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Croatia and Slovenia Tips

Croatia and Slovenia are emerging as Europe's hottest new destinations - and we're joining in the fun. This summer we're writing a new guidebook on those destinations (to be published in the spring of 2007). We want your help. If you've been to Croatia or Slovenia, what were your favorite destinations, accommodations, restaurants, or tips? If you haven't been there yet, but want to go, what would you like to see covered in the book?

I want to add my comments! 

Hvar - Croatia
My wife and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Croatia. On the island of Hvar we hired Siniša (or Simon if you prefer)as our guide. He is simply the finest tour guide that we have ever used. He is thoroughly knowledgeable and is very informative both of history and culture. Never in a hurry, Siniša goes that extra mile to make your tour a once in a lifetime event while always leaving plenty of time for taking wonderful photos. I would recommend that everyone visiting Hvar contact Siniša and Secret Hvar (info@secrethvar.com) for a tour of a lifetime. You won't regret it.

Joe & Elaine, Pittsburgh PA
Joe & Elaine
Pittsburgh, PA  USA   07/03/2009

Dubrovnik and Brela
We just returned from a 10 day trip to Croatia. We spent 4 nights in Dubrovnik at this apartment (sobe). www.apartments-raic.com It was wonderful: central location, clean, comfortable! Ivana, the hostess, is AMAZING! She helped us book a motoscooter for an afternoon, a car for the day to drive to Montenegro and finally a car to drive to (and leave in) Split so we could take the ferry to Hvar. Ivana went above and beyond - making several phone calls to arrange these services at the last minute. She also helped us figure out the ferry schedules (which was different that what was posted on the Jadrolinja website)

We would also recommend the beach town of Brela for a vacation from your vacation. Beautiful pebbly beaches with GREAT food! Villa Silvia is inexpensive, clean and right on the beach. We highly recommend it!
Apartments Riac
Dubrovnik, MA  USA   06/19/2009

Best Guide in Croatia!
Just got back from an incredible 12-day group trip to Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro. As you can imagine, get to these places before they are discovered by American tourists. To get the most out of these countries, our Croatian tour guide, Toni Juric (jurictoni@yahoo.com; 1+385 989 934 093), was just incredible in making the journey seamless and memorable. His English is excellent and his knowledge is surprisingly comprehensive. He personally greeted us at the airport in Zagreb and saw us off 11 days later in Ljubijana. He was with us every step of the way and it was like having your own personal friend look out for you and giving you suggestions at every city to enhance your visit. I would not hesitate in using him again on a trip to Croatia.
Peter <email>
Austin, TX  USA   05/27/2009

Grand Hotel Dramalj, a discovered gem!
My group was originally booked for two nights at the 4-star Grand Hotel Adriatica in nearby busy Opatija, Croatia, but a mix-up by the Hotel Adriatica occurred whereby my group had to find last-minute alternative lodging at the 4-star Hotel Dramalj (www.grand-hotel.hr) in the quaint small town of Dramalj on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, just 15 miles from Opatija. The error certainly worked in our favor as this hotel is just 3 years old (but the two converted villas are 500 years old). According to the owner's daughter who manages the place and was responsible for its renovation, her father bought the villas 5 years ago after they sat vacant for 10 years. The villas sit about 150 feet from the shore of he Adriatic and there's a staircase that leads down to a private beach. The spotless rooms are large -- especially by European standards -- and are nicely appointed. The restaurant area is open air in the summer and you can see the sea in the distance. The food is great as well and includes a full American style hot breakfast. Dinner is also great and offers many selections on the buffet including Croatian favorites and western dishes. An interesting fact is that there are two Cedar trees next to the villas that the prior owner from 100 years ago had imported from Africa. There's a nice pool, sauna, massage room, patio between the villas, a patio area off each room, and a view from every room. The best thing about this place is its price for a 4-star hotel -- it makes Croatia sound cheaper than many 4-star hotels in other European countries. To top it off, the hotel staff waved goodbye and blew kisses to our group as well drove off. I will definitely stay there again.
Peter <email>
Austin, TX  USA   05/27/2009

places to stay - split
writing this from my room in sobe base in split, croatia. Its an amazing hotel and I wanted to thank Rick for recommending it! Everyone should stay a night in Split (when you are passing through) and try to stay at this hotel!! The shower has a rain shower head and side jets - its really great
amy
seatlle, wa  USA   05/22/2009

Croatia
Croatia is beautiful and Dubrovnik is truly a gem but there are certain caveats.

First, hotels are quite expensive, even more expensive than places in Italy and there is a lack of budget accommodations even though the higher priced hotels do look like budget accommodations.

Be prepared to travel by bus for long periods of time. Seven hours from Venice to Pula. All day from Pula to Split (I actually took two days, stopping in Zadar overnight) and six hours from Split to Dubrovnik. I flew back from Dubrovnik not wanting to deal with another all day bus ride.

