I’m on the same boat. I’ll be travelling through Central and Eastern Europe for 6 weeks and if time permits, I would love to head down to Croatia for a few days, maybe a week. As for where to go, cities like Dubrovnik and Split really look like nice places. Oh and there’s supposedly an amazing nightlife on some of the small islands!
Getting around seems complicated though – since some of the cities are unaccessible by train. Not that there aren’t any other options but it’s always fun to keep it simple…

You can’t get to Dubrovnik by train because if I remember correctly there’s a chunk of Bosnia which cuts it off from the rest of Croatia. I’m not sure if that’s the only reason, but I guess it kind of makes sense… plus it’s pretty far from everything else in Croatia, anyway. I’ll get there one day but I think it will have to be by boat.

I’ve been to Split and Zagreb. I liked Zagreb. There’s a separate old town and a very attractive more modern city with lots of parks, parkways and green space. It’s a good visit for a day or two. The coast was gorgeous and we enjoyed Split for both history and scenery. Because of Croatia’s odd shape, distances and travel times are deceptively long. There is no train service south of Split (I think a casualty of the Balkan war and the chunk of Bosnia involved), so bus or ferry are the only options to get to Dubrovnik. While train service is significantly faster than it was a few years ago, it’s still nearly 6 hours from Zagreb to Split with only a couple of trains a day. Bus service has greatly improved with the opening of a new major highway, but it’s still 6 or 7 hours from Zagreb to Split. Air Croatia has relatively cheap (many honor the $100 flight pass from www.europebyair.com ) and frequent flights from Zagreb to the coast.

We liked Slovenia even better than Croatia — but we’re more into mountains than beaches.

I spent a total of about 2 weeks in Croatia, almost all of it somewhere along the coast. Zadar is worth a day visit, possibly an overnight…Split is worth hanging out several days—very cool city…Dubrovnik is expensive but endlessly cool, also worth several days. I spent 3 days on Vis island, which is one of the smallest, sleepiest, and least-touristed along the Dalmatian Coast. I highly recommend it. Vis town and Komiza, across the island, are gorgeous and romantic, and there are vineyards and lemon groves all along the inland.

The other islands, I hear, are a little more nightlife-studded and expensive, though they easily have their quiet spots too.

Vis and komiza are peacefull island places. If you are looking for 24/7 party than Novalja on island Pag is No.1 Hvar has a great nightlife in the top season 15.7.-15.-8. The most beautiful arhitecture on the croatia coast is in small cities: Trogir, Rovinj, Korcula, Rab, Komiza and great amfitheater in Pula. Dubrovnik is beautiful and kind of jet-set place. To expire authentic dalmatian inhabitants and spirit you must go to Split, Zadar, Sibenik or any small place. For lot of National parks and adventures like rafting, bungee jumping, mounting clibing, kayak canou or sailing, the best base is Zadar or places near Zadar like Biograd. The most beautiful beaches are around Makarska and on the islands like Brac, Dugi otok, Losinj etc.

I really wanted to get to Trogir but we liked Hvar so much we stayed another day.
The taxi drive was scary; the lavender fields were beautiful. There were a lot of young people there, but Hvar town still seemed fairly quiet in early July 2006.
Old Dubrovnik is historic and beautiful.

I have a ton of pictures from Croatia; if you’d like to see any, Add me (Just mention you’re from EuroTrip and I’ll accept) and check out Europa part trois & quatre.

Well, that didn’t include the Facebook link, but: http://www.facebook….

Wow thanks alot everyone! This has been great info! What about getting around the islands? is it hard to find boats or wtv? Ive heard about Hvar. Is it really that cool?

Didn’t check out Hvar, but no, getting around isn’t tough at all. Vis is the most far-removed island and they ran two ferries there and back, daily. $10 ticket or so. Korcula and Brac and Hvar undoubtedly have even more regular ferry routes…though you can also work your magic and try to bum a ride with someone sailing That’s what I did…just offered to bring beer and help with the lines, and bam: luxurious trip!

Didn’t check out Hvar, but no, getting around isn’t tough at all. Vis is the most far-removed island and they ran two ferries there and back, daily. $10 ticket or so. Korcula and Brac and Hvar undoubtedly have even more regular ferry routes…though you can also work your magic and try to bum a ride with someone sailing That’s what I did…just offered to bring beer and help with the lines, and bam: luxurious trip!

I’m also considering traveling to Croatia. What are some of the best ways to get there (from Western Europe, or from Munich/Prague)? I know there are planes that fly into Zagreb/Split from Paris/Amsterdam for $100 or so, but I don’t think I want to have to fly in and fly out. OP, my itinerary is somewhat like yours, could you share how you plan on getting to/from Croatia? Thanks!

You can ferry from Italy to Split or Dubrovnik. You can also take the train from Italy via Slovenia or from Munich, via Austria and Slovenia. However, if you just want to add Croatia to your existing itinerary, flying is really the only option. You’ve probably got better than 2 1/2 of your 21 days tied up in just getting to/from Croatia any other way. I’d either save Croatia for a future trip or cut Paris, Bruges and Amsterdam and spend enough time in the Balkans to be worth the time and money to get there.

Yeah with only about 20 days, I’d say it’s probably not worth it. If you had 30, I’d say go for it Your main problem getting there via train is that no matter what you have to get to Zagreb first, then it’s a “night train” into Split. Given my experiences with eastern European trains, I don’t know how much you’d actually sleep, but it is 6 hours and is technically at night… haha

Doobster, I loved Hvar and I think I have photos posted both here on Eurotrip as well as Eurotrip’s Facebook page.
We ferried to Hvar from Dubrovnik, and then from Hvar to Split.
It was easily done, although it was a bit tricky getting from Sucari to Hvar town. That was kind of a wild taxi ride.

I’m going to have to follow this thread… I’m going to Sweden and Croatia this summer. I am very interesting in the islands.