Just returned from a fantastic weeks holiday in Croatia, 06/09/08 to 13/09/08 based in the resort of Makarska.
We booked a package holiday with UK tour operator holiday options which specialises in Croatia. Stayed in the hotel Park in Makarska on a half board basis.
Hope you will find the report useful when planning your trip.
Flights
Travelled from Bristol to Split with Brussels Airlines on a Avro 96 seater jet. Aircraft looked relatively new with leather seats and was relatively comfortable. Outward flight 2hrs 55min, return flight only 2hrs 30min. Both flights were on time, crew were friendly and efficient with a very smart appearance. Complementary food was served (ham salad sandwich and chocolate bar) along with tea, coffee and soft drinks which was more than adequate for a short flight. I was particularly impressed with the captains announcements which were always clear and passengers were always kept informed about the progress of the flight. It was the first time I have travelled with this airline and overall I was impressed, would definitely travel with Brussels airlines again.
Transfers
We arranged our transfers from Split airport to Makarska through the tour operator holiday options. After a little bit of waiting around for the outward transfer the return transfer back to the airport was smooth with no delays. Journey time from the airport to the resort approximately 1hr 30min. Please remember than when leaving Croatia you have to pack all batteries, e.g. cameras, shavers etc in your hand luggage. If you pack them in your hold luggage you will be asked to take them out in the airport. The airport authorities were very strict on this rule when we came home on Saturday, it does not apply for your outward journey, only coming home.
Accommodation - Hotel Park, Makarska.
The brochure describes this hotel as “an example of Croatia’s new breed of quality, 21st century hotels”. Brochure was not wrong, hotel was fantastic from start to finish. To be honest, I could not fault any aspect - we were extremely lucky as were upgraded to a suite on arrival. The suite had two floors with two bathrooms and two flat screen televisions and all of the rooms were very large. We had a sea view from all rooms with amazing sunsets which reflected in the bathroom mirrors! Hotel was extremely modern and immaculate, food was very good and staff were friendly and helpful. I have written a detailed review in the hotel section (definitely 5/5), should appear in the hotel section shortly. I have also included lots of photographs, there is not a great deal of information about this hotel or photos on the net. In the meantime, if you have any questions let me know.
Makarska
This was our base for the duration of the holiday. Thought Makarska was a very pretty resort, sitting in the middle of a horseshoe bay against a spectacular backdrop of the Biokovo mountains. I could admire the mountains all day, can understand why there are the tallest mountains in the Mediterranean. I recommend a visit to the towns museum which traces the towns history. Another point of interest is the Franciscan monastery which was built in 1400. This houses a wonderful sea shell collection which is open daily from 10am to 12pm. St Marks church is also worth a visit which features a baroque silver altar. After reading reports that Makarska was extremely busy in July and August I was glad to find that September was a lot quieter and in my opinion is an ideal time to visit. I would not want to visit in the height of the summer season. We had a good lunch time meal in the Adriatic restaurant on the harbour in Makarska, lovely fresh food with reasonable prices. During our stay in Makarska we visited the following places :-
Tucepi
We caught a small taxi minibus from Makarska harbour (close to hotel Porin) for 12kn, (under £1.50) very cheap and efficient, journey time 5 - 10 minutes. There is no set timetable, buses run every twenty minutes. The minibus does not take you into Tucepi itself, its drops you off on the main road and you will have to walk into Tucepi down a little hill (uphill coming back) but it is only a two minute walk. I thought Tucepi was a charming quiet resort with some lovely restaurants along the harbour and was extremely pretty, a lot smaller and quieter than Makarska. We originally booked in the hotel Laurentum in Tucepi two years ago but we had to change our travel plans because the airline cancelled the flights. We visited the hotel and it looked really nice in a very quiet position overlooking the harbour with a lovely waterfall and flowers outside.
Jelsa (Hvar) %26amp; Bol (Brac)
We went on a trip on the Pasat boat from Makarska to Jelsa %26amp; Bol. This was good value for money, 150kn (about £16) which included lunch on board the boat, either fresh fish or chicken. We left Makarska at 08:30am and arrived in Jelsa (Hvar) at 10:20am. The island of Hvar is the second largest in the Adriatic and in 1997 was voted as one of the ten most beautiful islands in the world by the traveller magazine and is known as the “Madeira of the Adriatic”. I have been to Madeira several times and am a big fan, it does remind me of the beautiful and lush vegetation. We only had an hour to explore the 16th century main square which is surrounded by baroque style building and take lots of photographs but it was really nice. Could have stayed there a lot longer. At 11:20am we left Jelsa bound for Bol and arrived at 12:30pm after a lovely fish dinner.
After arriving at Bol we turned right from the port to walk to the Church which took approximately 10 minutes. We walked over the beach and rocks but you if you have walking difficulties I would walk along the road as it is much easier. The church is definitely work a visit and combined with the clear waters and lots of greener the area is very pretty. After the church we walked back to the port (10 minutes) and towards the famous ’Zlatni Rat’ beach which took another 25 minutes. I have visited Bol previously, my last visit was over 20 years ago and is just as pretty. The only change I noticed was walking along the flat promenade under the trees towards the Zlatni Rat beach. There were quite a few stalls along the promenade, was not there 20 years ago. We spent approximately 3hrs 30min in Bol, caught the boat to Makarska at 4pm, arriving at 6pm. Excellent day trip and definitely recommended.
Mostar - Bosnia %26amp; Herzegovina
We visited Mostar in Bosnia %26amp; Herzegovina on a organised day trip with the UK tour operator holiday options. The actual tour was with Elite travel and I was very surprised that holiday options was charging the same price as Elite (380kn per person, approximately £43), usually booking through a tour operator costs more than booking with the provider direct. At 8.30am we left Makarska and travelled along the coast and mountains towards the Bosnia boarder. We had a coffee stop by some very pretty lakes close to the Bosnian boarder - sorry cannot remember the name of the lakes. I will write a separate review of Mostar in the Bosnian forum later in the week. In the meantime, if you have any questions let me know.
Weather (6/9/08 - 13/9/08).
We were extremely lucky with the weather, lots of sunshine and very warm with temperature around 32C. The only exception to this was on the day we returned home, we had a thunderstorm during the early hours of Saturday morning and there was a lot more cloud and cooler with temperature around 24C.
All good things come to an end and it is back to work tomorrow. Croatia is a beautiful country and all of the locals were always friendly and helpful. Hope to return next year, plan to stay in a resort close to Dubrovnik. If you have any questions, let me know.
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