DH and I are planning our Croatia trip. We are going in November, which is obviously off-season. We are going to be in Croatia for 7 nights, and are splitting our time between Dubrovnik and Trogir. However, we really want to spend at least one night on an island, and it looks like Hvar may be out because of the light ferry schedule during that time of year. We are now considering Korcula instead, because it looks like they have a ferry that goes back and forth between the mainland and the island quite often throughout the day, even during off-season.

Would Korcula give us a nice "island Croatia" feel? I understand that the town is small, but I'm hoping that its a pleasant town for strolling and that there will be a few open places to eat. We would probably only spend one night here, on our way to Trogir. Any thoughts?

Thanks!!
Tracy

We were on a small ship and stopped there one night.. long enough to take a tour, stroll, and have dinner. This was in late Sept as I recall. Don't know what Nov. weather is like... but I think you'd find it a charming place. I'd do a little research before about restaurants. The nite we were there the "best" place in town was full. The owner led us to anothe restaurantt which was very nice. Don't know how many others there are or if they are open in Nov.

Thanks for the reply, grandma! This Croatia trip is proving to be rather difficult to plan, especially given the time of year we will be there. I did check out Korcula's website, which was helpful. Still, I would hate to be stuck on the island with nothing to eat! I think at this point we will continue to keep our options open, but are still very interested. I appreciate your reply.

Tracy

There are normally at least three ferries a day from Split to Stari Grad on Hvar island, even in the depths of winter. The problem in winter is that most hotels and restaurants will be closed. This applies to all islands that rely on summer tourists: I've been to Capri in December and found a very limited choice of places to have a meal.

Thanks Geoff. That was exactly the information I needed. I'm having a hard time figuring out the ferry schedule, but its nice to know that there are daily ferries to Stari Grad. I don't think we will spend the night there, as there will be very little open, but we would still like to daytrip there and see what all the fuss is about!
Luckily we aren't "sit on a beach" type of people, and I assumed that November may have its consequences when we booked the trip. We just happened to stumble across an amazing airfare so we decided to jump on it anyways.

Thanks again for your reply. I greatly appreciate any help I can get!

Tracy

Hi Tracy. We were in Croatia in November and the weather was fine. We spent two nights in Korcula at the suggestion of our hotel concierge who was from there. Most everything was closed and we felt rather trapped having to wait for the ferry to Split.

We spent eight nights in Dubrovnik and that was not too many for us. We also enjoyed an overnight in Split.

I have a few pics of Korcula on our web site: http://tinyurl.com/nm6g7

Croatia is a wonderful country. I'm glad you are going before it gets overrun with tourists. Have a great trip!

Judi,

Thank you so much for posting your pics! They are lovely, and it looks like you had a great time. It also gives me some reassurance that Croatia in November won't be all gray and cloudy! We too are planning to go to Montenegro (I think we will take the Atlas tour) and the pictures look stunning.

And thank you for sharing your thoughts on Korcula. That is exactly my fear; that we will make it there and feel trapped because nothing will be open. It looks like a lovely town, though, and I would love to visit. I'm checking out various tour guide operations from Dubrovnik right now, and it looks like Korcula is on many of those itineraries. I guess the real question is rather these itineraries run in November or not.

Did you find that a lot of restaurants were closed in November? I'm assuming it won't be as much of a problem in Dubrovnik and Split (is this a safe assumption?), but I'm wondering about some of the smaller towns. We want to visit Split but right now our plan is to stay in Trogir but if restaurants will be closed it might be better to stay in Split.

Thanks again!
Tracy

Atlas wasn't running when we were there and that is why we took a private tour. Miro is great, BTW, if you need a driver when you are in Dubrovnik. He drove us to Korcula as well.

The boat we were on stopped at Hvar on the way to Split and we were thinking it looked like a better place than Korcula.

You can always find a restaurant or two open wherever you are. Dubrovnik and Split had a lot of restaurants open. I see that you have read my Ahhh, Croatia report; I have given some restaurant recs there.

Judi,

Thanks for replying again. I did read your report and I have it saved in my Croatia file. Now that the trip is getting closer I will have to print it out and review it for some great advice! We are so excited, but Croatia is definitely more difficult to plan than my other Europe adventures. I'm sure that all the planning will be more than worth it when we finally arrive and realize how wonderful the country is.

Tracy