sssteve:

What a great website!! I wish we would have seen it before we went to Croatia....very helpful and informative.

ah ha, Rhea left out the "l" in website in her --'Note to xyz99: Url is travetimeny.com'
i shall try traveltimeny.com

Tcreath - Check out www.europebyair.com for $99 airfare from Rome to Split. You can also fly from Brussels to Split for the same price if that works for you. It may be cheaper than trying to make that connection to Split. We're planning on being in Croatia next summer and love all the travellers' suggestions. Keep 'em coming! Lisa

Hello salt777
I am going to visit Dubrovnic in 9 to 15 May 2006. I am going to stay in Mlini with my sister. We are 55 and 50 years old. My sister has a little breath problem and therefor can't climb to much. I have reserved a room in a house near the port of Mlini. Could you tell me anything about Mlini, the ferry boat and bus to and from Dubrovnic and Cavtat. Here I give you my scedule from my indended trip to Croatia next year. Maybe you can give me some advice. 5 days near Split in a village called Postrana. Then we are planned to go by boat to Dubrovnic staying in Mlini for 6 days. From there we have to go north and I think I want to spend a day or three in Trogir. From there we want to go for about three days in Zadar and then we have to by bus to Zagreb to catch our flight back to Amsterdam.
I hope you will reply.
Kind regards
Anisa

Went to Croatia in Sept, and loved it too. ATM`s were everywhrere, but nobody wanted to take traveler`s checks. Don`t bother to get them.

Anisa,

We stayed at the Asterea Hotel in Mlini in September of 2004 for a few days. Also in the Villa Adriatica just outside the Pile Gate. The Adriatica was more convenient, but we found Mlini charming and convenient, too. There was one restaurent in town, just by the sea, that has a huge grape vine growing in the center of the dining area that climbs through the roof to cover much of the outside of the building. They serve an egg dish -- sort of an omelette -- that is to die for.

"Mlini" means "mill" for the numerous water powered mills that were once placed at the bottom of every stream that tumbled down the cliff. As you can imagine, the village is built into the mountainside, so I would enquire of your landlord as to the number of stairs to your apartment from the beach. Could be a problem for your Sister.

There is a lovely seaside walk that runs North along the seashore from the Astarea complex. Delightful to stroll along to the other villages, but again a bit of up and down.

One can take the bus into Dubrovnik, but it is a rather steep climb from the Asterea to the main road, so I would suggest the water taxi. These small (15-20 pasenger launches) depart frequently up and down the coast. It was about a 20 minute ride from the harbor in Mlini to the old harbor at Dubrovnik, and a similar distance going South to Cavtat. Cost was nominal.

It is a lovely way to approach the old town in Dubrovnik; from the sea. Weather was usually calm in September, and the boats go slowly, so there is no problem with motion sickness. I strongly recommend you take the time to take the water taxi to Cavtat. The prominade along the sea front is lovely. You can sit in a quai-side cafe, sip a coffee and read while watching the yachts pull in, while waiting for the next launch back to Mlini or to Dubrovnik.

I'm sure you realize that Dubrovnik has almost no place that does not require climbing steps, except for the Strada. However, I'm in my 70's and have a breath problem too. Just take your time, and plan to take longer to make the journey around the walls than the youngsters. Anyway, it allows all sorts of excuses for stopping for a gelato.

Have a wonderful trip.

:-)

Bookmarking so I can find this thread again in the future...

salt -

Thanks for the interesting report.

I am not clear as to what 'package deal' Travel Time provided. Was it air and hotel only? Transfers? Did you make your own local tour arrangements when you got there? ((R))

To Anisa

I don't think you'll have to climb too much in Mlini. If the port you are talking about is where they have the water taxi, you will have no problem at all. (I don't recall whether or not I saw any other area that was the port.) A walk toward the Asterea Hotel is very flat and has a few nice places to stop for a drink or snack. There is a nice walk through a park in the other direction, but it does have some hills. We loved Mlini. It was so quiet and relaxing after a hectic day of sightseeing. The ferries run about every half hour to 45 minutes to either Dubrovnik or Cavtat and don't cost very much. Please do not miss Cavtat. In fact, plan to spend some time there. The food is great and the shopping is good. The views there are wonderful. The only real climb would be if you chose to go to the Mausoleum, otherwise, the walking area is flat. There are also many places just to sit and relax and watch everything....nice leisurely day.

If you find the weather is not good for the water taxi, you might try to call the Asterea Hotel. When we stayed there, they had a driver who would take you to Old Town and pick you up later. I think it cost about $10 and I don't know if the service is limited to hotel guests or not. I would definitely take the water taxi..much more fun and great views.

Hope this helps

To Jed:

Our package deal through Travel Time included air, hotel and transfers. We also received the names of travel agents in each city that were recommended by Travel Time. The people who met us in each city were just great and quite helpful. Not all day tours run every day so you might want to check as soon as you get to each city just so you can plan your stay. Also, one of our problems was not having an ATM card and expecting that tour agencies would use credit cards. They don't and so we had to miss out on a few. Another person wrote that Traveller's Checques were difficult to use. We didn't have any problem with them at banks, but I think on our next trip to Croatia, we will definitely have an ATM card.

We were in Croatia in Sept, and nobody wanted to take travellers checks. We had no problems using the ATMs that were everywhere. I was sitting on a bench at a lake and I could see 4 ATM`s all connected to banks. No problems with credit cards either.