Croatian History – It helps to understand the present when you understand the past
Most of the information you would want is in the site: CROATIAN TRAVELER. This site is extremely helpful. It is written and maintained by travel writer, Jeanne Oliver, who has been writing about Croatia since 1996
Airlines
- Which Budget.com – Good good search engine for great prices
- Yapta – tracks the costs before you fly and they send you an email when the price is lower. If the cost drops after you buy the ticket, they issue you a refund
- Croatian Air – very good flights throughout Croatia and Eastern Europe
- BravoFly is good search engine for great prices; mostly on inter-European travel
- Easy Jet is a low cost airline in Europe; comfortable and very inexpensive if you buy in advance
- Cheapo Air offers the same flight on the major carriers but for less money
- Star Alliance offers a really good and relatively inexpensive around the world fare. It’s a secret they don’ like to advertise.
- AVOID RYAN AIR – The price seems low at first but after you pay all the additional costs (including costs to check in) the price is more expensive than other airlines. Bad service, bad customer support. The worst airline we have ever experienced.
- AirOne – has taken over all Alitalia flights. This is a very good low cost airline
- Iberia Air – good flights to and from Spain
- Vueling – good low cost airline to and from Spain
- Aegean Air – good flights in Greece; also a Star Alliance partner
- Germanwings – Very affordable airline to all European countries
- Seat Guru – type in your airline and flight number and they will tell you the flight configuration. Great site for choosing your seats
Car Rental
- Economy Car Rentals – we had a good experience with them to pick in Porec (Istria) and drop off in Split
- Croatia Car Rental – good prices, good cars in many locations
- AutoEurope – They are easy to work with and they offer a best price guarantee. If you book early you’ll get a better price.
- Argus Car hire – auto rentals will give ou good prices on car rental in most places around the world.
Trains
- Trains in Croatia – from the Croatia Traveler (a really great site for traveling in Croatia)
- Croatia Railways – timetables
- Rail Europe – offers rates and reservations throughout Europe
- The Rail Dude – This is a small German company that does a great job in train travel throughout Europe
- The Man in seat 61 – Mark Smith has traveled around the world by train and boat and keeps a really good and informative blog. If you’re into train travel, you’ve got to look at this site.
Ferries
- Jadrolinija – Ferries from Croatian coast to the islands
- VeneziaLines – Sailing from Venice to the Istrian Peninsula is less than 3hrs. The main port of Venice is called Stazione Marittima. This is where most of the larger cruise ships dock. The Ferry Boats to Croatia depart and come into the Ferry dock at San Basilio along the Zattere very close to the Dorsoduro. You can easily get there on the vaporetti (Venice municipal boats). There isn’t much in the Ferry terminal but you can deposit your luggage at the Ferry Bag Storage for around €5 euros and then have a wonderful walk along the Zattere.
Apartment Rentals
- VRBO is the motherlode of apartment rentals all over the world
- Home Away is another good site (the parent company to VRBO)
- Way to Stay – Apartments in many European cities
- AirBnb – rooms and apartments worldwide
- House Trip – Apartment or rooms in many European cities
Hotels
- HRS – Hotel Reservation Service is a great site for discounts on all classes of hotels and resorts
- Croatia Hotel Guide – 1-5 stars in every town in the country. A very good site
- Adriatic Luxury Hotels – mostly for Dubrovnik
- Valamar Hotels – Dubrovnik, Porec and a few of the Islands
- Maistra Hotel – Hotels and Resorts on the Istrian Peninsula
- Four Seasons Hotel -$$$-$$$$. This is the standard of a fine Hotel chain
- Tablet Hotels – $$$ A very good collection of interesting hotels in many destinations
- Luxique.com – $$-$$$$ has a good selection of small beautiful hotels all over the world
- Relais & Chateaux – $$-$$$$ Usually good for hotels and restaurants but they occasionally miss the mark
- Design Hotels – $$$-$$$$ Progressive and state of the art design hotels throughout the world
- Great Small Hotels – $$-$$$ Boutique hotels around the world
- Eurobookings – $-$$$ This Dutch run hotel booking agency offers very good prices at good hotels
- Small Luxury Hotels – $$-$$$ Usually they have good choices but we’ve had some clunkers here as well
- WorldBy.com – $-$$$ Mostly European hotels in Italy, France, England, Ireland, Spain, Amsterdam and more
- Epoque Hotels – $$-$$$ Good small luxury hotel group
- JDB – $$$ Fine hotels and resorts
- JP Moser – $$$ Deluxe hotels
Trip Insurance
- Squaremouth.com has over 100 companies to choose from
- Travel Insured. We like this one. They’ve been very easy to work with
- WorldNomads.com Travel Insurance – a great organization and very reasonable rates
Touring Information
- State Department International Travel – US State Department information
- The Croatia Traveler – The BEST Croatian Travel site **
- What’s on When. Festivals and celebrations are listed close to year out
- A View on Cities. An overview of city cultural events
- Time Out. The online version of Time Out magazine
Restaurants and Food
- Zagat.com Yes, Zagat has an international restaurant guide
- The Wine Enthusiast – Wine buying guide
- Gayot.com – international restaurants
- Michelin Starred Restaurants
- Chowhound – Advice from foodies all over the world
Phones and Internet Cards
- Cellhire International – phones, phone cards, sim rentals and mobile hotspot rentals
- TEP Wireless rental – rates for one country or multiple countries for very good rates
- Cellular Abroad – good rates for MiFi rentals for good rates per country. It’s been a bit difficult to have them configure the mobile hotspot for multiple countries
- XCOM Global – mobile hotspots for around $15/day