Venice to Croatia May 1 – 21, 2019
 

Venice to Croatia May 1 – 21, 2019

My wife and I went to Venice and Croatia in May and we fell in Love with Croatia. We use the Fodor's Forums to help us plan our trips and we like to give back to the community with a trip report.

We are 59 and 61 very active, we’re foodies so you’ll hear a lot about the restaurants we came across. We planned the trip ourselves, stayed in Airbnb’s and rented a car in Croatia to see the country side.

We had several rainy days and cool days. I was ok with the cooler days for touring but if you were looking to swim or sunbathe I would suggest going in September when the water is still warm. We chose May as to avoid the summer crowds as this wasn’t a sit on the beach kind of trip, maybe next time.

May 1, Venice. We took the water taxi from the airport to the San Stae stop in Venice and our Airbnb host met us. We loved our apartment, it was in a quiet part of town with a nice patio on the 3rd floor looking down the canal. The apartment was large and very well appointed. We would highly recommend it.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/21...qVDso5%2B8cUQx

We got settled and set out to see our neighborhood, get lost a time or two. We had an early dinner and settled in.

May 2, We woke up to a beautiful 68* day, had coffee at the Rialto Bridge and headed to St. Mark’s Square. We arrived around 10 am and there was a rather long line to get in, we bought priority access online for $6 or so and skipped the line. We were very surprised and happy that more people weren’t aware of the skip the line trick. We also skipped the line at Campanile Bell Tower.

Basilica San Marco Reservations

We then went to the Doge palace and the bridge of Sighs. The crowds build and build as the day goes on. We found a restaurant nearby call Aressa and they had a garden courtyard area away from the crowds. Food was delicious. That afternoon we took a gondola ride through the sleepy canals near our Airbnb.

Dinner at La Zucca was fantastic, you must have a reservation, they had a sign on the window that read Completo.

May 3, We were supposed to have rain all day but the rain didn’t show until 4pm. We took the Vaporetta to Murano, went to the glass museum and took in the sites.

Dinner at AlCovo and again they were sold out. Reservations a must. An outstanding meal.

https://link.shutterfly.com/pz5scn3MWX

May 3, Off to Croatia. Our first stop in Croatia was Rovinj. We looked into the ferry but this time of year the 3 hour ferry doesn’t run. We could have taken a ferry at 5pm that didn’t arrive Rovinj until 11pm but that didn’t sound like fun. So we hired a driver to take us to Rovinj.

https://mydaytrip.com/

Our Driver Milano met us at the bus station and we were off. Milano is from Zagreb and was very interesting. We opted for 2 stops along the way. First was Trieste and we toured the Mimare Castle. Milano asked how long we wanted to stay, turns out he’d never made these stops before, so he put us in charge. It was a beautiful castle and grounds.

Next stop Piran, Slovenia a beautiful waterside village. We had a nice lunch, whole fish baked with potatoes and vegetables, yum. At this point we’re really appreciating how well Milano and our waiter and everyone else in Croatia speaks English, its amazing. After lunch Milano drove us to the Sixt car rental in Rovinj where we said our goodbye’s He was such a nice guy. Sixt gave us a brand spankin new Mini Cooper Countryman, we were the first renters. I told the agent that the car was very sexy and he’d never heard that before and said he will always look at the mini cooper as sexy.

Our Airbnb was in the old town in Rovinj, our host couldn’t meet so so he sent a friend. The apartment is just off the main street through town. It was in a great location and very comfortable. My wife Lynn called the apartment funky with a nice stone garden. The host looks exactly like Derek Hough from dancing with the stars.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1910736...GJ3Xla2NjRsIO2

We took a walk along the coast and watched the sunset from the church, had a late meal at Tutto Bene that was outstanding. The chef came out and told stories and poured Rakia or Grappa on the house. Fun night.

May 4, We woke up to a monsoon and rather than venture out in this knew country we ended up getting massages and enjoying the indoor pool at one of the larger hotels in town. We thought we had booked at the new fancy hotel but it turns out that spa is for their guests only.

