This was a great 14-day trip to the Croatian coast, with dips into Bosnia-Hercegovina and Montenegro at the end.
Our itinerary was somewhat driven by friends we traveled with, whose grandparents had all come from a couple different
islands off the Croatian coast, and we went to see their ancestral towns and meet distant cousins who still lived there.
That being said, I think this itinerary would still be generally enjoyable even without the personal connections.
Dubrovnik is a historic fortified city that for many centuries prospered as a major trading hub from its vantage on the
sparkling Adriatic Sea, with Venice across the sea and the Ottoman Empire looming just beyond the mountains.
It's now a UNESCO World Heritage site, with a beautifully preserved (and car-free) historic core inside its city walls, and a more
modern city grown up around it.
While there are many resort hotels outside the historic core catering to more beach-seeking tourists,
the options for those who wish to stay inside the walls are mostly limited to AirBnB-style apartment rentals.
For us, we love being right in the midst of it, and being just steps away from much of what we want to see.
However, be aware that in Dubrovnik, your airport cab can only drop you outside the fortress walls,
and you're on foot from there, wrangling your suitcase a substantial distance over cobblestone streets,
with many of those "streets" actually being stairsteps. Our home for three nights was
Apartment GAMA,
which was the perfect optimization of close in, accessible, quiet, and comfortable.
We settled in, grabbed some lunch on the street below (which is lined near solid with outdoor cafes),
and then set out to meander this amazing town. There's so much to see easily walking within the fortress walls -
an extravagance of baroque churches, medieval civic buildings, a grand clocktower, and those gorgeous limestone streets!
(If you were a Game of Thrones fan, you'll quickly realize that you're in Kings' Landing, largely filmed here.)
We also popped out to see the old port and its "beach" (rocky outcroppings along the seaside fortress walls that
people swim from), and checked out the two Buža Bars, accessed through holes in the seaside fortress wall
("buža" means "hole" in Croatian),
where you can sit and have drinks and watch people jump off the high rocks into the sea.
That evening we dined at
Restoran Dubrovnik,
a Michelin Bib Gourmand venue with exquisite cuisine, high-end service, and the most romantic setting on the
rooftop of a historic palazzo in the heart of the old town.
Competing with the historic city for attractiveness is the natural beauty of the Adriatic Sea and the nearby islands.
Intentionally keeping our first couple of days fairly unplanned, we decided to take a boat tour out to the nearby
island of Koločep, where there was a famous "blue cave". There are a bunch of operators just there in the old port
putting together group tours to the islands, but as a group of nine, we were able to get a private boat for a
reasonable price for a four-hour tour that afforded plenty of swim time at a couple of grottos, a stop in a village,
and cruising around Dubrovnik's city walls (nice to see them from the sea side).
Afterward, we had time to clean up, catch a couple more sites in town (the synagogue, the Jesuit church),
and enjoy drinks at Buža Bar before dinner.
In the evening, we took the gondola up to the top of Mount Srđ with its commanding views over Dubrovnik.
There's a lovely terrace restaurant aptly named
Panorama
with breaktaking views and quite good food too, where we watched the sun set and the city lights come on.
(We booked 2 months ahead to get a sunset table!)
There's also a very interesting war museum up there, set in a Napoleonic era bunker/fort.
Dubrovnik's walls completely encircle the old town, and one of the best things to do is to walk them all the way around.
It's a little over a mile of walking, but we started first thing in the morning on a hot day, and gave ourselves a few hours,
cause we stopped a lot for the fantastic views. In the afternoon, we investigated Lokrum Island, a short ferry ride from
the old port, a pine-covered island with some beautiful swimming including an official "FKK" (nudist) section.
In the evening we had an excellent introduction to Bosnian food at
Taj Mahal in the heart of the old town.
In the morning we picked up a rental car in Dubrovnik (from a city office, as the airport is a half hour south of the actual town),
and started driving north. The Jadranska cesta (Adriatic Coast Highway, or ACH?) is a beautiful modern road with great views
mostly along the coast, and including the brand new Pelješac Bridge which now enables driving from Dubrovnik to the rest
of Croatia without having to cross into Bosnia. At one point, the road cuts inland through Opuzen, which is Croatia's fruit basket,
and there any many roadside farmstands to get fresh fruit (peaches and figs!) and fruit brandies. We reached the cute port of Makarska
in time for lunch before our afternoon ferry that would take us across to the island of Brač. The hour or so ferry crossing was
delightful, and then the drive across the island to reach Bol was gorgeous, as the road goes along the mountainous top of the island
and then offers breaktaking views as you drop down into Bol. We arrived in time to get settled and have a lovely dinner in the old port.
