Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Dubrovnik, Split Croatia

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We went to Croatia last June and loved it. As for hotels - Dubrovnik- http://dubrovnik.laus.hr/dubrovnik3/html/hotels.html I recommend the Excelsior, Argentia or Grand Park (G.P. is outside the Old Town, we took a 5 min. bus to town). Split - hotels - We stayed at the Bellevue - great location but a little run down. Next time we will opt for the Hotel Split. http://www.hotelsplit.hr/ Took the hydofoil from Split to Hvar, great way to travel, and then went on a day trip to the island of Brac (easy access from Hvar or Split.) Great beach! http://www.bol.hr/ http://www.bol.hr/bretanide.htm I am a fearful flyer and Croatian airlines was great.

Nina - I checked out www.panadriatic.com. Great airfare but what airlines do they use to get ot Croatia?

Rebecca, I highly recommend getting a car while you are in Croatia. It will make things much easier, especially when trying to find a place to stay. Finding the rooms from the locals are easy, because there is usually a sign outside that you can’t miss. You decide then if it looks like a place you would like to stay and the location…. But, without a car it may be hard to get around to look at the various places. Sofia: To get to Croatia you will most likely take Croatia Airlines... You would take a major carrier (i.e. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, KLM, etc....) to another European city (London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, etc) - there you transfer on to a Croatia Airlines plane and that will take you into Croatia.

Thanks Nina! I was worried it was a charter or something from the US. I have flown Croatia Air from Dubrovnik to Zagreb and it was a nice new plane and good service.

Hi all, we're back safe and sound! Croatia was a wonderful place to visit, wish we had budgeted more time there. The flights on Croatia Airlines were fine, pretty much on time. From the Split airport we grabbed a bus, there was an ATM in the airport for both Plus and Cirrus, the bus was 25kn (about $3). The bus dropped us near to the tourism office where we inquired about a room. We went to the Hotel Bellevue (named not for the view but for the bell that rings every hour in the morning!) which was in walking distance. It was adequate and cost 490kn. The location was great and since we were jet lagged we could have slept anywhere. Hotel Split, I believe, is a bit further outside the central area. You can see most of the sites in Split in a day so we hopped on a bus to Dubrovnik (within walking distance of the Hotel Bellevue). The buses leave from 3am until about 5 pm with a break in the afternoon from about 10 until 1. It was 102 kn ($12-13), an extra 7kn for luggage. The ride down the coast was beautiful, get a seat on the right side of the bus, it took about 4 1/2-5 hours, about 1/2 the time of the ferry. At the bus station in Dubrovnik, there are lots of women trying to get you to stay in their rooms. We already had a reservation at the Hotel Bellevue so we took a cab there (not walkable). We really enjoyed the hotel, we had a beautiful view of the water and the staff was nice. It was about 450 kn per night. The hotel was about a 20 minute walk from old town. The old town is very compact. The walk around the walls was great, try to do it early in the day so the sun is blazing down on you. There are boats to Cavtat, Lokrum and the Elphanti (sp?) islands from the old port in old town. We went to Cavtat, nice place to wander around for a day. We ate at a waterside cafe (next to Atlas Pizza, can't remember the name) and had a lovely lunch. Bring your walking shoes. We also went out to Lokrum and hiked around, once again bring your walking shoes. There are ATMS all over Dubrovnik. We tried a restaurant off the main street in old town which wasn't very good (I had read that before I went but chose to ignore it). We enjoyed the food from the bakery across the street from our hotel. Not a lot of shopping. The ice cream here is as good as Italy's gelato (although I tried the flavor George W. Bush and it wasn't very good :-) We ended up hiring a taxi to take us to Montenegro. They won't go over the border so we had to walk between the checkpoints and my husband's relatives picked us up over the border. We did not have visas but we had people waiting for us. There is a public bus that goes to Hercgi Nova(I think only once a day) and they also have day trips from Dubrovnik which would include Kotor, an UNESCO protected city. Montenegro's landscape was beautiful, kind of what I picture the fjords in Scandinavian countries to look like. We did not need to change any money but the official currency is deutschemarks. If you fly from the US, I think Croatia Airlines and Alitalia do code share flights. The snacks on Croatia Airlines weren't that good (don't know about the meals) so you might want to bring some snacks just in case. Any questions, I'll try to check back later today.

