Croatian observations

Just back from our trip and will be posting accommodation/restaurant reviews over the next few days or so, but thought I would add a few extra observations to help those of you planning your trips.

Toilets – every public toilet I visited was extremely clean, had soap, toilet paper and hand towels. A pleasant surprise.

Sobe – had great experiences, all (except one) very clean and well equipped and good value. Plenty of choice in early September. The ladies (why no sobe men?) were friendly and helpful and seemed almost embarrassed to ask for payment at the end of the stay.

Roads – Croatians are good drivers, and the roads are generally in good repair, in fact the toll roads are excellent, look like they’ve just been laid and practically empty. My OH loved taking the car up to max speed (don’t tell anyone).

Costs – You sure get through those kunas – we found a lot of extras to pay for – left luggage, storing luggage in buses, paying for maps when renting cars. Beware fancy bars with fancy drink prices.

Food – the one disappointment being a foodie, it was very difficult to find exciting, different or real local cuisine. Seafood is incredibly expensive. Mostly we paid UK prices for mediocre food, lots of bland tourist fare. We ended up cooking a few times which we never do. The only thing consistently ok was the pizza. We ate a lot of pizza!

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Thanks for writing, looking forward to seeing the rest. We leave on Friday to visit Split and Dubrovnik. Hope your negative Sobe experience wasn%26#39;t at the one we%26#39;re staying at.

Thankfully we love pizza and aren%26#39;t big seafood eaters!!!!!

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We%26#39;re flying over on Saturday and we%26#39;re real foodies too. Have to say I was a little concerned about the seafood prices and we can%26#39;t eat wheat so pizza and pasta are out of the window. Looks like we%26#39;re in for an expensive week!

Thanks for the advice.

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The disappointing sobe was the Dubrovnik one - the room had lots of character, two minutes to Pile Gate and a good view of the city walls, but the bathroom needed a seriously good scrub! Can%26#39;t tell you the name of the place cos I don%26#39;t know it, however it was recommended by the tourist office just off Placa.

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Yes thanks for the review of your trip. I also loved the pizza and am not into seafood too much. I wish I could have a mixed grill with salad and Karlovacko right now though!

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Karlovacko??? More details please! I was worried that we wouldn%26#39;t have much to eat besides seafood, so to hear about good pizza is excellent news!

Our Sobe in Split is called %26quot;Base Rooms%26quot;, so far I%26#39;ve heard lots of positive reviews. In Dubrovnik we%26#39;re staying at the Villa Adriatica near the Ploce gate.

Forecast calls for rain while we%26#39;re in Split, I%26#39;m hoping it%26#39;s not an all day event. I imagine a day trip to Hvar in the rain would not be very exciting...

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Mofrom, it would be really bad luck to have rain in Hvar.

Karlovačko is beer-nothing to eat!

As for good restaurants, do read the old posts, many posters have commented the food in specific restaurants.

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I did a lot of research beforehand both here and elsewhere on restaurants, so wasn%26#39;t just taking our pick. We also specifically avoided the seafront places with picture menus and multi-lingual menus, but still ...

In general the pizza was better the more north you were, obviously learnt something from their Italian neighbours.

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Pizza comes from the south of Apenini peninsula and not from the north.

On island Vis there is an old meal called Viška pogača, very similar to Italian meal from which Italians %26quot;developed%26quot; what is called pizza today.

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Thank you for the feedback, Chinkle

@ you planning to stop by in Split:

A friend just got back from a short break in Split – he said he really liked 2 places to eat.

-Pimpinela (across the street from Firule hospital)

-Fife (right off the Riva (main promenade)

Non-pretentions places, basic fresh homemade food in both, fish and meat, cheap. And yes, waiters can be moody – but that’s Split.

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Pizza and pasta are both good as is the risotto. The non-wheat eaters should be OK with that I hope. I see these things as pretty standard Dalmatian fare. Things like grilled meat are very good value (chicken, pork) as are local dishes such as cevavpcici. The seasonal salads are great. The ajvar is fantastic and I would love to bring it home (but tend to do hand luggage only). I have only had a bad meal once in the time I have been visiting Croatia (over 3 years and 3-4 times a year).