Hi fellows,

I decided to spend my wedding voyage in Croatia, I am still working at the itinerary .
I will go there after the 20th of September (this is my wedding day), and I think I will spend some 10 days there, plus 2 on the road. I will go from Cluj, by car.

Do you guys have GPS coordinates for different objectives in Croatia?
I am thinking to see some of the following:


ZAGREB - this is not mandatory, but since it is the Capital of Croatia, I think it would be nice to see it...

-Cathedral of St Stephen and of
the Assumption of Mary.
-The Archaeologic Museum

ISTRIA - This is a MUST

Rovinj – Grisia – The place where the artists meet (it is a plazza)
Novigrad – the defence walls
Porec – St Euphrasius Church – byzanthine church,VI th century - MUST SEE

P_u_l_a_ –THIS IS A MUST SEE FOR ANY ROMANIAN
The Roman Amphiteatre - the 6th in size in the world
Triumph Arch
The Archaeologic Museum of Istria
1 Day trip to Venice (by ferry, by car trough Slovenia... what do you think?)SINCE IT IS A WEDDING VOYAGE< THIS IS A MUST
Trip to POstojna Cave in SLovenia (one day would be sufficient, right?)
Motovun – small romantic little town
Pazin – capital of Istria
The Etnographic Museum of Istria


KVARNER & LIKA

Plitvice Jezera
Opatija – what's to be seen here?
Rijeka – where Central and Mediteranean Europe meet
Senj – Nehaj Tower – a fortification to protect against Turcs and Venicians, nowdays a weaponry and costumes museum
Gospic – Smiljan village –The Nicolas Tesla Memorial House
Gomirje – The Orthodox Monastery
Krk – what's to be seen?
Rab – what's to be seen?


DALMATIA

Trogir – The Medieval Town
The Cathedral ot St. Lawrence – 13 th century
Hvar – What's to be seen?
Velo Grablje – village near Hvar –is still holds the traditional architecture
Sinj – I understand this is a very important place in the Croatian History !?
Dubrovnik – what's to be seen?
Gothic-Renaissance Ducal Palace,
Sponza Palace

Korcula Island – homeland of Marco Polo
Peljesac – Wineyards? I definetly want to taste some Croatian wine and bring back for my father some wine, as a present

NOW... I know this is a long list and it is impossible to do that in 10 days. This is why I wrote it here, in order for you guys to help me choose the most interresting objectives.

From the start, I want to inform you that we are not crazy about sunbathing (at least I, can't speak for the wife), and due to the time of year we plan to go there, we will stick more to the cultural-sightseeing part of the trip. We plan to go in an area, get accomodated, and than, for 2-3 days visit what's to visit in the area, and then go in another area and do the same.
We plan to find accomodation on site, at private accomodations, maybe in small villages, where I think it is possible to find cheaper and more culturally-interresting places to stay. Especially because that time of year is Off-season, and i don't think it will be a problem to find places to stay.

Ok, I finish now my epistle . Anything you have to comment abouthe the above written... please do (in a helpful, constructive manner).

Wow, a very tight schedule.

I would cancel more than half of the things you have on your list, conciderin you only have 10 days.

In my opinion visit the following

ISTRA
Poreè
P_u_l_a
Motovun

KVARNER & LIKA
Have walk through Opatija (half a day maybe)
Nehaj tower in Senj
Plitvice lakes- Mandatory
While you are near Plitvice it's a short drive to Gomirje monastery

DALMATIA
On jour drive from Kvarner to Dalmatia
Stop in Zadar and have a walk through the old town center (beautiful)
Trogir
Split - short walk though the old center of the town (beautiful) then by ferry to Hvar
Hvar island - Starigrad (Stari Grad -> old town) town, Hvar town
From Hvar island you take a ferry to Korèula island
Korèula island - Korèula town
From Korèula you take a ferry to Orebiæ on Pelje¹ac peninsula. Have a walk through Orebiæ (very nice old houses) and have a drive through Pelje¹ac, visit some local wineries. (I can give you some recommendations)
On you trip to Dubrovnik visit the town of Ston and the Ston fortifications, that is the largest fortification system in Europe. Visit both os the Ston towns, Mali Ston and Veliki Ston (Little Ston and Big Ston). Have lunch in Mali Ston - Oysters
Then you go to Dubrovnik, from Dubrovnik you can also visit Cavtat.

