My husband and I recently returned from a week in Croatia--our first visit there, though we've traveled pretty extensively in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Since I've spent some productive time reading the Talk pages of this web site and learning from other travelers who kindly posted trip reports and other information, I thought I would try to repay the favor.

A brief preface. I think you could classify our trip as mid-scale. I know it's possible to spend a lot less and quite a bit more in Croatia; since our time was short and our need for relaxation high, we decided to reserve hotel rooms instead of searching out private rooms and apartments, and we didn't pay much attention to prices of meals while we were on our trip. We didn't find much of interest to buy -- partly because we weren't into shopping on this trip (we each brought one carry-on bag only and wanted to keep them light, and we really didn't find many interesting handicrafts, beyond the nice embroidery being sold everywhere in Dubrovnik).

I've noted prices wherever I could, because we've found that informative in other trip reports. I hope it's helpful.

I've divided this by city. First, Split, a wonderful surprise.

SPLIT

We flew Continental from Newark to London (Gatwick). Departed at 8:30 p.m. on May 18, arrived 8:40 a.m. on the 19th Good flight, no issues. $450 each, round trip.

We checked our two small bags at the airport’s Left Baggage department for the day (£6 /$11.30 per bag) and took the train into London to spend our 7-hour layover (£9.30/$17.50 each, round trip). Didn't range far from Victoria Station but were able to visit the Tate Britain Museum and Westminster Cathedral and have a tasty lunch at the Jugged Hair on Vauxhall Bridge Street a few blocks from the station.

Back at Gatwick, we picked up our luggage flew British Airways to Split ($203 each, round trip). Our flight was delayed an hour due to the airplane having “gone technical.” Arrived in Split at 8:30 p.m.

We had arranged with the Hotel Peristil for a driver to pick us up—what a treat (250 kuna/$44). On the half-hour drive into town Dino pointed out the sites and gave us some Croatian lessons (only “hvala”—thank you—stuck, but that was useful!). He drove us up to the back entrance of the hotel, which was a little half-gate through a hole cut in the wall of Diocletian’s palace, leading right onto the hotel’s dining patio. What a way to enter the city! The room (#302) was small but lovely, with a window looking directly over the main square in the palace. Nicely equipped (flat screen TV, hair dryer, etc.).

We weren’t very hungry but the patio, which turned out to be the Restaurant Tifani (part of the hotel), was irresistible. Shared a cold fish platter, with prosciutto, anchovies, olives, cheese, read, and grilled vegetables. Just the right meal (100 kuna / $17.50). Plus ½ liter of white wine ($8). Talked to a group of Americans from the Seattle Yacht Club who had just arrived in the city to kick off a week-long sailing trip through the islands. What a nice trip that will be. I have sailboat envy.

Finished off the evening with a walk through the streets, which were nicely populated by others doing the same thing (but not too many!). Quite enchanting.

Saturday

Breakfast on the patio. No menu, but we were told we could order anything we wanted. (It was part of the price of the room.) Lacking imagination, we ordered a regular breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, OJ, bread, coffee. It was good—maybe the best breakfast we had in Croatia.

The square was starting to get active, so we set off on a daylight wander through the streets we had seen the evening before. Just as nice in the sunshine! Diocletian’s palace has morphed into a stunning working town of fascinating Roman buildings. Reminiscent of parts of the Roman Forum, but the buildings are intact.

We walked out to the Riva (the seaside promenade) and found the place to buy catamaran tickets to Hvar (22 kuna / $3.80 each) for the 2:00 p.m. sailing. Then we searched out the main office, further down the harbor, where we bought ferry tickets from Hvar (Stari Grad) to Dubrovnik for later in the week (77k / $13.60 each). A bargain for a 7-hour boat ride!

Returning to the town, we strolled first through the very active market, where tables and stalls sold everything from vegetables to flowers to fish to clothing. Visited the small cathedral, which was old and had some “treasures” that we didn’t fully appreciate, then bought tickets (5 kuna/85 cents) to climb the bell tower next door. Fabulous views across the city and toward the islands – well worth the climb, but kind of scary because there was lots of open air (no screens) as we climbed. I took it very slowly, and I’m not usually bothered by heights. After we descended we needed a beer (any excuse works) – had a soothing drink in a small outdoor square that was alive with younger Croatians drinking coffee, beers, etc. 9k / $1.60). Very fun.

