Croatia - Anyone been? Any recommendations?

[WickedWax]

Ideally we'd like a nice hotel with a swimming pool, near a beach and walking distance into a town, for two adults and a 12 y/o boy. Does anyone have any recommendations please?

We went in 2014 with our 2 kids (then age 2 and 5). Croatia is so beautiful and I was totally in love with the crystal clear waters and stunning scenery. However I personally wouldn't recommend it as a family holiday with young children. The sea is so clear everywhere but the beaches are mainly stony, there aren't many other English tourists where we went so my kids didn't make friends and lastly we didn't find the Croatian people very friendly - they were polite and we had no problems with them but they were quite brash and didn't seem as accommodating for small children as other European countries are.

But you don't have young kids so I would definitely recommend it! I don't have a hotel recommendation for you as we stayed in a few places but we really liked the town of Zadar - lovely square, nice restaurants, really cool art installations on the harbour. If you are up for some walking then I would highly recommend a visit to Plitvice Lakes - they are stunning.

We found the food there to be very good and really reasonable (c€40 for a 2/3 course dinner for 4 with wine).

Hope this helps!

Thanks Terrys that's really helpful, I'll have a look at Zadar

I went without dc last May. Stayed in the Lapad area of Dubrovnik. It was a beautiful place. The sea and coastline us gorgeous.

But yes, beaches are stone. Most beaches have swimming platforms though.

We stayed at the Grand Park Hotel. It was fine, friendly staff, nice food. I loved the area. Caught the bus into the Old Town of Dubrovnik most days. From there you can take boat trips to other small Islands, do canoeing etc.

I found costs quite good, except for in the old town. But even then nothing was outrageously expensive.

I found the people there pretty friendly and most speak English well.

I will definitely visit again.

we went to Split and Korcula,

I found the Croatians very friendly and accommodating. When we bought the kids ice creams one day we were charged £1 each, when the went to get themselves the next day they charged then 10P!

We drove to different beaches and sailed to a cove in Korcula,stoney beaches but beautiful sea. At one of the harbours we visited visitors left car keys on top of their cars in case anyone needed to move them.

we found it inexpensive, eating out was really reasonable.

Split is an amazing town, we went down there most nights.
Our hotel was packed, not great but most hotels were the same. There weren't many British kids but lots of German and Austrian kids played with mine.. One of the kids told me he was told to play with mine to improve his English.
This is one of the coves www.croatiagems.com/villa-zavalia-zavalatica-korcula-island/

Following with interest! I'd like to try Croatia this year too, have been doing a little research and I really like the look of Pula, v pretty, stunning beaches but also lovely old town... We have an 8yr old... Annoyingly though we wanted to go in May and the flights don't start til end of June!
A friend has also recommended the island of Hvar, which also looks beautiful, but you need to get a catamaran from the mainland, flying into Split, so bit of a faff for us as we're only going for 8 or 9 nights...
Hope you find somewhere lovely!

Cavtat. Along the coast from Dubrovnik. Lots of restaurants, a great base for excursions. Stayed in Lapad the year before, but preferred Cavtat. It's a fab place.

Agree with pp- Cavtat is beautiful. We caught the bus down there for a look around - and then took a (splashy) boat ride back to Dubrovnik.

Some lush luxury yachts moored up.

V nice place.

When do you plan to go ?

We went in at end of May - and I will admit that I was worried on the first day as the weather was almost chilly! Our plane landed before check-in at the hotel so we had to wander around a little. Was ccold and drizzly. Fortunately that afternoon things picked up and the rest of the week was lovely and warm. Perfect actually. My friend returned there in the summer with her family - and said it was very hot.

We stayed here in Baska Voda the first time and absolutely loved it.

The second time we stayed in the Hotel Lapad on the Lapad peninsula the second time. It was a lovely hotel.

If you like walking there is a really good coastal path that runs through Baska Voda. You can also take boat trips from the harbor.

I liked both places, but as we enjoyed better weather in Baska Voda I have fonder memories of staying there.

I forgot to say that DD was 9 or 10 when we went o BV and 13 when we went to Dubrovnik.

Are any of these places suitable for a four year old and a two year old?

Not where we went, no. The pool in BV was very definitely not for non swimmers, and the beach was pebbly. We didn't see many small children there. I don't recall seeing many small children in Dubrovnik either. DD is a teenager now so we usually avoid holidays geared towards families with small children.

We have just booked for this summer staying in Porec at the Valamar Isabella Island Resort. Never been but everyone I know who has been to Croatia say how lovely it is.

Hmmm - there were few children there when I went - and it was Spring Bank. Somewhere like Cavtat looked to be more geared up for children - there was a large inflatable play area in the shallow water.

i loved it - as we were amongst the youngest in the hotel - not bad for mid 40s - ha ha!!

We've been twice in recent years & if your son enjoys snorkeling then it's an amazing place. My boys didn't enjoy snorkeling so hated it - there is no space at the beaches to play since they are mostly rocks.
We stayed both times on the Istrian peninsula & booked a villa both times through owners direct although sadly they weren't right at the beach. Porec is a good place to stay as its right at the (rocky) beach & there are also day trips to Rovinj which is absolutely stunning.
We also went to Zadar which was a lovely town & agree that a trip to the Plitvice Lakes is well worth it.
My BIL & SIL went to the island of Krk and really enjoyed it & I think it has a sandy beach. I don't know any hotels tho since they (and we) always booked self catering