Compact Guide to Croatia

Advantages: Compact size and waterproof cover
Disadvantages: Disjointed and hard to find information.

...I am the sort of person who enjoys planning for their holiday. I love researching our destination and I devour as much information as I can before I go as I find that if I am knowledgeable about a place I enjoy myself much more. Embarking on a cruise last year was my idea of heaven as it gave me ample opportunity to research lots of different places. One of our ports of call was Dubrovnik and it soon became apparent that this would be a suitable destination for an independent sightseeing tour. I read quite a bit on the internet but decided that taking a guidebook with us was probably a wise move. My local bookshop only had one book covering Croatia so that?s how I came to purchase the Berlitz Pocket Guide at £4.99. Appearance First impressions of this guidebook were very positive. It is, as the name suggest, compact in...

Meggysmum 15.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Croatia Berlitz Pocket Guide

A perfect romantic break

Advantages: Beautiful small Venetian-built fishing town, stunning scenery, delicious food, friendly and totally unspoilt. Also incredibly cheap (icecream 20p, luxury 3 course meal £10) and an hour from Venice by boat! Wonderful place.
Disadvantages: Istrian peninsula very Italian influenced, sheltered from the war so perhaps not the "real Croatia." No theme parks, rowdiness, big clubs or burger bars so not a teenage holiday. No sandy beaches, all rocky- sand is further down the coast.

...Rovinj is a small cobbled town built by the Venetians (the resemblence is striking)on a hill on the Adriatic coast. The war never reached here, and the people are relaxed and friendly. This is definitely part of Eastern Europe- the crafts are local and not as packaged as the West. You can buy home made cheese, wine and local honey in the market, and the food is simply wonderful- we can particularly recommend Monte, a romantic place tucked just down the hill from the main church. The nightlife is generally made up of pleasant bars and cafes- Zanzibar had the best cocktails we've had in years. However there are no burger joints and teenagers might find this holiday dull. We also found the Brijuni Islands a disappointment, though our (long) trip to the Plitvice lakes was wonderful and the stunning journey all along the coast actually...

alee 08.11.2002 · Read review
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Review of Rovinj (Croatia)

Pula (croatia)

Advantages: a stupendous sea and an unique reception.
Disadvantages: perhaps the absence of sand-blasts to whom likes!

......

the-crazy-brother 27.07.2004 · Read review
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Review of Pula (Croatia)

The pleasent Park Hotel

Advantages: Excellent food, brilliant service & good value
Disadvantages: Can be quite expensive if you are trying to work to a budget

...The hotel park is a good large 3* hotel it is of a very high standard & much more like a 4* hotel. The hotel Park is situated in the old part of Rovinj overlooking the island of St Catherine. ADDRESS: I.M Ronjigova bb Rovinj 52210 Croatia TELEPHONE NUMBER: 003852 811077 FAX NUMBER: 003852 816 977 EMAIL ADDRESS: park@jadran.tdr.hr WEB ADDRESS: www.adriaresorts.hr FIRST IMPRESSIONS ? Once you arrive from the airport after the 2.5 hour flight to Croatia you pull up outside the Hotel Park & from the front of the hotel it looks very big & quite sophisticated. There are about 5 steps up to the reception, which is quite difficult when you have to carry your own luggage. Once you are at the entrance of the hotel you are faced with a large open space. There is a nice marble floor...

gemax2 18.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Park, Rovinj

Pearl of the Adriatic

Advantages: Attractive, unique city
Disadvantages: Gets very busy in mid-summer.

...Dubrovnik, in Croatia, is sometimes referred to as the Pearl of the Adriatic. The most delightful way so come across this medieval city is by cruise ship across the Adriatic. An early morning vista of white walls and terracotta roofs in the morning sun is a sight that will not be forgotten by any lucky enough to witness it. I was entranced as I gazed out from our balcony as we passed the city to enter the port. Background This peaceful looking gem suffered terribly in the 1990s when an attack by the Yugoslav army laid siege to the city for over 6 months. The occupants were trapped within the medieval walls and bombarded by shelling from the hills overlooking the city. There was no electricity of communication in the city itself. It is difficult to imagine the extent of the damage that was done as there has been a great...