Picked up our bags at the hotel and headed back to the Riva to catch the 2:00 catamaran. (Advise getting to the boat by 1:30.) It was a comfortable one-hour ride through various islands to reach Hvar.

HVAR

Coming into the port we saw what we thought might be our hotel, the Croatia, nestled on the hill amid lovely pines. When we got to the harbor we were pleased to see a minibus from the hotel there to meet the boat! We hadn't arranged for it and may have just lucked out, because there were a few other people going to the hotel, and they seemed to have been there before. We hopped on the bus and in about 5 minutes were at the hotel, via a road that wound up behind the town.

I've posted the hotel's description in another thread but will repeat it here to make the report complete. The setting is nice--in a terraced garden among the pines, with a good view to the sea. Just below the hotel, about 50 yards down the steps through the garden, is the seaside promenade that runs about a mile and a half from the Hotel Podstine to Hvar town. The Hotel Croatia itself is less than a mile from town (about 15 minutes), and the walk is wonderful--we ended up doing it a couple times a day and at night. Felt very safe at all times. The hotel has plastic lounge chairs that you can use along the small pebbly beach in front. We didn't use them (there are better places along the promenade), but others did.

There's a pleasant terrace for eating breakfast, and an inside dining room that no one used. The breakfast wasn't very good--the usual suspects (orange juice, coffee, tea, bread, cheese, yoghurt, salami, ham, jellies, eggs), but the quality left much to be desired. Definitely, the breakfasts were the worst part of the hotel. We didn't have any other meals there, though they offer half board.

The staff spoke English and were as helpful as we needed. Our room was on the third floor, and there's no elevator. Since we were traveling very light, that was fine with us.

Our room (#210) faced the sea, with a small balcony (fitting a small table and 2 chairs). The sea view was a big plus--rooms on the back side of the hotel are about $5 cheaper but about $100 less nice (a few pines and the road). The room was simple but comfortable and clean, decorated in blue and lavender. The bed was firm, as were all the beds we would sleep in in Croatia. There were reading lights, the view was lovely, the bathroom adequately equipped (shower and all the other essentials). Because limestone dominates in this area, the water is hard, and the towels are hard. I don't think they use a dryer. But there were enough towels. No clock. The TV had good reception (including CNN Europe).

This hotel isn’t luxurious in any way, but a good value. There was a mix of guests, with more than half falling in the “older” category. Mostly European--German, British, Croatian, though there seemed to be a few youngish Americans as well. The hotel got fuller over the three days we were there. There was one particularly noisy older guy who had obviously been to the hotel before. He had a little entourage and delighted in dominating their conversation. He started out quite friendly but over the course of our stay turned a little obnoxious, making not-so-veiled comments about Americans’ lack of foreign language skills (didn’t faze him that we also spoke Spanish and Chinese). We learned to avoid him as we entered and left the patio.

The afternoon we arrived we walked back into town via the seaside promenade, the first of many lovely walks along that strip. The views of the town as you come around the corner and get closer and closer are fabulous—boats, stone buildings, green hills, and the fortress towering at the top of the hill. Loved how the feeling changed as the light changed—late afternoon was particularly beautiful as the sun set behind us, turning the houses pinkish yellow.

We explored the town, visiting the rather dull church in the main square (lovely façade, though), walking up and down the side streets, and strolling over to the Franciscan Monastery, which we went into the next morning. Had the first of many Croatian beers ($2) at an outdoor café on the square—there are many to choose from, and we tried several for either morning coffee (always wonderful cappuccinos) or afternoon beers. At the first one we enjoyed the Croatian pop music that was playing on the speakers.

We were hungry so we walked a block or so up the hill to the Restaurant Palazzo Paladini to eat at their wonderful outdoor patio under fruit-laden orange trees. I had tomato soup and an excellent fish platter of orada (sea bream), mussels, and langoustines. The first of many fish we would eat on this trip! My husband, John, had flavorful fish soup and a lamb dish (not the greatest), and we shared a plate of grilled eggplants and zucchini. Plus a bottle of the house wine, and a complimentary grappa. A good meal, 405 kuna ($71).

