The New York Times’ travel section recently released their list of “Places to Go in 2012”. Dubrovnik made the list as number 36 of 45 destinations. The author of the list refers to Dubrovnik as “the St.-Tropez of the Balkans”, a comparison often made by journalists and travel writers. The article highlights the newly renovated cable car above the Old Town, the French-fusion restaurant Gils, and the Croatian tapas restaurant Lucin Kantun.
For the entire list, visit the New York Times travel section website: New York Times.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteMy wife and are are 29 and 27 respectively and will be traveling to Europe for the first time this summer. Our plan is to go to Croatia from Zurich and then head on the ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari. We will be in Croatia for a week. It's a vague question, but would you recommend starting north (say Zagreb) and making our way down the country before wrapping up in Dubrovnik or should we just spend our time in Split/Dubrovnik? We certainly want some time in Dubrovnik, but aren't sure where our time is best spent. What would you recommend keeping in mind that we will be coming from Zurich (not sure if we'll be flying, train, or ferry from Venice via Zurich?
thanks in advance!
I suggest spending thew majority of your time on the Dalmatian coast, around Split, Dubrovnik, and the islands. If you are coming from Zurich, it is probably best to travel through Northern Italy and enter Croatia by ferry from Venice or by land through Trieste. You can then travel down the coast.
ReplyDeleteZagreb is a nice city, but I would not make a special trip out of my way to see it. I think your time would be better spent traveling down the coast.
Thanks for the help! If we were to take a ferry from Venice, how would we then get down to Split? Is it easy to do so? We notice that ferries from Venice leave at 5PM and are approximately 3 hours long. Also, do you recommend Plitvice National Park?
ReplyDeleteis this really out of the way?
thanks!
I believe the ferry from Venice goes to Pula or Rovinj. From there you can easily get a bus down to Split. You can probably also get a bus to Plitvice. I have heard wonderful things about Plitvice, but I have not actually been yet. It is not too far out of the way if you plan to go for a day or 2.
ReplyDeleteHi - I have a very similar question to Anonymous. I have about 8 days to spend in Croatia, but am not sure whether it makes more sense to spend the whole time in the Dalmatian Coast (Drubovnik, Split, Hvar, etc), or whether we should also try to see Istria. Would that be feasible? I don't want to spend too much time traveling and not enough time relaxing, but also don't want to restrict myself to one area and miss something else great. Thoughts? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWith only 8 days I would stick to Dubrovnik, Korcula, Hvar, and Split (or maybe only 3 of those). I think it would be stretching it too thin to try to see Istria too. Istria is a long way to the north and you would spend a lot of time traveling. Istria is beautiful, but save it for another trip!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Do you think using Dubrovnik as our hub makes sense? Or would it be better to fly in and out of Split?
ReplyDeleteIf possible I would fly into Dubrovnik and out of Split (or the reverse). Dubrovnik is a good base for exploring the local islands and taking day trips to Montenegro or Bosnia, but it is too far from Split or Hvar to make day trips there. If you can fly into one city and out of the other, you can make your way up or down the coast by bus and ferry.
ReplyDeleteThanks again! That's what we'll do. We are thinking we'll do one or two nights in Split or Trogir, two nights in Hvar, one or two nights in Korcula and three nights in Dubrovnik. How does that sound? Would you recommend two nights in Korcula or two nights in Split if we had to choose?
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to see both Split and Korcula but need to spend 1 night in one place and 2 nights in the other, I think I would choose 2 nights in Korcula. It is a little harder to get to than Split so it would be a shame to travel there for just 1 night. Also, you can easily see Split's historic center in a few hours. Korcula's Old Town is also quite small, but then you can explore other parts of the island as well.
DeleteThat said, 2 nights in Split would be useful if you want to go to Trogir for a couple of hours one day. Split makes a good base for exploring that area. It's a tough choice and you really can't go wrong either way.