Bol is a cute old fishing village that has reinvented itself as a beach resort destination. Its famous Zlatni Rat beach is a tongue of
"sand" (all "sand" here is really small pebbles at best) that juts out into the sparkling blue water about a mile west of the town.
You can stay at one of a few mega-resort hotels right by Zlatni Rat, or stay at idiosyncratic rented rooms in town.
The car is superfluous here, unless you stay a good ways away from the beach and would prefer to pay 20 euros for parking
rather than walk. You're mostly here for the beach, Zlatni Rat and right nearby are where you'll find all the amenities
like chairs and umbrellas and sports gear for rent, or sailboarding lessons.
If you just want natural beauty without amenities, there are other beaches at the other end of town, or beyond Zlatni Rat
(where you'll find the "FKK").
The town has some good charming seafood
restaurants in the old port. There is a very old church, a few even older chapels, and a monastery to be seen, as well as
a curiosity called the "house within a house".
For us, this was also about spending time with various cousins of our friends who live here.
This day was mostly just about getting from one island to another, which entailed driving over Brač, taking a ferry to Split,
taking the highway to Zadar, where we picked up another ferry to Dugi Otok (Croatian for "long island"). Both ferry rides were
scenic, especially the longer latter one, as it went past a number of other islands to reach Dugi Otok, an outer island.
Dugi Otok is less populated and less touristed than Bol, though the tourism it has is mostly what is keeping it going.
A car is definitely desirable here, as there are interesting things to see all over the island. We stayed in a rented apartment at
Panorama Apartments
in the tiny hilltop hamlet of Dragove, where the charming hosts rent out a handful of rooms, offer breakfast, and have a lovely pool.
Our first evening, we popped up to the port village of Božava for dinner.
When visiting smaller places like Dugi Otok, one should always find out if there are any festivals on. We lucked out in that the
week we were there, the town of Sali was having its annual festival. We headed down to that cute little port town a couple of
times over the weekend to check out the events, and it was utterly charming. There was a parade of sailors returning from the sea,
townswomen and girls in traditional dress dancing, donkey races, and a parade of horn-blowers who marched right into the port,
as the local boys splashed everyone. Between festival events, we also checked out the remote but beautiful Veli Žal beach,
and a couple of the "potkops", Yugoslav-era marine bunkers where submarines or naval boats were hidden.
On Sunday, we attended mass at the church in the port village of Veli Rat, the same church where our friends' grandparents had married
a century ago. Though all in Croatian, much of it was sung, and it was lovely to listen to. We met some cousins afterward and
explored the village a bit, before going up to see the famous lighthouse. Veli Rat Light is one of the oldest and tallest lighthouses
on the Mediterranean, and we got some spectacular views from the top of it. There's an unexpectedly good seafood restaurant in
the camp by the lighthouse, and also a very nice beach.
The historic core of Zadar is a small peninsula with sea walls forming a harbor. The area is all a pedestrian zone, with limestone
streets, some beautiful squares, remnants of a Roman forum, a grand 9th century church, a beautiful cathedral,
several other historic buildings, as well as some engaging works of modern public art including the Sea Organ
and the Sun Salutation. We were very happy to stay at
Apartment Piazzetta Marina
right in the heart of the old town, and we enjoyed a Michelin-rated dinner at
Restoran Kaštel
in the Hotel Bastion, also right in the old town.
In the morning, we drive south toward Split, starting on the superhighway but then cutting out to the scenic coast
around Šibenik, and stopping in Trogir for lunch. Trogir is an absolute gem, another coastal walled town UNESCO
World Heritage site, with some beautiful squares, charming lanes, and a gorgeous baroque cathedral. It was a shame to spend
only a few hours here.
Our ultimate destination was Split, which is a fantastic world heritage site. In the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian
retired here and built a grand Roman palace. Many remnants are still very visible, as the city has moved in and around its
walls and catacombs. The grand vestibule and peristyle are still there. Diocletian's mausoleum has been repurposed into
a cathedral, and a temple to Jupiter lightly repurposed as a baptistry. The mix of Roman, Renaissance, and modern is
delightful. (On the modern side, there is a bounty of Meštrović sculptures; he is the Croatian Rodin.)
We arrived with enough of an afternoon left to see many of the essential sights.