Dinner at Monte, a Michelin rated restaurant up near the church. It was a very special dinner, delicious!

May 5, We took a day trip to Pula, Lynn was blown away by the Coliseum, she just wasn’t expecting it and we turned the corner and there it is. We had lunch and made our way back to Rovinj. We went for a bike ride and I attempted to fly my drone (don’t tell anyone). The flight was a bust as I immediately had a seagull attacking it, I’m lucky I got it back. This won’t be the first time the sea gulls run me off, I think they work for the government. To be continued....

https://link.shutterfly.com/mdy708py8X

Looking forward to more! You said there would be a lot about the restaurants...please say more than the name of it. :)

Enjoying all the detail thus far, and thanks for including links to your apartments. Looking forward to more!

Sounds like you met some of the wet weather that greeted yestravel and gottravel. Following along and looking forward to me. Hope you had some nice days.

We were very happy with them. Milano was a great driver and he's from Zagreb so he shared a lot of history of his country with us. It was funny because you can add these stops along the way and he had never been. He let us determine the amount of time we spent at each stop.

Here's some photos from Monte in Rovinj, Michelin rated. We visit two more Michelin rated restaurants along the way, stay tuned. I hope you can see from the photos how special the night was. You can do wine pairings or not. We would search Trip advisor and Google for restaurant suggestions, also asked our airbnb hosts for suggestions. Bon Appetite

https://link.shutterfly.com/Q7DQg5IK9X

Trip report continued. This site has changed since the last time I reported, so I'm not sure if I should edit original or continue like this.

May 6, I woke up at 5am and walked up to the church to fly the drone again, the gulls were sleeping. I got amazing shots of the sunrise and old town. I was the only one on the grounds. We had a beautiful cloudless day ahead.

We packed up and headed to Lovran, we drove along the coast and didn’t realize we’d be driving in the mountains, it was a beautiful drive. Along the way we ran into a Classic Car rally very cool. Our Airbnb was huge and we were only staying the 1 night. Originally we were going to stay 3 nights in Opatija but some suggested here that 3 nights in Opatija were too many, well our original Airbnb cancelled on us and thus the 1 night in Lovran. I agree that one night in this area en route to Plitvice is sufficient.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7587210...yPalK8sqS7UfnM

After getting settled we drove to Opatija and had a delicious lunch at Valle Losca Tavern (make reservations, even for lunch). I tried to fly the drone again but the gull police ran me off.

https://link.shutterfly.com/86uLLxRL9X

May 7 Off to Plitvice Lakes. We left early to try and beat the crowds and we did. We arrived at the 2nd entrance around 10am. I wasn’t aware of buying tickets in advance until right before and had a heart attack, but tickets in early May wasn’t a problem. The park is amazing, we beat the crowds for sure sometimes we had the walk to ourselves. Of course, as the day goes on there’s more and more folks so by the time we got to the Large Fall there was quite a crowd. We hiked program H and took the boat, took about 5 hours. It was a beautiful perfect day, they had snow 2 days before!

We booked an Airbnb but our reservation was messed up. Our hosts Aunt and Uncle had a place for us at Villa Verde, it was very nice but not an apartment.

https://link.shutterfly.com/Lm8cdwQM9X

May 9 Next stop Sibenik, along the way we stopped in Zadar, we enjoyed the Church and walking around town. Down by the ship docks there is an organ that the waves play as the water comes in It plays this tune below the seawall, very cool. We saw our first large ship in Zadar.

When we mixed the trip up turning 3 nights Opatija to one night Lovran, Sibenik got the other 2 nights.

Our Airbnb was in a great location and had parking, they all had parking, one of our requirements.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2514346...shf3yX5RAbpO0v

We walked around town and took in the sites, dinner was at Peligrini another Michelin rated restaurant and it was our favorite. The waiter was great and Lynn took pictures with the Chef and Kitchen staff. I haven’t mentioned the wines but they were fantastic. At lunch we’d often have the house white or red which were always very good.

