90 bull said:

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We spent 9 weeks in Croatia and loved it. Plitvice is a must do in my opinion. What do you want to see? There are so many options on the coast

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We want some of the obvious but we love out of the way, off the tourist bus route places. Quiet places of great beauty. A place that surprised you and grabbed your heart.

No pressure ha, something that you almost don't want to share!

Plitvice and Zadar are two of our favorite places. Plitvice might be my favorite place on earth. Just make sure you get tickets online ahead of time. Zadar has the sea organ. Go to YouTube to look it up. Sitting there watching the sunset over the barrier island is amazing. For the islands , I would suggest Hvar, but spending time in Stari Grad instead of Hvar town. I prefer Split to Dubrovnik, but would not spend more than a day or two there. Just so many tour groups going through the palace. We didn't go to Krka National park, but it looks incredible. Also didn't spend time in Korkula, but have heard great things about that while not on the coast, Zagreb is very underrated.

You can fly into Split, Zagreb, or Dubrovnik We took the bus down from Venice, and then also a bus from Zagreb into Krk.

Amy specific places that you are thinking about that I missed? We greatly love Croatia. If it weren't for aging parents, we would have already moved to Zadar or Krk.

I'll be back to you with specific asks. You have mentioned several places we want to explore.

Also want to stay in historic older homes not hotels.

Did you ever rent a car? Is it safe?

We didn't rent a car, but we plan to rent one when we go back. The roads are very safe-they have gotten a ton of EU money to upgrade them in the past 10 years. The downside is , like a lot of Europe, a ton of toll roads.

We stayed in Airbnbs in general. A lot of them in the city centers are older-which can be upgraded Yugoslav buildings (like in Zadar) or in Split staying in the walls of a Roman palace

Anyone with Peljesac Peninsula experience? Between the peninsula and Korcula there looks to be enough wineries to keep us happy for several days!

Any experience in the Istria area up north? We are looking at planning a trip for May for the family. Probably plan to stay in Rovinj for 4 or 5 nights and then maybe 2-3 somewhere else either in Istria or maybe further north towards Zagreb. Thanks for any input.

aggiebq03+ said:

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Any experience in the Istria area up north? We are looking at planning a trip for May for the family. Probably plan to stay in Rovinj for 4 or 5 nights and then maybe 2-3 somewhere else either in Istria or maybe further north towards Zagreb. Thanks for any input.

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Day trip to hill towns. Motovun? Some others.

Anyone ever stay in Cavtat?

Reviving this thread as we are finally headed to Croatia in September. Especially interested in Korcula. Especially looking for accommodations for 3-4 days. Best wineries, restaurants etc!

Or Rovinj. Anyone have accommodations recommendations?

Our Rovinj Airbnb was just ok, but there are a ton of options. Just stay in the old town and you'll probably have a water view. You have the choice of a resort outside of old town, or staying in old town, but parking several blocks away

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Sitting there watching the sunset over the barrier island is amazing.

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Agreed. The sunset in Zadar and around the Punta Mika area is the best I've ever seen. Outstanding.

We spent 2+ weeks last summer in Croatia, mostly on the mainland. From Dubrovnik to Hvar to Split to Krka to Zadar to Plitvice & Rastoke and then to Rovijn & the Istrian hilltowns. The farther you go north, the fewer and fewer Americans you'll see. From Zadar and up into Istria, I think we bumped into at total of 1 American family.

The #1 spot is Plitvice. I think it might be the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

Zadar was probably our favorite city for many reasons. The way they've turned the old Roman Forum into a park where everyone hangs out is fascinating. And as the poster above said, the sunset was perhaps the best I've ever seen. We stayed in an AirBnB right in the dead center of town. It was an old historic building that's one of the few places you can actually drive right up to and have your own private parking space within the walls. If you're interested, I can post the link.

Rovijn was a cool town, but driving around the hilltowns was really the highlight of the Istrian region. Most are more like Italy than Croatia. There are even a couple of abandoned, overgrown ghosttowns with very old crumbling stone homes & buildings that make you feel like you stepped into a distopian world with a civilization that was lost generations ago.

If you do visit Rovijn, make sure you go to the Nazi machinegun bunker (on the northwest corner of the peninsula next to Pillbox Beach) at sunset. It's crazy how such a deadly & destructive spot has become the #1 place in town for everyone to congregate at sunset and enjoy the beauty & tranquility the area has to offer.
Since we had a car, we stayed in an AirBnB just outside of the Rovijn city center and took the short stroll along the beach into the old town.

Overall, you can't go wrong with any decision you make. We enjoyed every place we went. Croatia is a really cool place to visit that most Americans haven't discovered yet.

et98 said:

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We spent 2+ weeks last summer in Croatia, mostly on the mainland. From Dubrovnik to Hvar to Split to Krka to Zadar to Plitvice & Rastoke and then to Rovijn & the Istrian hilltowns. The farther you go north, the fewer and fewer Americans you'll see. From Zadar and up into Istria, I think we bumped into at total of 1 American family.

The #1 spot is Plitvice. I think it might be the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

Zadar was probably our favorite city for many reasons. The way they've turned the old Roman Forum into a park where everyone hangs out is fascinating. And as the poster above said, the sunset was perhaps the best I've ever seen. We stayed in an AirBnB right in the dead center of town. It was an old historic building that's one of the few places you can actually drive right up to and have your own private parking space within the walls. If you're interested, I can post the link.

Rovijn was a cool town, but driving around the hilltowns was really the highlight of the Istrian region. Most are more like Italy than Croatia. There are even a couple of abandoned, overgrown ghosttowns with very old crumbling stone homes & buildings that make you feel like you stepped into a distopian world with a civilization that was lost generations ago.

If you do visit Rovijn, make sure you go to the Nazi machinegun bunker (on the northwest corner of the peninsula next to Pillbox Beach) at sunset. It's crazy how such a deadly & destructive spot has become the #1 place in town for everyone to congregate at sunset and enjoy the beauty & tranquility the area has to offer.
Since we had a car, we stayed in an AirBnB just outside of the Rovijn city center and took the short stroll along the beach into the old town.

Overall, you can't go wrong with any decision you make. We enjoyed every place we went. Croatia is a really cool place to visit that most Americans haven't discovered yet.

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Thank you so much! Great information!

Again, I want to stress-go to Plitvice. It is amazing. The only place I have seen close to it is Iguazu Falls. Just make sure to get online reservations ahead of time

And go EARLY. We had a delayed flight that changed our connecting flight to a morning arrival instead of evening arrival at Zagreb. The original plan was to spend the night in Zagreb after arriving and then waking up early to be at the park first thing when it opened. The flight change meant we didn't get to the park until midday and the experience was absolutely terrible. Walkways were PACKED and we were constantly stopping and then slowly shuffling along like penguin because everyone was stopping to take selfies.