Croatia Travel & Wine

Jeff_Loftus · January 21, 2015, 7:54pm

I read through the older posts on Croatia and wanted to start a new thread seeing as the country has been going through some growth in the wine/wine tourism area. I will be traveling to Croatia in mid April for a couple weeks. Me and my wife will be staying with family in Kastela, but will be traveling to other places. As of right now we’d be focusing on the Dalmatian Coast: Kastela, Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik, Peljesac. I don’t know if we’ll have time to fit in Plitvice Lakes, but I really want to mix some hiking and nature stuff in with it.

My wine plans/expectations at this early point in time are finding a few local wineries in the Kastela/Split region during our time there to fit in intermittently, and devoting a full day or 2 to the Peljesac region when traveling to or from Dubrovnik. I’d be greatly appreciative of any recommendations on specific wineries in these 2 regions. I would like QPR or middle of the road, but am not opposed to visit a high end winery. And finding a couple winery and vineyard tours are high on my list. Family run wineries are a major plus. We’d also have one Croatian native with us most of the time, so there wouldn’t necessarily be a language barrier to inhibit anything.

I’ve read a lot about Istria, but it is much farther out of the way compared to Peljesac. If someone thinks it’s worth it to trade out Peljesac for Istria, I’m all ears.

I’d also love any general (non-wine) related recommendations in the country, especially hiking/outdoor related.

Michael_Martin · January 21, 2015, 7:59pm

Hike/walk the wall around Dubrovnik. Great overview of the old town and awesome photo opportunities.
My wine experiences in Croatia were limited to small wine shops or restaurants, but I found the wines to be decent, if not interesting.

Chris_Blum · January 21, 2015, 8:29pm

Plitvice is pretty amazing, but its a good half day’s drive from Split ferry dock. Istria was nice, and I’d guess that April would be a great off peak time to see a real treasure in Rovijn and Pula. The summer crowds ruined a lot of the charm for me. Dubrovnik is worth a couple of full days and an early AM city wall hike is a great idea. I had a wonderful time on korcula, and can recommend a place if your plans change to include that.

Ken_V · January 21, 2015, 9:30pm

Expect a lot of hugging.

Robert_Broder · January 22, 2015, 2:08pm

Did the Dalmation coast a few summers ago. I would not skip Plitvice. Highlight of our trip. Rented a car in Split and returned it same day. Easy ride and it left a lot of time to walk Plitvice. Enjoyed Hvar and Korcula. Rented a dilapidated VW Bug convertible to explore Hvar. Split was just ok, but liked Dubrovnik and hiking the walls. Took a tour of Mostar from Dubrovnik which I do not suggest. On food and wine, Bourdain did a show on Croatia which is always repeated on one of the food or travel channels which might be helpful. Have a great trip. We did.

D_B_i_r_d · January 31, 2015, 5:27am

My wife and I spent about 8 days in Croatia and Slovenia this last October and loved it. We had a great time in Dubrovnik especially and highly recommend the area.

We spent some time in Peljesac and I would also recommend spending time there as well. As far as wine and wineries in the area, we went to a couple. We went to Grgich -Meh, not terrible but not my favorite. They do a Plavac Mali as well as a Posip. They use a small but noticeable amount of oak on their Posip, which I did not care for.

The winery however, sits along the coast at the beautiful small village of Trstnik. We had a great lunch overlooking the small cove. When I asked the waiter about the freshness of the fish I was politely told, “Sir, the owner is a fisherman, all our fish is fresh!” It was!
Later we went to Milos winery. We enjoyed the wines and the family and story behind them. They are producing some interesting Plavac Mali from their own vineyards. It is closer to Ston.

In addition to Plavac Mali and Posip, I would recommend you try and find some Grk. We really enjoyed the two we tried and found they went very well with the local seafood. I wish I could find some here in the states.

Enjoy your trip!

Jeff_Loftus · January 31, 2015, 11:06pm

Thanks for the responses guys.

Brett_Johnson · March 16, 2015, 4:35pm

D B i r d:

My wife and I spent about 8 days in Croatia and Slovenia this last October and loved it. We had a great time in Dubrovnik especially and highly recommend the area.

We spent some time in Peljesac and I would also recommend spending time there as well. As far as wine and wineries in the area, we went to a couple. We went to Grgich -Meh, not terrible but not my favorite. They do a Plavac Mali as well as a Posip. They use a small but noticeable amount of oak on their Posip, which I did not care for.

The winery however, sits along the coast at the beautiful small village of Trstnik. We had a great lunch overlooking the small cove. When I asked the waiter about the freshness of the fish I was politely told, “Sir, the owner is a fisherman, all our fish is fresh!” It was!
Later we went to Milos winery. We enjoyed the wines and the family and story behind them. They are producing some interesting Plavac Mali from their own vineyards. It is closer to Ston.

In addition to Plavac Mali and Posip, I would recommend you try and find some Grk. We really enjoyed the two we tried and found they went very well with the local seafood. I wish I could find some here in the states.

Enjoy your trip!

Hi Dan,

What was the weather like in October? Still warm enough for lazy beach days, boat trips, etc?

Brett

D_B_i_r_d · March 24, 2015, 2:08pm

Hi Brett,
I just found your question.
I’m not an expert on their weather and we didn’t have any beach time but it would have been warm enough most days during our time there.

Hope this helps and have a great time

Brett_Johnson · March 24, 2015, 5:26pm

Good to know, thank you!

Michael_Martin · March 25, 2015, 12:47am

Careful with the weather. We did a cruise with three ports of call in Croatia in mid October and it rained and was in the 60’s everyday. Your results may vary.