callalilli

I’m afraid I’m not a great writer, but I want to get this trip-report in so it might help others going to the same areas we did…

Arrived Dubrovnik at 3:30pm on Tuesday, May 23 on British Airways.. when we got off the plane, we went directly to an ATM and used a debit card to withdraw local money… Only Kuna is dispensed at ATMs in Croatia.. (this worked out just fine)..

Found a bus right outside going to Pile Gate. (though I’ve been told that the bus only arrives when Croatian Air flights arrive) .. The cost was 35kuna per person.. they also accepted Euro. The driver came around and collected the fare after everyone was on the bus. NOTE: for the best views, sit on the driver side of the bus… OMG it was eye-popping! The ride was about 20 min of ooing and aahing.

When we arrived, we could not get off the bus without a hoard of people asking if we wanted a Sobe or Apartment. We kindof pushed our way through saying ‘no’ even though it was exactly what we wanted. We felt we needed to collect and get some air first. We then walked back over and approached a nice looking guy, and he told us about his Sobe. (I didn’t feel quite so accosted that way). He said it was about a one minute walk, so we went with him. The location was great for us, and the room was fair for the price. Nothing special but spacious, one large king bed, hard but comfortable, and a fold up bed. The window overlooked an alley and you could see the water and a cliff, but you had to look between the neighbors undies that were hanging out to dry. The room was very clean, with a bathroom. It was 985 kuna for 3 nights. Edi was a personable guy, told us all about the area, where the locals eat, how to get around. We felt very comfortable there.

Food - - Konoba Taj Mahal. Not easy to find, but fun trying.. I finally asked one of the shopkeepers and he left his shop and walked us there!! We ended up eating there twice during our visit.. they were very friendly and good food, though heavier than we are used to. I had some sort of beef with a baked potato and salad, my son had a lamb shishkabob with potatoes, and we each had a glass of wine. 120Kuna. The second time we ate there, Jess had some meats with ‘gypsy sauce’.. it was very very good. I had some potato things that were also good.. they have them with chicken or spinach also. (that didn’t sound too descriptive, I’m sorry.. ) – 110Kuna. We also stopped at another place (name - ?) for calamari and wines later on..77kuna. All of the restaurants had lots of outdoor seating, where people (us included) sat and watched people all day long.. it is quite the pastime. I’m putting the prices in to give you an idea. The restaurants stay open till about 11 – and lots of people out. We were out till midnight every night.

Mea Culpa – great Pizza.. We found it strange that people order an entire pizza for themselves.. Jess and I ordered one each (56kuna) and they gave us foil to take some home with us. (our Sobe had a fridge, so we ate cold pizza for dinner the second night.. mmm good).

Great cappuccino everywhere- 15kuna, great ice cream 5kuna… mmmm.

I was surprised at the number of tourists.. but there was always a place to sit, or eat.
The temperature was high when we arrived.. about 30C. It was hot the first day but once the sun went down, it was beautiful. … and it didn’t seem to get hot again while we were there.. honestly the perfect weather. We didn’t even notice it, it was so comfortable.. warm sun, but not hot. Cool breeze but not chilly.


Kayaking! We went to Atlas to book a half day Kayaking excursion.. 10:15-2p. They outfitted you with a kayak for two, big container on each to keep your stuff dry, one bottle of water per person, and paddles. cost 235 kuna per person. No instruction.. just paddle and follow along. This was a work-out.. but WAY fun. We paddled all the way around the Island of Lokrum… and went snorkeling on the way back. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

To find Atlas Travel (this is not easy if you don't know where to look).. walk outside Pile Gate, walk to the left about ?50feet? and after a big open area, there is a stairway on the left that looks like it goes into an alley.. go down there and you will see Atlas on the left. They were very helpful to us – and we had lots of questions.

