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Original poster

Croatia or Bulgaria

34 replies

kittypop · 02/09/2018 11:20

Just posting here for traffic. Looking at holidays for next July - hopefully either Bulgaria or Croatia - anyone been? Any recommendations? The hotel I am looking at is near Dubrovonic for Croatia and the other one is near Sunny Beach in Bulgaria.

OP posts:
CitySnicker · 02/09/2018 11:37

Cavtat...lovely 😊

Fartymcnarty · 02/09/2018 11:46

We have just been to Bulgaria, sunny beach is very much like Benidorm! We didn’t like it. But We stayed in Nessebar which is close to sunny beach but not as touristy iyswim. We went to sunny beach for a day which was enough!! Nessebar is beautiful especially the old town. Bulgaria itself is a beautiful country!

LunaLovegoodsRadishes · 02/09/2018 11:53

Dubrovnik is crazy in the sumner months. What about Lopud? You can take a boat to the mainland if you want, but escape back in the evenings.

Angie169 · 02/09/2018 11:55

WE went to Bulgaria a few years ago , we stayed at the Taira beach hotel in sunny beach , the hotel is AI the food is ok the hotel was very nice . it is about as far along the coast as you can get so it is a bit quieter than the centre but is less than a 5 min stroll to the beach . As PP said Nessebar is lovely the market is very nice ( and not like some places that have people bugging you all the time )
I have never been to Croatia so I can not compare the two but I would love to go back to Bulgaria

LoniceraJaponica · 02/09/2018 11:57

I have never been to Bulgaria, but have read very few glowing reviews about the resorts there. I have been to Croatia twice, and loved it. We stayed on the Makarska riviera the first time and Dubrovnik the second time.

Santaclarita · 02/09/2018 12:00

Croatia is meant to be gorgeous, but it's getting a lot more popular now.

confusedmomm · 02/09/2018 12:07

I'm in Bulgaria atm. been to Croatia as well. I'd do Bulgaria but not sunny beach as it's like any louder touristy beach place. As above Nessebar is lovely! You can pop into sunny beach in 10 minutes but you're in a much much prettier place (Nessebar is a town, SB is a resort only alive in the summer); Burgas local town is great to visit as is Sozopol (day trips are super cheap) n generally if you think sunny b is cheap then anywhere else on the coast is even cheaper.

confusedmomm · 02/09/2018 12:08

*Burgas is a city not town, sorry. But centre is lovely and chilled and super safe for kids.

confusedmomm · 02/09/2018 12:11

If the choice is purely between Dubrovnik or Asan then Dubrovnik would win.

beachygirl · 02/09/2018 12:11

Just back from Dubrovnik. Beautiful but busy and extremely expensive...wine around £23 a bottle minimum, single course at dinner around £20. If budget is a consideration I think you will find Bulgaria much cheaper. This site looks out of date as it was much dearer this year, but it gives an idea.
www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Bulgaria&city1=Sofia&country2=Croatia&city2=Dubrovnik&displayCurrency=GBP

confusedmomm · 02/09/2018 12:12

*asan = sunny beach (phone changed)

POPholditdown · 02/09/2018 12:19

I’d pick Croatia over anywhere for a beach holiday tbh, the sea is amazing. Poole beaches tend to be a bit quieter/more spacious than Dubrovnik though (I think a bit cheaper too)

Split is also lovely and you can fly direct from most airports (assuming you’re in England). You can get a ferry to island of Brac, a short distance from the airport.

SparklyLeprechaun · 02/09/2018 12:25

Dubrovnik any time. I love Croatia. Sunny beach is OK if you want a cheap beach holiday, a bit like the Romanian resorts, beautiful beach but noisy, crowded, not the cleanest (not really dirty either, just had that slightly unkempt look) and services not quite top notch. It was very cheap a few years ago when we went, not sure what it's like now.

