Split Croatia June 2019 ~ Pre-Travel and Travel Day

[DisneyDaffodil]

Index

We recently returned from our week long visit to Split in Croatia, so we thought we’d start writing our trip report. If you haven’t read our recent Disney World trip report, then we’ll explain how we write our reports. I (DisneyDaffodil) write in black and share my opinions and thoughts on the trip but as Georgia (my daughter) and I write the trip reports together, she also adds her comment and opinions in pink Like this.
Firstly, we’ll briefly introduce ourselves:
Susan (DisneyDaffodil) Chief holiday planner, volunteer CAB advisor and Mum. Loves Disney, holidays, theatre visits, reading, cinema and wildlife. I love visiting new countries, which is one of the reasons I was looking forward to Croatia as we’d never been there before.

Rob. My husband, chief holiday earner who works many extra hours to pay for our many holidays that I plan. Likes football, Game of Thrones, watching tv, theatre and cinema visits and meals out.

Georgia. DisneyDaffodil and Rob’s 18 year old daughter. Chief holiday photographer. Loves Disney, nature, Marvel, Youtube, music, video games and photography. Recently finished my A Levels and currently on my long summer break before university.

So, on to the pre-travel and travel days!

Pre-Travel
The day before pre-travel day we had taken our dog (Rolo) to our son and his fiancee’s house to stay while we were away, so waking up in the house without the dog was very weird for me as he follows me everywhere usually. We spent the morning triple checking that everything was in the suitcases and that we had the right paperwork I got bored after the second check of everything so spent the rest of the morning playing games. It felt a very long day for us as we didn’t have to leave our home until 3:30pm to travel to Birmingham to stay overnight in the Travel Lodge.
This holiday was a budget trip as we have a big holiday to Vietnam later in the summer, so we booked the Travel Lodge as it was the cheapest option, at £90 including a two course evening meal.
The journey to Birmingham was uneventful until we reached near the Travel Lodge, in fact only one turning away. As anyone who has read our previous trip reports know, I cannot navigate, even if there are clear sign posts in front of me. This day was no different. Despite me having Google Maps open, Mum still tried to direct us herself, which ended up with us going in circles twice and at one point we ended up on the motorway heading back home. After that she gave up and I directed Dad back to the Travel Lodge where we had already been and into the overnight car park. The overnight car park was a deal with the Travel Lodge to stay at car park number 7 which is directly next to the hotel for just £7.
We checked in easily and went to our room which was basic but very clean and suitable for an overnight stay. My bed was hard though so I didn’t sleep very comfortably that night. We quickly freshened up and headed down for our pre-paid meal.
The restaurant looked like a school canteen but the food was ok. The meal included 2 courses but not a drink. The drinks were very expensive (which I think cost around £14 for 2 beers) and had to order our meals at the bar, which they brought to the table. Rob and I both had triple beef burgers and fries and I had the chicken burger with fries. These tasted ok but my fries were cold and the meal wasn’t memorable in any way.

For dessert Rob and I both had a chocolate sundae and I had the salted caramel brownies and ice cream which were delicious. Our desserts were good too and definitely better than the main course.

As the restaurant had no real ambiance and the bar prices were so expensive, we decided not to stay for another drink and instead went back to our room. We all relaxed and watched Casualty together (which is what we usually do on a Saturday evening at home) I also took a really cool photo of the moon from our room

We set our alarms for 5:30am and went to bed early at 10pm so that we could hopefully have a good night’s sleep and be well rested for travel the next day. Which didn’t happen at all.
Unfortunately, none of us slept very well that night. The traffic outside was very loud and could be heard clearly in the room, the beds weren’t very comfortable, the room was near the lifts so we heard every noise in the corridor and there was lots of noises on the floor above us until 2am. Overall, a disaster of a restful sleep.

Travel Day
The alarm rang at 5:30am. We were all exhausted from not sleeping well but were all excited for our holiday. We easily travelled from Car Park 7 to Car Park 5 where we had booked for the car to stay for the trip as I directed us using Google Maps. I stayed quiet and left Georgia to navigate as I didn’t want to repeat yesterday 😊
It was freezing cold waiting for the bus to the terminal as we were all wearing summer clothes and it wasn’t summer weather in Birmingham. We got to the terminal by 7am and dropped our bags quickly and easily. We then passed through security quite easily, although I beeped and the woman before me was complaining about having to be ‘radiated’ by the scanners (even though they patiently explained that it didn’t use radiation multiple times) Once she finally went through the scanner, my extra scan took a few seconds and then we were off to get breakfast.
We all had food and drinks from Costa for breakfast. Rob had a latte and a sausage breakfast roll, I had a latte and lemon drizzle cake and I had the salted caramel latte (which was really really good) and a blueberry muffin. This came to around £16 which was a good price for breakfast at an airport and was all very tasty.