Day trip to Mljet (pronounced Myet).
.. from Pile Gate, take bus 1A to Jardrolinija Port 10k/pp per direction - go about 5 stops -then Ferry leaves at 10:00 - i believe that is the same every day.. sharp! its about a 1hour ride -22k/pp each direction. comfortable and very pretty views.. When we arrived, we realized that everyone either had rides arranged, or, i guess, there were some vans.. We didn't know what the story with them was, so we just started walking up the hill. It was very apparent that without a car or ride, you couldn't really go anywhere.. but right up the road about 50-100yds(?) there was a Mini BRUM car rental where we rented a tiny convertible Fiat (ours was Zebra striped with Leopard print seat covers - it was the cutest thing!). Cost 260kuna for 5 hours... btw, the Ferry goes back to Dubrovnik at 4pm SHARP. If you miss it, you spend the night there. We drove around the island just checking out the beauty... great photo opps! We found an area in Polace to park and walk around.. nice boats were docking and eating at the restaurants.. so we thought we would eat there. Had a really nice lunch - Ogigje (i think thats the name of it). My son had Red Snapper with fries which he enjoyed, and i had salad (not exciting) 170k. (no wine since we were driving).. then back to the Ferry... really really beautiful and one of the highlights of our trip, tho we didnt 'do' much there. I have the # for MiniBRUM if you would like it.. also a fax #. ... The pamphlet says driver must be 21, but my son is 20 and he rented and drove it, so they obviously aren’t that strict about it.

That’s it for Dubrovnik.. if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to try to answer. I’ll write about Trogir tomorrow.

dixieland

Great post Callalilli! I'm so excited to go, however we're not leaving until September 19th!

Did you do laundry while you were there? I'm assuming Dubrovnik doesn't have laundromats to wash your clothes.

Thank you!

mothradave

We found a laundromat at the top of the hill on the way from Dubrovnik to the neighboring city that begins with an L. It was VERY expensive - something like $15USD or $20 for 2 loads wash and dry. I'd do it in the sink and air dry them next time, or find a lower rate.

peppermintpatti

Thank you Callalilli! You provided some great info! Appreciate it!

callalilli

I did not see a laundromat, and we brought very few clothes (one carryon backpack each). There was a clothes-line right outside our window, and clothes-pins on the ledge. I was a bit timid to use it, but anyway-- i washed out most of my clothes and hung them out. I left them there all day while we were out, and yeay.. they were there when we returned. I was concerned, since the line ran to other windows, and i thought they might be gone when we returned. no worries. It made for a great pic when we were walking down the alley, and saw our clothes hangin there...

Don't think i mentioned this before.. but i had been having problems with my digital camera and had to replace the batteries 3x in 3days... Well, we were sitting at a cafe on our last night, and i accidentally DELETED ALL of our pictures..... in one click. gone. I really wanted to cry.. but i didnt. Ya know... life is precious, pictures of life I can live without. (of course, my great attitude came from the knowledge that nothing could be done about it, and crying would only give me a sad memory). We decided that we would have more fun describing the photos we didn't have, than actually showing them.. haha.. So - all that to say -- the photo of my undies hanging in the alleyway was priceless!

oh.. should i put my Trogir report in this thread? or start a Trogir one?

nukesafe

Really enjoying your post, Callalilli! I think you should continue with your Trogir post here - makes it easier for us to follow your whole trip.

tcreath

Thank you so much for posting this! We leave for Dubrovnik in November and can't wait. And thanks for the tip on Atlas...we plan to make at least one stop there.

Sounds like you had a great trip!
Tracy

JulieVikmanis

Take your camera with the stick in it to a camera shop and see if there isn't some hope that the pix can be retrieved. Just can't believe that they can be gone in a single click.

callalilli

our next stop was Trogir. We took the same A1 bus outside the Pile Gate, and one stop past Jardrolinija was the bus station. Bus to Trogir was at 11:00am, 112 kuna/pp one way. (approx $19). When you get your ticket, it does have seat numbers on it.. most people didn’t know that and sat wherever they wanted. By the time we got on, our ‘assigned’ seats were occupied. We didn’t care, as it didn’t seem that important. we just sat somewhere.. well, that somewhere was 3rd from the back seats… and this turned out to be a problem. The windows were so dirty we couldn’t look out (tho the scenery was breathtaking), and the air conditioning didn’t make it back there..I was really miserable and feeling ill for most of the trip. The bus was full so no moving about, for about 2.5hours. When some people finally got off, we moved forward and were able to breath again. Unfortunately, a few stops later, people were getting on the bus who wanted their assigned seats.. We weren’t affected, but there were some harsh words exchanged (funny how you can know they were harsh words without knowing the language!). NOTE: Bring water with you on the bus, and also you may want to bring food. There were some stops along the way, when people got out and bought sandwiches. But some stops were longer/shorter than others, and if you were not on the bus.. believe me, it would leave without you. I didn’t dare venture out, as some stops were literally 2 minutes. The longest was about 10 min. We arrived at Trogir about 5pm.

