Another vote for Plitvice - it's amazing. Try to stay nearby and go to the park earliest possible in summer - I hear it's a mad house. We went in March so not crowded. We also visited Split and Dubrovnik- both very nice. Friends love Rovinj as well and the islands only our time during spring break was limited and ferries not running as often.

If you go definitely hit Plitvice. One of the most beautiful places on the planet.

Summer is a great time to go. The ocean is warm enough to swim and very clear. The beaches are indeed often rocky but that means the water is amazingly clear. Many people speak some English.

It's a popular destination now so if you want to go I would start booking soon.

Summer is the best time. We've gone in May, June, July and August. All are great.

Many folks will speak some amount of English.

Anonymous wrote:So, summer is a good time to go?

Easy to get around without knowing the language?

I'm Croatian and I have a house there. I live in Canada otherwise.
Summer is the only time I would go.
Many people speak English. Last time I went I was surprised.

So, summer is a good time to go?

Easy to get around without knowing the language?

We just did this trip this past summer with our two MS kids. Flew in to Zagreb and rented from their national car rental Oryx. Got a wifi hotspot included. We drove to Istria and stayed in a small town called Momjan in an airbnb run by an American and Serbian couple. Lovely jumping off point to Pula with an intact coliseum, Umag for the lighthouse and seafood, Rovinj, Grozjan - lovely with good food and a cool music festival. Weather is great, food and win awesome. We ate seafood, truffles, carpaccios. You can eat at Agro tourismos where everything is grown in the farm.

After Istria we drove to Zadar and Split, quick detour to Bosnia to visit Mostar, then Dubrovnik. Made day trips out to the islands. Bring water shoes as coastal beaches are rocky but the islands are not.

We've visited Croatia many times over the years but our first time In Istria and everyone loved it.

Yes, it's a wonderful place. Try the small boat cruises, e.g., Katerina Line, if you want to see the islands. For Plitvice, it's worth paying for a private guide if you're going during high season because that lets you skip a VERY long line.

We went to Croatia a couple of years ago with an older ES kid and loved it.

We flew into Zagreb, spent a day or so there, drove to Rovinj (in Istria), stayed a few days there hanging out and visiting one or two nearby towns, and then drove to Plitvice National Park (which is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life), spent a night there and then continued to Split. We dropped off the car and hung out in Split for a couple days, then took a ferry to Hvar, then to Korcula, then got a ride down to Dubrovnik (stopping at Wall along the way), spent a few days there and flew home from Dubrovnik.

As I said we really liked the whole trip. It was a little bit of driving to get to/from Istria (and for that reason, plus the fact that's not as well known hardly any Americans seem to go) but we were really glad we did. The landscape is a little reminiscent of Tuscany and the food is wonderful (there was just an article in the NYT about Istrian truffles-- apparently they haven't been promoting them because they could get a better price selling them as Italian but that's changing a bit). There's also a ton of history-- cities that have been built up through the centuries (I think the second best preserved Roman amphitheater in the world (after the Coliseum) is in Pula, but that's one place we didn't go).

One thing I'll say is that many of the "beaches" can be rocky-- from Hvar I think they run day trips to sandier beaches but between not wanting to do a day trip and the fact that there is a substantial crowd of young backpackers who like to use those beaches for partying at night we didn't check them out. But there are nice resort hotels if you want to chill and places for swimming (including Krka park).

Dubrovnik is very touristy (for a reason-- it's beautiful, but it also gets big cruise crowds and it was harder to find good restaurants). It's a great place to go if you a Game of Throne fan-- we kept looking around and recognizing places they had filmed.

Anyone been to Croatia? Where did you go, and what did you do? Would you recommend it? Would you take school-age kids there?

Read an interesting travel article about istria this morning--pictures look cool, and it seems like an affordable travel destination.