TooYoungToBeSoTired · 02/09/2018 12:27

Croatia! Absolutely stunning country! Bulgarian sea side resorts are terrible and the Black Sea is not very nice. Bulgaria is much cheaper so depends what you are looking for.

Lotsofsausage · 02/09/2018 12:34

I prefer croatia. The Adriatic sea is just beautiful and warm, more coastline to choose from. Bulgaria is a bit tacky and the food is shit when ever I have been.

CharltonLido73 · 02/09/2018 12:39

Never been to Bulgaria but loved the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia. Beautiful coastline near Rovinj.

Aspenfrost · 02/09/2018 12:43

We were in Dubrovnik is very early summer. It is lovely but yes, very busy. It’s one of those places cruise liners frequent. That swamps the centre a bit but we were in Lapad which is slightly off the tourist beat.

ComeOnGordon · 02/09/2018 12:52

Are you going with kids? Croatia is beautiful (Rovinj is stunning), the sea is crystal clear but there’s so few sandy beaches and my younger kids were bored at the beach unless they were snorkeling. I was also disappointed with the food - fish was really expensive and the rest was just to cater for tourists. They didn’t seem to have their own cuisine.

Haven’t been to Bulgaria in a long time so can’t comment on how it is now.

We went a few years ago to Puglia and it was a good bit better than Croatia. The food was better (oh the food!!), there were sandy beaches with warm seas and the towns were as pretty as Croatia. It’s been my favourite holiday with kids.

PinkHeart5914 · 02/09/2018 12:54

Croatia every single time! I’ve been 3 times now and it is a beautiful place.

First time we stayed in Dubrovnik for a weekend then we stayed in split, and finally we stayed in Slano and hired a car so we could drive all over 😍

You would never regret a holiday to Croatia

Croatia or Bulgaria
Croatia or Bulgaria
Croatia or Bulgaria
Mumtothenipper · 02/09/2018 13:05

I'm at the Duni Pelican in Bulgaria now. Booked with TUI. It's lovely. Preparing to write a lovely trip advisor review about it.

LoniceraJaponica · 02/09/2018 13:29

ComeOnGordon the lack of sand didn't bother us as none of us really likes sand. On our recent holiday to Majorca we spent most of our time by the pool because, although the beach was pretty, we hated getting sand everywhere.

We stayed in Baska Voda, and ate some gorgeous meals. I think it is less touristy there, and we found one restaurant that we liked more than the others and ate there several times. I agree that Croatia doesn't seem to have its own distinctive cuisine. It is heavily influenced by the Italians, but they have some lovely deli style meats, cheeses etc, and their own wine of course. I found it was a general Mediterranean diet, and really delicious.

HiHoToffee · 02/09/2018 13:34

We went to Croatia for 2 weeks this year and will definitely go back there. We stayed in the Trogir area and had an active beach holiday with day trips to Trogir, Split and Dubrovnik. The beaches are rocky, pebbles or concrete but as we were snorkelling, kayaking etc that didn't bother us, kids are to old for sandcastles anyway.

Dubrovnik is worth the visit but as others have said very expensive. Food was fine, lots of pasta and pizza and a variety of meat and fish dishes. The weather was great.

Taxis are expensive but the bus and boat taxis are good value for money. We hired a car for 3 days but on our next visit we will hire one for the duration of our stay and go more land inwards.

Haphazardhacker · 02/09/2018 17:16

Croatia every time it’s a stunning country, the sea is the clearest I’ve ever seen. The food amazing and the wines too. Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach is very much like Benidorm, Croatia is much more unspoilt, I suspect in time it will slowly get more and more touristy so go there now.

Haphazardhacker · 02/09/2018 17:21

When we went we toured around as we drove there but Trogir is lovely, Rovinj, Krk, Plitvice lakes, Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina is lovely too as well as Dubrovnik. On the way back we went to Lake Bled in Slovenia, stunning also. Croatia is expensive yes but oh it’s lovely.