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Croatia. Dalmatia. Individual sketches - 1

18 October 2012 • Travel time: with 11 august 2012 on 25 august 2012
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instead of a preface. We love to dream, we even got ourselves a special notebook where we write down our dreams. Recently, even a favorite toast “Don't be afraid to dream - dreams come true” has appeared (some of those present at the forum have even heard it : )). So, in this notebook, about 4-5 years ago, Croatia was included and Montenegro in company with it. There were several attempts to plan a real trip to these countries, but somehow more tempting offers appeared and pushed them away : ). This year, these countries were not included in our travel plans either. True, after listening to rave reviews about last year's vacation of friends in Montenegro, I was already somehow drawn to those parts again : ). In February, we were at carnivals, Tuscany was planned for June, and, quite economically, a beach holiday was planned for August somewhere in our native lands. The message about the possible cancellation of visa-free entry to Croatia from next year made me think. . . And I began to slowly study the issue. . . Preparation. First of all, all those who had previously visited these Balkan countries were interviewed. . Montenegro turned out to be cheaper, but it still remains a visa-free country for Ukrainians, it was decided to leave it as a fallback option if it doesn’t work out with Croatia. Then all bus tours were viewed, but, as a rule, out of 14 days of the tour, only 6-7 nights in Croatia, the rest of the time is the road before and after, through already familiar places, but I wanted more of Croatia... Complex air tours for 2 weeks turned out to be very expensive for us : (, because this year they already had a carnival and swung at Tuscany : )... We should have looked for a more economical option. The most economical option turned out to be: book apartments on your own and take a bus charter (from 90–130 euros round trip, however, night transfers : (). The forum on Croatia was very helpful in preparing, there are answers to almost all questions, there are many local residents and those who have just arrived and share fresh information. For me, this is the first experience of a completely independent trip, so the responsibility was great, but the desire overcame fear : )). For experienced independent tourists, I probably won’t tell anything new, but for beginners, something may come in handy. The idea to go to Croatia came to me at the end of April, the trip was planned for mid-August (it turned out only at the very peak of the season), my husband gave a fundamental “go-ahead”, however, more for a beach holiday... I secretly hatched the idea of ​ ​ ​ ​ trying to see the country as much as possible or at least part of it. In this regard, it was decided to settle in one place, but in such a way that it would be easy to move around by public transport. The choice fell on the Makarska Riviera because of the small-pebbled and picturesque beaches with pine trees rising directly to the sea. Brela attracted me, but because of the problematic climb to the highway (especially with luggage) and the need to “catch” a passing bus, I had to abandon it. I stopped at Makarska, which has its own bus station (autobusni kolodvor) with the bus carrier Promet Makarska based on it. In early May, a bus charter was booked, an advance was made, the travel agency promised to help with a visa (because a transit Hungarian visa was required). And for specific dates of the charter, apartments were booked on Booking. com, but one apartment for the entire period at an affordable price could not be booked. As I understand it, many people book apartments in Croatia for the next season immediately after the end of the previous one, at least in November-December. After a long search, I found a good apartment at an affordable price directly from the owners, but I had to send a small advance. I read all the information on the forums on this issue, this practice is very common, especially when you book directly. In total, the trip (bus charter + visa + accommodation) was up to 450 euros per person for 2 weeks (with the road). Somewhere in late May or early June, I send an advance payment for the apartment, and the next day I am informed that the planned bus charter will not take place : (((Attempts to find an adequate replacement for it were unsuccessful, there was an option to get there, but they did not undertake to make a visa ; I even considered the option of taking a train to Budapest, and then to Zagreb and Split, but it turned out to be a very complicated and unrealistic combination (we don’t sell tickets for international trains (including trailer cars) in advance, you can’t buy tickets in Budapest in advance on the Internet either + again visa, etc.... ) And I already got a taste for my dreams, and somehow I didn’t want to refuse, there was only one option - air. And this already turned out to be not quite an economical option, somehow I managed to persuade my husband to do it As a result, we got an air tour to Croatia for 2 weeks at the price of a bus tour. But there were no cheap air tickets on regular flights (with transfers), especially at the peak of the season. Tickets for charters appear somewhere in March, but , ka as a rule, travel agencies immediately "clog" large blocks of places for themselves. And they are selling only a complete set of air travel + accommodation, this option did not suit us. There were no more tickets on the airline websites. Travel agencies did not want to sell tickets separately, only 5 days before departure (if they did not sell their tour package), or they offered an unrealistic exorbitant price. After a long search, I found a company that sells charter tickets at an affordable price. All this preparation for Croatia was against the backdrop of preparations for another tour, in Tuscany (since June 20), I understood that if I didn’t solve this issue now, then after returning, in July, I might not catch anything. And so it was: by mid-July there were no more tickets, and 3 days after the purchase, the price of tickets for my dates (11.08-25.08) was already more