We should like beach front hotel thats walking distance to restaurants and something to look at in the sea.
Mrs Zip wants a hotel that’s clean and not tired.
Ps can you drink their water? Ta.

Yes – but I cant believe I’m the only one.

Fantastic country. Mountains, coasts, scenery, sea food….. Reminds me of Italy before the euro prices.

The down side was the “non tired hotel [within a budget for us]” thing being a challenge tbh. We tend to finish off at a 5* in Dubrovnik as a wee reward / treat.

When we go back again it will involve a boat. So many islands!

So not overly helpful from me- but in summary – I’d love to go back soon.

ps – mozzies in some areas. I’ve no memories of water / tummy problems – but some hotels / areas deffo have signs saying dont drink – others were fine.

We go to Bol on the island of Brac. It’s comparatively quiet and small. The tourists there are mainly Croatian and its a water sports hotspot (kitesurfing, diving etc)
It’s not for everyone (no irish bars) but we love it.

Honeymooned in a 5* hotel in Dubrovnik. Absolutely amazing place, would go back without a second thought.

In dubrovnik itself there are quite a lot of self-catering apartments which are much cheaper than hotels. Some of them looked lovely and I think that’s how I would do it next time.

This was the view from our hotel EVERY night:

The Dead Kennedys?

IGMC

APF

Yes, last October. Stayed on an island called Lopud in a newly refurbished Thomson hotel (excellently finished). Very quiet island, reasonable number of restaurants all walking distance of the hotel, given that there are no motorised vehicles on the island that is very useful. 30/45 minute ferry to Dubrovnik which cost about £2 per person. I would strongly recommend the place, and if you happen to find yourself in Dubrovnik then look up Buza 2. Oh and the sea is lovely to swim in, the coasts are excellent too

Water was fine. Only thing was eating out wasn’t cheap, like UK prices, but I ate an amazing steak over there!

Went to Porec in the north last year. Lovely place great food friendly people. No real beaches to speak of as it’s got a very rocky coastline. People just seem to find the comfiest rock. Didn’t get to do any riding but looked like there was some fantastic scenery inland worth exploring.

Great place. Would definitely recommend Buza in Dubrovnik for a drink. We did a south to north journey staying in various places using the boat for the lower half (islands) then renting a car from Split northwards.

Went to Porec in the north last year. Lovely place great food friendly people. No real beaches to speak of as it’s got a very rocky coastline. People just seem to find the comfiest rock. Didn’t get to do any riding but looked like there was some fantastic scenery inland worth exploring.

I went to the same place, stayed in the Hotel Mediteran, was very nice, had been fully modernised and had a small army of cleaners who appeared every morning. We did go for the upgraded room with balcony and sea view after reading reviews online, was only 50 quid extra or something.

Buffet style dinners included, but there was a massive choice, must have been 5-6 different main courses you could have, along with chefs cooking fresh things, so it wasn’t the **** fight that you normally associate with buffets.

Would recommend it, as said above “Reminds me of Italy before the euro prices.” It was just as good as when we went to Sicily, but 1/3rd of the price!

I’ve been 2times and love it. The first time we spent a week on a small boat and toured around the coast and various islands such as korcula, hvar, miljet and porec. Amazing places and lovely people and relatively cheap as not in the euro. Then had a week in Dubrovnik and stayed about a ten minute bus ride from town so could get best of both worlds; a nice city to see and explore but you could easily slip back to the quietness of the hotel area out of town. Go, you’ll love it!

Been twice. It’s getting more expensive and crowded but still a superb destination.
Probably best to drink bottled water.
Definitely go to some islands too.
Second the mozzie warning, the only place I’ve ever been bitten. Use the strongest jungle spray and maybe yeast tablets if you are prone to them.

Been a beach of times and loved it every time. Never met anyone irl who’s been and didn’t like it. I wouldn’t say it’s your typical beach destination (as in, there’s a beach at your destination and that’s it) but hits a lot of high spots in the history/architecture/food/nice swimming areas.

Been twice. Stayed in the Hotel Croatia, Cavtat not far from Dubrovnik.

Great little harbourside town with Dubrovnik easy to get to on a boat or bus.

Not much in the way of beach. More sunbeds on the rocks but only 20 mins from the airport.

Second time I stayed in Orebic on mainland opposite Korcula. Real off the beaten track feeling here. Beaches OK but 4 hour transfer from Dubrovnik.

I love Croatia. Friendly people appreciating visitors. Get out there before it gets spoiled.

Adriatic Sunset by Freester, on Flickr

Rode a motorbike down the coast of the Adriatic before it all went pear shaped over there. Stunningly beautiful place. The coast seemed very European when I went 20 miles inland it was like going back in time 100 years. It was a great adventure 🙂

Beach-wise the majority of the mainland coast is rocky but some of the islands have sand, especially Bol in Brac.

Had a week in Brela, near Split on the coast. The hotel was clean and modern, food was so-so, but tons of it and plenty choice. We did the half board thing, so stuffed our faces at breakfast, bought a tiny lunch and stuffed our faces again in the evening.

The resort was mainly filled with retired types (Croatian and Russian) and was very quiet. Fek all to do in the evenings.

Beautiful place though, and lots to do during the day (boat trips, hikes into the mountains, coastal walks, day-trips to nearby towns etc.).

Go and do some biking the week before the Electric Elephant festival, then cane it at the festival, couple of days recovery before coming home, sorted! If your Mrs isn’t up for that, go yourself!

User removed, we had a family holiday in Brela a few years ago, was superb, nice clean hotel, food pretty good but even better in local restaurants, really nice relaxing beach holiday ( I don’t normally enjoy this sort of holiday), did a fantastic river trip and boat stopped off at a local restaurant at the end of the river, food was cooked al fresco, would recommend Brela as a destination.

The smell was the first thing to hit me when we got out of the bus – but in a good way! I was convinced someone was burning colossal amounts of incense somewhere nearby, but it was just the amazing and overwhelming smell of the pine trees – lovely!

Lots of nuddy beaches and resorts, if that’s your kind of thing.

We were in Cuba with a couple from Manchester a while back, she said when they were in Croatia they went to a honey farm, but said it was horrible as there was bee’s everywhere.

No sandy beaches in Bol, all pebble.
Hotel big blue is in the middle of the beach areas with zlatni rat a short walk away

Dubrovnink is an awesome place, we camped in the new town which was within easy walking of the beach. Marco Polo’s in the old town serves fantastic sea food. Plus if you get the chance you can walk through the city calls and dive from the rocks into the sea. Also stayed on Kortula. One of the most memorable evenings of our travels involved turning up to the sleepy town of Lumbarda after a day out to discover the whole town was having a party with BBQ fish, amazing!