Croatia 2018
By Croatia will again in 2018 be the holiday destination for around 10-12.000.000 tourist from all over the world, if you are one of them, you might want to read our small Croatia 2018 guide, where you among other can find information about, How to get to Croatia, where to find accommodation, what to see during your stay, what to avoid, and of course information about events in Croatia in 2018.
Table of Contents
Getting to Croatia
Well obviously there is 4 main ways of accessing Croatia, by plane, by car, by bus or by ferry.
By Plane – During the last 5 years an increasing number of airline companies have set up routes to Croatia, here is a few airlines you might want to check, germanwings, ryanair, Wizzair and of course Croatia Airlines
As arrival destination in Croatia, you have Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik from the Airports you have and Airport bus going to the centre of the cities, alternative you have taxi or can pre order an airport transfer.
By Car – Main part of the roads and especially the new Motorway is in excellent condition, so you should have no worries going around by car, avoid speeding as police are controlling frequently in the main season.
On the Croatian Motorways toll fees apply, so please check out our post about the Croatian Motorway, for budget planning you should also remember the cost for the Vignette in Slovenia, if you access Croatia via the Slovenian Motorway.
By Bus – Companies like Eurolines have daily departures to Croatia, as bus is the preferred form of public transportation, you have an excellent inter Croatian bus network, buses are relatively cheap and quit reliable.
All major cities have a good local bus service, it is cheap and available from early morning till around midnight. Here you can read more about buses in Croatia
By Ferry – If you access Croatia from Italy, you could to do it by the ferry, there is e.g. a whole year service between Ancona and Split, in the summer season you will have several ferry and catamarans from Bari, Pescara, Venice and of Ancona, on the Croatia side they have landing point in 6 Istrian cities, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik.
If you are heading for the Croatian island, you have large number of local ferries, some operate whole year and some operate only in main season, here you can find more information about Ferries in Croatia.
Where to stay and where to find accommodation
Where to Stay:
Well, Croatia basically offers everything from a cheap hostel to a five star luxury hotels, so I would personally start out by checking potential spots in relation to what I would like to do in my holiday, is the priority, beaches, sight and daytrips, Nature or national parks or maybe the nightlife. As Expats living here, we have meanwhile visited quite a few places here in Croatia, so you might find some inspiration, if you browse around on the blog, or use our search function in the top right corner.
Fell free to post of comment if you have any question or need reply help with the holiday planning.
Where to find accommodation:
The easiest way to find accommodation is on the internet, for private accommodation and smaller hotels, you generally have two ways to book.
- Through local travel agency, this has been typical way of booking in the last decade.
- Second option is to book direct, as only a few accommodation owners has their own webpage, and those who have more or less are invisible on the internet, the best option is to find accommodation portal, which offers direct contact to house owner.
Here can see large selection of apartments, hotels and Hostels in Croatia:
Be aware that you often cannot book online, but only make an inquiry, reason for this is that most owners have their accommodation, placed on several pages, where they are not updating the availability calendar.
Once you find accommodation you like, see if you can find a name of it, and then Google the name to see if you can find and recommendations on the internet, if there is lots of good comments you should have no worries.
Camping
Croatia is a popular camping destination, no wonder, here you really have a large selection of camps in all categories to choose between, I personally can recommend Camp Oliva in Rabac and Camp Galeb in Omis.
From a price perspective camps are not much cheaper then in e.g. Italy, but if you are not looking for 5 star facilities, you can find camps which are gentle to your budget.
What to see in Croatia
Depending of region of your stay, you have wide selection of sight to see like e.g. the Diocletian palace in Split or the National park Plitvice Lakes, as we have seen quite a few of the sights to see here in Croatia, you should be able to get some inspiration from browsing our blog, as example I can mention our guide through Istria and our Split Guide.
What to Avoid
If you are on a budget I have the following recommendation
- Don’t take taxis if you don’t have to, compared to general price level they are quite expensive.
