Croatia tours

Many travellers ask not only when Croatia is at its best, but also when it is least crowded. Because although Croatia’s popularity as a Balkan highlight has led to peak-season overtourism, our walking, cycling, and boating itineraries guide you beyond the typical tourist hubs to quieter, rewarding routes. Travelling outside peak summer also helps you avoid extreme heat, which regularly exceeds 35C on the mainland (though island breezes offer some relief). Our trips generally run from March until November, and for a detailed breakdown, explore our guide on the Best time to go to Croatia.

You definitely can, and we always recommend train travel in Europe to experience the icing on the slow travel cake. The national rail operator is HZPP but one of the best sources of information is the greatest train guru of all time, The Man in Seat 61. If you are travelling from the UK, for example, you can get to the capital of Zagreb within 24h, the last stage of which is a sleeper train from Stuttgart to Zagreb. For travellers coming from western or central Europe, there are direct trains to Zagreb from Zurich, Innsbruck, Munich and Vienna. One of the leading providers of these is European sleeper train provider, Nightjet. 

If you are keen to travel across Europe to Croatia, and make the most of an Interrail/Eurail Pass for example, you could make the most of some of our other adventure holidays along the way, which are reachable by rail. You can also buy a One Country Croatia Pass to travel within the country by train.

There are direct flights to Croatia from many British airports, taking between 2-3h, depending on your chosen airport. Croatia has nine international airports although their services do vary per season. 

If you’re travelling from the USA to Croatia, the only direct flights at time of writing are between New York to both Dubrovnik and Split. These flights take around 10-12h.

There are small ski areas in the Medvednica mountain range, just outside Zagreb. However, for now, we only offer adventures when the snow has melted, but never say never.

We would say both, because they are very different parts of the country. Dalmatia is about Dubrovnik, island-life and Adriatic adventures. And although Istria has plenty of littoral loveliness, it’s a peninsula that is packed with surprises. Istria can also be confusing to some, because it’s shared between three countries, with Slovenia and Italy dipping their toes into it too. The vast majority of the peninsula falls under the Croatian flag, however, but we do have adventure holidays that cross into its neighbouring countries. It’s also worth noting that one of the best ways to get to Istria, if you want to take the scenic route, is by taking a ferry from Venice to Pula, Rovinj or Poreč in summer. Of course you can also cycle to Istria from Venice too on this cycling holiday. For more information, see our Istria travel guide.

It’s local, simple and regional, with a lot of fresh fish, seafood, olives, local wine and smoked dried hams. Sadly Dubrovnik’s food scene has been bruised by the cruise ship scene, and has more fast food outlets now. You can still find traditional tavernas, called a konoba locally, and we recommend some smaller traditional places on our itineraries that take you to the city. Traditional menus might include a manestra , made with seasonal vegetables, and Croatia’s version of minestrone soup. It’s not glam, but it’s gourmet for many of us who like a hearty fill at the end of a hike. Another meal to fill your boots in Dalmatia is dalmatinska pašticada, a slow-cooked beef stew, often served with njoke (gnocchi). 

Dedicated foodies may choose to head north to Istria, however, where the peninsula’s multicultural influences are seen across all the menus. You feel the Italian influences from over the centuries here, with fuži or pljukanci pasta, truffles and risotto, and lashings of olives and olive oil. In addition, the local cured ham (prsut) or boškarin salami are irresistible if you eat meat, with asparagus frittata or maneštra soup being a great veggie option, and for fish fests, grilled sardines are staple, and brodetto is the best fish stew Istrian-style. And, as you can see from our cycling holiday through Istria’s winelands, your cup will overfloweth with Malvazija, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling white grapes, with Teran being the traditional red of Istria, although many of the popular Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon reds are also now being grown.

Family life is central to Croatian culture and so you will always be welcomed with your little ones, or indeed with your family elders. We don’t have any bespoke family holidays, however, but it’s worth checking out our easy/moderate level walking or easy/moderate cycling holidays, to see if they appeal to all family members. If you have older teens, for example, who have walking experience, you may want to explore more moderate level hiking or cycling holidays. Our adventure specialists are here to cater for your needs, and we can often adapt a day’s itinerary if you think it’s going to be too hard or too easy.

