Costs and impressions in Croatia with Dora

So with a headline figure of 24% under budget, not bad for Croatia, but how did we end up feeling about this country?

This has surprised us in some respects, as our feeling was this was an expensive country. Have our perceptions been different from the reality, what do the figures actually tell us. Today you have another guest appearance on the costs, so someone who has no background in finance, so what is my interpretation of the figures?

Now these figures do not include the bit of Croatia when we were not travelling in Dora, these are covered with this post;

Analysis of our last holidays from our holidays

Travel

Although still over budget, diesel costs are not too bad in Croatia at €1.20 per litre, and apart from that the travel costs have been reasonable.

Camping

We have mostly found free wild camping sites, so this cost is negligible.

Motorhome

Negligible cost.

Food

Supermarkets in Croatia are generally not that expensive, as long as you keep away from the really touristy mini, corner shop type, where they tend to fleece you.

As we had eaten out so regularly on our ‘holiday from our holiday’ we were glad to cook and eat in Dora.

Others

Once again, all pretty good except;

Communications

This figure is actually a little distorted as it covered a new camera battery as our others are pretty much defunct. The costs of Wi-fi is reasonable here, about €7 for a card with 3GB (this also includes local calls, but we had no use of these), however the reception is a little dodgy, we were warned of this. You can get really slow speeds as all the tourist bale into the network, so it is bad on the coast but better away from the crowds, only 3G though.

Activities

This is an extortionate figure. The parks are beautiful, but massively overcrowded. Is it worth the money? The jury is out on that one.

Impressions

This is such a beautiful country, with incredible natural resources; a stunning coastline, a fabulous interior with lovely mountains and amazing natural features, the lakes and waterfalls.

However, this is not the whole story, so don’t book your flight just yet. This place is inundated with tourists, at times it was so claustrophobic you felt you couldn’t breath. We did find deserted spots, but you really have to look for them, there is no such thing as a secluded beach here, unless you have a private boat, and even then I would fear some day trip excursion would pull up with a bunch of drunk 18-30’s on board. These guys have gone from communism to capitalism in a couple of decades, and how they have embraced capitalism, what they have yet to appreciate is value for money. Here, the tourist is just the cash cow to be squeezed for every penny, so in the really popular spots expect London prices, for average quality.

Zagreb was a real contrast to the rest of the country, but again our perceptions may have been distorted, we visited on a Sunday. We were surprised by one of the best and original museums ‘The museum of broken relationships’, and as we spent some time by the lakes, we got to see how the locals relaxed, and there were relatively few tourists here.

It may be that it was nearly 40ºC  and every one was on the coast. Whatever the reason may have been, we enjoyed a bit of peace and tranquillity before getting into the crazy touristic hell. SM

We have been here in the peak of season, so that has certainly influenced our experience, perhaps we should give this place the benefit and revisit off-season.

But in a way, it was interesting coming now when the country has all these tourists. Perhaps, this is what Croatia is really all about, but I would like to know how busy it gets the rest of the year. SM

We were really excited about visiting this country and feel somewhat disappointed by the reality. Our advice, the coastline of Montenegro isn’t quite as dramatic, but it is close, the mountains are much more beautiful and they won’t take very last penny from your wallet.

GDR