In my opinion that is more than enough for 10 days.

You will have no problems with the accommodation.

If you have any questions please ask. We can work on this.

Thanks for the answer
Well, I know this is extremely tight for 10 days, that is why I asked for opinions:). Anyway, about those wineries... I definetly want recommendations.

As far as Venice is concearned, maybe I will skip some objectives on the road, and insert Venice. I am thinking that maybe i will renounce at the Korkula island.

Well Korèula (or Korcula) is very nice, I can post some photos I made in my gallery.

Venice is off course a pearl. Plitvice and Dubrovnik are an absolute must see, and I would recommend that you have a drive through Pelje¹ac. If you are in Pelje¹ac you need only 20 minutes to Korèula town (leave the car in Orebiæ), have a walk though town and that's it. If you ask I would rather skip Opatija and Senj than Korèula.

As for the wines , there is a very good winery in Potomje (Pelje¹ac) called Matu¹ko, and as for the wines while you are on Pelje¹ac there are two things that you must try:
1. Dingaè
2. Postup
Both of the wines are made of the same sort fo grapes, but the localities are different and Dingaè has more sunny days during the year. Buy you self a nice bottle of Dingaè and enjoy it with you wife.

We can work on the details some more.

Thanks for the tip, Korcula it is then . You know what was the decisive aspect? THE WINE

I am a casual drinker, and 99% of the times I drink, I drink wine. My father and I we make our own wine in our cellar, we just buy the grapes from a big wineyard and we make it. That is why I am very interrested in this aspect.

By the way: how does a 1800 Euro budget sound for my trip? It will be initially arround 2000-2100, but I need some 200 for gas from Romania to Croatia.

1800 EUR sounds just fine, the ferry cost a bit if you want go by car to the islands. I can look up the transportation prices later.

Boris - do you know any possibility of leaving the car in - let's say - Split, at some kind of paid (or free ) parking? I am thinking that going with the car on the islands will high-up the costs pretty much... I looked on http://www.jadrolinija.hr/ and it is about 50 euros per ride (only for the car that is)... quite expensive. Maybe I will leave car on the continent and rent a scooter or something in the island...

I don't know, but I will ask.

How are the naional roads in Croatia (not motorways)? I m thinking of cutting the costs by using the national roads, because it is cheaper (how much is the vignette for the national roads, if there is any?). A understood that the national roads are more scenic than the motorways, and I am very much interrested in this aspect, too.

@Boris,
What says you on this?


Day 1: Cluj- Siofok(Ungaria) 6,5 hours; 520 km
day 2: Siofok – P0la 6,5 ore, 510 km
day 3: visit Istria: Pola – Porec – Motovun ( 160 km in total)
day 4: Pola – Venezia – with ferry
day 5: Pola-Plitvice, stop in Opatija (90 km) (half day), Senj (85 KM) ( Nehaj tower) – accomodation in Plitvice (95 KM) – total 270 km
day 6: visit Plitvice Jezera, Monastery of Gomirje (170 km dus-intors)
day 7: Plitvice-Zadar (192 km, 3 ore) (visit in the old town )-Kastel Stari(160 km, 2,5 ore) – 352 km
day 8: Visit Trogir, Visit Split
day 9: Visit Hvar Island – by ferry ( Stari Grad and Hvar)
day 10: Kastel Stari – Zaton ( 235 km, 3,5 ore) + visit Dubrovnik – old town
day 11: Zaton - Peninsula Peljesac ( Orebic) – Ferry on Korcula;
day 12: Zaton – Peninsula Peljesac – Visit Ston, Orebic, the wineries
day 13: back home: Zaton-Zagreb (601 km)- Cluj (823 km) = 1424 km, pitt stop somewhere in Hungary, maybe near Balaton Lake.

