Single traveller, Dubrovnik, Vis or other islands

Hi Claire

I have just got back from a 2.5 week trip to Croatia, which I did mostly on my own, and you shouldn't worry about where you go - I found it an incredibly safe country to get around, and never felt too "spare" on my own. The only downside is that you might have to pay a bit more for accommodation, especially if you want a TV. I stayed mainly in hotels, as I wanted to book ahead, to have places that were close to the bus station/beach/etc. as well as to have a TV, so I can give you some advice on where or where not to stay (as some I wouldn't recommend). I went to Dubrovnik, Korcula, Mljet, Sibenik (to go to Krka NP), Plitvice Lakes, Split, Bol on Brac and Cavtat. Let me know if you'd like any info on any of these (by PM or by reply to this).

I am also a diver and was hoping to do some nice dives, but the dive operation at Mjlet was not very professional, so decided not to go with them; the diving at Bol was disappointing (cold water and very few fish or nice corals), but it was a nice dive shop and met up with some friendly divers; and the dive shop in Cavtat wasn't running trips to the wrecks (with amphora), which is what I wanted to do, as the only qualified DM to take those was running a course.

So DON'T go to Croatia just for the diving, but DO go for sunny weather, swimming in turquoise water, hiking or cycling round turquoise lakes and waterfalls and seeing beautiful old towns, churches, etc.

Happy travels!

Sue

Thanks Sue,
That's a shame about the diving - I've been reading really good reports.

Well, I was considering Mljet and Korcula - to be honest I'm not really sure about anywhere else - only just started looking. I was originally planning to go to Indonesia - slight change of plan...flights are ridiculously priced at the moment...

So, any information on anywhere would be great -accommodation recommendations and places to avoid - whatever you have time for.

Thanks again
Claire

Hi Claire

I had a great diving trip to Indonesia last year, so if diving's what you want to do, that might be a better bet. But Croatia is a lovely country, and you may well have a better diving experience than me (I suppose I'm rather spoiled after diving Sipadan, Lembeh/Bunaken, Red Sea, GBR, etc.) - especially if you stay on longer in a place than I did, and you can wait for the good trips e.g. to wrecks/caves.

Some info on the places I went to is:

Dubrovnik - lovely city, especially the old town. Fairly easy to get around by bus between old town, Lapad and harbour (where the bus station also is). I stayed in Lapad for 1 night (at Grand Hotel Park), and it is a nice to walk along the promenade there (go to the end and have a drink or meal at Restaurant Levenat), but I preferred staying in the old town - I had a friend with me when I did this so we got an apartment (with aircon & TV) for a few nights (see Old Town apartments)- well situated and comfortable. Try to get a place with aircon (this applies everywhere except the lakes and Korcula old town, which is built to have natural "aircon"). Loved wandering through the old town, popping into churches and other places of interest, having delicous meals, watching the sun go down at the two bars on the sea side of the old walls (where you can go swimming as well). You must do a walk around the walls, but go when it opens or an hour before closing, as it can be very hot and crowded. One thing I didn't do but would have liked to is to go kayaking around the bay - seems like it leaves from or near Fort Lovrjenac just outside the Pile Gate.

Korcula - again, stayed in an apartment in the old town (see Marco Polo apartments), which was tiny and the TV wasn't programmed properly, but cheap and nice to be in the old town (although take ear plugs, as the church bells chime on the quarter hour). Swimming from Korcula town is all off the rocks, so you should get some water shoes from the market at the entrance to the old town (only 50 kuna). There are sandy (dark sand) beaches at Lumbarda, which is a little village surrounded by vineyards a short bus ride from Korcula. There is a great (but not cheap) cocktail bar on top of a turret at the end of Korcula town, where they haul the drinks up by a pulley system - fabulous view, but be careful not to have too many drinks to avoid falling down the ladder on the way down! If you like amber jewellery, there are quite a few shops selling it, including green amber.

Mljet - much less crowded than the other islands, although the yachties/cruise boats are more in evidence here than elsewhere. Cycling round the two lakes in the national park (get bikes from Petar in Pomene - he was very helpful!) was great, and enjoyed the boat trip to the monastery on the island in one of the lakes - although the monastery is run down, the lunch was delicious! Stayed at the only hotel on the island in Pomene, who arranged transfers from Sobra (where the Jadrolinijia ferry from Korcula docks) and to Polace (where the fast ferry to Dubrovnik leaves), but it seems to be easy enough to get buses between these towns. The hotel was OK, but it might be nicer to get private rooms. Just on from the hotel was a swimming area with sunbeds & a pool that it seems like everyone can use, which was nice to hang out at.