Meggysmum 25.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Dubrovnik (Croatia)

The ups and downs of Zagreb

Advantages: Elegant architecture, plenty of green spaces, lots of museums, good food
Disadvantages: Not so good for people with mobility problems

...A couple of weeks ago, to celebrate the auspicious occasion of my mother's birthday, we took my parents to Zagreb for the day. Of course, we set out from Slovenia so it wasn't the enormous undertaking that sounds. The Croatian capital is well worth a stay of at least a couple of days, but it also makes an excellent day trip and is a viable destination from the holiday resorts of Croatian Istria, the coastal towns and other places in Slovenia, Venice and Trieste in northern Italy and the Plitvice Lakes in northern Croatia. I wouldn't recommend it as a day trip for people staying further south in Croatia as distances take longer to cover in this part of Europe. The train to Split (as far south as you can travel by train in Croatia) is an overnight one and you may have a few hours to kill before it departs, fortunately the station is...

fizzytom 22.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Zagreb (Croatia)

Croatia's Jewel

Advantages: Scenery is amazing. Well maintained paths. Good strudel.
Disadvantages: Weather not typical for Croatia. Bus loads of tourists.

...Plitvice Lakes National Park is well worth a visit if you are traveling Croatia or this part of Europe. Said ?Plit-vich? as the Croatian language uses ?c? as ?ch? like Italian. Close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, this park can be found at the heart of this odd shaped country ? it?s not in the north region near Zagreb, nor in the south near Dubrovnik, neither in the west near Pula or anywhere near the coast, but in the middle. There are buses here from the north and south on the Zagreb to Split route, but be warned, they are not the most reliable. We had to wave at a couple buses before one would actually stop for us. There are no trains near here but the roads are good. Why go there? The sheer color of the water is a reason to go here. All photos of this place show crystal clear Caribbean blue water, but then all...

jjqburch 04.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Plitvice Lakes National Park, Plitvice Lakes National Park

Glittering Jewel of the Balkans

Advantages: Beautiful, historic, no "lager louts", reasonable prices
Disadvantages: Very hot, lots of tourists, not easy to get there

...My sister and I arrived in Dubrovnik after a 24 hour long ferry trip in the summer of 2004. It wasn't the best introduction we could have had to the historic town. Cobbled streets, sunburned shoulders and heavy luggage don't mix well. Luckily though, the Croatians we came across while searching for our accommodation were welcoming and helpful. We must have heard the phrase "enjoy your stay in Dubrovnik" a hundred times in our short stay. Unsurprising considering that tourism is now the city's foremost form of income. Following the break up of Yugoslavia and the Balkan conflict, people have been flooding back into Dubrovnik to appreciate all it has to offer. Before the war, Croatia was a popular holiday resort, famed for its beautiful coastline and cheap prices. George Bernard Shaw, Prince Charles, and Margaret Thatcher have...

MissDirect 03.10.2004 (30.10.2007) · Read review
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Review of Dubrovnik (Croatia)

  One Hundred and One Dalmatians

Advantages: Croatia Wants Tourists
Disadvantages: Tourism Could Spoil Croatia

..., everywhere accepted our euros and major credit cards were not a problem. Our ship sailed at 7.00p.m that evening and we docked the next morning at 8.00a.m: at Rovinj on the Istrian Peninsula. Rovinj is surrounded by over fifteen islands and islets and although a compact old town seems to be taking tourism very much in its stride. Jules Verne is said to have chosen Rovinj as a setting for some of the chapters in his novel 'Mathias Sandorf' A wander through the artists' street, a steep climb up to the main Church and then back to the main cobbled square for a first class Croatian coffee as it dawned on us that we would be leaving Croatia at 1.30p.m: for a six hour cruise crossing the Adriatic and back to Venice for 7.00p.m where this wonderful adventure had all begun just one week ago. There was one more treat in store for us. After docking in...

mornev 26.06.2004 · Read review
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Review of General: Croatia

ZAGREB - little VIENNA

Advantages: pretty E. European city
Disadvantages: pretty similar to others on Balkan

...Zagreb is a capital of Croatia, an independent state of ex Yugoslavia, since 1991. Since that time, many things are different more-less because of the political system that aims joining Croatia to European Community, rather then staying in the community of a little Balkan ex Yugoslavian countries. Some ex Zagreb or ex Yugoslavian population are rather sarcastic while talking about Zagreb today, referring to Zagreb population as a "poor little Vienna's provincials". However, many ex Yugoslavs know perfectly well that Zagreb population has its own flair ever since early days of ex Yugoslavia, no matter of the recent Balkan civil war. As someone who considers herself as ex Yugoslavian, I do remember this Zagreb flair in 80s. For example, in 70s and 80s Zagreb Town publisher have been publishing the best comic book ever, (called Alan Ford...

barefoot777 13.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Zagreb (Croatia)