Well, 5+hours later, we were going through Split. I was glad we decided against staying there. (I’m sure there are good things to say about Split, but we didn’t stick around to find them). From Split to Trogir was about another 30min… I was so happy to get off that bus !!

I had been having such second thoughts while on the bus, about even going to Trogir.. but as soon as we arrived, I knew it was worth it. We didn’t have reservations anywhere so just walked around and found the Hotel Concordia which looked very nice .. they did not have a room, so we moved on. Found the Hotel Fontana, but no room… well, the nice man at Hotel Concordia said he knew a man who had an apartment, and we were so worn from the bus-ride, we said we would have a look. Ante Ivanocic was there in 4 minutes and took us for a 1minute walk to a door between two shops. We went in and up the stairs to a tiny extremely clean room with two twin beds, air conditioning and a bathroom. It was perfect. The window was open and we looked right onto the ave. The cost of the room was 350kuna per night. (approx $60). We loved the sound of people walking by, all the different languages. It quieted down considerably by the time we got back in the evenings (12ish). The website is - http://www.trogir-online.com/ivancic/. Ante was very friendly, helpful, accommodating. We considered asking him for a ride to the airport, (I couldn’t bear the thought of getting back on that bus) but then found that it was only 3-4kilometers away.

Old Town Trogir is much like ‘old town anywhere’ with a large Farmers market, rows of shops and restaurants, hotels – but different. I’ve heard the word ‘magical’ used.. and I would have to agree. Its right on the water with beautiful boats and views, cool bridges, cobblestone paths, fortresses, stone buildings, many many outdoor café seats. We found the people more friendly here than in Dubrovnik, and the shops more interesting. (Dubrovnik had more modern items that I could have purchased anywhere).

Food - I had heard about the Top Balloon from some previous Fodorites (thank you thank you) and our window was right across the street so we went there for dinner the first night. OMG was that Pizza wonderful! We started out with one pizza with prsutt, and a cabrese salad.. then ordered another marguerite pizza.. we ate all of it.. SO delicious! With 2glasses of wine, total 160kuna (approx $28)..

We actually ate there again for dinner the next night. Jesse had Sea Bass and potatoes, I had (you guessed it --) Pizza! We also had 1beer, 1 lemonade, 2 waters – total 199 kuna. I am still dreaming of that pizza.

We are big on eating breakfast (granola, fruit), and this was a problem in Croatia. We ended up getting these items at the market (which worked out well – really good mueslix) and found a place to eat. (next time we will have to remember to bring utensils with us). We didn’t want to take our food to a café, so had to either eat first, or have coffee first.. In Trogir, we did get bread and fruit from the Farmers Market and ate at a café with our cappuccino’s.

We had ice cream cones every day… mmmm. 5kuna (about 85cents)

We had a fantastic encounter with a bunch of school kids… we were sitting on a bench by the water, and saw about 50-80 kids running around. it was obviously a school trip. Some came near and said ‘hello, hello’.. so my son started talking to them. They were 5th graders with varying degrees of the English language. Some knew German or Italian as well! We chatted with them for about 40 min. I had brought some post cards from home, and gave them out. They loved them. One girl, Ivana, said ‘ oh, you give us too much!’. They were very sweet children. Funny that girls and boys are the same wherever you go. The boys talked to Jesse about football and rap music. .. the girls asked me about America movie stars and TV shows… and told me who had which boyfriends. It was definitely a highlight of our trip. (and definitely a time I wished my camera was working!)

We also were privileged to hear a group of travelers who were in a choir together.. every now and then, they just stopped shopping, gathered and sang a song. It was beautiful. (not sure where they were from). We also found local boys playing soccer right next to older men playing bocchie ball (sp?).. and we sat and watched them for hours. Trogir was very relaxing.