Walked back to the hotel, past a stage with dancers performing traditional Croatian dances. Had a glass of wine (yes, we do like wine) and lit a lavender candle on our balcony before going to bed.

Sunday

After picking a little at the breakfast buffet we walked into town and enjoyed a double cappuccino (10k, $1.75) in the square overlooking the boats. Could have sat there all day, but we had places to go and things to do, so we sauntered over to the boats to see what we could arrange for a trip to the nearby Pakleni islands. We didn’t want to go to the nude beaches, so we hopped on a boat to St. Klement (70k / $12) that was leaving at 11 for the 25-minute trip to the island. There was one other couple on the boat, from London, and we became friendly with them. We spent some time with them over the course of the next two days and really enjoyed our conversations. It was interesting to get their perspective on world affairs, the Middle East, perceptions of the U.S., the best Japanese restaurant in London, traveling in India, etc.

We arrived at the island at 11:30 and spent the next 5 hours in heaven. The boat guy said he would pick us up at 4:30, so we had plenty of time to explore. First we visited the "village" near the boat landing, which was made up of a few houses and a simple rural church nestled in among the trees. Fabulous wildflowers, though unfortunately the lavender was not in bloom. (It’s supposed to bloom in the spring, but not sure whether it’s earlier or later than we were there—didn’t seem to be any sign of buds, past or future, so it must bloom later???) Great views of other islands and the sailboats gliding among them.
Did I say I love sailboats? As on Hvar, the rocks were all limestone, so the combination of white rocks, blue sea, and colorful wildflowers was enchanting.

Our London friends had recommendations from a Croatian friend for Dionis Restaurant, so we decided that would be the best choice (there was a sign for a restaurant in the village but we never saw it). We followed the sign for the Dionis, which took us on about a 10-minute walk to a simple stone building with a reed roof, set among vineyards (the source for the restaurant’s excellent house wine). Konoba Dionis’s sign said it was open from 12 to 23, and it was about 12, so we headed in through the doorless doorway to an open-air (walls on 3 sides), 2-level “room” full of rustic tables and chairs and amazing little decorative vignettes put together by someone with a real sense of style. The restaurant is a family operation, and there were lots of people taking part in the production. This was “slow food” at its best – it took us about 2 hours to eat lunch, and we savored the whole experience. The ingredients were fresh from the land and sea – a liter of wine from the vineyard; field artichokes and peas in a savory pea sauce; cheese soaked in olive oil with capers, olives, and fresh tomatoes; cucumber, tomato, and onion salad; grilled eggplants and zucchinis; tasty grilled whole fish (arbun--red mullet); sparkling water. Fabulous. 460 k ($81), and well worth it. I would eat there every day if I could.

After lunch we still had a couple of hours until the boat came back, so we walked on the narrow path another 15 minutes or so, over to a beautiful deserted cove with a nice cobble beach. (Later we were joined by a group of middle-aged German men who immediately took their clothes off and, fortunately, jumped in the water.) The water was too cold for us, but we enjoyed spending time there reading and gazing at the amazing blue waters. Got a bit of a sunburn even though we tried to be careful. Between the bright sunshine and the reflections off the water and limestone, it was hard to avoid a burn.

Met up with the London couple and took the boat back to Hvar, where they invited us to stop at their hotel (the upscale Podstine) for a drink. Lovely open-air bar overlooking more beautiful scenery. On a lark we ordered margaritas, which turned out to be the Croatian variety (no ice, pretty dull). But the conversation was good and the setting idyllic. We then walked back to the Hotel Croatia for a little rest. Later we walked into town, sat at yet another café (in our quest to try them all), and had a light dinner on the patio of the Gariful Restaurant, near the ferry landing. Great people watching and a beautiful evening. I had tagliatella with shrimp, John had grilled squid, and we shared grilled vegetables and a good bottle of white wine (310k, $54).

