Croatian Adventure for active middle-agers?
 

Hello all, I'm brand new to this site and forum. My husband fell in love with Dubrovnik when he stopped there during a naval deployment in the early 90's. He's talked for years about going back together for a vacation, and now we're in the early planning stages for the trip.

I've found a land tour online that seems to fit the bill for what we are looking for: 14 days, 4 cities with a few days in each city and a mix of planned tours and free time. My one concern might seem mean spirited, and I don't mean for it to be! We are in our late 40's, active and into fitness. So, while we want a relaxing vacation, we don't mind fairly strenuous activities and lots of walking, etc. The pictures and the videos of the tour we are looking at seems to show that most of the clientele is of folks much older than us, and some needing walking aids, etc.

So, while I'm sure we would love our travel companions, is there a tour for folks like us? Not the party-time singles crowd, not the older crowd, but for active couples?

Or would you recommend going it on our own without a guided tour?

Advice and insight would be much appreciated!

Annette, Maryland, USA

I think Croatia is very easy to do on your own. I personally wouldn't do a tour of the country for the entire time.

The posters on this site prefer independent travel, so will lean that way. And I lean with them.

But independent travel requires much more work on your part, much more research ahead of time. You need to know where you want to go, how to get there and how long it takes. In Croatia this requires close perusal of the ferry schedules. And you need to find places to stay and restaurants to eat at.

My must-sees in Croatia: Dubrovnik, Plitvice, at least one island and one quiet coastal town. Hopefully your tour includes these. It does sound like a slower-paced tour, which is good in Croatia, a slower paced place. And you don't need to stay with the tour all the time.

Another option: Rick Steves does a tour of Croatia. His tours tend to be more active, and you don't need to tip the guide. Everybody I know that's taken one of his tours is pleased.

We loved Croatia. Hopefully you will too.

Thanks for your replies. I did find a company that sets up your travel arrangements, flights, rental cars or ferries, hotels and etc based on where you want to go, but is not a guided tour. I wasn't sure if it would be better to be with a guide due to language considerations.
If we wanted to go on our own but get a guided tour of Dubrovnik, for example, I'm sure we could find and purchase one there.

English is quite widely spoken (more so than Spain or Italy in my experience) and Croatia is super easy place to travel.
I say go independently, and pay when you want a guided tour or an excursion such as kayaking.

I agree with Yorkshire. We had no problems with the language. Everyone spoke English and the people are very very friendly.

Croatia is VERY easy to visit independently. English will NOT be a problem. Go and enjoy!

If you google Croatia active tours you will find a variety of companies that offer active trips that may appeal to you and will undoubtedly have younger participants. You could combine an organized active portion of your trip, with a less strenuous portion on your own, where you can rent a car and have a more leisurely trip.

You may want to consider flying into one city and out of another. if you are flying from the USA there are no non-stop flights to Croatia,

If you do not want to plan it all yourself, there are some travel agents that specialize in Croatia, and will assist you in putting together a trip.

"... you can rent a car and have a more leisurely trip"

And you don't even need to rent a car unless that's your preference! For most tourist destinations in Croatia, you can rely on buses and ferries.

You might want a car for Plitvice, which is a must-see, but otherwise you'll be fine without.

Unfortunately, your husband may be a little disappointed with Dubrovnik, which is now usually overrun with cruiseship passengers. I highly recommend chosing your dates for Dubrovnik to avoid as many passengers as possible - use http://www.portdubrovnik.hr/girica1.php

Before our trip to Croatia a few years ago, I had really considered the "Classic" tour with this company. It seems more intimate and it looks like the travellers are a variety of ages, from the pictures. It is run by an American couple, the husband grew up in Croatia. They seem to travel back to Croatia in the spring and fall and run their tours.

http://croatiaonly.com

In the end we decided to DIY and my husband and we really enjoyed our 2 1/2 weeks on the Dalmatian Coast (in early May). We travelled between our destinations using ferries and buses, and a private driver once, pretty easily.

Even though we ended up doing DIY, I see the appeal of a tour. Having someone else look after all of the planning would be great. I'm not quite there yet, still prefer to be in charge of my own destiny.