I visited Croatia in September 2018 on a Where’s Mollie trip. We spent 5 days there and visited 3 cities including Dubrovnik, Hvar and Split. I absolutely loved my time there and I can’t wait to go back. We had the most perfect weather and the sea was absolutely beautiful. There was so much to see and explore and I am hoping I can go back very soon.

Promenade in Split

Intro & Culture

Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy.

CURRENCY

In Croatia they mainly use the Croatian Kuna. They don’t like accepting Euros or any other currency. In some places they accept card but they also only accept cash in others. So I would recommend getting some cash out at the start of each day and budget how much you will want to spend on food, travel etc and work your way around it.

When you arrive in Split Airport once you exit arrivals after collecting your suitcase, there are plenty of ATMs and currency exchange booths to choose from to get your Kuna. If you are going to use a credit card to withdraw money, I would definitely recommend looking into a card that doesn’t charge you for payments or withdrawals abroad. I use Monzo which is an app based bank account and contactless card (there are lots of similar ones to choose from though).

Download the app “Currency Plus” to get currency conversions on the go. It updates daily and when connected to WiFi or Network to give you the latest conversion and you can have multiple currencies shown in one go

Download here: Apple App Store // Google Play Store

LANGUAGE

They speak Croatian but also speak very good English. I find it always helps to learn a little bit of the language wherever you go so you don’t appear lazy.

TIMEZONE

Croatia are 1 hour ahead of the UK. Their time zone is Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT+2:00)

Fancy a trip to Sweden but need some more info. Check out my Travel Guide: Sweden.

CUISINE

Food and eating out in Croatia is very continental, you can have everything from Italian, Thai and American but I would also recommend trying some traditional Croatian dishes whilst you are out there – there are predominately seafood or mixed grills.

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Budget Tips

Suggested Daily Budget – 67-71 EUR / 58-62 GBP (Note: This is a suggested budget assuming you are staying in a hostel, eating out a little, buying small snacks, and using local transportation. Using the budget tips below, you can always lower this number. However, if you stay in fancier accommodation or eat out more often, expect this to be higher!) During my 4 days in Croatia, I spent £232.38 including food, general shopping and public transport.

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Travel tips

VISAS

You don’t need a visa to visit Croatia from the UK. You may need a visa from other countries or to fill in an immigration card so be sure to check your countries government website to find out.

INJECTIONS

You do not need any injections to visit Croatia.

READ MORE: A Guide to Vaccinations And Visas Around The World

CAPITAL/CITY

The capital of Croatia is Zagreb but most people mistakenly think it’s Dubrovnik, which is their biggest city and most popular thanks to Game Of Thrones.

ACCOMMODATION

When I visited Croatia, I stayed in quite a few hotels in the different places I visited. There are so many hotels, hostels and apartments around Croatia, you are bound to find something in your budget.

ACCOMMODATION I’VE STAYED IN

• Hostel Split Backpackers 2, Split
• The White Rabbit Hostel, Hvar
• Hostel Angelina, Dubrovnik

View point at Marjan Forest Park, Split

EXPLORE CROATIA

Split | Hvar | Dubrovnik

DRIVING

We didn’t try driving in Croatia but there is plenty of public transport around to help you. Especially taxis and also ferries to help you get from islands and different parts of Croatia. We got ferries from Split – Hvar and also Hvar – Dubrovnik. The airport to city buses run very often and only cost around 30Kuna or you can get an Uber/Taxi which could cost you around 250-300Kuna.

FLIGHTS

You can easily book flights to many parts of Croatia via Skyscanner, Kayak or many other websites and airlines. It’s up to you who you book with and fly with depending on your budget and what’s available to you for when you decide to fly there.

I booked flights through Skyscanner – flying with easyJet to Split from London Gatwick and flying back home with Norwegian with a layover in Stockholm from Dubrovnik as it was the cheapest option available also flying into London Gatwick.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

There are also ferries in all of the major cities in Croatia including Split – Hvar and Hvar – Dubrovnik. The ferry from Split – Hvar took around 2 hours costing around 40Kuna upwards each way and the ferry from Hvar – Dubrovnik took over 3 hours.

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Packing Tips

WHAT TO WEAR

You can wear pretty much anything in Croatia depending on what weather you’ll have there. I went during September so it was pretty hot and reaching highs of 30’c everyday which was lush so I wore summer clothes all the time.

READ MORE: What I’m Packing For Croatia

WEATHER

Weather can vary depending on what time you fly there. Obviously during the summer season it will be very busy with people but the weather will be amazing and hot. I went in September and it was in the last week of the high season so it wasn’t crazy busy but was still quite a lot of people and we had highs of 30’C everyday which was just beautiful weather to enjoy.

CROATIA WEATHER

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Activities

THINGS TO SEE & DO

There is so much to do in Croatia and also depending on whereabouts you go will depend on what you can do and see. In Split there’s the Marjan Forest Park which you can hike up to get amazing views of Split and the nearby islands, in Hvar there are plenty of bars you can bar crawl to and also Carpe Diem Beach club. So if you enjoy clubbing that might be for you or spending the day on a boat in the gorgeous crystal waters snorkelling or cliff jumping.

And in Dubrovnik you can take city tours for both Game Of Thrones or Star Wars, Walk the City Walls do sunset kayaking around the Walls or spending a day on Lokrum Island. I now have an extensive blog post on things to do in Dubrovnik, things to do in Hvar and a guide of things to do in Split.

If you fancy doing something active when you visit Split, I definitely recommend hiking Marjan Forest Park.  

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