Monday

Inferior breakfast at the hotel (even their Tang is icky), then walked into town for double cappuccinos on the harbor. Decided to catch the boat to Zdrilica / Mlini Beach, which was leaving at 11 (35k / $6 each). Had a little time before it left, so we walked around the bend to the Franciscan Monastery (15k / $2.60). That was one of the nicest interior spaces we visited in Croatia.

The ride to the island took about 15 minutes. More stone beaches, and more people than on St. Klement, but still fun. After doing more reading (wish the water was warmer!) and some sketching, and having a little picnic, we found the cobble beach to be getting harder so we decided to head back toward the boat and have a drink at one of the 3 small restaurants that dotted the cove. First we explored the little village area. Again ran into our London friends, who had another recommendation -– Antonio’s, at the far end of the cove. We weren’t really planning to eat, but the Dionis had been so great, how could we say no to another place recommendedby their Croatian friend? We ended up sharing a table with them on the outdoor patio and eating octopus salad, grilled anchovies and shrimp, white wine, and Turkish coffee (my first). Oh-such-a-beautiful place.

The boat back to Hvar left at 4. When we arrived in Hvar harbor we decided to walk up the hill to the fortress. Entry fee was 10k ($1.75). Beautiful views down onto the town, across the harbor, and over to the islands we had just boated through. Worth the climb!

We walked back to the hotel to change and shower, then into Hvar again (good thing the promenade was so beautiful) for one last evening. We shared a veggie pizza, a caprese salad, and a liter of wine at an outdoor restaurant in the square (170k, $30). It was decent food in a great outdoor setting. Walked back to the hotel for some reading and bed. At least we got some good walking in—otherwise we would have gained about 10 pounds. (I only gained 1, even with all that food and wine.)

Enjoying your report and awaiting more. We leave in two days to Croatia.

What was the weather like? I looked at weather.com for Dubrovnik and it shows a good chance of rain/showers for the four days we are there. I sure hope not!

DUBROVNIK

Hated to leave enchanting Hvar, but Dubrovnik called. Paid the hotel bill (1,293k / $228) – a bargain for 3 nights in such a beautiful setting. We had arranged for the hotel minibus (210k / $37) to drive us over to Stari Grad, where the Jadrolnija ferry stopped at 9:00. It was a 20-minute ride over the hills and much easier than walking into Hvar and taking the bus from there.

We had tickets for deck passage on the large ferry. It was fairly comfortable, with great views of the mainland and islands, though long (7 hours). Plenty of benches to sit on outside, in front, back, or on the sides of the boat, and real chairs indoors in the lounge. We wanted to be outside. We did go in for lunch in the comfortable dining room. Decent enough food (fried calamari, spaghetti bolognaise, cucumber and tomato salad, wine – 210k), and eating lunch helped pass the time. We made one stop, in Korcula, but not for long enough to get off. Korcula is a small town with a perfect setting. If we had had more time it would have been nice to spend the night. Next time.

We arrived in Gruz, just outside Dubrovnik, in the afternoon. Decided it would be less hassle to take a taxi to the city (57k / $10), though the bus, which we took the next day, would have been easy. Our hotel, the Stari Grad, is one of the two inside the city walls and was a real treat. It’s a short walk from the Pile Gate, where the taxi deposited us. Dubrovnik was very hot and full of tourists, so it was quite a shock after Hvar. (We were in Hvar at the perfect time-–I know it gets really crowded later in the season.)

The Stari Grad has only 8 rooms. Ours (#402) was lovely, with nice views onto the red tile roofs of the city. We immediately saw the signs of recovery from the war with the Serbs in the early 1990s. Most of the roofs were tiled in fresh red tiles, while only about a quarter had the mellow tiles from centuries ago.

The room was a nice size and well equipped (desk, side chairs, flat-screen satellite TV, bathroom with a massage shower). Definitely the nicest room of the four we stayed in in Croatia, which were all very good.

We went right out to begin exploring Dubrovnik. The heat was a bit oppressive, and there were too many people. Would not like to be there in July and August, especially on Sundays, which are peak cruise-ship-docking days. We strolled the Stradun. Loved the street cobbles that had been worn smooth by centuries of people walking on them. The harbor was also nice. We found the city to be a little odorous, though. People often say that Venice smells, but we’ve never found that to be the case. Dubrovnik definitely had a smell about it—-maybe it was just the time of year we were there.

