Croatia Travel Blog

Good news for the Emerald Isle. Jet2.com has announced a new route to run from Belfast to Dubrovnik.

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Dubrovnik is one of the world’s safest spots. Yet on the night of September 17, Australian backpacker Britt Lapthorne left the Fuego nightclub and disappeared without a trace. The 21-year old was last seen getting into a car outside the nightclub and, after that, the trail runs cold. Local and national police are investigating and would very much like to speak with the people who were with Britt on the night of her disappearance. Those people are:  David Barbalet, 21, from Perth; Barry Levy, 22, an Australian living in Johannesburg; Dominic Dobrowiecki from Pennsylvania; Garet Hopkins, 20, from Cheltenham, UK; and a Portuguese couple. There is no suggestion that these people had anything to do with her disappearance, only that they may shed light on her final night.

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Dubrovnik Airport has a brand new attraction that will make you wish your flight was delayed. It’s called Durovic’s Cave and it’s an archaeological site that dates back to the Iron Age. Opened last week, the cave lies 25m under the airport runway and is 156m long.  Scientists have known about the cave for a long time as it was used as a shelter until 1962 when the entrance was closed. Excavation has been going on for seven years now and it’s not finished. Eventually there will be a modern entrance to the cave and  multimedia exhibits centering on the creation of the universe.  Only in Dubrovnik.

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To me, one of the ultimate hotel luxuries is being able to fall asleep to the sound of waves on the shoreline. Air-conditioning is nice of course, but if I can leave the windows open and get a refreshing  breeze while the sea’s rhythm lulls me to sleep, I’m in heaven. And I was in heaven at the four-star Dubrovnik President Hotel. 

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Sipan (pronounced shee pan) Who would have thought? Today’s Telegraph highlights Sipan (one of the Elaphiti Islands) as part of an article discussing property in Croatia. With properties in Dubrovnik selling for a mind-boggling £9,500, sun-starved Londoners are looking for something a little more, uh, affordable, like buying on one of Croatia’s less travelled islands. Continue Reading »

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Earlier this week, the “pearl of the Adriatic” got polished by  tornados! No, this is not normal weather in Dubrovnik.  At least 12 little twisters  swirled around the city as part of the ‘Cicero’ cyclone that wreaked havoc on Croatia weather. There was actually snow on Easter!It’s too bad because spring in Croatia can be marvellous.

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“We love tourists and travellers”, said local art historian, Goran Vukovic. “We just need to preserve the unique atmosphere of Dubrovnik that visitors are coming to see”. He was talking about a recent candlelight protest that drew some 2000 Dubrovnik residents to the streets. At issue was the city’s plan to “redevelop” the area around Pile Gate to accommodate the needs of tourists, specifically the ones that come in vehicles. A vast new underground parking garage has already destroyed a 17th-century orphanage outside Pile Gate. Okay, it may not have been one of Dubrovnik’s architectural masterpieces, but still. The new and boxy “Monument to the Fallen Defenders” outside Pile Gate is also no masterpiece, according to locals. Worse, is the plan to expand and modernize the current local bus stop outside Pile Gate to receive the constant stream of tour buses that bring cruise passengers to the town walls. Approaching Dubrovnik’s classic western gate to the tune of rumbling engines is not the way to fall under the spell of Dubrovnik’s charms.

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As a five-star hotel in Dubrovnik, the Hotel Excelsior always had a lot going for it, not the least of which was its excellent Rustica restaurant. Alas, the Rustica is falling victim to the total overhaul of the Hotel Excelsior. The renowned restaurant will become a luxury villa rented to the biggest of the big spenders and the rest of the Hotel Excelsior  will also be upgraded to suit the most exacting of standards. Need space? You’ll have plenty of it when the facelift is completed (in late Spring). The 108 rooms will be consolidated into only 95, with the largest rooms on the 5th and 6th floors. Also overhauled will be the swimming pool, spa and wellness area. We can’t wait until the grand opening in late May.

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Not all airlines have posted their summer timetables of flights to Croatia but some flight patterns are emerging. Overall, Croatia Airlines, Croatia’s national carrier, has the most international flights to the most destinations (in addition to having a monopoly on domestic routes). British Airways has apparently pulled its Gatwick-Split route although it still runs flights from Gatwick to Dubrovnik Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Also in a cutting frame of mind is Easyjet which no longer has a Bristol-Rijeka flight and Wizzair which has also shaken off Split but maintains its Luton-Zagreb route. Here are some other routes: Continue Reading »

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Croatia seems to be moving in two directions at once. Ecotourism is the new direction, said National Tourist Board director, Nico Bulic. Tell that to the ever-expanding girth (and price) of Croatia hotels, many of which are adding vast spas and wellness centres. Spa resort hotels are all the rage now as Croatia aims to expand the tourist season into and through the winter. The Grand Hotel Adriatic in Opatija is the most recent addition to an impressive line-up of wellness centres that includes the Dubrovnik Palace and Le Meridien Lav near Split. 

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