I do not have any specific recommendations for lodging, but only wanted to say that my daughter and I spent a week on the Croatian coast a few years ago, at the house of my traveling partner's parents, right on the water, and it was wondrous! Swimming was fine, boating was great, small restaurants were always a home-spun delight... and definitely try the prosciutto!

 V12Silly wrote: 
Hi V12Silly,
  Don't know if it's too late. But after exploring Split head a little down the coast to Omis. The river breaks through to the sea there through some spectacular limestone cliffs, the town is really nice, head up the river to some really nice taverns with good food and hire a canoe to paddle along the river. If you go higher up you can take white water rafts down.

  After that head back to Split and take the ferry over to one of the islands - don't miss doing this. Brac is closer and has some great scenery and lots of wild spots, just drive along the coast and pick a bay, there's some great roman ruins where you'll see nobody else. Hvar is a bit further out but amazing, if you head from Stari Grad to Hvar there's a place off to the left somewhere after the tunnel signposted to a restaurant. You drive down an incredibly steep hill and park. There's two bays that'll take your breath away plus a restaraunt. In the restaraunt you can sit on a little balcony overlooking the sparkling intensely blue adriatic while eating and drinking. When you get to Hvar after looking at all the famous people's yaughts you can hire a little motorised boat with a canopy and go off and explore the little islands there.

 rosedraws wrote: 
Yea, how the hell do I get there ASAP??!!

 rosedraws wrote: 
We're hoping to hire a boat on the croatian coast one summer and enjoy some family sailing.

 madamov wrote: 
Yes, and they were rather wonderful!

I saw my friend's Dubrovnik photos yesterday, very WOW.  


Let me know if you have any specific questions. 

 rosedraws wrote: 
Kotor and Herceg Novi are cities in Montenegro on the Adriatic coast, not in Croatia, while Dubrovnik and Split are in Croatia.

 V12Silly wrote: 


My business partner just got back from a fabulous vacation in Croatia!!  Their whole trip was via the Lonely Planet book.

They flew from Berlin to Split, and spent one night there in a lousy hotel.  She discribed Split as a transportation hub... not as nice as the other places they went.

In the morning, they took the bus to Dubrovnik, where they took a bus to Herceg Novi, where they took a bus to Kotor.   (Seems the bus stations do not know  eachother's schedules!)

Arriving in Kotor, they wandered around 'til they found an amazing apartment house with rooms for $30/night.  They stayed 4 nights.



The view from the balcony of their apartment!!


Kotor... great buildings in old town, and amazing ruins all around.
 

They then went back (direct bus from Kotor to Dubrovnik), and spent 5 nights in Dubrovnik, and, again, found a fabulous apartment in the heart of things.  

Dubrovnik looked like it could be pretty touristy, so they were glad they were there in April.  But they loved it.  

What time of year are you going?  I can ask here about the two apartments they stayed at... or do you want me to ask her to friend you on Facebook, and you can see all her photos and ask specific questions?

And Congrats for the great trip in store for you!   

Greetings my world friends.  My wife and I are traveling to Split Dalmatia area and would like recommendations regarding accomodations and things to do. We have read books by Rick Steves and the Lonely Planet and are very excited to explore Croatia!