Sibenik - lovely town, and the cathedral especially is just beautiful. There are some nice shops to browse through in the old part of the town, but strangely I didn't find as nice restaurants or bars as in the rest of Croatia. Don't recommend staying at Hotel Jadran - has a good position, but unfriendly staff, very 70s decor, and the world's tiniest lift and bath. Was also quite noisy while I was there, but that was because there was a festival taking place right next door to it. Good base to go to Krka National Park from, but actually if you want to go there, then Skradin looks like a lovely place to stay, which is where the boats leave to go to the park. Also, if you do go there, don't take the 4 hour boat trip up to the monastery and the top waterfalls - although there was a nice guide who takes you around the monastery, which was interesting, it is a very long trip, and the falls at the top are not worth it. Rather just explore the bottom area - there are wooden walkways through the rivers/forests, and you can swim below the bottom falls. Be warned that the last bus back from Skradin to Sibenik is at 5:35pm.

Plitvice Lakes - a really beautiful area (stunning turquoise, blue & green lakes, lovely waterfalls and serene forests), and lovely to walk down from the top lakes or around the bottom lakes. Try to take the paths which aren't signposted E,F,G, etc. to avoid tour groups. However, not much else to do but walk, you can't swim anywhere and nightlife is non-existent, so if you do stay over, only stay for one night - you can do the lakes easily in two half days, or at a push in half a day. Hotel accommodation is in very sterile/unfriendly, 70s style hotels, which are very expensive, but I didn't know how far the private rooms would be from the lakes, so I did stay in one of them, Hotel Plitvice. Still not sure how far away the private rooms are, but there were people hanging around offering rooms at the entrance to the lakes.

Split - everyone had told me not to spend any time here, so I just booked one night as an overnight stop, but wish I'd had longer there, as it was a really interesting place - especially loved Diocletian's palace, where people live, eat and shop in the ancient ruins. Stayed in a really good hotel, Hotel Adriana, which had an excellent location right on the promenade next to the palace, offers very comfortable (if small) rooms for singles, and had a very friendly guy at the reception desk who also waiters for breakfast. Only bad things were a very small lift and a smell from the kitchens in the passageway (but not in the room).

Bol on Brac island - nice pebble beaches and a nice little town, but heard from a number of people that they loved Hvar island, so would say rather go to Hvar than Brac. Vis is meant to have "good" diving, but seems more difficult to get to (I just didn't have the time). If you do go to Bol, then Big Blue dive shop at Hotel Riu Borak was good, but the dive I did with them wasn't brilliant. Whatever you do, don't stay at Hotel Ivan in Bol - overpriced, badly located and awful place to stay.

Cavtat – I was told this was a good place to stay instead of Dubrovnik, but I would say rather stay in Dubrovnik. It’s not a bad place, but there isn’t anything really special here. The dive shop is right at the end of the bay at the vast Hotel Epidaurum, and seemed a bit disorganised. I stayed at Hotel Cavtat – quite central, and my room had a balcony, which was nice, but otherwise not great.

In summary, the highlights of my trip were Dubrovnik (sightseeing, restaurants & bars, swimming off the walls), Mljet (cycling round the lakes, swimming in the sea), Plitvice lakes (walking), and Split (sightseeing, cafes, shopping). And places I would have liked to have got to are Hvar and Vis.

Please shout if you want any more detailed info!

Ciao

Sue

Hi Sue,
you visited so many places in two weeks...I am planning a trip around Croatia, next August...we'll move around by car...
Where did you find the best beaches?...I do no like rocks as I am not a good swimmer!

Thanks

Hi engel_it

I was there for almost 3 weeks, but I would have like to have spent more time at some of the places that I went to - but equally wanted to get to see different parts of the country. So I would advise a slightly less busy schedule than I had. I did get around almost entirely on public transport - buses and ferries - so it might be easier in terms of scheduling if you have a car.

As far as beaches go, you're not going to find too many sand beaches, but the pebble beaches don't make it worse for people who are not strong swimmers. There are hardly any waves, but sometimes there are some currents, so if you're not confident, then you're right to avoid swimming off the rocks in isolated places. But places like Dubrovnik do have concrete stairs or metal ladders going into the water, and at Pomene in Mjlet and at Cavtat, there are concrete areas with stairs going into the water that you can rent sunchairs and umbrellas at. The only sand beaches I came across were at Lumbarda on Korcula, and the pebble beaches at Bol were pretty good. The swimming was pretty good everywhere I went. I also enjoyed swimming in the lakes at Mljet, and the bottom lake at Krka NP. My advice would be to buy some water shoes - wetsuit/mesh slips ons with rubber/silicon underneath at 50-70 kuna - to make it easier on your feet when stepping on rocks/pebbles.