May 10 We woke to gorgeous day 70 degrees first time I got to wear shorts. We went to Krka park but we only hiked the lower area for a couple of hours as we didn’t want to commit the whole day. We felt like after Plitvice Lakes we could get away with a couple of hours. It was beautiful.

In the afternoon we wanted to get a taste of the islands so we took the ferry to Zlarin. The islands are another world, so laid back. We walked to each point stopping midway for an adult beverage. I successfully flew my drone and got some great shots. While waiting for the 6:30pm ferry we had some wine, prosciutto and Pag (hard) cheese, yum. Late dinner at Tomaseo, very good.

May 11 Next stop Split. Another beautiful day. We stopped in Trogir along the way and it was the first time we felt the hustle and bustle of crowds. I think part of the crowds were there were many yachts that were visiting or dropping off and picking up new passengers. It was pretty cool because some of them had hundreds of bike on board. So you’d go island hopping and biking along the way. Looked like fun. We aren’t into cruises but the yachts probably only had 200 people or fewer on board. It was also Saturday. They have a fort there that was in Game of Thrones, we’re fans and I had to take a hundred or so pictures. https://link.shutterfly.com/RHAlwuIN9X

Trip report continued.

So we’re making our way to our Airbnb in Split and one of their main drags, a tunnel, is closed for maintenance. So we’re looking for alternate routes and the next thing you know I’m driving down the smallest streets in the world. At one point I had to do a 40 point turn to make a turn. I finally found a place to park the car and I walked out to see where the safest route was. I hit one of the buildings with the back left of the car, turned out to be the wheel and not the body, $117 when we turned the car in. Turns out when the tunnel is closed you can drive through the park, waze didn’t know that.

We finally made it to our Airbnb and it’s beautiful. We’re up on top of the hill overlooking the Marina with the Riva off to our left.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/438231?...bzFkTwbxEcjpdH

Lynn and I travel with just a back pack and roll aboard so we make sure that our places have washers, today is laundry day.

We booked a private sunset sail but there wasn’t any wind so no sails. Still a beautiful night to be on the water and the sunset was stunning. Tomorrow weather was moving in again.

May 12 Woke up to clouds and wind, two large ships had arrived in port. We toured the Diocletian Palace with Maria from Private Guide Tours. Maria was a great guide and she gave us many suggestions of other things to do in the area. Lunch at Zoi. Dinner at Apetit was excellent, we had Stina wine from Brac. Brac is known for their white stone and the white label represents the stone. About Us - Stina Vino ? inspiracija iz kamena

May 13 Woke up and decided to take the ferry to Hvar. We walked around town had a nice lunch and then the rain started again. Headed back to Split and drove out to the Klis Fortress outside of Split. The views from the Fortress are fantastic. The Fortress was another filming spot for GOT and has a 2000 year history. It was very windy but the rain had finally stopped.

https://link.shutterfly.com/ETZaCZcQtY

Next stop Postira on Brac

May 14 We took the early car ferry to Brac. When you purchase the ferry tickets you specify a time, but the actual tickets don’t show the time. You can use the ticket for any of the ferries. We were worried at first that we might not get on but there was plenty of room. If traveling in summer I’d suggest you get there early. We made our way to our Airbnb in Postira. The Airbnb was small but very comfortable. It had its own outdoor patio and that’s where we spent our time while in town. The sunsets were beauitiful and our host Josef was wonderful. He has a small shop beneath the apartment where he sells his Olive Oil soaps. We have another fun story about Josef that we’ll tell you about when we get to Dubrovnik.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5084211...r73K8HCq9tAYY5

We settled in and then drove to Bol. Lunch at Santos on the Riva. Tasted wines at Stina and bought a couple bottles of red. We went to the Zlatni Rat (Golden Horn) beach. We had a sunny day but VERY windy. Next to our apartment was restaurant Gustrina and we got one of the last tables inside, would have loved to eat outside but it was too chilly. Food was wonderful. Several restaurants offer slow cooked lamb, but you must order it the day before so keep that in mind. We visited with our host as his shop is open 6pm-9pm and watched the sunset. He told us about the little boat right outside our apartment and that the fisherman that owns it goes out early and sells his catch to the locals. I saw the production the next morning, he left at 5:30am and was back by 8am selling crab, fish and octopus.

