I'm a bit of a mad hatter!(my photo will follow shortly..promise)
I'm a bit of a mad hatter!(my photo will follow shortly..promise)
Member since:14.12.2004
Reviews:8
When I told my friends I was taking a family summer holiday to Croatia, I must admit they laughed - and many 'very amusing' jokes about taking a tin helmet with me, ha ha, were thrown my way, them obviously forgetting the war ended in Croatia quite a while ago.
On arrival in the country you can't help but notice the heat - it really is scorching when you step off the aeroplane. After the usual hustle and bustle at mediterranean airports, we were off on a coach to our hotel in Porec, on St.Niklos island. The hotel on the island we stayed in was lovely - large swimming pool, large sunbathing area and many poeple from many nations (and yes there was the mad rush in the morning to put the towels on the sunbeds, i thought that was a cliche before I went to Croatia!!). However, I always like to venture out of my hotel and get a real feel for the place I am staying in, and this is what I did.
Take a small ferry from the island to the main town, and this is where lively Porec is. Porec is a gorgeous fishing harbour, that has transformed itself into a tourists' dream. Firstly (and arguably most importantly ) food - Try a 'gyros', which is a natvie kebab, often to be found in mobile snack huts. They are lamb, salad, often come with dips/ mayonnaise, are very very cheap and are absolutely gorgeous after a day of sunbathing. We often ate one in the daytime sat looking at the sea, as they are a nice quick snack that fills you, when you are too hot to eat a large lunch. One thing that will strike you about Croatia is this feel that it is a 'little Italy' -very much demonstrated by the food. In the town, there are excellent Italian food restaurants, which put supermarkets' lasange to utter shame! Again they are reasonably priced, and make a great night out, as often the bars/restaurants have music and very friendly and entertaining waiters! The ice-cream parlours are also extremely good - with some of the best ice-cream I have ever tasted.
Shopping - Again has an Italian feel, what with many desginer stores, and designer clothes such as Versace. Many shops are full of real quality leather porducts such as bags, often of price and value you can't get here in the U.K. Also check out the jewellery, which are in some unusual styles and very well made.Great for holiday gifts, so take the credit card and splash out!
Scenery - One word -beautiful. The lovely blue sea that runs along the great coastline, mediterranean trees/plants and old fashioned buildings, that have real character and history. The forests are excellent venues for horse-riding and the 'little Italy' feeling, is echoed by the historic remains of Roman forums and temples .
The people are incredibly friendy, and entertaining and do a lot to make your stay welcome! This entertaining attitude was noticable when Croatia were in a football game, and it seemed every local was in a football strip in town watching the game - talk about atmosphere!
Also take advantage of the boat trips that are on offer - many can take you as afar as Venice, and again are very reasonably priced, and are very good to show you the 'real' Croatia, and appreciate the landscape.
In a nutshell, Croatia is an ideal family holiday that offers grogeous sunshine and plenty of activities to keep everyone happy. As the town is small you can keep costs down by not really needing public transport - thus you get to appreciate so much of Porec as you can always be out and about. A definate thumbs up...just make sure you wear your insect repellant!
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Advantages: Easily accessible by car from Europe, still value for money, lovely beaches Disadvantages: everytime you tell your friends you've been there you'll have to answer the 'but what about the war?' question :-)
free4susan 25.07.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of General: Croatia
Jan 26th, 2005
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