Great day out. Collected from our hotel for a private day trip in a smart, clean and comfortable vehicle. Driver Marin was informative and friendly. Pavo the tour guide was knowledgeable and accommodating to our needs.
Lunch at Bota Sare was amazing.
Memories to treasure. A huge Thankyou to all
For our recent vacation in Croatia, we decided to book 6-day private tour that also included transportation. After researching various tour companies, we decided to go with Croatia Private Tours, a small agency located in Split which had excellent reviews on Trip Advisor. I contacted the company and worked with Hrvoje Curkovic (founder and CEO at Croatia Private Tours) to put together a tour that covered the country's highlights for 9 adults. Hrvoje proposed an initial itinerary and after going back and forth a couple times with him, we finalized a list of activities that I was happy with.
Day 1 of the tour started with a pick-up at Dubrovnik Airport. We were met just outside of the custom's area by our driver Dino who then drove us to our hotel in what looked to be e relatively new, air conditioned mini bus. Dino was our driver for the whole trip. Since there was quite a bit of travelling to be done (we started in Dubrovnik and ended up Zagreb) we spent lots of time with him. We really liked Dino! He was always punctual (wish I could say the same for us) and made our travel time enjoyable by conversing with us and indicating points of interest along the way. Thank you Dino!
After the hotel check-in in Dubronik, we requested Dino to drop off at the Old Town. Once there, we headed straight for the city walls which, from what we had read, was the main attraction. Walking the walls turned out to be an incredible experience and definitely a must-do for anybody visiting Dubrovnik! Later that afternoon, we walked through the town and climbed up the St. Lawrence Fortress just outside the western wall (entrance to the fort was included as part of the city walls admission). We wrapped up the day with a 5 km sunset Kayaking excursion that departed from Pile Bay at 5pm in the afternoon.
Our second day in Dubrovnik focused on exploring the Old Town with a local licensed guide, Ivana. Ivana was great! She was knowledgeable, articulate and friendly. She spent ~2 hour giving us a tour of the city. After Ivana's tour, Dino drove us to Cavtat where we spent an hour or so exploring the town. He then drove us back to Dubrovnik so we could catch the cable car up to Mount Srd. This is another must-do activity in Dubrovnik as the views from the top are phenomenal. Following our visit to Mount Srd, we descended back down to the old town where we had dinner and spent the early evening relaxing at the Buza 1 bar before finally returning back to our hotel by taxi.
On the third day, we left Dubrovnik and traveled to Split. On our way, we stopped at Ston and Mostar. In Ston, we enjoyed eating the local oysters and tasting the local wines. In Mostar, we received a 1-hour guided tour of the old town followed by some free time to eat lunch and to explore the Old Bridge and surrounding area. We ate at a restaurant called "Savradhan" which featured Mediterranean cuisine as recommended by our local tour guide. The food was very good and the prices quite reasonable. We arrived in Split late that afternoon and Dino dropped us off at hour hotel. That night, we walked down to the Riva for dinner, drinks and ice cream.
Our fourth day started with a tour of the 1700 year-old Diocletian palace in Split. Tina was our tour guide for the day. She was truly exceptional! She was personable, funny and very entertaining! Of course, she was well versed in the history of the palace which made for a very interesting tour. Following the palace tour in Split, Dino drove us (and Tina) to Trogir where she then gave us a tour of that city as well. Afterwards, we had free time to explore Trogir on our own. I took that opportunity to climb the bell tower of the Trogir Cathedral and was rewarded with some great views of the city. Our final stop before returning to our hotel in Split was the ruins of the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Salona. That evening, we once again walked down to the Riva to experience some more of the night life there.
On the fifth day, we travelled from Split to Zagreb with a stop at Plitvice Lakes National Park. There, another local guide gave us a tour of the lower lakes area. While we were hoping to see the upper lakes as well, we didn't have enough time to do so. The lower lakes area is full of waterfalls and the scenery is absolutely beautiful with endless picture taking opportunities. We ended the day in Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia. Dino dropped us off at the hotel late in the afternoon and from there we walked to the Old Town to have dinner and to explore the area. As it happened, the summer festivals were ongoing and there were lots of street vendors and free entertainment that included folk dancing and various musical performers. I wish we could have spent more time there!
The next morning, Dino pick us up at the hotel and dropped us off at the airport thus completing the tour. I can honestly say that we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Croatia! I have to commend Croatia Private Tours for the excellent job they did in coordinating all the activities and transportation, and for their selection of a competent and friendly driver and of knowledgeable and friendly tour guides. Thank you Croatia Private Tours for making this a truly memorable vacation!
Josip was great! He called the night before to arrange pickup outside Diocletian's Palace (where we were staying) and got us directly to Dubrovnik and Ston and points in between and a little off the beaten track, too! He was a great conversationists, and my wife and I appreciated his local knowledge. We wish him the best.