny and warm most of the time.
We arrived in Zagreb in the early afternoon and spent 1 1/2 days there, which was probably enough if your time is limited. Zagreb is a charming city that felt a little like Prague or Vienna. The architecture is great (too bad there's so much graffiti), and we were amazed by how many outdoor cafes there are. Just sit and have coffee and watch the people go by. Take the short funicular up to the old town. There are several museums that can fill a day or two - we enjoyed the Naive Art Museum and the Mestrovic sculpture gallery in the old upper part of the city. The Boban Italian restaurant was very good - really good risotto. We tried our first Dingac red wine there - yum! We stayed at the Hotel Ilica and thought it was fine (no problems at all, unlike what someone else posted). 449 kuna a night for a small, clean room with satellite TV. The location is good - a 10-15 minute walk straight to the main square down a lively commercial street.
Flew to Dubrovnik on Croatia Airlines. The Zagreb airport is small and the lines seemed short. Taxis are expensive to and from the airport, so take the airport bus if it's convenient. Dubrovnik is a magical city that will charm you (except for all the cruise ship tourists). The area around Dubrovnik really is beautiful as well. We stayed at the Amoret apartments with a room overlooking the Cathedral Treasury and the Rector's Palace. That was great and it was less than $100. We didn't find any great restaurants in Dubrovnik - a lot of tourist places that were expensive and disappointing (ragusa 2), but if you like pizza, try mea culpa and there's a spaghetteria there that's good as well. The "Fast Food" restaurant is good for a burger and fries or a chicken sandwich. Sitting at Buzz Bar on the walls is a must, as is walking the walls. We took an Atlas tour one day to Mljet and one day to Montenegro and would recommend both, especially Montenegro, if you must choose between the two. I had read postings saying that the Montenegro trip was worthwhile, and I strongly agree. It's a long day on a bus, but you see spectacular scenery that's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Kotor is amazing - the setting is spectacular. The whole drive is pretty and interesting.
We rented a car and drove up the Peljesac Peninsula and had our best seafood meal in Mali Ston at Kapetanova Kuca. You look out over the mussel farms. The seafood spagetti was delicious, as was the mussels buzzara. We drove on looking for wineries to visit, but we didn't find much. Grigic (same as Grigich Hills in Napa) was supposed to be open but wasn't. His wine is supposed to be the best Croatian wine and costs about $30. We ended up driving back down the peninsula and the drove along the coast (through Bosnia) to Drvenik, where we took the evening ferry to Hvar. The drive across Hvar took a lot longer than I expected (1 1/2 hours) because of the windy roads that have no shoulders and deep drops.
Hvar is a beautiful island. We had only one full day, which isn't enough. Spend 2-4, if you can and just relax. We really enjoyed eating Dalamatian food at Konoba Menego in Hvar Town. The cheeses and smoked ham were great. The Podstine Hotel was the nicest of all the places we stayed. It looks like they just renovated the place, and it shows.
From Hvar, we took the ferry to Split and drove off the ferry to Diocletian's Palace. Really worth seeing. We spent the night in Trogir, which was a little disappointing. It's small and can be visited in an hour or two. The Fontana hotel was a letdown after the Podstine - the rooms are more motel-like.
We left early to drive north to Plitvice, which was well worth the long drive. If you can spend the night and have time to explore, do so. We spent 3 hours, which isn't enough, but we were so glad we added it to the itinerary. We've never seen anyplace like it. The drive through the heart of Croatia was pretty, but not what we expected. It felt like we could have been in the north of Scotland or somewhere in west Texas, because of how barren and rocky it was.
We spent our last night in Zagreb before flying back to the US through Frankfurt on Lufthansa (where they pack you like sardines in coach). Sorry for the length of this. Write if you have questions and enjoy this impressive country!
Jun 9th, 2004 | 04:53 AM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,556
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Great report Stuart. Thank you.
It is helping me in planning my trip in September. Looking at travelling along the Dalmatian coast only (stopping wherever at will since I'll only have about 10 days) and saving the inland trip for another time. For a strictly coastal vacation, which would you say was better : starting in Zagreb and ending in Dubrovnik or vice versa ? Also planning to spend more time in Hvar and Split and other small islands (my reasearch is uncovering so many it's hard to choose).
Jun 9th, 2004 | 10:19 AM
#6
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7
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Mathieu, I think doing a 10 day coastal vacation and saving the interior for another time makes a lot of sense. I think it's possible to fly from points in Europe into Dubrovnik and return from Split. We went through Zagreb because the airfare was less, but in hindsight, it would have been worth paying more to have more days on the coast. We just scratched the surface of the coast and missed so many islands. JetLag, we were fortunate that the weather was so nice when we were on Hvar. We enjoyed walking in Hvar Town up to the fortress and looking down at the town and the water, which is clear blue and green. The view from our balcony at the Podstine was great. If you stay there ask for a 3rd Floor sea view - it's the top floor. There are islands just off the coast from Hvar Town that are supposed to be nice to visit. Konoba Menego also has a restaurant on one of those islands. BTW, bring a phone card if you plan to use a payphone on Hvar - as the postal clerk told us, "phone cards are impossible on Hvar." You have to make all calls from the Post Office if you don't have one. We purchased one in Zagreb at a newsstand with no problem.
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