October 6th 2008
I think Zagreb is a great city but am I objective? Not so much, maybe. It’s always good to get person-on-the-street impressions and that’s what the Zagreb tourist office has done. They’ve conducted extensive surveys last year and here’s what they found: Continue Reading »
September 23rd 2008
Jadrolinija’s local ferry schedules valid from October 2008 to May 2009 have finally been published. It’s been a long, long wait and the result is. . .not too different from last year! As usual, it appears that Jadrolinija is moving ever closer to the goal of having a different schedule for every day of the year–at least it seems that way. There’s weekend exceptions, holiday exceptions, Sunday exceptions–you have to read it carefully!
September 10th 2008
Good news for those from the chilly north! Jet2.com has announced the launch of a new service from Newcastle International Airport to Split. The link will start next year on May 2, and there will be a weekly service between the two destinations operating on Saturday, with one-way tickets starting from £56.99.
September 3rd 2008
For those of you waiting for the updated edition of my hugely popular downloadable Pocket Ferry Guide, I must ask you to wait just a little longer. A spokesperson for Jadrolinija, Croatia’s national ferry company, confirmed this morning that the fall and winter schedules may not be published for a week or so. Apparently, the Transport Minister needs to confirm the schedules and this has not yet been done. Until those local schedules are official, I cannot publish my new ferry guide. But you can plan your trip anyway! Remember that all inhabited Croatian islands have ferry connections to the mainland all year. We are just waiting to find out the exact time of the ferries and whether there will be, say, three or five per day. So you will not be stuck on an island! Also, some ferry schedules have been published. See the following schedules: Continue Reading »
August 19th 2008
The Jadrolinija company, solely responsible for running the coastal ferry route that runs from Rijeka to Split, Hvar, Korcula and Dubrovnik, has issued the timetable valid through the end of the year but not beyond! It’s curious. Usually, the timetable is issued from October through May but not this year. In any event, there’s no change from last year. Click here for the coastal ferry schedule.
July 16th 2008
Tennis fans in Istria should make a beeline up to the coastal town of Umag, where the Croatia Open is taking place. Anyone with the remotest interest in tennis has noticed that Croatia churns out top players with awesome regularity. Many of them are now playing on the clay courts of Umag, including Ivan Ljubicic and Ivo Karlic. Other top-ranked players on the courts this year include last year’s winner, Carlos Moya plus clay-courters Guillermo Canas, Fernando Verdaso and Nicolas Massu.
July 14th 2008
Go ahead clubbers. Party away in Hvar Town. True culture buffs now zero in on the Stari Grad Plain, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located outside Stari Grad town on Hvar Island, this new site makes seven World Heritage Sites in Croatia. The others are: Plitvice Lakes National Park, the Old Town of Dubrovnik, Trogir, Diocletian’s Palace, the Euphrasian Basilica and the Cathedral of St James.
July 7th 2008
June 30th 2008
This is the first time in a number of years that I’ve been to Croatia during the tourist season (although not at the height, which would be in July and August) and my trip held a number of surprises.
June 10th 2008
I don’t know about you but I rely a lot more on pictures than I do on prose when choosing a hotel. One person’s “modern” is another person”s “bland”. The hotel I find quaint you might find old-fashioned. Maybe because of the internet, I would find it nearly unthinkable to book a hotel now without examining a series of pictures.
