Croatia

bjp

Had a fantastic time there in 2002.Wrote article published in MMM Aug 2003.Can send you text of this if interested.Let me know your email.

smokingdragon

Hi

Just come back from a tour down through Germany Austria Slovenia and then on to Umag in Croatia. Obviously with only 2 weeks we could only stay a couple days in each location. I was told that Croatia was dirt cheap (last year), but this year I found that it wasn't particularly cheap, I use the price of a 50cl beer as a guide line and in Umag it was approx €2.50.

Umag seemed to be very popular with the Germans and Italians. It was very warm and the people very friendly.

Nice local food in the restaurants 2 x 2 courses £30 but stay clear of the £5 a litre house wine - not suitable for drinking but good for cleaning dead flies off the Luton!

I didn't have time to explore the non resort areas but apparently they are quite stunning.

On a personal level I preferred Slovenia, especially Bled (Camping Sobec).

Enjoy yourself!!

Simon
Wink

MickKnipfler

Thanks bjp. My email address is steve.povey 'at' yahoodotcom

My motorhome is 3500kg unlaiden so Switzerland may be a better bet?

Only a few posts left now......

haylingchrist

Hi,

Anyone experience of wild camping in Croatia? Pedee says it's illegal, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's impractical. I can't believe the teutonic hordes spend all their time on sites.

Chris

DJP

It was our intention to go this year with the MH. Whilst on holiday in Europe we discovered our pan European insurance did not cover Slovenia and Croatia for the MH. We did however stay on a site in Trieste and crossed the borders in the Smart car for which we had a Green card which did cover us. We first went to Porec where we first visited 30 years ago. Still a very nice country, quite a bit more commercialised than it used to be and more European. We did research the campsites beforehand and selected what seemed to be some excellent sites around Porec/Pula.
We made a big mistake on our way to Italy. we travelled thru France and via Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy. We paid about £150 in tolls (with theSmart car an A Frame).
Coming back we came thru Austria, buying a Go Box on route (about 55 euro) into Germany, Luxembourg, Belguim and France. Total cost for tolls and Go Box about £50. Fuel was also cheaper than France/Italy in Austria and Belguim IIRC. If you need any more info PM me and I will try and help.

Don Madge

rico_n_jo

do check this site out ... it is a good online map distance claculator...

peedee

ladybird

I have been to Croatia the past two years, and would completely reccomend it. We went to Istria both times, Plitvice lakes and Krk, would agree with the tight roads in Krk.

With regard to the GoBox this year we went down through Austria and came back by Italy France. In the long run it actually worked out cheaper to go by Austria with regard to tolls, we came back by the Mont Blanc tunnel and the toll was horrendous. You also have tolls in Italy and France that way, but by going through Austria, there are no tolls in Germany.

I found the croatian people very friendly, the scenery spectacular and the cost of living cheap. If you do go don't miss out on Plitvice Lakes which is in the North of the Country about 70 miles from Zagreb. We also visited Slovenia. A beautiful country particularly around lake bled and the Triglav National park,

My reccomendation is to go in the next couple of years whilst it is not to commercialised.

haylingchrist

Thanks for the (always good) avice Don.

We decided to give it a punt and spent a week there (October '06), getting a far south as Split. It was very beautiful and it would be a msitake to just stay on the coast.

We wild camped all the time and didn't get arrested (or sent to a hotel). Though it wasn't easy we stayed in some nice spots mostly on the coast with a view of the sea as good as you'd expect in Spain or Italy. Technically, I think it's illegal to wild camp - the Craotian tourist site says it's mandatory to register with the local police once you've arrived (but normally the camp site or hotel do this). This all sounds a bit cold-war to me and I don't think I'll be supporting theire application for EU memebership. Fortunately, we never knew where we were going so never arrived anywhere and it wasn't a problem.

Mostly we stopped late in the day though and left by 11:00. Only once did we stay more than one night in the same place. Some of the country suits wild camping but a lot is on the side of a mountain which falls straight into the sea - finding somewhere for a cuppa in our 8M van is a challenge, let alone somewhere for the night. There were plenty of places with picture signs showing 'no caravan's or tents' and a few with 'no campers or tents'. We took these to mean that it was OK to stay anywhere else. It wasn't that we were hidden we saw plenty of police cars. Our only brush with authority was when we stopped for lunch in a parking area which was clearly signed as 'no parking for camper vans'. However, it must be the biggest bit of beach-side parking in the country with enough room