My Croatia seems expensive
 

I decided to use a tour operator. I will be staying in 4* hotels in the off season from April 14-28. The cost is about $500 a day and only includes breakfast. It includes transfers by car to each destination and in the destination, short tours of two-three hours. I don't get a driver for a full day or anything. Any side trip costs more. Does this seem expensive? I know you pay a premium for a good travel co. but this seems a lot for Croatia. I'd appreciate some opinions.

It seems expensive to me!

Very expensive.

"I have a bridge I would like to sell you". "Someone saw you coming". "There is one born every minute". Other maxims could apply, but this is a family Forum.

Post the link to the tour. People would be able to tell you if there are better options for the hotels used by the tour.

The internet is your friend. Do a little research. Then decide. Do you like the tours you will be given? Are the hotels what you would choose on your own? Have you already booked? What is the distance the car service or driver will be taking you?

>>Does this seem expensive? <<

We are working in a vacuum here. How on EARTH can anyone answer that since we have no idea re the company, or the tour, or the hotels. Post a link. 2* hotels and 5* are apples an oranges. As are the sorts of excursions included.

Well, we can answer based on our experiences of costs in Croatia -- which is, I think, what some of us have done.

Absolutely -- And I would never (nor need to) pay $500 / day there. But Abercrombie & Kent or even some Tauck will cost that much. 90% of tours would cost a fraction of that. We don't know who the OP is talking about.

I believe the tour is by "My Croatia"-- at least, that's my understanding. But yes, the specifics would be helpful.

Is it a tour on a bus with other people or did you hire someone to plan your trip and book cars, etc just for you? If we are talking about private transfers, this is not expensive. For a tour, it depends on the tour, as everyone says it would help to know the tour. Maybe they gIve you a bath with white truffles or something.

Does this include flights?

US dollars?

Yep

>>I believe the tour is by "My Croatia"-<<

OH :) I read "My Croatia seems expensive" as sort of "My goodness(!) Croatia seems expensive".

There are two websites with that name, neither of which are particularly impressive. The "canned" tour I looked at on the second is nowhere near $500/day, which suggests this is a custom tour. In which case another question is "why not DIY"? Very easy in Croatia.

It seems a little expensive to me, yes, of course you are paying for a handler and the tours, that is worth something. But unless this includes airfare, I would still expect a lot less than that.

But I can't even find a tour operator by that name. The mycroatia.com website is just a tourism website, looks like to me, it isn't a tour operator. If you look at hotels on there, it just routes you to booking.com, for example.

If it's mycroatiatours.com, they are billed as a luxury tour operator, yachts, etc., but the tour descriptions are not in English and I can't read them anyway.

Try this one: https://www.mycroatiatrip.com/

Sorry for the lack of detail. The company is Zicasso. They had high ratings on Trip Advisor. They are as expensive as Kensington. I have my own tour but no airfare. They pick me up from the airport and take me to my accommodations. I do like the hotels they picked. These hotels must reserve rooms for tour operators because when I go online they say they are not available for my dates. But there are plenty of hotels....I have 14 days. The hotels include breakfast but not any other meals. Of my 14 days the only things that are included are this: 1.5 hr tour of Dubrovnik, transport to the ferry to take me to Hvar. Transfer to accommodation. Hvar port transfer, ferry ride to Split. a 1.5 hour private walking tour of Split. Driver from Split to Plitvice.(tour of park not included.) I'm under the impression that the driver won't even stop if I ask. Car to Rovinj to accommodation. A two hour walking tour of Ronvinj. Car to Ljubljana with a few stops on the way. A two hour Ljub walking tour. Then to Zagreb with a two hour walking tour.
I can see that everyone thinks this is really expensive. I agree which is why I posted this. SO, my question is, what else can I do? I don't mind planning the trip myself. But I have ever traveled by myself as I am newly divorced. I am adventurous but I am 61 so sometimes I run out of energy. IS THERE A WAY IN BETWEEN ALL DOING MYSELF AND THIS EXPENSIVE TOUR. WILL I SAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE UP FOR THE LACK OF AGGRAVATION? I did go and research things and hotels aren't that expensive in Croatia. Can I hire a car in each town cheaper than the tour. I don't want to drive myself. This group has done a lot for me in answering questions but do I owe them anything? Sorry for this long post. When I posted for Africa everyone said use a tour company but of course Africa is not Europe. I have my flights so I need to make decisions soon. Thanks folks but more solutions please. (:

Thank you. I'll look into this.

