I’ve decided to compile some travelling tips in Croatia:
Table of Contents
- Download maps. As per usual download google maps to save data.
- Bring a beach towel and swimwear. If you are going to the beaches, don’t forget your beach
towel. Normally I like the microfiber ones that dry very quickly, but some of the beaches are quite rocky and some just a rough stone, so having a softer, thicker towel would be much more comfortable (if you have space in your suitcase). - Book your car in advance. We booked our car very early, so it was only € 90 for 9 days for a pretty new Opel Mokka (less than 20k km).
- Book your apartments/hotels well in advance. The place with nice views go very quickly. Even for early May it was quite difficult to find places with balconies or terraces.
- Research hotels. Do you due diligence and read the reviews for hotels/apartments. Normally I filter negative ones to get the impression of what problems the place might have. In general if people complaining in great detail with pictures it is most likely true, so it is up to you to decide if you are OK with that. 4 star hotel on hotels.com was actually more like 2 star hotel.
- Mosquito repellant. in general we didn’t need it in cities or by sea side, but once we entered forested area when going to Samobor Castle and it we were a real feast to the mosquitos. No mosquitos were present in Plitvice lakes, but maybe because it was early May, so just to be safe it is good to have the repellant with you.
- Bring your medicines. One would think it easy to buy anything you need in a pharmacy in Croatia, but since it is in European Union it is quite heavily regulated. I wanted to buy painkillers for my back, but all I could get was Ibuprofen, so don’t forget your prescription medications. Oh yes and take something for digestion and from diarrhea as I had the worst stomach bug in my life there!
- Bring cash. I would say only around 70% of businesses take credit card and I mean Visa, Maestro and Mastercard. You may leave your American Express at home as 99% were not taking it. Also in some places far from city they take only cash, so you would be forced to take out from their ATM with a premium fee for withdrawal. In general for withdrawals we’ve paid around € 5 per transaction, so if you withdraw, take bigger amount (to what is safe to carry). Even Revolut and Halifax Clarity cards were charged for withdrawal, which otherwise would be free.
- Check the restaurant ratings with TripAdvisor or Google maps. Some places do dodgy things and later add it up to the bill, like offering a soup for almost € 6 and not telling you the prices beforehand even when you are asking for it. You find out only when you get the bill. Always ask for the prices.
- The last, but not the least, bring you anti-diarrhea and mineral replenishment medicines. We’ve got a pretty bad food poisoning from one of the restaurants near Pula, which seemed like Norovirus. I must say it was much worse from what I’ve had in India (very vile and intense through both ends!), but a good thing it lasted only for a day.
Planning Schedule
Day 1 – Zagreb for 1 night
Make sure to see the cannon shooting at noon.
Relationship museum and the Grič Tunnel.
Day 2 – Plitvice for 1 night
Just a day of hiking in waterfalls is enough, but have an early morning.
Check the entrance, plan your route, check weather, book the tickets.
Also read about the park as it has some fascinating rare plant and animal species.
Day 3 – Zadar for 1 night
Day 3-4 – Rijeka for 2 nights
Day 5 – pass by Rovinj on the way to Pula
Day 5-6 – Pula for 2 nights
Day 7-8 – Drive back to Zagreb and Fly Back
On the 7th day we drove back to Zagreb and slept there. The following night we took a flight back to London.