This is our favorite stop, the Islands have such a different feel, so laid back compared to the must see towns on the mainland. And No Cruise Ships.

May 15 We had a beautiful sunny day in the 60’s We headed out to see the island. We went to Pucisca a beautiful port town. Next stop Vidova Gora, the highest point in all the Adriatic Islands, 778M, amazing views. We had Pizza in Milna then toured Bobovisca na moru. Dinner at Kopacina, very good.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NPBvq2HhhKVM6njF9

May 16 Took the early ferry back to Split and drove 2 hours to Vid and stopped in at the Narona Arkaeolgiske Museum, Remains of a Roman temple discoveredin 1995 and 1996, just open in 2007. On the way to Vid we were surprised that all of a sudden the super highway ends and you get routed through these little towns. We thought we screwed up somehow. Well then we notice that we have to cross a boarder to get to Dubrovnik, duh, we had no idea that we’d be going through Bosnia and Herzegovina to get back to Croatia. Surprise!

From their we headed to Ston for lunch at Bota Sare, we didn’t have reservations but make them if you can. I had the mussels and we could’ve should’ve shared. Son has a great wall that you climb to work off some of your lunch.

On to Dubrovnik. The ride along the coast is beautiful. We arrived in Dubrovnik and met our Airbnb host. This place is perfect, built as an Airbnb looking over old town.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1389576...Fzt8SHfWv0%2B0

We parked our car at the Airbnb never to get back into it until we went to the airport. It sat for 3 days. We would walk into town and uber home. The Ubers are taxis and very reasonable. We took a taxi once and the driver over charged us, found out later if they don’t turn on the meter you don’t have to pay them. Use Uber its so easy and you know what you’re paying for. Dinner at 360, beautiful view just inside the wall.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1389576...Fzt8SHfWv0%2B0

May 17 We set out early to walk the wall. It is amazing. We ran into groups along the way and there is a bottle neck near the gate of Pile as a lot of tours are dropped off there. There are bars along the way and on the ocean side we were able to get an ocean side table for a cold beverage. I think you might have to fight for that table in the summer. We spent the rest of the day walking around old town and listening in on all the Games of Thrones tours. Back to our terrace overlooking the Adriatic and dinner at lady Pi Pi, very good, no reservations, we shared a table with a couple from Australia.

May 18 We had booked a private sail, headed to the Marina on the other side of town, this is where the Cruise Ships dock. There was only one in port but when we returned it was gone and another took its place. We booked our charter with Home - Dubrovnik Daily Sailing We met Dobre, the captain and his grandson Mario. They had a 36’ sailboat in great condition. It was windy 18 to 20 knots and our captain was a seasoned sailor. They asked us what are expectations were to get a feel for our sailing abilities. Lynn has owned two sailboats and I grew up sailing so we were comfortable. Good thing because Dobre had us flying with the rails in the water and I was at the helm. When things calmed down the Captain asked us where we’d been and we told him about our stop in Postira. Turns out that’s his home town and our Airbnb host in Postira was Dobre cousin. So I took a picture of Dobre and Lynn and sent it to Josef and asked if he knew this guy. Well Dobre’s cell phone rang and the were laughing and smiling and the grapa came out. We felt like family. Smalll world. We sailed from 10 unitl 4pm with a stop at Elafiti for lunch, a great day!

Dinner at restaurant Dubrovnik, delicious, 6 musicians played and sang.

