Just returned from a weeklong trip. I will try to keep this brief and respond to any specific questions people have if I can.

First, some background: We are a gay couple from Manhattan, mid 20 and 30 somethings, well-traveled. Given that we only had a week and that we wanted to cover quite a bit of ground, we opted to rent a car and stay in hotels (as opposed to private accommodations). Our itinerary was as follows:

Night 1: Hvar
Night 2: Hvar
Night 3: Mostar, Bosnia
Night 4: Dubrovnik
Night 5: Dubrovnik
Night 6: Kotor, Montenegro
Night 7: Split

The details:

We arrived in Split (via Stockholm) around 10AM and immediately proceeded to the Herz desk. The process of picking up the car probably took a half an hour longer than it needed to, our first reminder that we were indeed in a foreign land. The road from the airport to Split was chaotic, only one lane at some points. (We later learned there was an easier route). We drove straight to the port, parked our car in the queue for the Stari Grad ferry, and were advised to return a half an hour before its scheduled departure. We spent the next couple of hours exploring Diocletian's Palace.

The loading process seemed to take a long time, but it was very well organized. Seats were at a premium on the boat so I would recommend grabbing one as soon as you board and claiming it before you decide to explore the vessel. The journey was beautiful. We did hit one hitch upon disembarking when I accelerated before the attendant instructed me to do so: I tore the back off of my right sideview mirror on a wire I hadn't noticed. Oops.

We stayed at the Hvar Palace. Its location was perfect--right on the harbor--but the rooms are outdated, cheap-feeling, and lack air-conditioning. If we hadn't had a perfect sea-side view, I think we would have been disappointed given the rate we paid (150 Euro/night). We particularly enjoyed breakfasts on the terrace overlooking the water.

We rented a small motor boat and spent one day motoring around the Pakleni islands. I probably would not recommend this if you are not particularly comfortable steering and docking a boat...unless you are feeling adventurous. I had no idea what I was doing, but we survived and had fun. The cost was about $80.

When it came time to leave Hvar, we decided to take a different route by driving across the island and catching the ferry at Sucuraj. Of all the roads we covered, including in Bosnia and Montenegro, this was the most harrowing. With steep drop-offs, narrow roads, and speed demons galore, this trip was not for the faint of heart. The total travel time from Hvar town to Sucuraj was about 1.5 hours.

The ferry from Sucuraj to Drevnik was short. We set out upon our next destination, Mostar.

The drive into Bosnia was scenic and easy. No problems crossing the border.

I would advise obtaining either Euros or Bosnian Convertible Marks before you arrive in Bosnia, as you will be hard-pressed to find any ATMS until you get to Mostar (and even then, as in our case, you may have to try four of five ATMS until one of them actually gives you money!)

We stayed at the Muslibegovic House in Mostar, a former Turkish home converted into a museum and B&B. The owners, who spoke Spanish, were very welcoming, and the price was right, 65 Euros. We spent the day exploring the old part of the city (renovated after it was destroyed in the war) and watching guys jump off the bridge into the Neretva.

We took an "off the beaten path" route from Mostar to Dubrovnik in order to skip traffic along the coastal road. This was yet another adventure since the signs suddenly changed from the latin alphabet to the cyrillic alphabet. If we hadn't had a decent map, I'm not sure how we would have figured it out.

In Dubrovnik, we stayed at the Hilton Imperial. Great location outside of Pile Gate. We walked the city walls and spent an afternoon on the island of Lokrum.

We drove from Dubrovnik to Montenegro and had no problems at the border. Initially we were just going to go directly to Kotor, but the drive was quicker than we had anticipated so we continued on to Budva on the coast for lunch. In Kotor, we stayed at the Hotel Vardar, which is located in the main entry of the old city. We were totally impressed with how nice and modern the hotel was...only to wake up in the morning to find that there was no electricity or running water. They were nice enough to give us a discount.

We hiked the walls of the city up the mountain...quite the workout but spectacular views at the top.

Kotor was sleepy during the day (presumably everyone had gone to the beach) but came alive at night. We even caught a fashion show.

The drive from Kotor to Split was a long one. We attempted to take a shortcut through Bosnia, but I'm not convinced this was any faster than just taking the coastal road the whole way. (It probably depends on how bad the traffic is between Dubrovnik and Makarska).

In Split, we stayed at the Hotel Vestibul, a wonderfully modern hotel embedded in the walls of the palace.

***
Okay, so I tried to keep it brief, but obviously there's a lot more to be said so I will just wrap up with some general observations:

-Driving: Driving in Croatia was very doable but can be stressful, especially, I think, for Americans who may not be used to narrow roads/passing on narrow roads. Parking in Split was a bit of a nightmare, but we did not really have any problems anywhere else. Also, you do not need a car, but we really enjoyed the freedom that having one gave us.

-Language: Everyone we encountered spoke English. If you travel to Bosnia, you will be fine along main roads, but be sure to get a good map if you decide to be adventurous, as you may not be able to read the signs in cyrillic.

-Money: Banks are readily available to get Kuna in Croatia. They accept Euros in Montenegro and Bosnia, so I would recommend getting these beforehand if you are traveling to either place.

