Have you been to Croatia - any recommendations?

[Tinycitrus]

Booked flights to Split for family of five for summer 2018. £420 return!

Now looking for accommodation. Any recommendations mainland or islands? We would like to be near a beach and in an apartment rather than a hotel (although secretly would like some hotel recommendations to dazzle DP with)

We went last summer- hired car at airport- stayed in apartment in Split old town (right by the harbour) for 2 nights and then go ferry to Korcula and stayed in a villa just outside Vela Luka. Had fab time but it was VERY hot!! Also not sure if this is important to you but Croatia doesn’t really have sandy beaches.

That’s what we are hoping to do - a few nights in Split then head off to an island.

We have been looking at Korcula - it looks lovely - and some of the other islands.

Looking forward to pebbly beach as a bit of a change from sand everywhere!

A lot of places have concrete over rocks with ladders into the sea (bit like parts of Italy) if that makes any sense?

We booked our Split apartment via booking.com - deffo worth getting something by the sea in old town (and get air con) - our villa on Korcula was lovely. We also went to Mljet which was well worth a trip.

When you’re in Split you MUST go to Froggyland (do google it) - even more surreal in real life then you could imagine!

We went further up- istria- but loved it.
Definitely worth having water shoes, as where we were it wasn't pebbles it was big slabs of sometimes sharp rock. But that does mean totally clear sea which I love.

And it's not euros. (I thought it was till just before we went!)

How old is your family? Hvar and Korcula islands both lovely for grown ups (scenic, old towns, bars, nice accommodation, snorkling) but probably not the best for young dc as no beaches, it's all stony shores. Plitvice national park inland is stunning (amazing waterfalls) but again more for grown ups than kids. If you have younger dc I would head north up the coast in search of sandy beaches.

Froggyland -WTAF That’s definitely on the list!

My children are a bit older -14,11 and 9 and good swimmers so we are looking forward to swimming in the sea.

Froggyland was ace!!

My children were 12 and 14 when we were there so similar to your. We also hired Kyaks and SUP which were fab. The sea was lovely but quite chilly.

There is a sandy beach on Korcula (near Korcula Town)

Beach shoes needed. Lots of sea urchins with big spikes.

It can be expensive for food / drink but we found people amazingly helpful and friendly. History is fascinating too - we booked a tour around the surrounding area. Castles, Roman ruins etc.

Yes kayaks would be fab.

We are looking st Bol on Brac island and Korcula abd two nights in Split.

Am definitely looking fir air conditioning

I was wondering about food costs - I think we will be cooking in the apartment for some of the time but want to avoid holiday drudgery as much as possible

If you stay for a day or 2 in Split, you can take the bus, or walk, through a park on the edge of town and get to some nice 'beaches' i.e rock ledges by the sea. You can hire sunbeds and get food and drink. It's a lovely place to go to cool down, as it's also shady.

YY to Korcula town. Also, we preferred Supertar on Brac Island, to Bol. Also popped to Hvar town on Hvar - vairry posh/ yacht set but great fun for people watching and very beautiful.

Enjoy!

We’ve been looking at supertar and Bol - as we would like to stay on two islands if possibly - found a lovely place on Korcula Via airb&b which o think we are going to book.

We stayed in Baska Voda on the Makarska Riviera, and loved it. I want to go to Korcula.

Starigrad is also lovely of you go over to Hvar - much quieter than Hvar town but lovely for a quiet walk and lunch.
We also liked Supetar and Sutivan on Brac. We found Brac to be one of the cheapest islands in Croatia, both for accommodation and food/drink.