Hi, Based on your great advice we have booked 5 nights at the Villa Adriatica in late May 2006. We are also going to Trogir for 4 nights and we are staying in the yellow apartment of the family Kasalo.

What day trips would you recommend from Dubrovnik. We will not have a car. We enjoy beautiful scenery and historic sites and architecture.

Thanks for your suggestions! Laurie

We took a day trip to Montenegro. It is a long day -- early in the morning until about 7:00, but it was spectacular. Modern bus, capeable guides, and most informative.

I highly recommend doing it. The climb up that incredible road from Kotor to the mountain top is worth the trip in itself. Also the contrast between the way the Croatians have picked up their country and their economy after the war and the miserable job the Montenegrans are doing is really instructive.

Have a great trip.

Thanks for your reply, Nukesafe.
Did you book this day trip before arrival in Dubrovnik? What agency provides this trip and how much does it cost?

Thanks again for your help! Laurie

We booked our trip to Montenegro through our hotel the day before. I should not think it necessary to book before, but it would not be difficult to do so online. The tour company we used was Atlas. http://www.atlas-croatia.com/

The trip cost about 48 Euros, as I recall. Well worth it, I thought.

One thing you should be aware of is they use Euros in Montenegro, and will not accept the Croatian Kuna. When my wife wanted to buy something in Kotor, I had to zip over to an ATM to get some Euros.
I also bought a really lovely hand-made sweater/coat for my wife in a park in Budva. Cost about $100, but I'm sure it would have been three or four times that in New York.

I second the recommendation to go to Montenegro. I also enjoyed the Peljesec Wine tour. It's a shorter day and very enjoyable. You can book both there.

Thank you for your suggestions! We will be sure to check into a day trip to Montenegro.

We took the "Montenegro Blue" trip with Atlas and LOVED it. It stays on the coastline more than the historical Montenegro tour. It is a long day, but well worth it (the only town we didn't care for was Budva).

I also recommend taking the bus to Cavtat, about 20 minutes south of Dubrovnik (close to the airport). It is a lovely town, well worth a day, and has a walking trail all along the waters edge. My trip report lists some restaurants worth visiting there.

Laurie,

In response to Lina's post; we took the "Mountain" tour, not the "Blue" tour, so can't compare the two. The mountain tour was spectacular, and we loved it.

I second Lina's enthusiasm for Cavtat, but would suggest you take a water taxi from the old port for you expedition, rather than the bus. The cost was nominal, and the experience of leaving and approaching both ports by sea was a lovely way to get the feel for the towns.

I did the day trip to Medugorje, in Bosnia, also with Atlas tours.

It isn't terribly scenic, but quite interesting and spiritual. Leaves Dubrovnik at around 9.00 am and returns at approx 6.00pm

Thank you all for your suggestions! I have visited the atlas travel website but I cannot find any day trips from Dubrovnik.
I can only find excursions that last several days.

I guess we will need to look into this more when we arrive in Dubrovnik.

Thanks for letting me know about the 2 different trips to Montenegro and about the water taxi.

Laurie

I think they just have not posted the Summer schedule yet. I clicked "Excursions on Line", entered dates in January, and came up with listed trips to Montenegro.

Relax, you have time.

Nukesafe and Lina,
Thanks for the details on the Montenegro trips. We’ll be in Croatia in Sept, and like Laurie, have no idea which tour to take. But there’s plenty of time for us to decide on one, then change our mind, and change it again

Laurie, please report when you get back about Villa Adriatica (we’re staying there, too), Cavtat, Montenegro trip, other places and things, food, ferry, etc. Are you renting a car? Thanks

Hi xyz99,
We will return from this trip in mid June 2006. I will report back on favorite restaurants and accomodations etc.

We are staying in Dubrovnik for 5 nights and then on to Trojir for 4 nights. We will not be renting a car for our stay in Dubrovnik but we will rent a car to drive from Dubrovnik to Trogir.

We are going to use Trogir as a base and travel to some surrounding towns and Krka National Park. We will return the car to the Split airport when we fly to Cologne, Germany.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions! And if anyone has another one, please chime in.

Laurie

We did the Mont Blue in Oct and loved it. It is a long day but worth it. Atlas offers the mountain or Blue tour on different days. I think you'll be able to book when you arrive. see what day is going to be nice weather first. We loved Croatia.

I loved Mljet day trip from Dubrovnik booked through Atlas - very mellow and great swim in Lake.

Thanks for the suggestion of Mljet, sfmaster. We are considering this. Did you encounter any snakes there?

I read that they brought in mongoose to get rid of many snakes. I hate snakes!

I went to Mostar in Bosnia and thought it was very interesting. The place still has bombed out buildings (some with people living in them) which is an interesting site. They had not yet opened the bridge which is now open and crossable. It's a long day and Bosnia is vastly different from dubrovnik and croatia, but interesting nonetheless