pjsparlor

Here is the quote from an agent for a 7 day trip, doesn't include car. I am definitely booking my own b/bs after getting this!



1TRIPLE/bb



AUG 12 upon arrival from Istanbul at Zagreb airport (TK 1447 at 02:05
pm??), take the car
drive to Plitvice Lakes

AUG 12-13 (1 night) hotel 'Plitvice" or "Jezero"
AUG 13 drive to Split, stop in Zadar, Sibenik, Trogir (MUST!!)
AUG 13-14 (1 night) Split
AUG 14 drop-off the car, take catamaran to Hvar
AUG 14-15 (1 night) Hvar, hotel "Riva" or 'Podstine"
AUG 15 catamaran Hvar-Korcula
AUG 15-16 (1 night) hotel 'Korcula, Korcula
AUG 16 ferry Korcula-Dubrovnik
AUG 16-18 (2 nights) hotel "Starigrad", Dubrovnik
AUG 18 transfer to Dubrovnik airport (flight info?)

It is a pretty ambitious itinerary, but very nice.

your price would be USD 1140.00 per person for
two people + USD 850.00 for the third person, including accommodation
with breakfast, ferry tickets and transfer to Dubrovnik airport.

add a car the tota 8/12 - 8/15 Zagreb to Split

Compact(VW Golf or similar) // 4 door // auto // air
National $251.70

3,331.00 total, wow, I will definitely beat this on my own! Remember airfare is not in this

I will let you know what I saved and places I stayed.

kerouac

You can definitely beat it. August can be a bit tricky, but if you rent your own car and have the freedom of driving, you can improvise and not be trapped in expensive places. Just try to find a hotel no later than 3pm if you don't have reservations.

danon

You are traveling at the hight of the tourist season.
There is no reason why Croatia, with all it has to offer, and a zillion European and local tourists going there in the summer , should be cheap.

pjsparlor

Thank you for the encourgement kerouac. I guess cheap is a bad word, maybe I should have used the word reasonable!

Everyones idea of reasonable is different also,but I to want to limit my hotel stays to the price of 150 euros per nght.

Is that cheap? Even in high season with a zillion other touritst? Because if I have to spend 3000.00 dollars for 6 nights and just suck it up to high season, I will proudly say I am cheap, and find my own accommodations!

WTnow

That is funny!

We had a blast in Dubrovnik last August and paid 35 dollars a night.

We also booked a nice room in Hvar ( just found it on our own upon arrival) and great one in Korcula for about 30 euros a night ( early September).

We spent over 45 days ( I lost track of the exact days after that ) in Croatia and did not spend that much money, but had a spectacular time. We even rented a car to go to the Bay of Kotor ( which was cheap and not crowded & gorgeous).

Croatia is packed with Italians in August ( and other Europeans) but there are ways around the crowds. Too bad you can not go in June or September.

Still, you really do not have to pay this much....even in high season.

travel2live2

WT is right. The most we have ever, ever paid in Croatia for accommodation was 50 euros but have paid far less. Great accommodation, too. Food can be incredibly cheap in some places (you have to do your research).

Is it possible to change your plans from August? That certainly is not a great time to go, on many levels.

pjsparlor

Nice to here from you soultravel, so does that make you cheap too??!

Love it! Thanks for you encouragement! I don't think we will be as lucky with 35 dollars a night, but jeez I am not spending 300plus!

pjsparlor

thanks travel2live, no we can't change our plans. We are meeting family members...but we will be back though, so it will be fun none the less! Even in August!

travel2live2

You will have a wonderful time. It is a marvelous country. I'm sure you'll want to return after your first trip!

danon

relax
no one called YOU cheap.
Just because a country is not France , it does not mean it is a bargain any time of the year.
On the other hand, some have done the same trip for less - just takes a bit of work .

sessa

pjsparlor - For our March trip to Croatia, we are looking at less than $900 for 10 nights accommodations and rental car (not including flights which were around $800). It helps that we're going in the off-season, but you can definitely beat the quote from the travel agent based on the research I have done. Looks like we have a similar itinerary, too.

pjsparlor

Hi Sessa, I want to read about all the details when you get back!

What did you eventually book in Plitvice Park?

I started out doing all my own research and then a well meaning friend said I could do better with her travel agent!

I was shocked at the proposal! So back to my original plan, and I do have my b/bs picked out and I will post when I get all the confirmations.
Who did you end up using for rental, I am finding carrentals.com giving me the best rate.
thank you all!

WTnow

<Nice to here from you soultravel, so does that make you cheap too??! >

I suppose some could call me that. I do not mind...I love being frugal and have found ways to manage to have lots of luxury while saving lots of money.

I love to find ways to get as much as I can and pay as little as I can. You can have a wonderful time in Croatia without paying 300plus a day....trust me.


We really enjoyed Croatia ...that is why we stayed so long. It is very easy to do on your own. August is not the best month...but we ended up there and still managed to have a great time.

I kept worrying about where to spend August in Europe as I hate crowds. I never would have guessed that Dubrovnik would have worked so well for us, but it did.

We have lots on Croatia under our blog archives that may be helpful to you:

www.soultravelers3.com

We went to all the places on the agents itinerary. I would not miss Rovinj which was one of our favorite places.

I would stay in Trogir instead of Split. The best of Split is the harbor and the Roman Palace, but it was our least favorite place. Trogir or Sagent ( sp?) are nicer imho.