- Buy your daily goods at LIDL, if you have one close to where you are staying, they have the best prices / quality relation. – check out prices in Croatia.
- Limit cell phone usage, and AVOID usage of mobile data connection, that could ruin your holiday.
- Avoid staying in the sun around noon, you can get seriously burned.
- In several towns you some have night clubs, which you should avoid visiting, as it can get quite expensive, check out where to go like e.g. here in this Guide to the Nightlife in Split.
In generally Croatia’s is a secure place to walk around, this of course does not been that there is no bad guys here, so to be on the safe side, don’t run around waving with your money.
Don’t go hiking or sailing with our checking local weather forecast, and remember to bring number to the local rescue service (by hiking).
Event in Croatia 2018
Local tourist board and other Croatian organizations offer and a large variety of event during the summer months, some of them are one time events, but the majority are recurring events which are enhanced from year to year, the programm for local events are usually availble around first of April. the programm for global events, like the Histria festival, the motuvon Filmfestival, and the noumerous music festival is normally announced at the beginning of the year
Feel free to leave a comment if you have any question about holiday in Croatia
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Hi,
Me and my boyfriend are going island hopping around Croatia for 2 weeks from 25th June to the 9th July. We are spending 3 nights in total at split (as this is where we fly to and from), 2 nights in hvar, going to brac for a day from split, 5 nights on pag island as we are going to hideout festival there, 2 nights in Zadar and then 2 nights in Dubrovnik.
The 2 nights in Dubrovnik are half board in a hotel however the others are self catered in appartments with kitchenettes as we are going to eat in a few nights and make baguettes for lunch etc. we will be drinking some nights however not a lot except for at the festival however we won’t be eating out a lot at the festival. Just wondering how much spending money you would recommend as we are trying to do it on a budget however don’t want to limit ourselves. We are also doing a day trip to plitvice lakes from Zadar aswell!
I have also found a website called bus Croatia that you can buy coach tickets on already, would you recommend this? We are travelling through the night from Zadar to Dubrovnik as it’s 8 hours so would It be best to buy in advance or wait til we arrive? Also is there any sites you would recommend we go to in relation to the places we are going, we are both 19 so will want to do lots of activities
Thanks!
Jessica
Hi,
I am planning a trip to Croatia for myself and partner in early September 2015 for 10 days. Our priority is sight seeing and day trips. Places I have read up on and are of interest is Hvar, Brac, Korcula, Vis and Plitvice Lakes. Is Split a good place to stay for the duration and are all theses places of interest easily reached from Split? Any new ideas/suggestions would be grately appreciated.
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne,
well, Split is definitely a good place to stay if you are planning to visit these islands and Plitvice as well. What you might also see is the Krka National Park which is close to Sibenik; you can also swim there. I think your itinerary is pretty interesting and there are quite of places to visit 🙂 Have a nice trip and enjoy Croatia!
Best,
Morten
Hi,
I am going to Croatia two weeks tomorrow for two weeks doing some island hopping. The plan is to fly out to split, then go to hvar for two nights then go back to split for one night, then travel to pag for 5 nights for hideout festival, then to Zadar for two nights where we will make a trip to plitvice and then Dubrovnik for two nights and back to split for our final night to fly home.
I was just wondering how much spending money would you recommend? We are self catered except for two nights in Dubrovnik which is half board! Also would you suggest to buy transport tickets before we go?
And any suggestions of things to do while we are there would be great!
Thanks,
Jessica
Thank you very much for your feedback. One more question…. what is the weather generally like throughout the month of September?
Yvonne 🙂
No problem 🙂
Generally, in September the weather is nice, it’s still summer so it’s usually hot.