I think it is still too crowded, huh?

I prefer the local roads, there is more to see, you don't pay the toll and you use much less fuel. For a trip Zagreb-Gradac-Zagreb (cca 1050 km) I spend 100 EUR more if use the highway (toll+fuel).

The local roads are OK, at least I think they are OK

As for the plan, hmm... It can be done but maybe it's still a bit too much. On day 11 and 12 you are going on Pelje¹ac, do everything in one day.

LATER EDIT:

All the parking places in the open are paid, non of them is guarded

I'm not sure how long you can stay on the parking, it's best to ask when you get there. I tried to get some info on another forum but so far nothing very useful.

One guy suggested that you leave you car in the garage of a shopping center, and colect it a few days later. Maybe that's an option

Yes, maybe it is a good idea to leave the car in a shopping center parking..... Thanks for the suggestion.

As far as fuel is concearned, I have a LPG system on my car so it will be cheaper, and I saw that in Croatia there are many LPG fueling stations.

You think the roads are good... hm.... . Have You ever been to Romania? I am definetly shure that you have way out better roads. As a matter a fact, In any country I was the roads were better than in Romania,

Just installed a LPG system yesterday As for the LPG fueling stations there is enough of them, so that will not be a problem. The price of LPG is 3,35 kn/l (or cca 0,45 EUR/l) and that's a cool price

Some of the guys from this forum have been in Croatia so they can give you a better comparison of Romanian and Croatian roads, but all in all I don't think you'll have problems with that.

OffTopic: I installed a Tomasseto system, I am very pleased, can't seem to find the difference between gas/lpg as far as power is concearned. Driving cheap is a very cool thing

You have really cheap LPG. In Romania, it is about 0.65 euro/liter.

Dear LPG fellow travelers,

here is a Google map link for LPG gas stations in Croatia
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://bbs.k...mp;t=k&om=1

Here is also a kml Google earth file witch you can download:
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Ca...&PHPSESSID=

If you don't have Google earth you can download it here:
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

The stations marked with an exclamation mark () do not have an exact position entered.

The map is not my creation, a fellow forum member from a Croatian LPG forum made the maps and all the credits go to him. I just posted the links here hoping that someone will find the useful.

Se you all in Croatia

Hi;

Boris, I have some questions for you; I searched and searched and couldn`t find the answer for this questions:

in July 15 I`ll go from bucharest to dubrovnik and i`m very tempted to use the shortest way which is:
1 - "iron gates bridge" ( near turnu severin , in romania ) to beograd
2 - beograd to podgoricza ( that means crossing serbia and muntenegro N/S; is it safe ? are the roads ok ?)
3 - podgoricza to dubrovnik

it is much much shorter route....and i`m very tempted to use it but i don`t know how about the visa`s at those borders, how about the general attitude to romanians and the quality of the roads...

please, can you help with some infos ?
thx.

P.S. - if you think some facts are not to be posted on a public forum, send me a pm please...

I'm afraid I can not be of any help here because I've never driven through Serbia and I don't know how are the roads and what is the general attitude towards Romanians.

I think it's safe, but that just a guess.

As for driving in Croatia, the fines have just been razed again so drive slow.
I'll post the new fines here in a couple of days.

Thank you Boris;
I wait for the other infos in a couple of days.

