"Croatia" a Croatia Travel Page by paulcantlon

Leaving from London with no real travel plans, we arrived in Trieste (Nth Italy), caught a bus from the airport into the main town, and then a link up bus a few hours later that crossed through Slovenia to Nth Croatia. Our plan was to spend the night in Rijeka, but we were swayed by the beautiful looking beach in Opatija and stayed the night. We had booked a cheap flight with Croatian airlines from KRK (about 45 minutes from Rijeka) to Dubrovnik (ý40 each). Arriving in Dubrovnik (after a bus ride from the airport) we were accosted by a million middle aged ladies willing to rent rooms in their houses. This was to be the case at most main ports - (bus or ferry). Dubrovnik is a beautiful city, with its centrepiece being its 'Grad' (Old Town). Beautiful limestone buildings and streets are lit up at night to produce an almost enchanted feel. Go exploring the narrow streets. We went on two day trips while in Dubrovnik to Lopud (beautiful 'secluded' beach) and Mljet (two saltwater lakes/national park). 4 days is probably enough in Dubrovnik.
We caught the Jadrolinija Ferry up the coast (which is how we travelled the entire way up the coast/easiest and cheapest) which allowed a bit of sunbathing time on the deck to our next port of call Korcula - Birth place of Marco Polo. A night in Korcula was probably not enough, but time was of the essence so we headed to Hvar. The port is about a 20 minute drive from Hvar town, which was our favourite place in Croatia. we spent 3 nights here, and went to local island Stapanska, and also to Bol (Brac) - Golden Horn. Hvar is quite famous for its lavender plantations which were unfortunately destroyed by fire earlier in the year. There are many markets at night selling perfumes and other bits and pieces. Our time was running short so we decided to head up to Split, a main shipping port, and Croatia's second largets city. Arriving into port it was much different from the serene setting of Hvar and Korcula, but i suppose evey city is similar. After being accosted by Bepo the naked tuna fisherman on the street we agreed to stay in his small two bedroom apartment right near the main square. Split is set in Diocletian's palace, and basically the main city's borders are the outer walls. We went for a day trip to Trogir, which was like I suppose a little Venice and much cleaner and better maintained than Split. We stayed for one night (we had paid for two) and left on an overnight bus for Vienna.
The food in Croatia I would say has quite a Mediterranean feel, lots of seafood risotto, and pizza is available. The fish is quite expensive (as you pay by the weight), but very tasty.
Throughout our entire trip we had no troubles with gaining accomodation, or travelling and would recommend it to anyone!