galaxy

I live in NC but realize it may be cheaper to fly to Croatia from a northeast US city. I have flight vouchers to cover me from NC to the north. Anyone know which city would be cheapest ie:NY, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington,DC?
Also, I read that you can stay in Croatia for $35/day staying in a room in a home; this includes 2 meals out. Anyone know if this is true?

rex

Croatia is not such a little place. Are all points equally okay to you?

I think that your best bet will be to look at how you will get from a "gateway" TO the place in Croatia you really want to get to most. There are multiple routes on www.europebyair.com from London, Paris, amsterdam, Frankfurt, etc. Aer Lingus serves Dubrovnik for fares in the 200-250 euro range (roundtrip). And maybe train (from Venice?) is a cost-competitive waqy to get "the last mile".

When do you want to do this?

http://www.1800flyeurope.com/showspecial.cfm?specid=167 shows some (September) NYC fares to London from $402 (all taxes included); consolidators might have lower (but maybe not). I think that NYC is the cheapest (US) gateway city they offer. But RDU might only be $200 more - - worth saving your vouchers for another need, perhaps?

A number of publications have declared Croatia the "in" place to go this year; I'm betting you can find a lot of info. Try Lonelyplanet.com (ThornTree) also.

Best wishes,

Rex

rex

Bringing your mesage back up "to the top" - - I see that I was (more or less) the only reply you got to your first post here, almost two months ago. In case you're not aware, you can find that one (and other previous posts you should ever make) by clicking on your own name.

galaxy

Thank you Rex. You seem to be the only person willing to help me. I would be flying into Zagreb. I have a friend who lives there.We would travel from there.I'm looking at next year, May or June. I know it is early but trying to get ideas. I'm a planner. Thanks for your help.

FLTENNIS

yes, there are many opportunities for low cost rooms at private residences. Signs are everywhere... many of the smaller towns will have a 'tourist shack', which we have stopped at, and got a fantastic ocean view room / priced around $40.
My attitude is to do it, in person on the spot, getting good results. We are going back with a Zagreb arrival on Aug 26th. US-CDG-Zag.

Josh

http://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/

There is a lot of good info on this site, including pages on "getting there," "travelling around," and "accomodations."

galaxy

Thanks. Just wondering if you remember specific publications listing Croatia as "the in place to go". I'd like to buy them to read.

Grasshopper

Galaxy, Croatia is indeed a great destination. It's very popular with Germans and Italians but is only just catching on with North Americans. I'm betting that in a half dozen years it will be the "new-Italy" as far as destinations goes.

One of the things that gets in the way now is infrastructure. It's not the easiest place to fly to. I flew to London, then an EasyJet to Milan, train to Trieste and bus to Rovinj. Trains are not big in Croatia.

You do need to decide what you most want to see. The $35/day thing is likely to be renting a "sobe" or private room. You can do it through a travel office, or from one of the many "landladies" who are present at nearly every port of entry (bus station, ferry landing).

Zagreb is expensive! And it's also a city, much like other cities. The popular places to go hang out include the little towns on the Istrian Peninsula (Rovinj, Pula, Opatjia...) or one of the beautiful islands (Hvar, Korcula...) or Dubrovnik.

Depending on how much time you have, I would start with Rovinj, take the bus to Rejika and the ferry towards Dubrovnik. In the summer the ferry will let you get off at one of the islands along the way and resume your trip a day or two later.

Dubrovnik should be your final destination. It will blow you away!

For some great Croatia tips, check out www.virtualtourist.com There are some very good travel pages there and several contributors who live in Croatia. There's also one great entry about how to negotiate with the "landladies".

If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to help. I loved my time in Croatia last summer. For guides, I found the Lonely Planet book to be very helpful.

Grasshopper

I forgot to mention, it's quite easy to get a flight out of Dubrovnik very cheaply, when you're there. In fact, I went with no reservations or plans and just reserved stuff along the way (a few days ahead). My flight from Dubrovnik to Zagreb was just $40USD. The taxi to the airport cost more than that! (there's a cheap bus too)

rex

<<Just wondering if you remember specific publications listing Croatia as "the in place to go".>>

Well, there is actually just a single paragraph there, but it was its inclusion on the Lonely Planet "Top 5 destinations fo 2004" that I was thinking about...

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34471844

and

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/columns/...ive/2004jan14/

FLTENNIS

RE: specific publications listing Croatia as "the in place to go".
Try -
"The comeback of lowcost Croatia"
Oct 2003 - Arthurs Frommer's BUDGET TRAVEL magazine ( also on budgettravel.msnbc.com) i think.
also-
?Prague and Budapest are the most popular cities in Central Europe for foreign visitors. But these two now have a competitor in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia ?
Elle magazine called it the most beautiful city east of Paris.

Nlingenfel

Is driving in Croatia an option? My friends mother was from there and she would like to visit her home village.