Need to spend less than £10K on summer holiday this year. Anyone been to Croatia

[hmcAsWas]

Had been looking at a fly drive around Quebec, Montreal etc but some rather hefty unexpected bills are clipping our wings this year and so we're now looking at Europe. We've done villa holidays before in South of France, various locations on mainland Italy (and also Sardinia and Sicily), Spain, Greece etc and so now we're thinking perhaps Croatia? If you have been, what did you like / what would you recommend?

We are a family of 4 (kids will be 14 and 16 by the time the holiday comes around). They enjoy some sightseeing but not wild about too many dusty cathedrals. They will happily do places of historical interest however (particularly if they relate to stuff they have studied at school). We are not uber beachy (probably would go a couple of times in a week), but do like a well appointed villa with a pool. They also like adrenaline type outdoorsy stuff and appreciate beautiful scenery.

(and there has to be wifi)

I spent three weeks in Croatia a couple of years back - we started in the north (near the lakes) and ended up at the bottom - it is most definitely a country I put in my 'won't hurry back to / not worth the money' pile ... so the idea of spending 10k for a week there makes me want to weep :)

Sure it had some pretty bits but on the whole was really just a bit meh ....

OP is your heart sold on Croatia - how about Morocco - that would totally fit the bill re opulent villa, amazing food and heaps of opps for adventure sports - PLUS sun and great shopping as an added bonus ..

Thanks for defending me Naught - it was kind of you, although rest assured I haven't been stung by anything anyone has said. It was perhaps an insensitively worded title and opening post, and it can be helpful to be pulled up on what pisses folk off so I don't unwitting make the same faux pas among my friends

Apologies to those I have offended with any insensitivity on my part on quoting my budget - I DO live in an ivory tower and in my more reflective moments I realise this. If it makes it any better I was raised in a 3 bedroom semi in Peterborough with a Dad who was weekly paid and didn't have a holiday abroad until I was in my 20s (excluding a school trip to Northern France), so I haven't always been an over privileged twerp .

The budget was mentioned because it was on my mind since it is what dh and I agreed last night - as an absolute maximum - when we decided we couldn't do the Canada trip (broadly twice as expensive) - I am honestly not expecting anyone to cry in their beer for me

Thank you for all the suggestions - chartering a yacht sounds worth some further exploration although at the upper end of the budget, and I do now have a clearer idea of which geographical area to visit

Oh and jalpie - thanks I will look at Morocco too

Not quite sure why you wouldn't stick with a fly-drive in Canada. We did it for a lot less than 10K.

We were disappointed with our one holiday to Croatia. I think maybe we were in the wrong part! We were somewhere near Opatija. Friends who have gone to Dubrovnik or done sailing holidays along the coast have raved about it.

Last year we went to Slovenia which was just beautiful and so friendly. If you had a couple of weeks you could combine the coast of Croatia and the mountains of Slovenia.

Naught - it was the wording - summary is - "we had unexpected bills therefore only have a meagre £10k to spend on a holiday".

If OP had said "we want to go to Croatia and are lucky enough to have a very generous budget" it would have been completely different.

you say "Same way as its no ones business what i can or can not afford." Well, yes, I don't think anyone would have asked for a figure but OP put it out there so people are going to comment.

also, I genuinely thought maybe she put it there because she was going to be away for 2 months or something!

I wasn't actally 'defending' you, i genuinely DO NOT UNDERSTAND why people think your boasty or goady. I dont understand why people are so damn uptight about other peoples money.

This is a general thing. If you want to soend 10 grand on a holiday and reasably afford it good for you, if you want to spend £1,500 on a wedding dress awesome, if you want to spend £5k on a gucci handbag brilliant your money go for it. Equally if like me you can just about afford a couple of nights staying over at a travel lodge watching your favourite music act or a week in london equally great if you can just about afford a £50 dress to go on a date night great, if you buy your hand bag from primark brilliant. I dont get why people think that people who earn more shouldnt soend more.

I dont see why people who earn more saying their spending more are called boasty or goady. I dont see why its got anything to do with any one else.

My point is eveeyones earning more than someone so all these people calling you goady and boasty are equally as goady and boasty to soneone else.

Or we could equally all not give a shit about how much each others holidays are or how much people spend ob things that we woukdnt spend that money on.

I haven't been - which doesn't help you at all really - but I was driving my son and one of his friends on a one-hour journey somewhere recently, and the other lad spoke about his trip to Croatia ALL THE TIME! I don't think he's said much more than 'hello' and 'where's the food?' in his life to me before. His brother had gone too - so, 15 and 17 - and they have been pretty much everywhere, but he was so enthused about it, that if we hadn't booked up for this year's trips already, I'd be going.

Riverside some people might think word my hypophetical situation as "we've had some unexpected bills (replaced boiler) so have only a megre £1k to spend onour holiday" thats not a megre amount to me. Its the equailvent of two months wages for me. But if they said that none of you would think they qere being goady or boastful, and i wouldnt either id understand too Op it is a megre amount. I dont understand why people can not get their heads round people having diffrrebt incomes and different amonts seening like relatively little too them.

I massively recommend Slovenia. We hiked in the Julian Alps and then stayed near Lake Bled, followed by a long weekend in Ljubljana. We loved it. Friendly, beautiful, interesting, landlocked, for those not that fussed about beaches.

Not getting into the money argument!

Is there sone kind of special requirement you aren't mentioning? Do you have to fly first class (wouldn't reccomend it by the way, local airlines are no good so not really much point in flying first) or something? Or maybe you require a certain square footage for you villa? Or staff? 10k is a good amount to spend for a weeks holiday tobthe point where you could go pretty much anywhere if you don't have any particular needs so it feels like I'm missing something.