So the new fines for speeding in Croatia are:

In a populated area
- up to 10 km/h over the speed limit - 41 EUR
- from 10 km/h to 20 km/h over the speed limit - 70 EUR
- from 20 km/h to 30 km/h over the speed limit - 140 EUR
- from 30 km/h to 50 km/h over the speed limit - 280 EUR
- more than 50 km/h over the speed limit - from 684 EUR to 2050 EUR or 60 days in prison

Outside a populated area:
- from 10 km/h to 30 km/h over the speed limit - 70 EUR
- from 30 km/h to 50 km/h over the speed limit - 140 EUR
- more than 50 km/h over the speed limit - 960 EUR

During the summer you do not have to have your head lights on. As for alcohol 0,05 % alcohol in blood is allowed but if you make any other traffic violation you will pay for that traffic violation + cca 100 EUR for the alcohol.

So do not drink and drive and drive more or less according to the speed limits.

thanks again, Boris !!

Hi Boris, can you make me a suggestion also? I plan to visit Croatia next week and it is my first visit there. From what I’ve read there are millions of nice places to visit but I’m interested only in 7 days of rest, relaxation, sun bathing and swimming. Can you make a suggestion please, also if is possible not very crowded, I’m trying to get away from Romanian beaches where there is one tourist for every square meter of beach .

Thanks,
Adrian.

I'll try tomorrow to make a reasonable suggestion. Just got back from a 7 day trip.

Hi Boris! can you tell me please how many hours i need to drive from Dubrovnik to Rijeka?
Do you have any idea about road quality and conditions fron BIH (Belgrade-Sarajevo-Mostar). I'm coming from Romania and i plan to drive from Romania/Serbia border to Trogir area in one day (12 hours driving).
At the end of july do you think i can find apartments on place or i should reserve something from Romania? Thank you !

you can easily find a accomodations using internet; for every pocket.
it`s the way i did.

Rijeka-Dubrovnik is cca 610 km, the time varies a lot depending on the traffic. Since it is the tourist season you will need at least 9 hours.

The road from Sarajevo to Mostar and down to Croatia is OK, not very good, but allso not very bad. The rest I don't know.

As for the accommodation you can find on the net a lot places, much more than I know. And I know only a few because I have my own house.





3 Jul 2008, 06:53:


Well it's very hard to make such a recommendation during the summer, but the high season is just starting so you are OK regarding the worst crowds.

What did you have in mind? The north part of the coast, the south or the islands?

Try any small place (village). Avoid small or big towns on the coast, like Crikvenica, Opatija, Zadar, ©ibenik, Split,.... they are more crowded. My recommendation is to go as far south as possible.

Thanks Boris, I was thinking to go somewhere in the middle, Nin maybe, what do you think, how is Nin? I choused that because of its sandy beaches, but I presume it might be crowded just because of that, also is quite close to Zadar. Anyway we go by car so we can travel few km to find the best places around there. Can you recommend some villages around that area were we can easily find accommodations?

Thanks,
Adrian.

Well you must know that it is very hard to find a place without a crowd in the season. I have never been to Nin, but I've heard it's very beautiful.

If you search for sandy beaches & less crowd, you may try island of Pag too (I'm not 100% sure about the 'less crowd' though... but I do have the impression that there are less tourists in the islands; but since this particular island has a bridge to connect it with the mainland, this may not be true ).

Hi, just came back from Nin, very beautiful place, nice sandy beach not very crowded and quiet (no clubs and everything is closing at 12.00 AM), exactly what we wanted so from my opinion was the perfect choice. I will not write too many words to describe it because it will take me pages to do that, I will say just that I enjoyed my vacation very much, Croatia is very beautiful and a good place to spend the holidays. We didn’t have any reservation and we found there private accommodations in around 20 min from our arrival (a room with bathroom and a terrace, 10 meters from the see ) so we can say that finding accommodations are not a problem . The price for the room was quite ok 25 euro and the hosts were surprisingly nice. I can say that they treated us more like family than guests . The only thing that bothered me a little bit was the prices; we were taken a little bit by surprise, everything was 50% to 100% more expensive than in Romania (usually food in restaurants and supermarket). If you are Coca-Cola or Beer drinker bring from home if you can, the price for them in a supermarket (we looked in more than one supermarket) are at least double if not more. Also the highway is quite expensive but that we expected . On return we skipped the highway for about 200km to visit some places around and I can say that the national roads are very good also and I certainly recommend them if you are not in a big hurry. Not only because you save some money but also you can see very nice places. We stopped at a very nice waterfall along the way that we certainly couldn’t see from the highway . As a conclusion Croatia is a very beautiful country and we will certainly visit it again soon.

