Croatia (tips)

• Croatia is a beautiful country!!! Very small but long, with +1200 islands!

  People around this region behave the same! Italians, Croatians, Greeks, they all speak loud, their cuisine is incredible, they dress impeccably and they are SUPER friendly!!!

  Try to go in summer, between June and September. It'll be a bit more expensive than usual but it will be nice and warm. September would be best time to go as it's the time where the sea is the warmest.

  Here in Croatia (unfortunately) everybody smokes! And it's still allow to smoke indoors...

  We spent 10 days in Croatia and went to Dubrovnik (the Adriatic pearl), Zadar, Split and Zagreb (the capital) and two gorgeous national parks: Plitvicka jezera (Plitvice lakes) and visovac krka.

  But the places I would recommend are definitely Dubrovnik, Zadar and Split! And the two national parks, but those ones can be done in a one-day trip.

  Don't worry about running out of cash in Dubrovnik! There are ATMs in every corner!... The town centre is gorgeous, is a classic medieval fortress surrounding the ancient city and is very well preserved (although it was one of the most bombarded cities of Croatia in the 90's, more than 1000 bombs and bullets hit the city). There are a few things to do there, but as usual it'll depend on how many days are you staying.

  In general, in every place you visit, I would totally recommend doing the free walking tour in day one... Those tours are generally very nice and they give a good insight of the history of the place, where to go, recommendations, etc, so you can take advantage of the rest of your stay... So yes, do the free walking tour in Dubrovnik! Apart from that, you can do the walk over the city walls, there're a couple of museums to see, there's a nun's house with a good background story, you can relax in one of the many coffee and snack shops... And don't miss out the ice cream, it's delicious!!!

  Make sure you stay in a place close to town because everything there is built over steps!... We stayed in Apartments Mirta, it was a beautiful little studio apartment, BUT we had to climb about 350 steps to get from town centre to the apartment =o

  Btw, if you go driving to Dubrovnik, take into account that you'll need to drive through Bosnia, therefore you'll need your passport! (don't leave behind in the counter of the rental car place as someone I know...) If you want you can head to Hvar which is meant to be a beautiful island which has another old town. We were unable to make it as the weather was pretty bad and decided against the ferry.

  So up north from Dubrovnik, the next city is Split, very nice city, a lot bigger than Dubrovnik and full of history! There are no (free) walking tours but there's a lot of material to make yourself a walking tour, you will find info and maps everywhere, but you'll have to do it yourself (reading and guiding yourself through the streets), there're a lot of information boards in every point of the "self tour".

  After Split, you keep driving up to Zadar... WOW... This is a MUST DO, this city is beautiful!!!

  The main area is the peninsula, where old city is situated. Old city is not too big but very beautiful with lots of ancient buildings. 

  On the west side of the peninsula there are two things that you must see: The Sea organ (waves are hitting the seafront and making music - yes, music!) and Greetings to the Sun (this is better during the night, lots of colours changing on the floor)... Watching the sunset here is a great and was voted the best in the world by Alfred Hitchcock.

  We stayed at the Boutique Hostel Forum and it was amazing! The rooms are all different from each other and with a crazy contemporary decoration, it can be a bit expensive but if you book in advance you might get a good offer, as we did :) 

  There is a rest called Dva Ribara, which means the "fisherman" in Croatian, and they do amazing set menus for a great price, ask for it at the reception of the hotel, it's really close to it!. And if you walk passing the hostel (at your right hand) there is a great ice cream shop! But remember, they close at 9pm. Yes, we tried pretty much every ice cream shop in Croatia!

  In general the standards of accommodation are pretty good, a 3 star with good reviews place would be more like a 4 star in England. Look at the reviews and trust the pictures! (or at least we were very lucky)

  Croatians invented the tie! So, if you're into ties, this is The Place... And make sure you pack your best outfits!, everyone dresses incredible over there!

  Hope you find this of good help and have a great time in Croatia!!!