We wandered around the airport for a while and bought some water for the flight. We were boarded on time and ready for take-off at 9:50am. Then there was an announcement to tell us that we’d be taking off around 20 minutes late as we’d been giving a later take-off slot. This was fine, as we knew our pre-arranged taxi would be waiting for us.
However, 20 minutes later they announced that the first officer had fallen ill and that they had contacted a replacement but that it could take up to 2 hours for them to arrive. We sat on the plane for around 10 minutes more, during which time I called the taxi company and our Air BnB host to explain that we would be later arriving. Both of these were very helpful and friendly, which reassured me.
After this, they allowed us back off the plane and into the airport terminal, where Jet2 regularly updated us via texts and emails. Although it was an inconvenience that we were unable to fly on time, Jet2 handled it excellently, especially considering they are a budget airline (it had cost just under £600 for return flights for all three of us including pre-booked seats and two 23kg suitcases), it definitely wouldn’t put me off flying with them again. We couldn’t have asked for better service from them.
We then received a text and email informing us that we could claim a food voucher for the inconvenience and where to pick it up. We went to claim this and were given a £5 voucher each. We then bought a meal deal in WHSmiths so we each had a sandwich, a bag of crisps and a drink, which we ate on the plane.
The delay did not take as long as they had originally thought and we were re-boarded and took off at 12:15pm. The 2 hour 40 minute flight seemed to be really quick for us, as we’re used to long haul flights, and we were even lucky enough to have no children kicking the backs of our seats which is very rare for us. I spent the flight watching Netflix and reading my book, Rob dozed as he was tired from not sleeping the night before and I listened to music and played on my DS.

Finally, we landed at Split airport at 3:40pm. The heat as soon as we stepped off the plane was so nice, especially compared to the cold in Birmingham. Split airport is very small and it took us very little time to go through passport control and luggage collection. We walked out and easily found the lady holding the sign with my name on it, to take us to our taxi. She spoke very good English but the taxi driver himself did not speak much English at all. It took around half an hour for him to drive us to Split.
However, then he had to find our apartment. He stopped in a small square and gestured to me for the phone number of our Air BnB host. I gave it to him and he called her. We guess he asked her for directions and a minute later we continued to drive on. In retrospect, we should have left the taxi here and walked as the apartment was literally 2 minutes walk away. Instead, he continued to drive down a very narrow road in his minivan, which barely fit. The driver then started to shout down the phone at our Air BnB host and then hit the mirror of a car parked on the road. We were very relieved to get out of the car at the end of the road and walk back along to meet our host.
Vana, our host, was very friendly and welcoming. She was upset by the way our taxi driver had spoken to her, which was understandable as he had sounded very aggressive on the phone. She led us into the apartment building and offered to carry one of our suitcases. I didn’t want to make her carry it, as it seemed rude to expect it, but she took my backpack off me and I carried the one case and Dad carried the other. This was a mistake. After leaving the taxi, I had tripped over a small bollard and it had left me slightly winded. This, plus the heat, and SIX sets of stairs while carrying a 18kg suitcase left me unable to breathe and with my head spinning. Vana had to carry the suitcase up the final set of stairs and I felt totally embarrassed. We did know beforehand that there were a lot of steps to the apartment and we were perfectly fine with this for the rest of the trip, but it was a long way to have to carry heavy suitcases. The advantage of it was that we had a great view of the city from the balcony of the apartment.
Once in the apartment, Vana offered us glasses of bottled water. I couldn’t really hear anything at this point as my head was still spinning and I thought I was going to faint but the water was very much appreciated and I started to feel a bit better again. Vana spoke perfect English and gave us a tour of the apartment and explained a few things to us such as how air conditioning worked and some of the house ‘rules’. She also showed us which direction it was to the beach, the city and where the nearest supermarkets and restaurants were. This was all very useful and we arranged that she would come to the apartment on the following Sunday at 9:50am to give the keys back.
After she left, we decided to head to the nearest supermarket for some cold drinks. I stayed in the apartment as I was still too hot and wanted to stay in the air-conditioning. The nearest supermarket was 2 minutes away, although very small. It was well stocked however and had all the necessities we needed at that time. We bought milk, apple juice and beers. We then headed back to the apartment to look around it properly and relax.
The Air BnB was perfect for us on the trip. It was spacious and extremely clean and comfortable. It consisted of two large double bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. It also had two balconies, one of which had a fabulous view over the sea and the city, which is what had originally sold it to us. Vana had also left lots of provisions such as coffee, dish washer tablets and toilet rolls. We paid £648 for a seven night stay in the Air BnB, which was really good value and we would definitely choose to stay in an Air BnB if we visited Croatia again.

We then sat on the balcony for a short while, drinking a Karlovacko beer (which was around £3.50 for a pack of six and was really good quality lager) I spent some time in the apartment cooling down before joining Mum and Dad on the balcony and taking some photos. The view from the balcony was one of the highlights of our trip and we spent many hours every day sitting here, watching the city.