expensive, especially since the return flight accounted for the massive return of the population to their relatives the edges. As a result, on the day of departure for a tour of Tuscany, a few hours between trains I managed to collect an advance payment for a bus charter (at one end of Kyiv) and pay for air tickets to Croatia (at the other end of the city) and went to enjoy the beauties of Italy with peace of mind : ) . Route. Due to the changed conditions with transport, it was necessary to change the route. I have been working on a specific route since mid-July. The Windrose charter was supposed to arrive in Split at 19.10, while passport control + luggage, then from the airport to Split by bus 30 minutes, from Split to Makarska - 1h30m. I didn’t want to go to unfamiliar places at night, so it was decided to spend the night in Split, and if we spend the night, then at the same time see the city itself, and Trogir, and NP Krka at the same time. It was a little embarrassing that the last express bus from the airport to Split was at 21.10 (on the embankment, near the intercity bus station), in case of a charter delay, there could be problems. I did not consider the suburban bus number 37 to Split, because the suburban station is in the depths of the city and far from the intercity bus station, near which the apartments were booked. After studying the map, it turned out that although it is believed that the airport is located in Split, it is 25 km from it, and only 6 km from Trogir. I had an idea, why go to Split, I can go to Trogir right away, especially since bus number 37 comes from the airport right there to the bus station, next to the old town, and this bus runs every half hour until late at night, and it costs less: ). As a result, for some time I had two alternative programs: 1 - starting in Split, 2 - in Trogir. An additional plus for Trogir was that the Krka Waterfalls are closer to Trogir, which reduces the round-trip travel time. On this trip, I also definitely wanted to see Dubrovnik. At first I planned to go for 1 day from Makarska, but for this city one day (and even with the road) is not enough, especially since I would have to walk around the city in the heat, in the heat itself. After optimization, our itinerary changed to the following: Split (airport) - Trogir (3 nights) with departure to NP Krka and Sibenik - Split (2 nights) - Dubrovnik (2 nights) - Makarska (7 nights) with departure to Brela, Baska Water and Hvar Brac - Split (airport). I persuaded my husband to join this partially excursion program, promising that every day there would be swimming in the sea : ). Unfortunately, I had to reschedule the next time (I hope that it will be : )) a trip to Plitvice Lakes, because it was not possible to travel from Split-Trogir far enough in one day (inconvenient bus schedule). Hotels. Hotels further booked only on Booking. com with the possibility of free cancellation, within walking distance from the bus stations, so that there are no problems with the delivery of luggage (husband's condition : ). Sometimes it was hard to make a choice between the apartments I liked, I asked for help from the "experts" : )). Double rooms were booked in Trogir and Split, apartments in Dubrovnik and Makarska. In principle, in Dubrovnik there was no need to book an apartment for 2 nights (there was no time to cook meals there), it was just a good price and convenient location (double rooms with a shared bathroom were rented at the same price in the same area). Prior to leaving, I wrote to all the owners, reported the approximate time of arrival, specified the form of payment (everywhere it was possible to pay in euros), location (received maps and detailed descriptions), other questions of interest... Transport. Initially, they were set up to move only by public transport, taxis were considered only as an emergency option. Buses are all comfortable with air conditioning, even city buses. I "dug" the entire Internet in order to search for sites of haulers and bus stations with bus schedules, here are a few of them: http://www. akz. hr/vr/voznired. aspx http://www. autotrans. hr/http://www.buscroatia.com/http://www. ak split. hr/http://www.autobusni-kolodvor.com/kolodvor. aspx? k=1&d=191 http://www. aspx? k=1&d=191 promet-split. hr/ There is no unified timetable for all carriers, sometimes not all flights are shown on the websites of bus stations. The reviews of tourists who have recently returned from Croatia with photos of the current bus schedules directly from the bus stations helped a lot! Since there are several bus carriers in Croatia (its name is indicated on the ticket), you can only leave with it, you will not be taken on the bus of another carrier, so carefully look at its name both on the ticket and on the bus itself. Because of this, it is unprofitable to take a round-trip ticket (RT / turn card), because you will be tied to one carrier and will not be able to leave at a convenient time for you. The platform number is also usually indicated on the ticket. . Sometimes tickets can seem to be “composite”, from the departure station to some intermediate one, and then from it to the final destination. The first time they gave me such a ticket, I asked at the box office what it meant and whether I would have to transfer to another bus, I was reassured that everything was fine. Tickets can also be bought from the driver, they have special cash registers. But this is not always possible at the bus station. Bus stations charge a fee of 2 kunas for the sale of tickets, there are no additional fees when buying from drivers. Ticket prices for the same routes may vary slightly from carrier to carrier. For luggage that is placed in the luggage compartment of the bus (special stickers are glued like on an airplane), you have to pay separately to the driver, usually 7 kunas / one piece. When we traveled from Makarska to Split (carrier Promet Makarska) we took only 6 kunas for 2 pieces of luggage. As a rule, you can always buy tickets at the bus station in advance a couple of days in advance (as we tried to do), because the buses leave full during the season, there may not be tickets before departure

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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