We very highly recommend the
Hotel Vestibul Palace
which is literally built into the historic Roman ruins, luxury in just steps from everything.
From Split, we made the two hour or so drive to Mostar, by way of Počitelj, a beautiful town along the Neretva River
with a historic tower and fort wall on the ridge above the town. Entering Bosnia-Hercegovina
(crossing an old-school border with passport-checking guards!), we also came into a very different land filled
with mosques, minarets, and the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Mostar was fascinating, and of course
we couldn't get enough of the famous "old bridge", its gracious arc sweeping over the Neretva River.
We also wandered the street of the coppersmiths (and brought home some wares), visited the Koski Mehmed Pasha mosque and climbed its minaret,
and visited the Biščević House, a beautifully preserved house from the Ottoman period.
We stayed at the charming
Hotel Kriva Ćuprija
which was just steps from the old bridge and the bazaar, and we also had a lovely dinner there.
Heading out of Mostar, our first stop was Blagaj, where the source of the Buna River emerges from a cave in a cliff, and
beside the cave is a historic Sufi monastery once inhabited by the movement known as Dervishes. We toured the remarkable
Dervish House, built into the cliff, its traditional monastic Turkish furnishings preserved. After lunch by the river,
we made the 3-hour drive out of Hercegovina, across Srpska (where all the signs turned Cyrillic), and into Montenegro.
It had many scenic stretches through
dramatic karst canyons, pastoral countryside, and finally a breathtaking drop from above into the Bay of Kotor fjord.
The town of Kotor lies at the base of a very long inlet with high mountains all around, like a Norwegian fjord but on the Adriatic.
Yet another gorgeous medieval walled town guards the base of the fort, but the fortifications of Kotor not only surround the town by the water,
but they run high up to the top of the surrounding hills, like a town-size version of the Great Wall of China.
Inside the town there is an impressive cathedral, but this is Montenegro and most of the churches are Eastern Orthodox.
There is the grand Saint Nicholas Church, and across the square from it, the 800-year old St Luke Chapel.
In the morning, we walked up the mountain walls, defensive in purpose but also like a pilgrimage path with prayer stations
along the way, and at least one church partway up. The views over the town and the bay are spectacular.
In the afternoon we took a boat tour of the bay, seeing all the cute little villages along the inlet all the way out to
the sea, and stopping at Our Lady of the Rocks, a picturesque church on a man-made islet in the middle of the bay,
because some fishermen had a vision of the Virgin Mary inspiring them to build a church on that spot.
Our lodgings in Kotor were at the elegant
Hotel Vardar right on the main square of the old town.
We had a couple of lovely dinners right on the water, our first night at
Restoran Galion on the marina,
and our last night at
Konoba Bonaca
in the next village over from Kotor.
Air Connections
Dubrovnik is the major airport for the Croatian coast, so we started and ended our trip there.
While one would generally fly to a major European hub like London or Frankfurt, and then connect to Dubrovnik,
we found United had a direct nighttime flight from Newark to Dubrovnik, allowing us to sleep on the plane
and arrive in the morning, minimizing jet lag.
Day 1 - Arrive in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a historic fortified city that for many centuries prospered as a major trading hub from its vantage on the
sparkling Adriatic Sea, with Venice across the sea and the Ottoman Empire looming just beyond the mountains.
It's now a UNESCO World Heritage site, with a beautifully preserved (and car-free) historic core inside its city walls, and a more
modern city grown up around it.
While there are many resort hotels outside the historic core catering to more beach-seeking tourists,
the options for those who wish to stay inside the walls are mostly limited to AirBnB-style apartment rentals.
For us, we love being right in the midst of it, and being just steps away from much of what we want to see.
However, be aware that in Dubrovnik, your airport cab can only drop you outside the fortress walls,
and you're on foot from there, wrangling your suitcase a substantial distance over cobblestone streets,
with many of those "streets" actually being stairsteps. Our home for three nights was
Apartment GAMA,
which was the perfect optimization of close in, accessible, quiet, and comfortable.
We settled in, grabbed some lunch on the street below (which is lined near solid with outdoor cafes),
and then set out to meander this amazing town. There's so much to see easily walking within the fortress walls -
an extravagance of baroque churches, medieval civic buildings, a grand clocktower, and those gorgeous limestone streets!
(If you were a Game of Thrones fan, you'll quickly realize that you're in Kings' Landing, largely filmed here.)