Best,
Morten
Hi folks
Ken and I are travelling from Ancona to Split in November, we have 10 days to enjoy Croatia. It seems a lot of the ferries finish for the season in Sept/Oct. Will we be able to island hop or make our way from Split to Dubrovnik by ferry or catamaran at this time of year? We’re looking forward to having a couple of nights each in Split and Zadar and visitng Plitvice and exploring a couple of islands (especially Lastovo) before ending up in Dubrovnik. Would love some local knowledge please.
Warmest regards
Jane
Hi Jane, the new catamaran line from Krilo jet, which runs from Split, via Milna, Hvar, Korcula to Dubrovnik, is scheduled to operate to the 18th of October, so if you visit before then you can take that on to Dubrovnik
You should definetly spend some time in Split, Zadar and Visit Plitvice, you will love all of them. Lastovo is stunning, i am although not sure how it looks with ferry connections out of the season.
Brgds, Morten
Hi, we are heading to Dubrovnik on 17 Aug and then planed to get the boat to Korcula on Wed 20 for 3 nights then back to Dubrovnik. Is there any problem getting ferries or should we look into an organised tour? Are there any that just take a couple of days and start ad finish in Dubrovnik? Grateful for your advice, Many thanks
Hi Grace,
in July and August there is a catamaran line connecting Dubrovnik and Korcula; it leaves from Dubrovnik every Tuesday and Thursday at 8 and every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 9.15 and arrives in Korcula at 10.45 or 11.50. On the way it stops in Sobra and Polace on the island of Mljet; the ticket costs 55 kuna (around 7 euros). From Korcula to Dubrovnik it leaves at 16.00 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Best,
Morten
Hi
Im flying to Montenegro, and am a South African passport holder. I have a valid visa for Montenegro, and wish to make a day trip to Dubrovnik
Can I enter Croatia for a short stay on a Montenegrin visit visa?
Many thanks
Hi Stuart
i don´t know if you can use the Visa or not, you will have to ask on site
Brgds, Morten
Hi Morten,
We are a family of 5, mum, dad and kids 15, 14 and 12 years old coming to Makarska via Split the 9th of August. I have been in Croatia several vacations, and just love the country. Clear water, nice weather, polite people and cheep to live. I have seen Croatia only from the seaside and love this of course, but I would like to experience more out of the rest of the country. If you go by car, is it possible to find nice places not far from Makarska? inland somewhere? What do you recommend as a day trip not far from Makarska?
Other suggestions?
Hear from you,
Best regards
Rigmor
Hi, I’m Matt, and a few friends and I will be in Hvar on the August 19-20 but we need to get to Bol, Brac on the 20th. I know there are ferries, but there are only a couple and the times are not exactly convenient. We were thinking of hiring a water taxi/charter a boat to take us from Hvar directly to Bol. Any advice on what company to look for, how much to pay, and if these boats have storage space for luggage?
Thanks,
Matt
Hi Matt,
you could check here and see what they offer. These transfers are in general relatively expensive, but if there are more people travelling, splitting the cost might be acceptable.
Best,
Morten
I’m planning a trip to Croatia, with my sister, in second week September. Flying to Zagreb then had planned to go to Plitvice, Rab and maybe Opatija. I have been to Croatia twice before but always Split-Dubrovnik. I have been to Krka and thought it was lovely so when my sister suggested Plitvice I thought it would be even better.
However both of us hate huge crowds and I’ve read several reports that say Plitvice is horribly crowded, even in September, so much so that you can’t actually see the lakes or the waterfalls, only other people. And that you can spend over an hour in line for tickets. I’m trying to find out if this is true – if so, maybe we will skip it and go to one of the less visited national parks, or another island (maybe Cres).
If you can shed any light on our dilemma it would be very welcome. It looks beautiful but I don’t want to get there only to realise that we are going to be too miserable with the crowds to really enjoy it.
Also if you have any information on what is good to do in Rab, whether Opatija and Cres are worth visiting, or if there is another national park that would be good to see I’d be very grateful for it! We both like to walk, keep active and occasionally have a beach day but not all the time.
Thanks!