Long gone are the days when solo travel was seen as saddo travel. Independence is in and it’s here to stay. Many of us live chaotic lives where we are either constantly plugged in or peopled out, and escaping on our own is like a spa for the mind, body and soul. We have a wide array of Croatian holidays that are suitable for our solo travellers and, like all of our holidays, we provide 24/7 support on the ground, a carefully-crafted itinerary that guides you safely throughout your journey, and welcoming hosts to greet you at the end of the day. Please note, however, that a supplement will be charged as the cost of rooms and also luggage or private transfers (when applicable) is not shared.

Croatia has excellent healthcare with no major health risks and it is also rabies-free. No vaccinations are required, but the WHO recommends routine vaccines such as tetanus, measles, mumps and rubella before travelling. Ticks can be a problem when hiking, so you do need to take precautions. Wear long sleeves and trousers, and tuck your trousers into hiking socks when possible. Lyme disease and Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) are both tick-borne, so always check yourself fully after hiking and carry a tick remover with you too, so that you can catch them quickly. 

Although tourist destinations are safe, thousands of unexploded landmines remain across Croatia following the 1995 war. Suspected minefields are clearly marked with warning signs, but this is another good reason not to wander off the trails that we create in your itineraries.
Many of the coastal areas are rocky, so we recommend packing some rubber shoes for those spontaneous dips. And as with all our packing advice, carry a small first aid kit with antiseptic wipes and plasters. 
Always make sure that you have suitable health insurance to suit your adventure travel and Croatia also has an excellent pharmacy system. Chemists are called ljekarna or apoteka in Croatian, and they are a mix of state and privately-owned. As with all international travels, it’s always worth getting up to date information at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for UK travellers or similar foreign office advice in your home country.

Of course, this depends on the region that you are visiting but as with most of our adventures, you may be exploring remote terrain where weather conditions may be unpredictable. For that reason, we have some detailed blogs on packing, which may be of help: What to pack for a cycling trip and What to pack for a hiking trip. As well as that, don’t forget to pack your sense of adventure, plenty of sunscreen and a phrase book.

Overtourism is an issue in many parts of the world, and although we are all for people having adventures, we’re aware that some places just need to put the brakes on. Which is why we aim to take you off the beaten path, and also encourage travel outside of the peak seasons. In Croatia, the main form of overtourism is from the cruise ship industry. Cruise ships come into Dubrovnik pretty much every month of the year now, although there are many more in summer months, as you can see from this clever cruise calendar. 

This also shows that, for some reason, February seems to be the only month when there isn’t a ship in town. The great thing about those cruise calendars, and the fact that we offer self-guided, flexible holidays, is that you can plan your trip to fall on a day when the cruisers aren’t a dominant force. However, we do have several Croatian holidays that include Dubrovnik as part of the itinerary in October, when ships have slowed down a little. These include cycling from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik and Walking the Dubrovnik coast and islands.

As mentioned above, although there is skiing just outside Zagreb in winter, we don’t have any winter sports holidays in Croatia at the moment. We have several trips that proffer an early or late winter sun boost in November or March, although strictly these are autumn and spring. For example, our Cycling holiday along the Istrian Wine roads stretch out those autumn and winter days until the end of November, as does our Cycling tour from Trieste to Pula, where you have plenty of time to paddle between pedalling.

We always endeavour to ensure that your accommodations are aware of any dietary needs when we book your trip. However, Croatia is a foodie nation with strong traditions, so although your needs will be catered for in bigger towns and cities, it’s not always the case in more remote areas. Croatia has made huge progress in catering for people who can’t eat gluten, however, and asking for food without gluten (bez glutena) is seen as the norm now. You will often see products with gluten-free symbols, such as the cross through a piece of wheat. There are more useful details here.

It’s the euro, or €, the same currency that’s used across most countries in the European Union.