Just when we were reaching our limit of hotness and starting to drag, at the edge of the wall facing the Adriatic, we ran across an oasis, “Cold Drinks.” There was a tiny sign pointing to a doorless doorway in the wall, which we went through to discover a multilevel set of terraces carved into the cliffs, dotted with white umbrellas. It was a wonderful, fairytale setting for a bar that served, well, cold drinks. We of course immediately settled into a couple of chairs under the umbrellas and ordered some beers. It was enchanting. A few swimmers were diving off the cliff into the sea below, boats went by off and on, and a neat round island loomed a little ways away. Soft jazz was playing in the background, and evening was falling. Several tables were occupied but everyone was very quiet. Awesome.

After awhile we had to rouse ourselves out of our mellow state and hit the pavement again, or we would have stayed there overnight. We wanted to walk the famed Dubrovnik walls now that the day had cooled down a little and the sun was setting. We hoped to see great colors over the rooftops, but unfortunately the walls closed at 7 p.m. (hours 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and it was 6:45, not enough time to do much up on the walls. So instead we headed out the Ploce Gate and walked to the beach beyond the harbor, for sunset views back across the city. It was lovely.

The beach itself was still under reconstruction for the season – there were some lounge chairs and a bar area, but it didn’t look anything like the pictures of East-West Beach you see in the tourist brochures. Another sign that we were early in the season-–there were bulldozers working the sand over, and workers moving things around. I’m sure it will be “ready” soon. We walked on the rocks back toward the town and got some great pictures of the walled city as the sun set. I'm going to send them to callalilli, who lost all her pictures.

After all that hard work it was time for more food. We had previously walked along “restaurant row” (up the hill from and parallel to the Stradun) and had been given the hard sell by many “greeters” to eat at their restaurants, but we ended up at the end of that street (toward the Ploce Gate) at a charming little place called Rozarij. We sat at one of the several outdoor tables wedged in front of the restaurant, though the interior was nice also. I had yet another grilled fish, John had excellent white shrimp risotto, and we shared a mixed salad, zucchini, potatoes, white wine (a 2003 that was over the hill but we were too polite to send back), mineral water, Turkish coffee, and complimentary grappas. 326k / $56.

By the time we finished, the night had cooled and the stroll back to the hotel along the Stradun was lovely. We climbed to the hotel’s rooftop terrace and enjoyed the great views of Dubrovnik at night.

Wednesday--My Birthday

Woke up for an early breakfast on the rooftop terrace because we wanted to get onto the walls when they opened at 8. Breakfast was nice and the views were great. Headed to the Pile Gate, one of the few places you can get onto the walls, and paid our 50k ($8.80) each to climb the steep steps up to the walls. There were some ups and downs along the walls, the day was already warm, and we had forgotten to bring water. Fortunately, at just the right time we encountered a woman selling water and soft drinks from the patio of her home, which abuts the walkway. That was great! The walk took us about an hour and was filled with the mandatory fabulous views. Every city should have such wonderful walls.

The city had filled up pretty fast with tourists from the two cruise ships in the harbor, so after we descended we headed for the harbor to find out what possibilities there were for getting out on a daytrip to the islands. There were several people soliciting for boat trips and other activities, and we decided to take a ride on a Nova line boat to Lopud. Since it was still “preseason” (i.e., before June 1), the boats didn’t leave from the harbor. Instead, we had to take a local bus from the Pile Gate to near the ferry dock in Gruz, about a 15-minute ride (10k / $1.75 if you buy tickets on the bus; 8k / $1.40 if you buy at a newsstand before you get on the bus). We found the boat pretty easily and took the 30-minute ride to Lopud (I forget how much it was). The boat also stopped at the other two islands in the chain, but we chose to get off at Lopud, the middle-sized island.