May 19 We went kayaking https://www.adventuredubrovnik.com/ water was a little choppy so we were concerned about getting out but our guides Andro and Domenic took good care of us. We kayaked to Lokrum and then to a beach for swimming and snorkeling. Too chilly to swim for us but others did. In the afternoon we took the ferry to Lokrum and had lunch. I sat on the throne on the day of the Games of Thrones Finale, this was not planned just a coincidence.

We can’t say enough about our Airbnb it was perfect.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NjtcjU4DwZFGxT3L6

May 20 Off to Zagreb, we dropped our car at the airport, was charged $117 for our little wheel scrape in Split. We just have one night in Zagreb as its time to make our way home. Our Airbnb was very nice and close to every thing.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2163293...2TErBDU6RzNFIh

We checked in and then headed out to see the sites. Dinner at Mano, a steak house very good.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oidyG4a4ZdJeMhFHA

May 21 Off to London where we have to overnight to catch the nonstop back to RDU. We stayed near Windsor in a great Airbnb in Cheapside, I don’t think there’s anything cheap in cheapside.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2493163...KQRBgnlD0o0%2B

We toyed with the idea of just staying at a hotel at Heathrow but the thought of that made us ill.

We checked in and then headed to Windsor to catch up with our old friends Harry and Megan. Dinner at the pub just down the street, great food!

I started reading about the history of the Airbnb and it was an old school house. The hosts bought it and converted it to a recording studio. He was an engineer and worked with the likes of Judas Priest and others, how cool is that.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3Eqrz2LXgxXQMCtS8

May 22 LHR-RDU There’s no place like home!

phishears: Thoroughly enjoyed reading your TR. We did 45 days in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Italy last year and we also loved Croatia. We made many of the stops that you did. We had stopped in Dubrovnik years ago on a cruise and had wanted to return for a long time. It's really beautiful but so overrun with tourists that we were glad to leave when we did. It was almost like a Disney theme park. But we loved the rest of Croatia and thought the Plitvice Lakes were amazing. We also really loved Rovinj and the rest of the Istrian peninsula. We used MyDayTrip.com to take us from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo where we stayed for 3 days and did a 2-day tour with Sarajevo Funky Tours (which was great).
We also highly recommend a visit to Croatia in the shoulder season. We were there from May 8-June 4 before arriving in Italy and found it to be good weather most of the time.

Great trip report. We did the Venice-Rovinj connection by ferry a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It's a great way to combine two very special places in one trip. Venice and Rovinj are a great combo. I"ve captured the trip highlights in a travel blog post if anyone is interested https://travelfam.wordpress.com/cate...-croatia-2014/

Great Report
 

Thanks for taking the time to share your delightful trip. We went on a 7 day cruise of Croatia this summer and would love to return, so thank-you for providing tips for a future trip with a rental car.

How long was the drive from Split to Fort Klis? We are leaving for Croatia next week. We have 4 nights in Split. We plan on sightseeing one day in Split, then do a day trip to Hvar, and then we have a free day. We plan to visit Trogir, which you seem to like, right? I know it's crowded but we can deal with crowds. I am wondering if we have time to visit Fort Klis and Trogir in the same day. Is the walk up to and through the castle strenuous? I had hip replacement surgery on May 8. My recovery is coming along well. It looks like an uphill walk based on your photos.

phishears, thank you!

Did you have trouble finding parking in Trogir? I know we can take a bus to Trogir, but if we want to visit Klis Fortress after Trogir, we should drive our rental car. But I know my husband will get frustrated if the parking is difficult in Trogir. Or we could take the bus to Trogir and back to Split; then drive our rental car from Split to Klis Fortress. Would that make sense?

Did you walk along the wall in Ston? We will be traveling in the opposite direction of you. We are starting off in Dubrovnik and heading north. We will be driving from Dubrovnik to Split. I am thinking of making a stop in Ston along the way to Split. Does this make sense logistically? Is Ston out of the way to get to Split?
Thank you!