8-Day Croatia Explorer: Nature and Timeless Beauty

The Plitvice Lakes National Park was spectacular.  We enjoyed the tour of Split/Trogir.  The wine tasting tour and dinner on Hvar were also highlights.  The cable car ride and the walk around the top of the walls provided a different perspective of the Old Town in Dubrovnik and were well worth it.  Our tour to Montenegro was very interesting and a day well spent.

We had a fantastic trip with the Zicasso travel company. They helped us plan the perfect itinerary for our family (two adults and three kids aged 17, 14, and 10). They listened to our desires for an active family vacation and went above and beyond with all of the details!

We spent two full weeks in Croatia and had so many memorable and beautiful experiences. They set up friendly, knowledgeable drivers in a comfortable air-conditioned van. The accommodations they booked were all fantastic, from boutique hotels in the middle of the old towns in Zadar and Split to larger resort hotels in Hvar and Dubrovnik.

Our favorite experiences were ones we would have never found on our own, including a private biking tour and dinner at a restaurant in old town Hvar, a boat ride to Trogir, and the Blue Lagoon out of Split, with a stop at the most marvelous island for the most impressive and fancy lunch I've ever had. Other highlights were a history and gastronomy tour in Split; a biking tour outside of Dubrovnik, followed by a cooking class and amazing home-cooked meal at a family home; a kayaking tour out of Hvar; a private boat tour to the Blue Cave, with snorkeling; and a visit to Mali Ston to enjoy fresh oysters on the boat of the oyster farm owner, who explained how they caught the oysters and treated us to the freshest oysters and mussels we've ever had!

Our contact from the travel agency was always very quick to answer questions before and during the trip.

We loved Croatia – the history is amazing, the people are friendly, the food is great, the architecture is stunning, the national parks are gorgeous, and there is so much to do and experience. Everywhere we went, we felt 100% safe, and everything was very clean. The Adriatic Sea has crystal-clear, beautiful water.

You absolutely must visit Plitvice Lakes (stunning waterfalls and lake) and Krka National Park if you have time. It is beautiful, less crowded than Plitvice, and teeming with frogs, which my boys loved finding.

Split was my absolute favorite city. It’s amazing how they have incorporated newer architecture among the centuries-old buildings for an amazing old-town experience. Dubrovnik has stunning ancient walls and fortresses, Zadar is beautiful and has a great waterfront promenade, and Hvar is a vibrant and fun beach town.

The travel agency always set us up with local guides and drivers who really added to our experience. We loved having private tours instead of being with a huge group!

I'm so glad we booked through them and would encourage others to do the same!

Our travel agent and travel company prepared and executed an outstanding 15 night trip in Croatia and Slovenia.  Our trip took us to Dubrovnik (3 nights), Hvar (3 nights), Split (day visit), Mostar (Bosnia), Montenegro (day visit), Trogir, (1 night), Plitvice Lakes (1 nights), Rovinj (3 nights), Ljubljana (2 nights), Lake Bled (day trip) and Zagreb (1 night).  We covered a lot of villages, but the time in each location was perfect!  We never felt rushed or bored with each location.  We stayed in small 3 and 4 star hotel/villas for the most part. However, Ljubljana and Zagreb were larger hotels.  Vehicles/drivers were always on time and all of them added their local knowledge to each of the locations.  Tours were 1 to 2 hours each and the guides were all great.  With private drivers and tours, we had the ultimate flexibility – if we decided to cut an event short, we just called the driver to come pick us up.  If we wanted to skip a castle and do a wine tour all we had to do was ask.  If we were interested in one area, the tour guides would tailor their tours to meet our interests.    

Our US based agent was located in Chicago, which made it easy to coordinate flight details.  Our agent did a great job coordinating travelers from two US locations (Boston and Chicago) and getting us meet up in London, for our connecting flight to Zagreb.  Our local agent was located in Zagreb and was always available for our questions and minor change requests to our itinerary. Even though the office was closed on weekends, she was always checking her emails and we would usually get responses to requests within an hour or so.  I think I called her 6 times during our trip and she always treated me like an old friend.  She really took the time to understand all our interests, needs and concerns and prepared a fantastic trip for 7 people (one handicapped).  We brought our own wheelchair, which was a Roughrider brand.  It did well in all the towns and the cobblestones were not a big problem, but we did have to deal with some stairs in every location.   Relative to this travel agency – go with them, you won't regret it.