I would also really consider a day trip to Bay of Kotor.

My "must sees" are Dubrovnik, Plitsvice, Rovinj and Bay of Kotor. We also really enjoyed Hvar & Korcula...although they might be much more crowded for you ( we left Dubrovnik in early Sept. so saw most of Croatia when things slowed down and no crowds).

Have fun!

sessa

We ended up booking Knezevic Guest House in Plitvice. We were deciding between that and TC Marko (which I believe you suggested), and there really was no price difference.

We are going to use Economy car Rentals I think. And, speaking of that, I keep forgetting to book it so thanks for the reminder

We are hitting Dubrovnik, day trip to Kotor, Korcula (w/ a possible day trip to Hvar), few hours in Split, then Plitvice, Sarajevo, Mostar (possible stop in Medjugorje) and back to Dubrovnik. We're fitting in a lot in 10 days, but that's how we like to travel. I will definitely post a trip report when we get back!

travel2live2

Just a quick heads up for Knezevic - ask for a room upstairs. We once had a room downstairs which was located by the front door and stairs going up. There was some sort of party there so it was extremely noisy (people coming and going). No noise control. The next day we re-located at a quieter B&B for a bit less money (sorry - no website!).

This is not to say it will be loud when you are there - chances are it will be quiet. However, it certainly lacked charm as well. Our room was extremely tiny with a very uncomfortable bed.

I posted under some accommodation thread that I search and search and search to find that perfect B&B and so far only one has disappointed. Well, when I typed that I forgot about Knezevic.

I cannot imagine seeing all you plan to see in 10 short days but as you say that is how you like it and that is what counts. Have a blast!

pjsparlor

thanks again,I will post my itiniery and prices

travel2live2

One thing we do for quick and cheap lunches is to purchase thick crusty bread at a bakery, buy fresh cheese and olive oil (there are lots of cheese/olive oil/wine stands in the countryside), and some fruit. On our last trip we ended up getting 8 kinds of cheeses so wherever we went we required refrigeration! We love cheese.

We do splurge on dinners, however, as the seafood is outstanding and fresh. You must try the fresh lobster and grilled squid! Heavenly.

Our favourite area of Croatia is Istria. We grab a car, spend most of our time there, then head south. Then we fly from Dubrovnik back to Zagreb rather than drive - saves time and is really cheap. Last time we paid about 25 euros per flight.

As someone else suggested I would hit Trogir rather than Split as well. Diocletian's Palace is moderately interesting but to wander around Trogir is a wonderful experience. I guess you will just have to return!

tcreath

I really didn't find Croatia all that cheap, to be honest, but it's an amazing country and so worth it. We were there in November 06 (way off season). Hotel prices are high, but as mentioned above if you look for private rooms or apartments you can save a lot of money.

We used economycarrentals.com and it was a LOT cheaper than all other car rental companies. They were great to deal with; the drove the car to us in Dubrovnik and we dropped it off at the airport in Zagreb. My only complaint is that they didn't leave us with much gas.

We loved Trogir, Split not so much. Just my opinion, of course, but Split was just not a favorite of ours despite our love for history and being able to visit Diocletian's Palace. Dubrovnik was amazingly beautiful and perfect, and we loved our visit to Montenegro.

Best wishes,
Tracy

sessa

We booked private rooms the whole way, none being more than 50 Euro/night. So we certainly won't be traveling in luxury, but we usually save the splurges for food/wine anyway.

travel2live2 - Thanks for the tip on Knezevic. We ended up picking it over the other place b/c my husband liked the picture of the exterior better...nice criteria, huh? Ha ha.

Tracy - Did you book w/ Economy Car online, and did you need an Int'l Drivers Permit? The car rental is the only thing I am still worried about b/c of all the posts I have read about road conditions, shady police, border crossings, etc.

Thanks!!

pjsparlor

Ok here is a rough draft, and it looks like with car I am just over 1000.00, for car rental and hotel stays. In high season and the rates are higher! My quote of 3,331.00 without car was crazy, she did give me a quote for a car at 240.00 and that was for 2 days, I am renting for 3 days for a rate of 168.00 from gamut. All in all with the travel agent is would have been over 3,500.00

AUG 12 upon arrival from Istanbul at Zagreb airport (TK 1447 at 02:05
pm??), take the car
drive to Plitvice Lakes
I got a quote from gemut for 168.00 manual, economy vw polo, a couple dollars more than economy rental.


AUG 12-13 (1 night) hotel T-C Marko triple room with breakfast 56 euro
AUG 13 drive to Split, stop in Zadar, Sibenik, Trogir (MUST!!)
AUG 13-14 (1 night) Split Hotel B-B Kastel 105 euro without breakfast
AUG 14 drop-off the car, take catamaran to Hvar
AUG 14-15 (1 night) Hvar, hotel Villa Panorama Apartment 90 euro
AUG 15 catamaran Hvar
AUG 15-16 (1 night) hotel 'Korcula www.korcula-lodging.t-com.hr 143 euro
for a suite for 4, 2 bedrooms no breakfast
AUG 16 ferry Korcula-Dubrovnik
AUG 16-18 (2 nights) hotel V&P Club Villa Ragusa I booked two rooms, one
double and one single for a total of 120 euro with a 30 percent increase
because we are only there 2 nights.
AUG 18 transfer to Dubrovnik airport public bus