Croatia / Montenegro

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

Mrs zcacogp has her heart set on going to Croatia or Montenegro in a couple of weeks time. She's seen photos/talked to friends who have been there/heard all about it, and hence we need to go. We have a couple of weeks booked off work, and have been looking on t'interweb.

One option is simply to book a cottage and some flights as part of a package. Snag is that this is looking quite pricey - pushing a couple of grand for flights and villa, for two. Significantly more than an equivalent holiday in a Greek island, for instance.

Another idea is to fly into Dubrovnik, hire a car and drive up to Split (supposedly about 5 hours drive), and flying home out of Split. This would obviously allow time to stay for several days in any places that take our fancy along the way, and possibly allow for an excursion down into Montenegro as well. How easy is this? Or, more to the point, who hires out cars in Croatia, and are there suitable places to stay along the coastline, which accomodate Brits who drop in without any prior notice? How much do such places cost, per night, and how much English do the locals speak? (Our Serbo-Croat is non-existant, although I can muddle along in German.)

Any suggestions for places to stay, holiday companies to book through, places to see welcomed!


Oli.

[FPC]

Can't help with many of your questions as have not yet been. However, I have booked a week in Dubrovnik, flights with Easyjet, apartment in the city. Total cost = £600 ish. I've booked a car for a few days to visit Montenegro (only 1 hour drive) and Bosnia (2 hours apparently). You can also visit some nice islands apparently using ferries from Dubrovnik.

I used owners direct to find the accommodation. Car was £65 for three days.

I have heard that the drive to Split is quite long.

[DBSV8]

Hi , Ive been twice to Montinegro stayed both times at Sveti Stefan ,

Although on both occasions I flew from Russia it was cheaper than from the UK ......Sorry ( advantage of having a Russian wife !!) , we phoned the hotel and booked direct , turned out cheaper than using a tour operator.

http://www.montenegro.com/phototrips/coast/St_Stef...
http://www.sveti-stefan.net/english/smjestaj.php?t...
http://www.booking.com/searchresults.en.html?label...

The whole peninsular is made up of seporate apartments with a restaurant , bar , Casino situated at the end ,ensure you get a sea view preferably LH side of the island , the rooms differ considerably , I stayed in 4 different rooms asked to be moved twice !!.. Eventually we had a great room with sea view , the furniture is in a 70s timewarp so be warned !! i'd class this as a 3 star , although the views are worth the idiosycrasies.

We flew in to Tivat then coach to Sveti Stefan , we hired a car Eurocar and toured around Montinegro , some spectacular places to visit. Budva go by boat more relaxing ( 30 minutes ) , busling seaside town , good nightlife , beach , quaint old town


Kotor is well worth a visit , we climbed the mountain , spectacular views of the Fjord and stopped off for a pint in one of the many taverns.

view from the top !!





visited the old royal capital Cetinje, and drove up a mountain pass ....that got narrower and narrower





enjoy your holiday

[langy]

I'm off to Montenegro next week and are staying at the Queen Of Montenegro.
Looking forward to it

[Fourmotion]

Off to Montenegro next week too!

We're staying in the Bianca Resort in Kolasin, there for the walking/biking/rafting. Hoping to be out and about most days.

We booked a package with Inghams which was the cheapest option. It covers flights, accommodation and transfers, is half board, but with a free packed lunch, so basically food is covered. They do two centre trips, so might be worth a look for Croatia.

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

Thanks very much for your answers, very helpful.

FPC - particularly helpful. Thank you. Owners Direct looks like a great way to go - I think we'll be doing this. Out of interest, how and where did you book the car for that price?


Oli.