You can get ripped off easily. The Placa Kodak Express Photo Shop in Dubrovnik charged me $80 to transfer two 4gb photo cards to DVD (it was $20 in Paris) and they were very coy about their pricing structure so it is confusing. They are simply crooks.

The Roman amphitheatre in Pula is not as large as the Colosseum in Rome but much better preserved; it is well worth the trip to Pula.

Split is a wonderful town, charming, with marble streets and lots of sights. Solano is a city bus ride away but well worth the trip, another Roman sight (is there anywhere they didn't go). Split is a transportation hub and you can split (sorry) for Italy and other points in Croatia by boat.

Dubrovnik is awesome. Absolutely charming town, surrounded by huge walls which you can walk completely around (do it, it is worth it). I spent three days there just chilling out as the weather was incredible and the scenery magnificient.

I flew to Zagreb and spent and afternoon and evening there before an overnight bus ride to Vienna. Coming in from the airport, it looks like another former communist city with ugly block buildings but once you get to the center of the city, you will find magnificent architecture.

If you leave your luggage at the guardaroba at the bus station, prepare to have it reek of cigarette smoke when you get it back.

Croatia needs to do a better job providing budget accommodations. Their tourist industry seems more interested in extracting as much money from people as possible (making up for lost time). They know they have something incredible there and they are just trying to get the most out of it.
Robert Marcus <email>
New York, NY  USA   05/21/2009

Hotel Emonac
Too bad this one wasn't in the current book but Cameron's update http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/east/east2.htm is right on. If you get a room in the annex across the drive you'll miss the noise. The double bed is a bit small, but the location cannot be beat! Just 1/2 block from the Triple Bridge and Congress Square just off the river. Just make a left at Prešeren's girlfriend and look for the sign, then enter the courtyard.
Steve Dickey <email>
Pacific Palisades, CA  USA   05/04/2009

Pepo Klaic - tour guide for Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro
After reading Christine Bradley´s comments we booked with Pepo as were calling into Kotor on Azamara Journey and 4 of us wanted to visit Dubrodnik so we contacted Pepo (pepoklaic@yahoo.com; mob 098 427 301) prior to departure. Although anxious whether we would be met as promised (in view of someone elses reported experience) we were met on the jetty by his friend Miro (morog@cg.yu mob +383 067 516 626) who is also a Montenegro guide. He took us to the border where we were met by Pepo and had a very interesting tour. On completion we returned to the border, changing cars to return to the ship. Both guides were excellent and reliable, the cost reasonable, and we have no hesitation in recommending them to others.
Brenda Gates
Bowness-on-Windermere, UK   05/03/2009

Lake Bled
Lake Bled is relaxed and beautiful with great hikes and great weather right now. The castle now costs 7 euro and the boat to the island costs 12 euro. There is a free wi-fi spot that is fast and reliable at Bar Pyramida in old town by the lake. Safe travels!
Jared
San Diego, CA  USA   04/10/2009

Eastern Europe Trip-Balkans
Visited BiH, Croatia, Montenegro: Watch your luggage on the bus, in Zagreb a lady tried to lie to the driver and say my bag was hers, I grabbed it from her, no confrontation.

BiH Sarajevo: My favorite place in the Balkans, lots of cool mosques, souveniors to buy, great people, politely aggresive souvenior sellers with really unique things to sell, I bought a lot here. Mostar: Went through Mostar, looks really great as well. BiH-well worth the trip, Bureks are awesome.. I ate mainly Bosnian food in Croatia too.

Croatia: Dubrovnik: Beautiful, food is good, kind of like watered down Italian food. Worth one full day, city gates really pretty, shopping kind of pricey but some nice jewelry. Coast is amazing and pretty. Split: Has a few nice museums and cool palace, can be seen in 2 or 3 hours to be honest. Bus ride from Dubrovnik is very long and boring, worth it if you are really interested in Roman Ruins Zagreb/Slavonia-Honestly, not much to see, kind of boring, I would say can be seen in a hour, not worth the hassle, but if you are in the area its okay.

Montenegro Side-Trip: Kotor, worth it if you have time, not that much to really see, I only spent an hour here, I recommend a few hours to climb the ruins and another hour or so for shopping around the old part of town, not much to buy though the bus ride there is amazing, kind of rough.
USA   03/02/2009

Fantastic tour guide for Split, Croatia
My wife and I had a fantastic tour guide for our one afternoon in Split. We spent several fascinating hours walking through the ruins of Diocletian's Palace and the surrounding area. Nick Siminiati gave us a wonderful tour demonstrating a great depth of knowledge of history and politics. Not only did he go overtime, but he was such an interesting person that we spent an extra hour sitting in a cafe with Nick listening to his life experiences as a news journalist and film maker. His contact email is nsiminiati@yahoo.com.
Barry Bochner <email>
Alameda, CA  USA   01/04/2009