So it looks like I was on the right track "My goodness(!) Croatia seems expensive". :D

Heck -- 61 is young. Do you have any mobility issues? I don't have time to post much right now. But there are several Croatia experts posting on here who can help you (I've only been to Split for a long weekend so can't help that much)

Tell us where your flights are booked to and from and what places you wanted to include. A tour can provide comforts, but it really is an easy area to travel around.

You don't need a car, except perhaps for Plitvice. The buses in Croatia are fine. I have traveled in the Balkans on my own in my later sixties, if you are in good health you should be fine.

Hotels usually include breakfast, so that's nothing to worry about. If you travel light you don't need transfers in most of those places, and if you do there are taxis.

You don't need a tour for Dubrovnik or Ljubljana, nor do you need one for Split if you have a good guidebook. I think you may be doing too much in 14 days (how many nights?). Can you lay this out in this format?

Day 1 - leave US, night on plane
Day 2 - arrive X, night in X
Day 3 - sightseeing X, night in X

BTW, I was NOT recommending the site I linked, I just thought it might be the one you were using. However, if you really want a tour you might look at this: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/eas...urope/adriatic or https://www.adventures-abroad.com/tour/the-adriatic/ad1 or https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-...adriatic-coast

You can also book tours in each town if you like, if you don't want to rely on a guidebook.

Buses are fine between most places (also trains between Zagreb and Ljubljana), but I've found driving very easy in Croatia and Slovenia myself. Still, I well understand that some people just don't want to drive, period.

There is a service that will take you between Split and Zagreb (either direction) in a day and stop for a few hours at Plitvice. I haven't used them myself (google for them), but it would be one way to see Plitvice and simplify the connection by bus there. Mid-day in Plitvice can be very crowded but probably not in April. Plitvice is very easy to tour yourself, too - it's a very developed park (maybe too much).

Hmm, I just checked the Zicasso site.

Looks like no published prices so every tour is customized. That is probably a good way to make it expensive, if you're the only person in the tour or it's a very small group.

And they're probably trying to gauge how much you're willing to pay, how much you need your hand held, etc. and then seeing if you bite on some of their prices.

If you don't want to plan and not comfortable doing it on your own, you can join some scheduled tour but of course these will always be more expensive than doing it on your own. But they will just guide you everywhere and you just need to show up each day.

You might get some useful information from my trip report from an 8 day trip that included Dubrovnik, Korcula, Split, Trogrir. We did everything by public transportation (mostly boat) but we also did two organized day tours to Mostar and Kotor (which seemed simpler than renting a car). It was very easy and relatively inexpensive. This trip I did with my husband but I travel solo quite a bit and would have been very comfortable in Croatia on my own. The only part of your itinerary that sounds like it would be at all hard by public transportation would be the Plitvice lakes but as others have mentioned, it is possible - or you could just skip that one destination. In the trip report I list prices of accommodations, tours, etc.

Here is the trip report (scroll down to post #56 to get to the Croatia part) https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-854867/page4/

The photos are now here: Zenfolio | Isabel's_View | Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro

Again, the choice is entirely yours, but as I noted on some of your other threads, traveling in Croatia as a solo female is very easy, and you can see that several of us have done so and are happy to help.

Personally, I don’t feel the need for a 4* hotel and even often prefer something a bit simpler; your call, but you might want to check booking.com to get a sense of your options and costs.

As others have noted, you do NOT need a tour of Dubrovnik, Rovinj, or Ljubljana – they are all very small and easily explored on one’s own. Split and Zagreb are larger, but both are also extremely easy to visit – you just need to have a decent guidebook. And if you did want a tour for either of those cities (or any other!) you should be able to arrange them through the local tourist information office or your hotel (even if you aren’t staying anywhere fancy).

Buses and ferries are comfortable and convenient, and you can easily get good information about how and where to catch them on line or in a decent guidebook. As already noted, the ONLY part of your trip for which a car would provide any real advantage is your visit to the Plitvice Lakes National Park – and for that, you can arrange a day tour from Split or from Zagreb, and I suspect you can even make arrangements to visit that part en route from Split to Zagreb.

The only risk I see to trying to plan this trip on yourself is that traveling solo can be addictive. :) Seriously, you can do it! And if you run out of energy, then you run out of energy – you find a place to stop and recover. Doing so is really not difficult. That’s got to cost less than this tour!!!

I can’t tell you what you define as aggravation or how much you are willing to pay to avoid it. I can only say that I think you are considering paying a LOT for very little, and in the process, you will miss some of the great experiences of travel – the freedom to spend a bit more time here or there, etc.

