Croatia - Split for family hol any recommendations?

[Sandgroper]

Hi

I am interested in holidaying in Croatia late July/Aug for a week or two. Self contained apartment or Villa, been told that Split is gorgeous.

Would be me, DH and two DS (6, 4). Would appreciate any info or recommendations?

.... watching

Hello,

I used to be a holiday rep in that area. Cant help you with a place to stay but it is a wonderful place. Plenty of boat trips you can go on. Lovely beach and some watersports. I worked on an island called Brac on a resort called Bol. Lovely beaches there and hotel activities.

I recommend Croatia. We stayed on an island called Lopud off coast of Dubrovnik. There are several islands round there so the ferry is like a local bus. Was beautiful and was nice nice to do day trips to Dubrovnik and return to quiet island at night.

Hi

Thanks to everyone for your recommendations/tips. I shall go away and do some more research!

Even more determined to go there for a holiday now.

Many thanks

You can easily take ferries and catamarans to Hvar and Brac islands from Split. We stayed on Hvar in villa booked through Croatian Affair. It's absolutely wonderful.

Are there many watersports-type activities offered there?

I used to live there. Split is not a place for a holiday, but it is in the centre of teh Dalmatian coast which absolutely is a holiday destination!

Split is Croatia's 2nd largest city (behind the capital Zagreb). However it is really only a good-sized town. You go drive from outside to the centre in 10 minutes. Most of Split got built up during the socialist/ Tito era and its fairly drab, grey concrete blocks of flats.

However the old town mainly consists of the retirement palace which was built in 300AD for the Roman emperor Diocletian and its still a living/ shopping/ eating out place today. The streets are obviously too narrow for cars so its all pedestrianised with a maze of narrow streets and a few wider squares. The lynx advert "angels will fall" was shot in the streets at the edge of the palace and it gives you a flavour for what the old town is like []

Split is also the main port for the ferries which take you out to the islands, such as Brac (50 mins), Hvar (1hr 45) and Vis (3 hours?). Most people stay there or further down the coast in the Makarska area (half way between Split and Dubrovnik)

Personally I would only spend one day in Split, and another day in Trogir (25 minutes away on the other side of Split Airport and for the rest I would rather be on Hvar or Brac or in Primosten (which is on the mainland, about one hour north of Split).

The good news is that everyone under 50 speaks some English as they learn it at school from the age of 7. Eating out and drinking are generally cheap.

The beaches are all small stones, not sand and as a result the water is the clearest blue you will ever see!

You will probably pay for your accommodation in euros but everything there will be in kunas. We found the best thing to do was just to use our UK debit/ credit cards to withdraw money at ATMs as and when you need it. Or you could take sterling out with you and change it at one of the (many) exchange shops. Most chops take cards tehse days but its rare in a restaurant or konoba (i.e. bistro).

Hire your car direct from the car hire firm: Hertz, europcar etc. The broker's charge less but the economy in Croatia is a huge mess right now and car hire companies have not been able to get leasing deals for new cars which has caused a hire car shortage in the last couple of years. When the staff at the car hire place have more reservations than cars, they tend to favour the customers who came to them direct and that has left the broker customers stranded (because you really need a car to get around in Croatia!).

Hi - Have you thought about staying near Dubrovnik, Cavtat or Porec - especially with kids. Alot of the hotels have kids clubs - my two have been 4 and 7 respectively when we've been and loved it. They made friends with kids from all countries and meant we could read and relax by the pool. Beaches are rocky/pebbly but Porec has man made beach with kids inlet, playground etc/ It's a brilliant place to visit. Split is lovely too but I think with kids, the other two win out.

We loved Split when we went with 4 year old DD. There's really only one sandy beach and it does get crowded, but it has the advantage of being incredibly shallow for a long way out so the DCs can happily play safely in the sea. Every time we went DD ended up in some mega sandcastle building exercise with children of many nationalities, few who understood each other.

From Split you can do day trips to many of the islands, and it's woth checking out the tourist info service. We ended up on a day trip canoeing down one of the rivers. The day started up with being picked up in a van, there was the guided canoe trip (4 year old DD coped fine) followed by a picnic. The organisers brought along sports equipment so the children played badminton and football while the adults lolled around in the grass drinking the local wine.

The cuisine can best be described as "kill it and grill it" which works well with children. We also found the wildlife fascinating. Next to our apartment was a piece of waste ground. Every night at 9pm we would go out to watch the bats come our and swoop around barely missing us. This, along with the lizards and the cats is still DD's abiding memory of the place.

Trogir is a local bus ride away. Apart from being beautiful, it's fun for any Dr Who fans to try and spot where the Venetian fish-monster episode was filmed. There's also a fantastic day trip to be had going to the waterfalls. Good swimming and, again, bug spotting for science geek DH.

We privately rented an apartment, found on tinternet. My only suggestion is make sure it has air conditioning.

The river canoeing would be the Cetina river. It runs inland from the coastal town of Omis which is south of Split. You can also go on a river cruise from Omis down Cetina valley which stops at a picnic spot/ restaurant/ play area a mile or two downstream. The cruise is fairly cheap. Just go to the bridge in Omis and you'll see the boarding point for the cruise below. You pay on board.
That's definitely a nice day out, especially as its cooler inland which can be much appreciated if the temp is constantly 35C!
Omis is about 30 minutes away from Split, although I have seen these times go up to 1hour 30 on Fridays and Saturdays which are changeover days (most tourists drive to Dalmatia from Germany/ Austria/ Slovenia/ Poland/ Czech Republic etc).

The waterfalls are north of Split in Krka National Park. Entrance is around £10 per person from memory but its a whole day out, with walks and swimming places and restaurants. You can either drive direct to the park or you can go to the village called Skradin and take the (free) boat trip out to the waterfalls that drops you at the edge of park. Personally i think the Skradin option is nicer and young children will love the boat trip across the lake (at least mine did).

One other thing you can do - if you like history - is to visit Solin which is on the outskirts of Split. It is the site of the 1st century Greek settlement of Salona and the ruins of the city are still there to be seen. It extends over a mile or two. Also there is a graveyard there with grave stones fro early Christians at one side (with the fish emblem) and at the opposite you can see the gladiators graves.

I loved going to Mostar. Its about three hours from split, just over the border in Bosnia (actually it is in the Hercegovina part). It is an amazing place - literally where East meets West - you will see what i mean if you go there! It is very busy though.
30 km away from Mostar is the Catholic pilgrimage place called Medjugorje.

Four hours south of Split (traffic allowing) lies Dubrovnik which is amazing and iconic and packed. IMO Dubrovnik is only worth visiting out of season because the crowds are just too much in summer. However the drive south of Split to Dubrovnik follows the coast and the scenery is truly world-class! if you do take this drive though, don't take the motorway, or if you, then make sure you leave at Sestonvac (which is next to Cetina). The reason is the motorway - called Autocesta - is still being built. it has been delayed by the financial crisis. The result is that it just peters out in the hills above Makarska and the road is amazing and scary but also guaranteed travel sickness back down to the coast!

If you fly into Zadar though with Ryanair, then its fine to drive down the motorway to Split, and its much faster too (about 90 minutes).

One other trip I used to do with the children was out to the caves. Its about 45 minutes inland but I would need to dig out the details for you as they are not well advertised. They are huge underground rooms though and are chock full of stalagmites etc. entrance was cheap - about 20kn or 30 kn (i.e. £3.50)