Welcome Back Kev.

Glad you enjoyed it even if the hotel was not upto much. I loved Trogair when we were there last year but was not a fan of Split.

Linda

Me and my friends are looking to go to Croatia next year but we are unsure which part to go to. We like historical things and going on tours, maybe a nice beach and some nightlife. When is best to go August or September? have looked at Porec and Dubrovnik but as I said we are not sure.

Hi Queentutti

We've been to both Porec and Dubrovnik, and loved both places.

There's lots to see and do in both cities. Re-tours, from Porec you can visit Pula, Venice, Slovenia (Lake Bled) and the Plitvice Lake National Park. From Dubrovnik, you can visit many islands, Montenegro and Bosnia (Mostar).

Out of the two, we preferred Dubrovnik as it was livelier and in our opinion, there's more to see and do than in Porec. We stayed in Cavtat, which is approx. 15km away from Dubrovnik. Cavtat itself is quiet but it has lots of nice bars and restaurants in the harbour area, and it's easy to get into Dubrovnik (by bus, boat or taxi) if you want more lively nightlife.

If you want to be closer to Dubrovnik, perhaps have a look at hotels/accommodation in the Lapud area, which is much closer.

You may already be aware that most of Croatia's beaches are rocky/pebbly rather than sand. However, Cavtat has some nice bathing areas dotted around the two peninsulas, and there's a nice (pebbly) beach in front of the Hotel Albatros about 15 minutes walk from the harbour.

Personally I think that September would be better than August as it won't be so hot and it will be quieter. We went to Dubrovnik in July and it was WAY too hot for us and extremely busy 'cos of the school holidays.

Hope this helps. U2fan

Porec sounds like what we want for trips etc. is there bars etc open of a night? How hot is it towards the end of august and is it less busy then?

Queentutti - yes, Porec is full of bars and restaurants.

We visited Porect in May, and when Croatia had just 're-opened' to Brits after the war, so it was very quiet.

I'd guess that it'd still be hot/busy at the end of August, but I've never been there then, so I'd only be guessing. Re-the weather in August, this website is really good - you can have a look at the weather on dates in the past: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Porec

U2fan

I have booked for Porec next year. Staying at the Laguna Bellevue. has anyone stayed there? I also wanted to ask about currency. Should I change money before i go or take english £ and change there? i was told you are not allowed to bring Kunas into the UK is this true?

We have just booked to go to Cavtat in July. Can anyone advise on what to take spending money wise. Do they accept Euros or not? Would we be better with TC's or cash?

Hi Norma, we were in Catvat for a week in late Septmber 2005 and loved it - my mini report and a link to my photos are about a third of the way down page 5 of this thread. We found evening meals cost us about 30 - 40 euros (for starter, main course and house wine for the 2 of us). Car hire was about £30 a day. If I remember correctly, we just got some currency (kuna) from either Marks and Spencer or the Post Office and used the ATM there. We also found credit cards generally accepted at restaurants. I gave up bothering with travellers cheques some time ago, as you get stung either buying or cashing them (sometimes both).

Thanks Maria - lovely photos. I read on another forum that Tick Borne Encephalitis can be a danger in Croatia. Were you concerned about this at all. We are taking our Grandson so we have to be extra careful about any health dangers.

Hi Norma

I've heard about this and though it sounds awful, I think it's a very small risk. The ticks are apparantly found mainly in long vegetation in forested areas, so if you keep out of any long grass, you should be OK, also only about 5% of ticks are infected and if you get the tick off fairly quickly, it is unlikely to pass the infection on, even if you got bitten by an infected one.

My brother-in-law got bitten by a tick, walking through countryside in the south of England. My sister said the best way to get one out is to smother it - i.e cover it completely in something like vaseline and pull it out carefully with tweezers by it's head. I also read that using some cotton wool soaked in alchohol for a few minutes stuns them and loosens their grip. Fortunately I've never had to put this to the test, despite several visits to central and Eastern Europe.

Thanks Maria - that's very reassuring.

Hi Norma

We were in Cavtat last July - here's my trip review and photos: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/307120/index.html

Re-money, we took kuna (we found the best rate at M&S) and our Nationwide debit/credit cards.

U2fan

Thanks U2fan - it looks fantastic. Don't know about the view from the walls in Dubrovnik though - it looks a bit high!

Hi Norma

It's well worth doing the walk round the walls in Dubrovnik - it's quite safe, with walls to protect you. Just don't do it in the heat of the midday sun like we did! There are regular boats to Dubrovnic town from Cavtat harbour.

Norma - the walls are well worth walking around; the views are incredible. I'm not great with heights either but I managed okay. There's no protection from the sun when you're up there - I've never been so hot in my life! - so I'd recommend getting there early morning / late afternoon when it's not so hot. Just one word of warning, make sure you wear shoes with good grip on the soles - the cobbles are very slippy.

Have fun. U2fan

Actually - I was more concerned about getting up there than falling off

Hi Norma
If you look in the Hotel Reviews and Resort Reviews section there is quite a bit of info (my reviews are on there). Like U2fan we stayed at the Albatros in Cavtat last summer. The hotel and village are lovely. There are 3 ATMs in the village. We just took some Kuna for the first few days. We found they wanted us to pay in cash for the car hire and for excursions so went into the bank with passport and withdrew the full amount. No problem. Nationwide do not charge for using your debit card abroad and you get the commercial rate on the day for exchange.
Enjoy, Jean

hi

ive found some cheap flights to rijeka need to book them tonight to take advantage of the discount for end of may, the problem is i dont know where the best place to stay is, i want to be within an hour of the airport and not in too an expensive hotel as we take a lot of holidays each year so cant afford too much, any suggestions welcome, also depending where we choose we might take our 7 year old daughter with us