We arrived on Lopud at 10:45 and had until 4 to explore the island. Lopud is more built up than the islands off Hvar, but still charming. We strolled the promenade and then took the fairly steep path up across the island to the sandy beach, about a 20-minute walk. Since the water was STILL too cold for us to swim (big suprise), we sat at one of the outdoor cafes overlooking the beach and enjoyed the view. It wasn’t as picturesque as the Paklenis off Hvar (darn! they spoiled us for anything else!), but nice anyway.

Back along the promenade, we chose an outdoor café (the Konoba Dubrovnik) for a light meal-—fried calamari, grilled meat on a stick, salad, wine, and water, 180k / $31. We had some more time so we had a coffee at yet another lovely spot and John read while I painted a small watercolor in my travel watercolor book that I’ve been adding to since our first trip to Italy in 2003.

Back in Dubrovnik, the cruise ship crowds had left town, so it was quieter. We definitely had to go back to Cold Drinks for another round of mellow, then it was onto the streets and alleys for more exploration. We visited a couple of large churches and wished we had time for the contemporary art museum, but it was closed. We spent 15 minutes (7.50k / $1.30) at an Internet café on restaurant row, emailing the kids to let them know we were still alive, then more strolled until we decided to break the fish routine and have a pizza at the Baracuda pizza restaurant. We split an eggplant pizza, salad, and wine, 112k / $19.75 (we would have saved a lot of money by eating like this every day, but couldn’t resist the fresh grilled fish and vegetables!).

We were determined to spend part of the last evening on our rooftop terrace, so we bought a bottle of red wine (Plavac, 35k / $6) at a wineshop near the hotel and headed up to the roof. It was gorgeous, and the evening gave welcome relief from the warm day.

TROGIR

Thursday

Since we were traveling light, it was easy to take the local bus from the Pile Gate to the long-distance bus station, near the ferry terminal in Gruz (8k each, since we figured out where to buy the tickets before we got on the bus!). Bought our tickets for the 5 ½-hour ride to Trogir (112k / $19.75 each) and spent the 20 minutes or so before the bus left talking to a Canadian couple and two American sisters, comparing notes on our various trips so far. The Canadians had spent a few days in Montenegro and really loved it. We’ll have to include that in our next visit.

The bus was OK, but the many curves in the road made it hard to do anything but look out the window (no reading). Fortunately, the scenery was gorgeous—the mountainsides were filled with yellow scotch broom in full bloom. We sat on the left side of the bus, which gave the best views of the coastline. There were 3 stops along the way-–15 minutes in Bosnia (time for coffee, a bathroom break, and a little snack shopping at the store-—fortunately it accepted kuna, though the Bosnian currency is of course different), 5 minutes at another place whose name I forget, and 20 minutes in Split. There were cursory passport checks at the Bosnian borders (the road goes through a tiny part of Bosnia that provides an outlet to the coast). We found the 7-hour ferry ride from Stari Grad to Dubrovnik more pleasant, but the bus was cheap and easier than renting a car.

We arrived in Trogir about 4:45 in the afternoon. Took the short walk into the old town and easily found our tiny hotel, the Villa Sv. Petar. It was great! Only has a few rooms; though they are small, they are very nicely equipped (including another satellite TV). We had a cute view down one of the alleys. The room was quiet at night-–it had air conditioning but cooled off nicely so we didn’t need it. The hotel is run by a brother-sister team who were extremely helpful and quite charming. They had spent many months converting their brother-in-law’s former house into the hotel, which opened in June 2005. They were attentive to details and have a great little place. Highly recommended!

Shortly after we arrived we headed out toward the Riva for an explore. Wonderful boats (again!), this time including many large, long-distance sailing boats carrying parties of tourists from Germany and other places. Looked like a fun way to travel. They were docked three-deep along the Riva, and it was interesting to watch them being reprovisioned for their next leg. We chose a nice outdoor café from among the many that line the promenade and enjoyed watching the action as the schoolchildren got out of school (located a few buildings down the Riva) and headed home for the day, around 5:30. What a great place to go to school, though I can imagine it would be a little hard to concentrate!

Next it was on to the alleyways of the town, which is really quite small. At first I was a little disappointed in it because I had been expecting “magical,” as it is reputed to be, but of course I had been spoiled by Hvar. But after a while Trogir grew on me and I could feel its great appeal.