Adrian

Maybe Boris can confirm here - I heard that in Croatia they added a "recycling tax" and that you pay a lot for the plastic bottles - but if you return them to the store, you will get your money back. This is the reason why Coca Cola & co. seems to be so much more expensive than it is in Romania.

Boris - is this true?

Very glad you had a good time on you vacation, and glad to hear that you will be coming back.

As for the prices, well what to say, I didn't know that they were that high. Believe me, the the food and drink prices in restaurants are great compared to Italy or Spain. I've just been there two times so I know. But I agree with you that they could be lower, specially if we are talking about bars and restaurants at the seaside during the season. But it like that everywhere, just been in Prague recently and the price of beer in the center is four times the price outside the center.



The recycling tax is just 6 Euro cents per bottle.

Good to know. I thought it was more.

BTW, I found a cool pirce comparator
Croatia vs Romania vs. Spain

From here, it would seem that Croatia is roughly "on par" with Spain. From my experience, Spain is a little bit more expensive than Slovenia, which is probably a little bit more expensive (but similar) than Croatia.
Hopefully I'll come back next year in Croatia to check how those prices have evolved

[l.e.] my mistake, initially I selected the price in Spain in pounds instead of euro. It is not "on par" with Croatia, it is 50% more expensive...

@adi_stezar


Adrian. I am searching for accomodation on an Island in Croatia and the place you just mentioned is perfect
Do you, by any chance, have some contact data of people from that island ( from the pension you stayed) .
It would help me a lot!!
Thanks,
Bogdan


29 Jul 2008, 10:37:
Hello Boris or anybody

Can you give me some contact data from a villa on an island in Croatia?
I did search on the internet but didn't find my dream "vacation house". I am a little restricted by my budged ( so no accomodation above 40 euro/ double room).

Also. I am planning to take my bikes & inflatable boat .
Is Croatia a bike friendly country? are you allowed to go by bike on national roads?
Am I allowed to use my boat ( it's an inflatable small 3 persons boat)

Thanks,
Bogdan

Boris;

We just came back home from vacation in Dubrovnik.
I sincerely envy you; Croatia is a superb country !!

I can give (on private not to make advertising on the site) you the contacts, I got a business card from them, I haven’t checked the phone if is ok, I found accommodation there on the spot. The only problem is that they don’t speak English at all so if you want to make reservations find someone who speaks Deutsch, they speak Deutsch very well, I think we were the only non Deutsch tourists in they’re house .

Regarding the boat and bikes, yes you are allowed to use them; lots of tourist had them there. In front of the house we stayed was a doc for this and loading ramps. They brought there small boats to even small yachts so I’m sure all is ok.

I hope you will find your dream house but from my experience I can say that even if you don’t make reservations you will find a free room on the spot, just make sure you plan your trip in such a way that you arrive well before sunset (we arrived there at 17.40). As a suggestion if you don’t find reservation, when you arrive there, go directly to the tourist info office in the town and they can tell you what pensions have rooms available. I think all towns along the coast have tourist info…

I hope you have a nice vacation!
Adrian

It's really nice to hear that.

Boris - I just returned from Croatia, and I found Split much nicer this time
I went to Mljet also this time, but only for a day with the ferry... not enough, by far. It's a very nice&preaceful place, but to understand anything from it, I feel that at the very least you have to stay overnight. We'll try to return there for a longer time
Also, we went again at Zadar, the idea with the sea-powered organ is a very nice idea.

We'll probably come back next year too - we plan a week in Istria followed by one in Austria.