Welcome back Kristi! I'm glad your trip went so well:) I'm looking forward to more "stuff" AND [of course] PICTURES!!

Sally, lots and lots of pictures, the clerk at Walgreens groaned when she saw me coming :-). I'll be sure to bring to the next gathering as long as it doesn't coincide with the next trip in late June, early July. One more thing-the big tourist agency in Croatia seems to be Atlas www.atlas-croatia.com. We didn't use them for anything so I don't have a personal recommendation but their trip to Montenegro covers everything we saw plus Cetinje which we didn't because of some kind of strike at a refrigeration plant. Might be a good option for those less adventurous travelers.

Hi - Do you know anything about the Hotel Split vs Hotel Park - in Split?

Kris, I will be headed that way in a couple of weeks. Did you have any language issues? Did you hear any German or was it mostly croat and English? Any other tips for someone traveling solo? Thanks!

Deb, we had no problems at all with not knowing the language. The Americans haven't totally invaded Croatia yet(no McDonald's!!!!) so German/British tourists are more prevalent. We were able to get bus tickets, check in at hotels, hire taxis, order ice cream (very important!)etc. with no problems. As I was traveling with my husband, I didn't get a good sense for safety for solo women travelers. However, I met a young Australian girl on the bus and she seemed to be doing just fine on her own. At no time did I feel unsafe although crossing the Montenegro border was a little weird. If you have an extra day in your schedule, you might consider the day trip over to Montenegro as it is an incredibly beautiful country. We were there right before busy season started. Our taxi driver said that tourism would pick up by mid-June. Hopefully you have some hotel reservations, I think going off with the ladies at the bus station on my own would make me a little nervous but if you do make sure you ask them how far away you'll be from the city center.

Kris, Yes, I made hotel reservations quiet a while back because there are so few hotels in each town. Hvar was the most difficult and I ended up with an apartment instead of a hotel room. Thanks for the great info and I am relieved because my German language tapes aren't sinking in.

Kris, I'm curious whether women wear mainly skirts and long pants except at the beach. Did you notice that? (I'm really asking whether people wear shorts in the streets, which I wouldn't normally do in Europe anyway.) Debbie, we plan to be in Dubrovnik around June 30 - July 1. Will you be there then? I don't know how to arrange meeting, but we could try.

Rebecca, I wore shorts the entire time we were there during the day except for the bus ride and I didn't feel out of place, a lot of the European travelers were also wearing shorts. The Old Town in Dubrovnik is now being visited by lots of cruise ships (3 the first day we were there and 2 the second) so you see all manner of dress, lots of Americans on the cruise ships but not a lot actually staying there. One thing I forgot to mention in my original report is that the beaches, at least near Dubrovnik, Cavtat and Lokrum, are actually rocks (not pebbles, but boulders) for the most part although there was a small sand beach near our hotel. It's possible that the hotels on the Lapad peninsula or the Excelsior have nicer beaches but we didn't get that far. Oh, and for the most part the people on the rocks weren't wearing any clothes. The beaches in Montenegro were nicer but still not my idea of fabulous beaches.

Rebecca, I would have loved to have met up but I don't get to Dubrovnik until the 4th. Prior to that I will be in Split and Hvar. It would have been fun.

Don't miss visiting Dubrovnic. "Those who seek paradise on earth should come to Dubrovnik." George Bernard Shaw Spend at least two days there. But - if you wish to try and add another city, make it Mostar. It is one of the most meaningful historic places on earth. If you wish - visit my site that details our experiences at both places as well as others within the former Yugoslavia. It is at: www.chartermi.net/~ff/yugo.htm Specifically, Dubrovnic is at: www.chartermi.net/~ff/yugodubr.htm and Mostar is at:

Good information for Cynthia

We were on Croatia Airlines in 2001, great airline. Planning to drive from Zagreb to Dubrovnic and up the Adriatic Coast to Italy in May '02. I hear conflicting reports about the drive from Dubrovnic to Split as to the danger. Any comments?

Kay, The road between Dubrovnik and Split is just a two-lane road that twists and turns plus Croats tend to drive fast. But the views from the road are spectacular and if you drive carefully you should be fine. The drive takes about 4.5-5 hours. If you have doubts you can always take a ferry from Dubrovnik to Split or to Rijeka for that matters.