Dinner was at Kamerlengo. Guess what-–grilled fish (orada). Also shared a delicious appetizer dish of scampi with risotto, and John had the local ground meat dish, which looks like little sausages and was pretty tasty (and wasn't fish). The canned-tasting green beans were a disappointment, and the boiled potatoes were dull. But the wine was good! (326k / $57)

Friday

Our last day in Croatia. We were flying out on British Airways at 8:50 p.m., so after a good breakfast in the hotel (cooked to order!) we checked out (559k / $98), stashed our bags in the breakfast room/lobby, and spent the day soaking up Trogir ambience. We walked everywhere-–across the bridge to the island and up the hill of the residential area, down to the fort, around the outdoor market, through the alleys . . . over and over . . . so we really got to know it. Visited the church, sat in the park, painted a watercolor, read on the benches, had drinks on the Riva, coffee in the square, watched the kids, wondered at the waves of tour groups heading somewhere, often with their heads down. That didn't make sense. We didn’t hear much English being spoken—mostly Italian, German, Croatian. It was a fun day.

Our last meal was, fittingly at an outdoor café called The End. Had pizzas and salad, then headed to the airport. We had arranged with the Villa Sv. Petar for a car to take us to the airport, though we considered the bus. (Heck, why not end the trip in the style to which we had become accustomed!). Split Airport is only about 10 minutes from Trogir, so it was a quick ride (100k / $17).

We flew back to London for a lovely, if cool, weekend in Kent and Sussex, our old stomping grounds from when we lived in England in 1987. Then it was on to New Jersey on Monday morning, 5/29. Landed at Newark at about 1:15 p.m. and took the train home, the end of another great trip.

The only thing I regret is not renting kayaks, like callalilli did. NEXT TIME FOR SURE!!

Loved this report. I will be in Hvar and Dubrovnik at the end of September and the information your trip report provides is great! And I will have to remember my sunscreen for Hvar! 8-)

Thanks so much for posting!

Wonderful report! Both enjoyable and informative. I'll add it to my travel file.

Enjoyed reading about your trip to Croatia. My husband and I, along with our two teenage sons enjoyed a wonderful trip to Croatia, Slovenia and Venice, June 21 to July 9, 2005. We loved Croatia and would go back again. We rented an apartment in Dubrovnik near the Pile Gate for 4 nights and loved every minute of the time we spent here. (When we were there we did not notice any kind of smell. We have been to Venice 2x and have not had any problems with it being smelly either but know people that were in Venice in the spring and it did smell they said.) We also did a day trip to the Elaphite Islands, which includes a fish fry on the pirate-looking ship and a stop at 3 islands. It was an all day thing which was very enjoyable as we had beautiful weather. I will second the cold drinks Buza. We also stopped there and it is a great! It could be hard to find but we had Rick Steves' Eastern Europe book and he mentioned how to find the place. Look for a sign marked "cold drinks" just up from the cathedral, behind St. Ignatius Church. Also in Croatia, a don't miss is Plitvice Lakes National Park. It is unlike anything we have ever seen before--16 terraced lakes laced together by waterfalls. Slovenia is also a beautiful country not to miss. We visited Ljubljana and Lake Bled and the Julian Alps. Both are lovely places. It is a short drive from Bled to Venice--maybe 3 hours or so.

I believe the bar in Dubrovnik is called "Buza" - a special sweet spot in the universe is all I can say.

Glad to hear good things about Viila Sv. Petar - I'm staying there this September.

And what hasn't been said abot Hvar.

Three months to go and counting...all these reports are making me quite wistful....

aprillilacs -- what a great report! thank you for sharing, so vividly, the areas i missed. I think I said earlier that we had originally planned to go to Hvar.. but didnt. I don't have regrets, as we had a wonderful vacation.. but I appreciate so much being able to experience it through your notes. Also, I SO much am intrigued (and envious) by your water-colors.

also - Happy Birthday! what a wonderful place to spend it!

Aprillilacs, Thank you so much for posting this report! Very helpful and informative! pp

A;

Thanks for the report, 4 weeks to go....

