"Dobro dosli! Welcome!" Cavtat by oneonta_ni

I first decided I wanted to visit Croatia several years ago after seeing it featured on a travel program. It looked incredibly beautiful and the old town of Dubrovnik fascinated me. It took me a good few years to convince my better half that he wanted to see Croatia as well. Then it took awhile to actually find a tour company that flew direct from Ireland. So at last, in February, I managed to book our week in Cavtat. (Which is pronounced 'TSAV-tat').

Usually when someone mentions where they are going on their holidays, the reaction is 'Oh, lovely!'. But when I told people we were going to Croatia, the reaction was usually, 'Oh? Why?' Due to the war in the early 1990's, Croatia developed an undeserved negative image. It's a bit like Northern Ireland - people only hear about it in the news. If only these people knew what they were missing!

Some questions that I wanted answered during my visit were 'Is the Adriatic really so blue and so clear?', 'Will we have enough to do in one week?' and 'Will I see a lot of Dalmatian dogs?'. I can now say the answers are: yes, definitely yes and, sadly, no. (The only Dalmatian dogs I saw were in the mountains of Montenegro!).

Did GF enjoy it? He certainly did - he even wants to go back! It's just as well since one week just isn't enough in Dalmatia and certainly not enough for Croatia.

The only negative part of the trip was all the messing about we had with Concorde Travel and Air Adriatic. I would advise anyone interested in going to Croatia from Ireland to avoid both of these companies at all cost. If you can get to Croatia any other way, do so! Your journey will be much more stress-free!

The other harbour and main part of town

We knew nothing about the Dalmatian Coast as far as accommodation and the best area to stay in. It was a tough decision - stay in Dubrovnik, stay on the islands of Korcula or Hvar or go for a village on the coast. In the end, we based our decision on transfer time from the airport. Cavtat is only 15 minutes from Cilipi Airport. I think we made the right decision - for us, it was the perfect location.

Main part of town

One of my overriding memories of the village is the smell of the pines. It is noticeable from the moment you enter the village. There is a lovely walk around the two peninsulas that is shaded by pines and is really beautiful - there is a gorgeous view at every turn.

The village has everything you need - a couple small supermarkets, plenty of restaurants, a chemist, a police station, complete with bored-looking policemen (always a good sign), a few bars, a couple ice cream shops and lots of areas to swim in. It is very quiet, especially at night.

One of the nicest things about the village is that there are no huge apartment blocks that are so common in the over-developed resorts. Just outside of the village is the rather ugly Hotel Albatross but it is not really noticeable from the village itself.

The visitors are a real mix of nationalities. I tried to guess what some of the languages were but most were unfamiliar to me. I think this made it all the more interesting.

• Pros:Beautiful scenery, good food, friendly people.
• Cons:Sea urchins!
• In a nutshell:Gorgeous place for a relaxing break.