OK.. lastly… the bus back to the airport. The bus stop is right outside the Old Town, turn right. Bus Depot is on the right. We went inside to inquire about tickets, but you purchase them on the bus.. You want bus #37 which comes into station #8 at the end. The conductor collected our 11kuna each, and we verified that we were going to the airport. A couple from London also boarded, so we chatted. All of a sudden, the conductor yells at the driver to stop… ‘airport, airport!!’.. we looked around, and we were in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t even a bus stop… he just stopped on the road. So the British couple asked where is the airport? where do we go? and the conductor just pointed - - - ‘there, there’. we looked down another road and could see the airport. .. and we said ‘do we just walk down that road?’.. and he said ‘there, there’. It was pretty comical really. Well, more for me and my son, than for the British couple who had large bags with them…. Jesse offered to take the woman’s bag.. it wasn’t too bad of a walk.. and again.. the weather was perfect. So there we were, four people out in the middle of nowhere, with luggage… walking down a street (no sidewalk) to the airport. HAHA…. what a trip!

Well… that’s it pretty much. I wont go into our traveling fiascos --- as we were traveling stand-by and such things are to be expected…. But I will agree with a previous poster who said that getting to Croatia is definitely a PITP….. All things considered, we are definitely glad that we went… great memories of a beautiful place. (also, I wouldn’t wait to long to go there…. it is bound to get more expensive as it is rebuilt and the numbers of tourists increases).

I am happy to answer any questions you have…. if I can. And I want to thank, again, all the previous posters who gave me helpful information before my trip. Thank you Thank you…

not proofing, please excuse errors

tcreath

callalilli, your trip sounds like ours ours will be, as we plan on splitting our time between Dubrovnik and Split. After much consideration, DH and I decided to rent a car instead of take the bus, and after hearing your experience I think this will end up being a great decision on our end. We are planning on driving to Mostar, Bosnia for a night which is the biggest reason for renting the car.

I'm also glad you mentioned staying in Trogir. We too are torned between staying in Trogir and Split, and ultimately decided to stay in Trogir. Did you do any sightseeing in Split? We hear mixed things about the city, but we are history fans and Diocletians Palace is a must see for us.

Thanks again for posting!
Tracy

KT

Thanks for posting. I just got back from this year's vacation, but I've already started looking forward to next year's, when I plan to go to Croatia for the first time. So I'm enjoying your report.

aprillilacs

So nice to read your trip report, callalilli. We were in Dubrovnik and Trogir at the same time (we started in Split, spent 3 nights in Hvar, then to Dubrovnik on 5/23 and Trogir on 5/25). It's so fun to read others' reports because even though we may go to the same places, we all have different adventures. The joy of travel! But some things are the same -- for example, the not-so-great bus trip from D. to T.! We were in the middle of the bus, good seats, but that windy road was definitely nausea-inducing. I'll be posting our trip report in a couple of days so I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed yours.

So sorry about your pictures. I've often thought about what I would feel like if I lost our camera or accidentally erased the pictures -- we came back with about 450 on our memory card and would have been so sad if we had lost them. I know there's nothing like having your own pictures, but I'll be happy to send you our Dubrovnik and Trogir pictures (the ones without my husband or myself in them!) if you'd like to have them. Just let me know.

callalilli

aprillilacs.. i'm looking forward to your report! just wondering.. did you eat at the Taj Mahal on the 23rd at about 8? We saw a couple there, that we thought were Fodorites. .
Thankyou so much for the offer of pictures. Are you posting them anywhere? I may ask you to send me one of the red roofs.. We actually bought some post cards in Trogir (of Dubrovnik) Haha.. we thought about buying a bunch... and pulling them out to show people our photos..

Tracy - I don't really want to dis Split since we didn't spend ANY time there at all. From what we saw from the bus, i was glad not to be staying there. I would have liked to go to the Diocletians Palace though. I think you will be pleased with staying in Trogir. From what I've read, Split is the second largest city in Croatia. I'm not a city person at all. The crowds in the tiny cities we went to were plenty. When are you going?

HappyCheesehead

Callalilli:

I am really enjoying your report. We go to Croatia in September and I am starting to think of the little details.

Like Tracy, I am glad we decided on a car rental, that bus does not sound like a place I want to be.