And no, you don’t owe Zicasso anything, other than a polite "thanks, but no thanks" (if that’s how you choose to go).

If you decide to forego Zicasso, please let us know what plans to which you have committed (e.g., what cities will you fly into and out of) so we can be as useful as we can.

And please, even if you go with Zicasso, DO get yourself a good guidebook. Of the MANY I used for Croatia, the Rough Guide was far and away the best.

Hope that helps! And good luck. :)

Re running out of energy . . . That possibility makes traveling I dependently even more desirable IMO. When you have a 'down' day, if you are on your own, you can just veg out for the day, or sit in a cafe and people watch. . . Which are not possible on a tour.

I think that should read: ... traveling independently even...

Thank you all for taking the time to give all this great information and support. I'm going to get back my moxie and plan the trip myself. I traveled by myself a lot before I met my husband. Sometimes I was lonely, other times I hooked up with great people. I will look at all the information offered here and look back on previous threads on the forum. If I save a lot of money can I shop more...(:

Good for you, TerryThor! :star: :star: :star:

I fly into Dubrovnik on April 14th in the morning from Rome (where I'm visiting with my niece) and leaving from Zagreb on the 28th to fly home. I have Rick Steve's book and Fodor's Croatia. I always like Fodor's hotel ideas. Been using them for years.

I used a half dozen guide books when I planned my time in Croatia, and over my travels (all independent and solo), I have used well over 100 different guidebooks. The ONLY guide book that I found a complete waste of money was the Rick Steves book on Croatia. I agree that there is incredibly valuable information in the Fodor's guidebook -- but it is not nearly as comprehensive as the Rough Guide.

>>
I think that should read: ... traveling independently even...<<

The perils of autocorrect :)

The Rick Steves Croatia/Slovenia book is terrific - I've used it on both of my trips to Croatia, and I found it essential, especially on the first trip. It doesn't cover every place you might visit in Croatia, but with only two weeks you won't have much more time than covering the highlights, anyway.

Your trip should be a blast! In April, you shouldn't have any crowds at all.

[QUOTE=Andrew;16689819]The Rick Steves Croatia/Slovenia book ... doesn't cover every place you might visit in Croatia, but with only two weeks you won't have much more time than covering the highlights, anyway./QUOTE]

All the more reason, IMO, to use a guide book that covers much more, so that you can decide what YOU want to see and do! :)

I understand R S doesn't cover many places but biggest failing is inaccuracies, meaning poor or no research.

Not true in my experience, and I've used his book for every country I've visited where he publishes a book.

biggest failing is inaccuracies, meaning poor or no research

That is not a truthful statement. How do you think he publishes guidebooks with "no research"?

Some people simply dislike Rick Steves for some reason, I've found. He seems to invite hyperbolic criticism.

I think there are two things people object to about Rick Steves. For one, he's a bit 'goofy' and can come across as a little condescending to his readers. And two, a big part of his business is his tours, so I think his books are kind of like 'tours in book form'. A tour doesn't go everywhere and his books don't cover everywhere - he concentrates on the things he thinks are most worth while, that he would take you on if he were leading you on a tour. So anyone who wants to do more in-depth research is going to need another guide book as well. But to say he is inaccurate or does no research is ridiculous. He (sometimes personally) researches places to the extreme. If he tells you there is a "WC around the corner from the cathedral across from the fountain" then 99% of the time there's going to be one there. And he describes what you are looking at, including researched interpretations of those things (like the front of a cathedral, a painting in a museum, or a fountain). The kinds of things tour guides tell you. As a rather obsessive planner I always read at least 3 or 4 guidebooks (plus hours of internet research) but Rick Steves is always one of them.

I like the fact that he is subjective - I don't always agree with his opinions, but at least I know where he is coming from! Many of these guide books make every place seem good and are usually quite objective, so sometimes it's hard to narrow down what you might find worth seeing in only a limited amount of time. And I like his practical advice.

I always look at more than one guidebook - well, with the internet, I do more web research now than I used to, but I always have to dig up info on one or two places not covered in Rick's book. I don't have a problem with that, though. Someone spending two weeks in Croatia should find Rick's book very adequate; but if you are spending two months there or one week in Zagreb, you'd probably need to seek out alternate sources to satisfy all of your queries for info. His books and travel style may not be for everyone, but that doesn't justify the obnoxious criticism he tends to receive on Fodor's.