Athens
Madeleine
The one to call for group travel — reunions, milestones, friends going together. She’s backpacked Europe and says yes to almost anything.
A small country with 1,244 islands and a coastline that takes weeks to do properly.
Most people arrive knowing two things about Croatia — Dubrovnik, and that it was in Game of Thrones. Both true, and Dubrovnik is worth every bit of the fuss. But the country is bigger than its most photographed wall. Istria in the north is truffle country with Italian bones. Plitvice is a national park of waterfalls and lakes that change color with the light. And the islands are close enough together that a week of sailing covers real ground.
The practical question is usually whether to base yourself in one place or move. Our answer depends on how much time you have and whether anyone in the group actually likes boats.
Where to go
Three places worth building a trip around
A country this size shouldn’t have this many. It does.
Dubrovnik
The one everyone comes for
A UNESCO World Heritage city with the oldest pharmacy in Europe still operating inside its walls. Go early or late in the day — and ideally not on a day when four ships are in port.
Hvar
The sunniest island in Croatia
Lavender, olives, and pine, with beaches and water clear enough to see the bottom from the boat. Regularly named among the most beautiful islands anywhere, and it holds up.
Istria
Truffles and hill towns
The peninsula in the north, closer in feel to Italy than to Dalmatia. Named the world’s best olive oil region eight years running, and home to the largest white truffle ever found.
Endless ways to experience it
What kind of Croatia are you after?
Sailing the Adriatic
Some of the clearest, calmest water in the Mediterranean, and islands close enough to hop daily. Charter a yacht or take a small ship — both work.
Food and wine
130 indigenous grape varieties, including the one that became Zinfandel. Ston oysters, Pag cheese, and Istrian truffles are the ones to plan around.
Roman history
Diocletian’s Palace in Split is a Roman emperor’s retirement home that a whole city grew inside. Still lived in, seventeen centuries later.
National parks
Plitvice’s waterfalls and Krka’s swimming holes. Both easy day trips, both worth building a night around to beat the coaches.
Diving
Roman wrecks and sunken naval ships in water clear enough for beginners. Schools along the coast take people out the same week.
Wellness
Thermal springs in the interior, sea air in Kvarner and Istria, and spa towns that Croatians have used for a century.
Who you’ll work with
Pick the office nearest you.
All four of our advisors plan Croatia. Which one you work with is usually just a question of which office you’d rather walk into.
Dunwoody
Leslie
Planning trips since 1990 and deepest in Italy, Greece, France, and Ireland. Ask her about the history nobody told you to look for.
Dunwoody
Steve
Left a career as a chiropractor for a year-long trip around the world, and came back to help other people take theirs.
Tuscaloosa
Stella
A year living in France taught her to travel slowly. She builds trips around local life — markets, long meals, the streets past the checklist.
Go deeper
More on Croatia
Region guides, hotels, and current offers — kept up to date through our relationships with colleagues around the world.
Ready when you are.
Tell us roughly what you have in mind and we’ll take it from there.