We also popped out to see the old port and its "beach" (rocky outcroppings along the seaside fortress walls that
people swim from), and checked out the two Buža Bars, accessed through holes in the seaside fortress wall
("buža" means "hole" in Croatian),
where you can sit and have drinks and watch people jump off the high rocks into the sea.
That evening we dined at
Restoran Dubrovnik,
a Michelin Bib Gourmand venue with exquisite cuisine, high-end service, and the most romantic setting on the
rooftop of a historic palazzo in the heart of the old town.
Day 2 - Dubrovnik: Boat trip to Elafiti Islands, Dinner on Mt Srđ
Competing with the historic city for attractiveness is the natural beauty of the Adriatic Sea and the nearby islands.
Intentionally keeping our first couple of days fairly unplanned, we decided to take a boat tour out to the nearby
island of Koločep, where there was a famous "blue cave". There are a bunch of operators just there in the old port
putting together group tours to the islands, but as a group of nine, we were able to get a private boat for a
reasonable price for a four-hour tour that afforded plenty of swim time at a couple of grottos, a stop in a village,
and cruising around Dubrovnik's city walls (nice to see them from the sea side).
Afterward, we had time to clean up, catch a couple more sites in town (the synagogue, the Jesuit church),
and enjoy drinks at Buža Bar before dinner.
In the evening, we took the gondola up to the top of Mount Srđ with its commanding views over Dubrovnik.
There's a lovely terrace restaurant aptly named
Panorama
with breaktaking views and quite good food too, where we watched the sun set and the city lights come on.
(We booked 2 months ahead to get a sunset table!)
There's also a very interesting war museum up there, set in a Napoleonic era bunker/fort.
Day 3 - Dubrovnik: Walk the City Walls, Explore Lokrum Island
Dubrovnik's walls completely encircle the old town, and one of the best things to do is to walk them all the way around.
It's a little over a mile of walking, but we started first thing in the morning on a hot day, and gave ourselves a few hours,
cause we stopped a lot for the fantastic views. In the afternoon, we investigated Lokrum Island, a short ferry ride from
the old port, a pine-covered island with some beautiful swimming including an official "FKK" (nudist) section.
In the evening we had an excellent introduction to Bosnian food at
Taj Mahal in the heart of the old town.
Day 4 - Drive from Dubrovnik to Bol
In the morning we picked up a rental car in Dubrovnik (from a city office, as the airport is a half hour south of the actual town),
and started driving north. The Jadranska cesta (Adriatic Coast Highway, or ACH?) is a beautiful modern road with great views
mostly along the coast, and including the brand new Pelješac Bridge which now enables driving from Dubrovnik to the rest
of Croatia without having to cross into Bosnia. At one point, the road cuts inland through Opuzen, which is Croatia's fruit basket,
and there any many roadside farmstands to get fresh fruit (peaches and figs!) and fruit brandies. We reached the cute port of Makarska
in time for lunch before our afternoon ferry that would take us across to the island of Brač. The hour or so ferry crossing was
delightful, and then the drive across the island to reach Bol was gorgeous, as the road goes along the mountainous top of the island
and then offers breaktaking views as you drop down into Bol. We arrived in time to get settled and have a lovely dinner in the old port.
Days 5-6 - Bol
Bol is a cute old fishing village that has reinvented itself as a beach resort destination. Its famous Zlatni Rat beach is a tongue of
"sand" (all "sand" here is really small pebbles at best) that juts out into the sparkling blue water about a mile west of the town.
You can stay at one of a few mega-resort hotels right by Zlatni Rat, or stay at idiosyncratic rented rooms in town.
The car is superfluous here, unless you stay a good ways away from the beach and would prefer to pay 20 euros for parking
rather than walk. You're mostly here for the beach, Zlatni Rat and right nearby are where you'll find all the amenities
like chairs and umbrellas and sports gear for rent, or sailboarding lessons.
If you just want natural beauty without amenities, there are other beaches at the other end of town, or beyond Zlatni Rat
(where you'll find the "FKK").
The town has some good charming seafood
restaurants in the old port. There is a very old church, a few even older chapels, and a monastery to be seen, as well as
a curiosity called the "house within a house".
For us, this was also about spending time with various cousins of our friends who live here.
Day 7 - Drive from Bol to Dugi Otok
This day was mostly just about getting from one island to another, which entailed driving over Brač, taking a ferry to Split,
taking the highway to Zadar, where we picked up another ferry to Dugi Otok (Croatian for "long island"). Both ferry rides were
scenic, especially the longer latter one, as it went past a number of other islands to reach Dugi Otok, an outer island.