-Gay stuff: I would not place Croatia on my list of "gay destinations". There are a few beaches that are predominantly gay (we went to one on Lokrum in Dubrovnik and on one of the Pakleni islands in Hvar), but we did not find any real gay nightlife. The information we obtained online with recommendations was unhelpful.

Beaches: Do not expect to find sandy beaches. Almost all beaches we saw were rocky beachs. Ouch! Bring a cushion.

That's all I can think of for now. I invite any questions and will try to respond asap!

Thanks for the report!
Just beginning to look at Croatia.
How would you compare Dubrovnik to other European cities? I guess there's little enough information that it's somewhat intimidating.

Hi, thank you for your report! Was it relatively easy to rent a boat in Hvar? Any suggestions? We too are doing the drive across the island to Sucuraj. Unfortunately, my husband is looking forward to it!

Andrew, thank you for your report! We were in Croatia in November and had a fabulous time. Sounds like you did as well! We rather enjoyed driving around Croatia, although because we were there in November traffic was about nonexistent.

welch, I can't speak for the OP but we didn't find Croatia intimidating in the least. In fact of the 20 or so countries we have visited in Europe (we are from the US) Croatia was our favorite country and we found it quite easy and a joy to travel through.

Thanks for posting Andrew!
Tracy

Welch,

I'm not sure how I would compare Dubrovnik to other "major" European cities. The old city (the part you'll likely be visiting) is very small and contained. To give you a sense of its size, you can walk the entire perimeter of the city along its walls in less than an hour. There are also, in my opinion, not a lot of "destinations" within the city. There are museums, of course, but I think your time is probably better spent just being there, walking around, sitting in cafes, and observing. There is something beautiful about the organic way in which the city blends into its natural setting.

Becnsteve,

Renting a boat was very easy. We saw two places to do this. The first is right in front of the water in the central square. There will be someone standing there with a poster advertising boat rentals and you will see a bunch of small boats in the water. The second place (where we went) was a little further down the water (if you turn left and walk along the water from the central square). The price was the same at both places, 400 Kuna, but we decided to go with the one further away because there were fewer boats to navigate around in order to get into open water. As it turned out, this wouldn't have been an issue anyway because someone helped steer our boat in and out of the docking area, thankfully.

Basically you are paying for 5 hours a fuel and can keep the boat until 7-7:30PM so you have lots of freedom.

If you don't have a lot of experience with boats, I would recommend asking for a crash course on docking and steering before you set out. I can't tell you how many times I slammed into a dock on an island before I realized that I should be throwing out my anchor first to slow the boat down and arrive smoothly. It was quite embarrassing!

As for the Hvar-Sucuraj drive, I'm afraid it's much worse for the passenger than the driver. At least as the driver, you feel like you have some control over whether or not you or going to plummet off a cliff. As a passenger, you will be at the mercy of the cliffs and your husband. Good luck!

Andrew-
Thanks for the report. Very helpful info. We are booked for Croatia in March 2008 and are planning to do the same desinations except we are thinking Korcula instead of Hvar. We are also planning to spend 3 nights in Kotor--do you think there is enough there to keep us occupied for that long?

Sessa,

I think that depends on what you're into. We only had an afternoon and evening in Kotor so I didn't do a lot of research into specific things we could do there. We basically just wandered around the city, which is very small, climbed the walls, had dinner, and sat in a few cafes. For our purposes, one night was sufficient.

I think if you are going to devote 3 nights, you should look into daytrips outside of Kotor. One place I would have liked to have spent more time, and possibly stayed, was the town of Budva on the coast. We stopped there for a couple of hours before Kotor because we'd read about it in an article in the NYTimes a couple of weeks ago. (You should Google this article, btw).

Budva, which is only about 45 minutes away from Kotor, has a totally different feel: it's on the ocean and very beachy. It reminded me a lot of Dubrovnik in appearance, except, unlike Dubrovnik, the beaches have sand.

The people-watching in Budva is wonderful, and the prices, for a resort town, were very reasonable.

You might also want to check out Perast. We didn't stop there, but it's supposed to be lovely.

Anyway, in my opinion, it's hard to get bored when you're surrounded by such a beautiful setting, but I think your time would be best spent using Kotor as a jumping off point for exploring the surrounding area, at least during the daytime. As I mentioned in my report, the town is rather quiet during the day and suddenly comes alive at night.

Oh, and a word about climbing the walls on the mountain above Kotor: wear decent hiking shoes, bring water and pace yourself--it's tiring, but definitely worth it!

Let me know if I can answer any more questions for you; otherwise, enjoy your trip!

Andrew

We loved Kotor and intend on staying there for a few nights when we return to Croatia. Its small, as Andrew mentions, but we felt that the town had a lot of charm and beauty. We enjoyed Budva, but Kotor moreso. Of course this could be because we were there in November and Budva was almost a ghost town! Perast is lovely and definitely worth a few hours. There are a few cafes on the waterfront. I would also suggest a visit to Sveti Stephan because its unique and makes a great photo.

Tracy

Thanks for the input Andrew & Tracy. I think we will def. stick with our 3 nights in Kotor, especially after reading that article you mentioned!