(Please watch it in HD, it’s way better)

Yes, that is Hamilton and I singing. Apologies. (You can always mute it for a few seconds)

I really hope you like the video, we had great fun making it and it brings back amazing memories for us. Maybe, fingers crossed, it might even inspire others to visit Croatia.

Anyway, down to business:

I don’t go anywhere without making an itinerary. Big travel wise that is, I can make it to the post box etc without one.

They generally start out like this:

Aka rough ideas of the things you can do in each place, how much they cost, when they’re open and where they are. Based on how much there is to do in each place, I then figure out how long we want to spend in each place. Then based on that, and a quick google map of the different places, work out which places we can plausibly visit. For example, we were in Zagreb for two days and realised it’s basically a city of two halves – the new and old town. One of the days we were visiting was a Sunday, so most stuff wasn’t open for as long, but we wanted to do more things in the Old Town than new. So we booked a hostel near the old town, did all of that stuff on our first day and then did the rest of the stuff on the Sunday with time to lay about in parks and have long meals in the sunshine etc.

Once I’ve figured that stuff out in long lists, I’ll book hotels and transport, and figure out times and put it in an itinerary. This all may seem (and probably is) incredibly anal, but it takes the stress away from it when you get there. We didn’t even have to consider how we’d get somewhere or what to do, because we pretty much already knew. Of course, if on the day we changed our mind, that was fine. It didn’t matter. But we had something. We were never completely lost for what to do, which was nice.

The schedule looked like this:

It saved us using internet on our phones and buying a guide book. (That’s not to say I have anything against guidebooks though, sometimes they’re great.)

Accommodation

I’ve raved about the places we stayed, so I suppose it’s only fair to share. I’ve written about them individually on the blog for each place, but I must say Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik were all exceptional.

Zagreb – Funk Lounge Hostel

It’s a little bit outside of the town, but you can just walk or get the tram which is incredibly cheap. It’s incredibly budget friendly, the people are nice, the rooms are clean and there is a bar and bakery on either side. 

Plitvice – Guest House Spoljaric Sasa

We were pretty much the only ones there, the people were friendly, there was a restaurant downstairs (hard to come by in the area) and it was about a 2 minute drive from Plitvice. From what we could see staying inside the park was quite expensive. This place was again budget friendly and may as well have been inside the National Park. Only thing is, if you don’t eat meat there isn’t much of a choice for you in the restaurant. There’s always pancakes though. 

Split – Apartments Tea

The hosts made this place. Well, and the location and the interior decoration. Especially if you like reading about boats. Honestly these people could not be more friendly (I mean they literally drove us to our car and then a car park). Plus, if you contact them directly they might do you a deal (no harm asking anyway). 

Hvar – Apartments Teo

Nothing bad to say about this place. It was close to the town, had parking, the host was helpful and great. His mum didn’t speak any English, but she could not have been more friendly with her actions. Also, it was the cleanest place I’ve ever been. 

Dubrovnik – Rooms Lydia

The hosts were so incredibly lovely. I’ve gushed over them too much already, but please please go and stay there, and be nice, and maybe bring her a gift. She deserves it. Location and room are nearly as fab as her. 

We flew British Airways from London, and Norwegian Air back. Our car was hired with Avis (we got separate insurance online though) and they let us drop the car at Dubrovnik from Zagreb, and still gave us money back for petrol.

We did the ziplining through: zipline-croatia.com and I’d recommend booking online before you go. Just gives you a bit of assurance if you’re not going to Omis anyway.

We got public transport everywhere that we didn’t drive, and it all worked out inexpensively.

I can’t think of anything else but if there is something I’ve forgotten just let me know! I might not know the answer but I’ll try my best.

it all came to about £300 each, including flights, car hire, accommodation, activities, food etc. Everywhere accepted Kunas and some places took Euros too.

With food, we generally ate out in the evening, but for breakfast we just bought a pastry from a local bakery and they were always amazing and easy to eat on the move.

Hope that’s helpful!

Abi

x

@abipageaustin

@travelteatv