Dugi Otok is less populated and less touristed than Bol, though the tourism it has is mostly what is keeping it going.
A car is definitely desirable here, as there are interesting things to see all over the island. We stayed in a rented apartment at
Panorama Apartments
in the tiny hilltop hamlet of Dragove, where the charming hosts rent out a handful of rooms, offer breakfast, and have a lovely pool.
Our first evening, we popped up to the port village of Božava for dinner.
Day 8 - Dugi Otok
When visiting smaller places like Dugi Otok, one should always find out if there are any festivals on. We lucked out in that the
week we were there, the town of Sali was having its annual festival. We headed down to that cute little port town a couple of
times over the weekend to check out the events, and it was utterly charming. There was a parade of sailors returning from the sea,
townswomen and girls in traditional dress dancing, donkey races, and a parade of horn-blowers who marched right into the port,
as the local boys splashed everyone. Between festival events, we also checked out the remote but beautiful Veli Žal beach,
and a couple of the "potkops", Yugoslav-era marine bunkers where submarines or naval boats were hidden.
Day 9 - Dugi Otok
On Sunday, we attended mass at the church in the port village of Veli Rat, the same church where our friends' grandparents had married
a century ago. Though all in Croatian, much of it was sung, and it was lovely to listen to. We met some cousins afterward and
explored the village a bit, before going up to see the famous lighthouse. Veli Rat Light is one of the oldest and tallest lighthouses
on the Mediterranean, and we got some spectacular views from the top of it. There's an unexpectedly good seafood restaurant in
the camp by the lighthouse, and also a very nice beach.
Day 10 - Zadar
The historic core of Zadar is a small peninsula with sea walls forming a harbor. The area is all a pedestrian zone, with limestone
streets, some beautiful squares, remnants of a Roman forum, a grand 9th century church, a beautiful cathedral,
several other historic buildings, as well as some engaging works of modern public art including the Sea Organ
and the Sun Salutation. We were very happy to stay at
Apartment Piazzetta Marina
right in the heart of the old town, and we enjoyed a Michelin-rated dinner at
Restoran Kaštel
in the Hotel Bastion, also right in the old town.
Day 11 - Trogir and Split
In the morning, we drive south toward Split, starting on the superhighway but then cutting out to the scenic coast
around Šibenik, and stopping in Trogir for lunch. Trogir is an absolute gem, another coastal walled town UNESCO
World Heritage site, with some beautiful squares, charming lanes, and a gorgeous baroque cathedral. It was a shame to spend
only a few hours here.
Our ultimate destination was Split, which is a fantastic world heritage site. In the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian
retired here and built a grand Roman palace. Many remnants are still very visible, as the city has moved in and around its
walls and catacombs. The grand vestibule and peristyle are still there. Diocletian's mausoleum has been repurposed into
a cathedral, and a temple to Jupiter lightly repurposed as a baptistry. The mix of Roman, Renaissance, and modern is
delightful. (On the modern side, there is a bounty of Meštrović sculptures; he is the Croatian Rodin.)
We arrived with enough of an afternoon left to see many of the essential sights.
We very highly recommend the
Hotel Vestibul Palace
which is literally built into the historic Roman ruins, luxury in just steps from everything.
Day 12 - Mostar
From Split, we made the two hour or so drive to Mostar, by way of Počitelj, a beautiful town along the Neretva River
with a historic tower and fort wall on the ridge above the town. Entering Bosnia-Hercegovina
(crossing an old-school border with passport-checking guards!), we also came into a very different land filled
with mosques, minarets, and the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Mostar was fascinating, and of course
we couldn't get enough of the famous "old bridge", its gracious arc sweeping over the Neretva River.
We also wandered the street of the coppersmiths (and brought home some wares), visited the Koski Mehmed Pasha mosque and climbed its minaret,
and visited the Biščević House, a beautifully preserved house from the Ottoman period.
We stayed at the charming
Hotel Kriva Ćuprija
which was just steps from the old bridge and the bazaar, and we also had a lovely dinner there.
Day 13 - Drive to Kotor via Blagaj Dervish House
Heading out of Mostar, our first stop was Blagaj, where the source of the Buna River emerges from a cave in a cliff, and
beside the cave is a historic Sufi monastery once inhabited by the movement known as Dervishes. We toured the remarkable
Dervish House, built into the cliff, its traditional monastic Turkish furnishings preserved. After lunch by the river,
we made the 3-hour drive out of Hercegovina, across Srpska (where all the signs turned Cyrillic), and into Montenegro.
