If you venture to Split on the Croatian coast you could well be in for a big surprise, Split is a forgotten paradise, a once popular holiday resort. Before the early eighties and all of the troubles in Yugoslavia (Croatia is a former republic of Yugoslavia) Croatia’s coastline was a top holiday destination.
Croatia reopened to tourism around 3 years ago, it never really closed but it was unadvisable to visit before this. It is however not visited that much, not that there is anything wrong with it, quite to the contrary.
Only if you mentioned Croatia or Yugoslavia to most people it automatically conjures up images of the Balkans wars.
But that now adds to the beauty of Split as it is not so populated by tourists and is managing to retain it’s own culture.
I went to Troger, which is right on the beach. There is a very fine Edwardian style hotel here, but as it is in close proximately to the airport it is rather expensive by Croatian standards, around 70 Deutch Marks a night for two.
If you venture down the road along the beach, there are many private homes facing the beach, the majority of these homes offer rooms for rent at the rather modest price of 30 Deutch Marks a night @£10.00.
The standard is not the same as a hotel and there are no meals provided.
There are many restaurants along the beach and a 3-course meal will cost you around £7.00 for 2 people.
The area it’s self is a very old attractive Dalmatian area with many fine old buildings still standing.
The sea here is a beautiful shade of Blue and there are many fine sandy beaches, but most of the beaches are pebbled so I would recommend Flip Flops as sensible beach wear.
One of the benefits of this area is the beaches are hardly ever over populated unless you go in the first two weeks of July as this is when most Croatian people take their holiday and the beaches do become packed at this time, it is though an ideal time to visit if you wish to immerse yourself in the culture as many parades and concerts are held at this time.
Croatian music is quite like Greek music only very relaxed and the singers are a lot more soulful. I would recommend this destination as an ideal get a way for lovers and also for families as it is a great place to unwind.
It is also a very cheep destination, which also makes it ideal for pack packers. Getting there from England you can get a flight from Heathrow to Rome and change there for Split. Average fare for Flights is about £300.00 return.