Aprillilacs had a great idea regarding the pictures. - Do you have any special requests? I would be happy to take some pictures of specific things for you when I go and send them to you. We went to France for 16 days last month and I came home with 1200 pictures. I DID delete the worst ones when I got home, so I ONLY have 900 left, LOL.

Syl

Ditto for me, Callalilli. Loved the report. So glad we're renting a car as well.

Images2

Thanks so very much Callalilli for your trip report. We are leaving for Budapest, then onto Croatia in 2 weeks! I've added several notes from your report to my "papers". We are planning on taking the bus from Dubrovnick to Split, so hope it'll be ok. We are not staying in Split, but taking the catamaran to Hvar, staying there for 5 days, so really don't want to rent a car until we return from Hvar and continue through Croatia. Did they not offer time for bathroom breaks on the drive?

Thanks again!

callalilli

thankyou so much for the offer of sending photos... i was trying to remember ones we took that i'm sorely missing. the more i think about it, the more it seems that photos that you take yourself are the best, because of the memories attached to them. Looking through them brings the memory of when they were taken. I do appreciate your offer, but i'm satisfied with the few i have (about 30 came out). While i have none of the red roofs or the beautiful Adriatic.. its ok. They are in the the guide books. .. Ok now i'm re-thinking this. I would actually like to have some photos - scenery ones. Heres my email - its my screenname then [email protected].

Happycheesehead - This may seem silly, but I collect pictures of 'crossing signs'. you know, like 'deer crossing', 'jeep crossing', 'elk crossing'... (don't laugh!) and one of the pics i'm upset about losing is one that was a yield sign with just an exclamation mark! It would be a good addition to my collection even tho its not technically a 'crossing sign' (i'm not sure what it is exactly). There is also one of a wind sock. . which depicts wind crossing... but i have one from the States. Anyway.. if you get a chance to snap one of those..

thank you again for the caring response of my lost photos. We've got a great post-card that shows the island of Lokrum where we kayaked around, but nothing to show from the that trip.. it was beautiful seeing the walled city from that vantage.

oh - one more thing.. about the busses. While it was a tough ride from Dubrovnik to Trogir, i definitely was glad to have the bus service available. It was nice not having to keep track of a car. We walked a lot and while i'm sure we would have seen more in a car, i'm not sure how the parking or driving situation is. There is a Ferry that runs between Dubrovnik and Split - but at the time we were there, it was only on Wed and Sunday. That would have definitely been a better choice if the days workd. Possibly it runs more frequently during the high season.

Cant wait for your trip report aprillilacs. I'm sure it will bring back even more of my memories.

HappyCheesehead

LOL - Callalilli:

You would have loved the wild boar crossing signs we saw recently in France!

I will keep my eyes open for your crossing signs and send them to your email when we return. It will be a while though!

pepnjak

Hi My husband and I are renting a car in Venice and driving the Croatian Coast Sept 10-24th. We are going back to his "roots" for his 60th b-day!

We plan to stay in zimmers...ANY recommendations!

We would like nice lodging for a few nights in Dubrovnik.

We belong to a Croatian club in Anacortes, Washington so if I get any leads from folks there,I will pass them on!

I printing off the suggestions! Thanks

Images2

HappyCheesehead,

We were recently in France and actually saw the boar!! Glad we were in a car at the time. It was in the forest around Chantilly.

Pepnjak,

We leave in 2 weeks for our trip. We do have 3 zimmers, or sobes booked in Croatia.

The first is in Dubrovnik at the home of Jadranka and Milan Benussi for 50,6€ per night. [email protected] They have been incredibly kind in our pretrip communications.

On Hvar we are staying at www.apartmentsmilicic.com in apt 2 for 70€ per night. It's a complete apartment and was recommended by others on this board in the past. It's in the Podstine area.

We actually got a reservation at Plitivice Lakes National Park at Hotel Jezero. These are hard to get. The cost is 116€ for 2 people. I thought that was very high so finally was able to contact a sobe instead. We will stay at Knezevic Guest House which is only a 5 minute drive away in Mukinje. The room is 35€ plus 5€ each for breakfast if we want it. Their contact is [email protected] or [email protected] They also have been very helpful. They say they have a web site under construction www.knezevic.hr

Have fun planning your trip. Getting accomadations in Croatia has been quite tricky, but we are looking very forward to our trip.