It had many scenic stretches through
dramatic karst canyons, pastoral countryside, and finally a breathtaking drop from above into the Bay of Kotor fjord.
Day 14 - Kotor
The town of Kotor lies at the base of a very long inlet with high mountains all around, like a Norwegian fjord but on the Adriatic.
Yet another gorgeous medieval walled town guards the base of the fort, but the fortifications of Kotor not only surround the town by the water,
but they run high up to the top of the surrounding hills, like a town-size version of the Great Wall of China.
Inside the town there is an impressive cathedral, but this is Montenegro and most of the churches are Eastern Orthodox.
There is the grand Saint Nicholas Church, and across the square from it, the 800-year old St Luke Chapel.
In the morning, we walked up the mountain walls, defensive in purpose but also like a pilgrimage path with prayer stations
along the way, and at least one church partway up. The views over the town and the bay are spectacular.
In the afternoon we took a boat tour of the bay, seeing all the cute little villages along the inlet all the way out to
the sea, and stopping at Our Lady of the Rocks, a picturesque church on a man-made islet in the middle of the bay,
because some fishermen had a vision of the Virgin Mary inspiring them to build a church on that spot.
Our lodgings in Kotor were at the elegant
Hotel Vardar right on the main square of the old town.
We had a couple of lovely dinners right on the water, our first night at
Restoran Galion on the marina,
and our last night at
Konoba Bonaca
in the next village over from Kotor.
Day 15 - Head Home
We chose to spend our last night in Kotor, which was a bit daring. Though Dubrovnik Airport is only
45 miles away, there was an old-school border crossing involved which can get pretty backed up in the
summer, and took us not quite 2 hours waiting in a long car queue. Fortunately, we'd allowed for it,
and we made it to the airport in plenty of time. And the drive out of the Bay of Kotor at the crack
of dawn was gorgeous!
Notes on the Itinerary
Overall we were very happy with this itinerary.
We normally wouldn't travel in August at the peak of tourist season, but did so because we
traveled with friends with kids. The crowded places were crowded, but it wasn't horrendous,
and we didn't encounter anything that was sold out or booked up. We had booked our accommodations
in April. We booked our car and our ferries a couple months ahead. August was hot at times,
but the water was delightful (about mid-70s temp).
Having the car for most of the trip was a good call. Even though for a number of the towns we didn't
need a car while there, it was the best way to travel between and allow stops along the way.
Our itinerary's inclusion of Bol and Dugi Otok was driven by personal reasons (to visit our
friends' ancestral towns), but they were both beautiful places that we would recommend even without
the personal connection.
Regrets and Things We'd Do Differently
No regrets on the itinerary, other than many places we'd like to have stayed longer.
Zadar, Trogir, Split, and Mostar all could have used another day.
We were happy with all of the lodging choices except for Bol, where next time we might consider
splurging for a tourist resort hotel. Lack of breakfast right at hand, and a very feeble
air conditioner on a very hot night made us really regret our choice there.
Notes on Logistics
We had had some fear about availability of ATMs, particularly on the less-populated island of Dugi Otok,
but that was misplaced. ATMs are completely pervasive now, even on Dugi Otok.
Croatia and Montenegro are on the euro now (with Croatia is pretty recent, and we did receive
a few of the old coins in change). Bosnia-Hercegovina is still officially on its own currency,
but euros are very widely accepted as are credit cards. We did have a few places that insisted
on cash, including our apartment in Bol and (surprisingly) our hotel in Mostar, but in general,
credit cards can be used everywhere with no problem (and no funky PIN issues).
One thing that did bite us a few times was relying on Google Maps for navigation.
There were a couple of times in Bosnia and once in Croatia where Google was just plain wrong,
insisting on driving us down very sketchy unpaved roads or in one case, even trying to cross
a footbridge over a river by car. It was not easy to find the right "plan B" in those cases,
and I was sorely missing my old-school Michelin maps.
Notes on Costs
Total cost for two people was about $13,500 including $5000 airfare. (Airfare could have been less
but I paid near full-fare coach in hopes for an upgrade that never materialized.)
Less airfare, that comes out to $600/day, comprising $3126 in lodging costs ($223/€203 per night),
$1200 for 11-day car rental with full insurance (and including $110 in gas), $4070 in food
and other costs (tours, taxis, ferries, etc). It's hard to separate the food but that may have been
about $200/day. We ate mostly really nice dinners, and at even at the most high end restaurants
dinner for two was generally $100-$150.