Can't wait. I'm packing your report in my suitcase right now!!!

Will report when I get back!

Thanks a mil...

Just got back from Dubrovnik ourselves and after a week in Italy, decided to just stay in Dubrovnik rather than adventure on to Split. So your report was great to feel some of what I missed. LOVED croatia and Dubrovnik but had a bit of a differnet experience and will write about it soon. No smell at all, did swim - lovely water. We spent more of our time on the Ploce gate entrance side of town. Brought back lots of croatian olive oil, lavendar oil, and flavored brandies. Prices of those products varied greatly by shop even for the same exact item. Octopus salad and greek salad at lunch and dinner. WONDERFUL B & B 50 euros a night overlooking the old city and the adriatic. Can't wait to go back, as you can see, I am still reading trip reports!

Wonderful report, Aprillilacs.

Not only was it well thought out and written, but you've also successfully captured the special 'sense of place' that one encounters unexpectedly in Croatia.
I completely understand your lethargic experience at "Cold Drinks". For me, it happened at a restaurant/bar to the right of the harbor in Dubrovnik (forget the name unfortunately), while sipping a single malt at 11.30pm, in full view of the lit walls of the Old Town while Sade sighed her way through 'Jezebel' in the background. And again many times on the island of Brac, sitting on white couches dotted among the red pines by the ocean listening to Buddah Bar.

Thank you for evoking warm memories of Croatia, and again, well-done on an excellent report.

Thanks to all for such positive feedback on my report. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I love reading your respones with your own experiences. Have a good summer, and happy travels!

Great report, thanks. Now I am very excited for my trip in Oct. to Dubrovnik and Trogir. Wish I could go to Hvar, maybe next trip. Sure hope I can find the "cold drinks" place. Did you have any problem not speaking any Croatian, or how about figuring out kunas? Did you use ATM's? Also taking the bus from Dub. to Trogir and not sure I am looking forward to that. Were there many grocery stores inside the walls? I am staying in an apt. and it would be nice to be able to a few staples, like wine. I am a watercolorist too and hoping to capture the light and color of the city.

Hi Barb--Now I have another way to recognize you in Dubrovnik. Not only will you being wearing bright orange and lime green, you'll be carrying a paint brush as well. Seriously, if you want to "chat," I'm at: [email protected]. It's great that there's been so much activity here lately on Croatia.

No problems at all in communicating with people in English -- most everyone we encountered in tourist-related occupations spoke English, German, Italian, ... . It was impressive to hear them switch back and forth with ease.

We did use ATMS, and found them everywhere we needed them (made our first withdrawal at the airport when we landed).

For the exchange rate we figured about 6 kuna to the dollar, so divided prices by 6, though we knew the rate was actually a little less favorable than that. (The dollar amounts quoted in the report above are based on the official exchange rate of a little less than 6:1--I used the Universal Currency Converter website to do the calculation.)

The bus trip wasn't that bad, just lots of curves and about an hour too long. The scenery was great, though.

And we definitely saw (and shopped in) grocery stores, though I don't recall where in Dubrovnik. There was a good wine shop right on the Stradun. I'm sure you'll enjoy having an apartment.

Barb--I traveled to Croatia with my husband and two teen sons last summer and stayed in an apt. just down from the Restaurant Orhan Guest House outside the Pile Gate (on the water--we did not eat here but it looked very nice and I have since read about the restaurant and it was good reviews) There is a KONZUM grocery store across the street from the Pile Gate which we frequented daily. They would have everything you need with fresh pastries each morning and they also sell wines. We took the bus from Dubrovnik to Split (where we picked up a car) and the scenery was beautiful. You will have a little longer ride to Trogir. You can catch a local bus right outside the Pile Gate to the main bus station. Try to get a seat on the left side of the bus for the views. I think we made about 2-3 stops along the way and approx. 4 hrs. to Split. As far as the ATM's, they were lots of them down the Placa (main drag) and we didn't find the currency thing any problem. There was never any language barrier but we did have along a lonely Planet phrase book. The cold drinks place could be hard to find. It is called "BUZA" (see my previous posting from June 1) You must stop for drinks here as the views are spectacular! You will love Croatia!