After our rest we decided to find somewhere to eat that evening. We changed into cooler clothes as the temperature was still around 32 degrees and left our apartment. We strolled towards the beach first as we wanted to see how far away it was and if there was anywhere to eat around there. There wasn’t really anywhere, but it was really nice to see how close the beach actually was as it was less than a two minute walk away.

We then strolled in the opposite direction towards the city. We made it to the edge of the city after about 10 minutes but we had already seen a few restaurants on our walk so decided not to explore the city that evening. It seemed really busy in the city that evening and as we were all tired we didn’t feel like trying to navigate when it was so busy. We walked back the way we had came and found a restaurant that I had heard about from Trip Advisor before we travelled. It was called Bistro Toc and although it specialised in Mexican cuisine also offered other options, which was good for us as none of us really eat Mexican food. We were lucky to find a table here that evening as every other night we walked past it the tables were full.
Rob and I both chose the fresh fish, potatoes and vegetables. This was delicious and made us realise how hungry we were. The food was freshly cooked so did take a while to come but it was worth waiting for. I had the beef escalope and mashed potato which was really good too. Rob and I both had a beer here and Georgia had a small bottle of water. The whole meal came to around £50 with a small tip (rounding up the bill is the most normal tip in Croatia and the tips seemed to be really appreciated at every restaurant)

We were really pleased with our first meal in Croatia as we hadn’t known what to expect before travelling but this meal had been delicious and the service was excellent too.
We strolled back to our apartment (while I took photos of the beautiful sunset) and sat on our balcony and enjoyed another beer before all heading to bed at around 10:30pm.

The next day we explored the Old Town of Split and Diocletian's Palace. Link Here

[Guest]

Loving the trippie. I like the way it is a joint version, so interesting to get two perspectives. Google maps. I will say no more !

View looks fab - I could sit there for days, and might have to as six flights of stairs might only be done once 😁

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by FamilyGWales

Loving the trippie. I like the way it is a joint version, so interesting to get two perspectives. Google maps. I will say no more !

View looks fab - I could sit there for days, and might have to as six flights of stairs might only be done once 😁

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60 steps in total 😂 They weren’t too bad as the building was very cool and we took our time on them most days. The last flight was always a bit of a struggle though. We did know about them as it was clearly stated in the listing and the views and the apartment were worth it.

We enjoy writing the reports together, although it takes time so we can be quite slow to get them done. Hopefully we will have written most, if not all, of it before your trip. Trogir is day 3 or 4 of the trip and we spent a lovely day there.

[tracy99]

What a lovely read!
Also love the joint writing,a great way to do a trip report.
You’re airbnb looks lovely,I hope ours is as nice on our visit & what fantastic views!
Look forward to reading more
Tracy x

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by tracy99

What a lovely read!
Also love the joint writing,a great way to do a trip report.
You’re airbnb looks lovely,I hope ours is as nice on our visit & what fantastic views!
Look forward to reading more
Tracy x

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Thanks for reading. This was our first time in an Airbnb and we weren’t sure if we would enjoy it but it worked really well for us. The extra space was great now as Georgia is 18, as we could all spend time together but also read or relax in a different room if we wanted to. We followed our elder son’s advice and booked with a Superhost and read the reviews thoroughly and it worked well for us. We found it useful to fix a few snack meals in the apartment too as it was a budget trip and although eating out wasn’t expensive in Split, some easy meals in the apartment kept us on budget.

Are you staying in Split? I do hope you have as good a holiday as we did 😀

[Goldia]

Great start. The taxi driver sounds a bit poor Georgia getting winded by a bollard. What is it with you two and injuring yourselves? The views from the balcony do look gorgeous. I hope you all had a restful trip I'm looking forward to reading all about it

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Great start. The taxi driver sounds a bit poor Georgia getting winded by a bollard. What is it with you two and injuring yourselves? The views from the balcony do look gorgeous. I hope you all had a restful trip I'm looking forward to reading all about it

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Hi Abbey, yes we are very accident prone 😂 Luckily that was the only accident this trip though. The taxi driver was the only rude person we met on the whole trip, we found Croatian people to be very helpful but he was certainly the exception.

We had a fabulous trip, not sure about restful as we explored quite a lot of the surrounding area using public transport but it was always relaxing to come back to the apartment and unwind with a glass of wine or lager on the balcony 😀

[Loopylooloo]

So happy to see this trip report and looking forward to more! Food photos look amazing already, and your view is beautiful! It is a really lovely place.

[Melbatb]

What a fabulous view! The apartment looks perfect!

The food looked delicious! What a good start to your trip!

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by Loopylooloo

So happy to see this trip report and looking forward to more! Food photos look amazing already, and your view is beautiful! It is a really lovely place.

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We fell in love with the place and would love to return some time. We rarely visit places more than once as there are so many places we want to see, but Split and Croatia is definitely worth returning to