Visiting Croatia, the top places to visit in order of attractions: Split, Hvar, Vis, Dubrovnik. Split is a harbour front city. From there you can take boats/ferries/catamarans to the smaller wonderful islands.
Split's main attraction is its castle. They were built for a Roman emperor who retired there. Hence the people there are closer to Italians in terms of culture. Heck, 9 out of 10 restaurants are Italian.
The castle was als
used to film some bit of Game of Thrones and you can see why from the photos. Narrow alleyways make this place more like a maze. Restaurants are aplenty with alfresco dining all the rage.
The bulk of the space is old and charming except the harbour front area which feels like a modern harbour city like Sydney. I prefer the old castle.
Cost wise, its about twenty percent cheaper than Malaysia, if you can believe that. Wines are aplenty as there are plenty of wineries at the smaller islands. There's even an open market every day which translates into a jazz live concert place at night.
Stay within the castle walls as there are plenty of attractive lodgings there. Again, your luggage needs to navigate the cobblestones and stay one piece. Be warned.
Food is OK, not as good as the real Italian stuff. Can spend two days here easily just roaming the castle.
Why Croatia? The decision to go to Croatia was taken way before they fared so well in the World Cup, for a population of just 4.5m. If you look at the map of Croatia, its made up a narrowish mainland and then loads of beautiful small islands.
I agreed to go to Croatia/Prague because a friend of a friend has visited Croatia a few times and would be leading the group to a few wineries.
Tip number one: check where you will be landing going to Croatia. Their airports are smallish, hence not all airlines will land in all their airports. I took Qatar Airways, which lands in Zagreb. The key is to make it to Split as a meeting point.
Zagreb is mainly made up of a huge Main Square, where only modern trams and bicycles are allowed. Most tourists will stay inside the square. Be warned, inside the square are mostly cobblestones, if your luggage is a 4 wheeler, it will likely kaput very soon.
It is not just Zagreb only, even in Split, Hvar, and Dubrovnik, you need super high duty wheels on your luggage to navigate. Two wheelies are better than 4 wheelies. Ask for super reinforced two wheelies. Surprisingly, it is not that easy to buy new pieces of luggage in Croatia, go figure.
Zagreb was a two-dayer for me. Tried four different local food places, none were impressive. Somehow, Zagreb left me with the "worst food" place title for my entire trip in Croatia.
The drinking and smoking culture was good. Almost every other small street and alleyway were filled with open-air restaurants and bars. The beers were very good and not expensive.
Food was so unimpressive that I had to have McDonald's late into the night. It was good.
Zagreb is good to spend one or two days max. Considering where you should be spending most of your time in Croatia (i.e. Hvar, Split and the smaller islands)... it is best to fly into Split or Dubrovnik.
Best thing about Zagreb is that you can book a car and drive down to Split, which will take 3-4 hours. On the way take a detour (another hour or two) to go to Plitvice Lakes, a UNESCO heritage site. Absolutely mesmerising.
You need 3-5 hours to get the full benefit of hiking around the lakes, and also to take their boat ride to bring you closer to the waterfalls.