*nlt meant as a grilling, just don't really know how to advise you seeing as you aren't constrained by funds

Naught - of course £1k is not a meagre amount!

I was trying to explain why I saw the OP post as goady/boasty but I am not criticising you and I am sorry if you thought I was.

We went to both Split and Dubrovnik as part of a cruise last year and really liked them. I know you said you weren't sure about cruises but I really enjoyed it (and I wasn't sure either!)
Do your teens watch Game of Thrones? Lots of it was filmed in Dubrovnik and there are GOT tours.

I'd also recommend looking at the Istrian peninsula - we went there last summer and it was lovely. We had two teenagers with us and there's lots to do. Rovinj is stunning. Pula is fun. There are some amazing inflatables in the sea at the beach off Fazana. Brilliant water park at Porec (Aquacolours Water Park).

Weather was wonderful, food and restaurants were relatively cheap compared to countries with the euro and the people are super-friendly. We're going back in August!

One of ds's gf's parents is croatian and they have a very nice holiday home near Hvar. I think they have rented it for about £3k pw. £10k is a pretty comfy budget for croatia for 4 even in the school hols. I'd have thought you wpuld get something nice on the French Riviera for that to be fair.

We did a holiday to Croatia a few years back , I was very excited as it was on my bucket list! It was a huge disappointment we travelled around stayed in a couple of places and I only remember the plitvice natural forest (stunning) but otherwise it was not great, I remember it as cold , damp and rainy. On the other hand, I got dragged to Slovenia as part of the same holiday which I absolutely adored.

We’ve done split - which is lovely and has ferries to nearby islands for variety. The krka waterfalls are beautiful - definitely worth a visit! We’ve also visited Dubrovnik and Kotor (Montenegro) on a cruise and both are fab places to visit. Zadar was cheap to fly into, quieter than split and we’re doing it for a chilled holiday this September. With teens I’d consider a few days in Dubrovnik (lots of game of thrones tours if this would interest), then a few days in split. We found it affordable to eat out (certainly not London prices!) in split and Zadar. Car hire was reasonable too.

Alternatively a cruise around that area (we did Venice, split, Dubrovnik, Kotor and koper from Corfu) would come into your price range, even with a full drinks package and a few tours thrown in. You can suit what you do to suit your audience (my dh likes to do a bike tour in the quieter places while I mooch around the shops/cafes in the port then we do cities together) and there are lots of ships that do that area so you could easily find a family friendly one.

Hi OP

We got married in Croatia and have been many times over the years. We fell in love with Novigrad (northern Istria ) it really is an undiscovered gem, such a beautiful place.. the people are very friendly and there is a relaxed "no worries" type of atmosphere. Croatia is also great value for money - you wont need half of your budget! In fact when we got married we didnt pay a penny until after the wedding as they do their business with a shake of a hand, very trusting people.

Sightseeing I would recommend - sunsets on the beach, Grozjnan (a beautiful cobbled artists village in the mountains - our marriage took place there) Porec, Motovun, Lake Plitvice National Park, the amphitheater in Pula and also island hoping is a must (you could hire a yacht complete with skipper for a couple of days) and if your base was Novigrad you can easily drive to Lake Bled in Slovenia or cross to Italy and have a day trip in Venice (we will sometimes fly into Trieste airport but generally we fly to Pula.)

One thing to mention is the beach is rocky not sandy but we much prefer this and its fun to hop from rock to rock out into the sea.

I would def recommend northern istria over the more well known southern parts like Dubrovnik as there isn't the drove of tourists although they do say it is where the europeans go to holiday - lots of camping places! Hope this helps and you enjoy yourselves if you do end up there xx

You can do a weeks fly drive in Canada for 10k

I didnt think you were critising me riverside i still dont understand why you think op saying £10k is megre is boasty or goady. IT IS A MEGRE AMOUNT TO HER. and good for her, its her money. Shes lucky.

Same way as what might be a megre amount for you mightnt be for someome else. I'll give you another example that you might ind more relatable. I look at the style and beauty section of this site and theres often a "find me a dress for this occassion" and the first line will my budget is £100-£500 to me thats a LOT of money to spend on a dress. I mean A LOT. and what follows isnt oh your goady oh your boasty but lots of lovely links to zara, Asos; debenhams, designer consesion at department stores, hay some even directly to designer desses thst are over £1k depending on the budget no one ever goes you know you can get a dress at primark for £25 what a goady post, or you can have my dress for the day £500 your boasting.

I dont get it, why is it ok to state your budget way out of the league of a lot of people for dresses etc yet when someone says ive had to take a budget cut FOR ME what i consider a budget cut on my holiday this is my budget instead of constructive well heres this place what follows s a load of your goady/boasting/darcastic replies.

I dont get it. Why is it ok to flash how much you spend on a dress for ONE OCCASSION on one part of the site and then on another get called gosdy and boasthy on another

Why do people care, how much op spends on her holiday?

I've got 4 foreign holidays booked this year, Lanzarote, lake Garda in Italy, euro Disney and algarve in Portugal. Plus a week at haven in Northumberland and a week camping I'm Cornwall. And a music festival for me my partner and 2 children. That all cost less than 6k easily.

*sarcastic replies

Where ever you choose to stay, make sure it's within visiting distance of Plitvice Lakes national park. One of the most beautiful places on the planet.

We went last year - flew to Split, hires a car, spent couple nights in the Old Town and then to Korcula and stayed here:

[url]www.villaskorcula.com/en/villas/villa-ankora[\url]

Villa was gorgeous.

www.villaskorcula.com/en/villas/villa-ankora

Another try at clicky link