Luxury Croatia Trip Review: Dubrovnik, Kotor, Split, Zadar, Zagreb, 10-Day Tour

We started our trip in the Hotel in Dubrovnik, which was just what we needed after an arduous flight experience involving cancelled flights and lost vacation days. The ocean views from the balcony were breathtaking and the hotel had all of the amenities we could want. Additionally, a direct bus from the hotel to downtown came right to the front door and cost only pennies. We made an overnight trip to Kotor from Dubrovnik.
For this, we had a rental car that was delivered to the hotel door and returned back to the hotel door when we returned from Kotor. The hotel in Kotor is inside the city walls and the GPS doesn’t provide directions. You have to park at a lot on the west side of the wall, walk about 600 meters to the hotel, and get a park card. With the card, you can park for free. But it’s a bit of confusing, especially with the horrendous traffic in Kotor, and might be difficult for some with walking difficulties to drag large suitcases so far. The hotel was lovely inside and in a perfect location, right on the main square and within walking distance of a number of restaurants and cafes. It was especially perfect after 5 pm, when the tourist from the cruise ships departed and the town reverted to the locals. The same applied to Split.

All of the arrangements in Split functioned seamlessly. The hotel staff met us with a little electric cart and took us and our luggage inside the old city wall to our hotel door. It ran smooth as clockwork. This was my favorite hotel – not only was the hotel beautifully restored and modernized, and set inside the antique walls of the city as well, the staff was terrific. We loved the town and had such a good time with each of the on duty staff. In fact, they gave us some wine to celebrate Jack’s birthday – then joined us for a small party. We had rented a car for the continued trip to Zadar, which was ready for pick up with 5 minutes of the hotel. A staff member from the hotel in Split recommended a place to get lamb from the spit on the way to Zadar. It was called Tomislav in Boraja – a little off the beaten track but well worth the extra time. All four of us ate very well with wine and water for under $50 total.

Zadar was less of a tourist and more of a working town, but interesting nonetheless. Our hotel there was also quite wonderful and the hotel staff helped us to celebrate Bob’s birthday.

We drove from Zadar to Zagreb, where we again turned in the rental car at the hotel. Very easy! Zagreb gave us a taste of a big and lively city in Croatia. We found a local restaurant called the Paulaner Grillbar at Crnomerec 102 that was terrific for someone looking for the Croatian meat experience. And it was not at all as pricey as the restaurants in the center of town.
 

All in all, this was one of our most memorable and enjoyable trips - largely thanks to the excellent selection of hotels and planning by this travel agency and Andrea.