Cavtat, Croatia

Following a few nights in Kotor, Montenegro, we opted to take the bus to Croatia for the second part of our holiday. You can read more about this in my Croatia blog. It was very reasonable at less than €15 a ticket, however is has to be said that with that, you do get the unpredictability of a border crossing. What was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-hour journey became almost five. That said, the cars were not going through any quicker and we knew what we may have had to expect.

Once you cross the border you are only around 20 km south of Dubrovnik, and we opted to stay outside of the city and travel in both daytime and evening to enjoy a different perspective.

We chose Cavtat. It being some 33 years since my last visit, I was excited to see how things had changed, and in many ways, I am pleased to say that it hadn't. Cavtat offers a great place to stay outside of the city and is an easy 30-minute bus ride in (or 45 boat ride), but the real bonus is being away from the crowds, again mainly the cruise ship visitors. Cavtat is still fairly compact and some may say sleepy, but it looks after the tourists well and is tasteful with its abundance of waterfront restaurants - we always had great tasting food and really friendly service.

We visited Dubrovnik a couple of times as the bus service is very reliable and runs late into the evening. It is a stunning city to view from above or if you arrive by water, and particularly beautiful in the old city. You can walk the city walls, but we were able to appreciate the beauty and atmosphere just meandering the streets within the walls, as you can get views from other parts of the city. There are countless cafes and restaurants in and around the city so always somewhere to stop and rest your legs. To cool down, they offer some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted, and it is so cheap!

Whilst Croatia doesn't really offer sandy beaches the shorelines are flanked with sunbathers and families swimming and paddling or taking part in a water sport activity. Private boats and superyachts visits in the Summer and it is no surprise why, the scenery is fabulous. It's also a great destination to hire a private boat and island hop but if you prefer to stick to terra ferma, Croatia lends itself to being a 2 or 3 centre destination and flights operate regularly between Dubrovnik, Split, Pula and the Capital Zagreb.

Croatia is so popular and consider staying outside of Dubrovnik where accommodation prices are at a premium. Generally eating out is on a par with UK prices, a noticeable hike from Montenegro for sure but all in all, it's not bad value.