Recommendations re walking tours in Dubrovnik and Split
 

You were all so helpful in generously sharing suggestions to help us plan our trip to Croatia. Now I have a question. When we travel I do a lot of research on the history of the places we go and the meaning behind the places we see. That being said, we have made use of private tour guides in a few instances such as guides for the battles in Normandy and areas of Belgium and a guide in Palermo for a tour of the Jewish history of the city and a guide for the temples in Agrigento. Would our time in Dubrovnik and/or Split benefit from a private tour guide? I've read about walking tours of Dubrovnik which focus on the Jewish history and some guide books even say that a private guide can be helpful in a tour of Diocletian's Palace in Split. Any thoughts on this? A friend who is a travel agent is highly recommending a 4 hour private tour in each city but I think that is much too long.

I must admit that I don't generally like private tours and did not take them in either Dubrovnik or Split. I felt comfortable with what I learned in advance, the information I had on hand, and the information I got from local Tourist Information desks. That said, I obviously can't comment on what I did NOT experience, and trust that you will make a choice based on what works best for you. Sorry I can't provide clearer input.

Both cities are delightful -- enjoy!

You can benefit from a private tour guide and also do it on your own. I know that is not much help!

You are traveling in June; it will be hot and it will be starting to get crowded. Four hours is a lot of time in both cities unless you want a REALLY in-depth tour. If you do one in Dubrovnik - I would ask to start later in the day (like 5 pm) when the cruise ship crowds start to disperse. Hopefully also in that amount of time they would take you to walk the walls.

In Split it would be nice to start earlier when the food market is in full swing (and the fish market) but four hours is a lot unless they take you over to Trogir or something, or really get into all the nooks and crannies below Diocletian's palace.

So like kja says its kind of up to you... if you want to decide on the ground, you can always go to the tourist office once you arrive and book something when you are on the ground there.

@ rialtogrl -- I know you provide awesome advice here, and am not trying to second guess you -- I'm just curious about a few comments. Why suggest that Dubrovnik's walls should be included in a tour of that city? I thought the audio guide quite good, so if I were hiring a guide, I'd want him / her to cover things that I would be less able to see / do on my own. And why include the markets in a guided tour of Split? Those wonderful markets seemed pretty easy to visit without a guide at all (and OMG, I loved Split's markets -- vegetable, goods, and fish)! Thanks in advance for indulging my curiosity. :-)

Kja I have never done the audio guide on the walls in Dubrovnik,.. That is a great suggestion! But with four hours it would be nice to go on the city walls with a guide. I have listened to many of them up there, its a good way to fill in some of those hours. An audio guide is not going to tell you what it was like to be living in Dubrovnik in 1994.

Same with Split I would just want a four hour tour to incorporate some of the everyday life of the town.. Like the market. But absolutely this can be done without a guide.

@ rialtogrl -- thanks for clarifying!

I would do Dubrovnik without a guide and avail of a free guided tour in Split via Tourist Information Office.

Thank you all so much. I knew I could count on you for help. I agree that we don't want to pay a tour guide to take us places we can easily do on our own and we felt that 3-4 hours was definitely too much time. I will try to pin down exactly where these guides want to take us to and then reduce the time we spend with them. Thanks again for all your help.