Latest / Phil and H Travel - Is It Worth It? Top Travel Destinations Explored! / The Dream of Budget Croatia is Over. Or Is It?

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The Dream of Budget Croatia is Over. Or Is It? · Phil and H Travel - Is It Worth It? Top Travel Destinations Explored!

• 0:00
  Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're doing something a
• 0:03
  little different. I want to start with a sensory
• 0:05
  exercise. OK, I want you to close your
• 0:07
  eyes. Seriously, unless you're
• 0:08
  driving, just close them for a second.
• 0:10
  I'm doing it OK. I wanted to picture the color
• 0:13
  turquoise. Not just any blue.
• 0:17
  I'm talking about that hyper saturated glass Clearwater you
• 0:22
  see on your phone screen when you're doom scrolling at like
• 0:25
  11:00 PM on a Tuesday. I.
• 0:27
  Can see it. You see the limestone cliffs,
• 0:29
  You see the terracotta roofs glowing in the sunset.
• 0:32
  Yeah. You're thinking about an apparel
• 0:34
  spritz that costs, I don't know, €4.00.
• 0:36
  You're thinking about Croatia. It's the Mediterranean fantasy,
• 0:39
  it's the new Italy, right? That's the pitch we've been sold
• 0:42
  for the last 10 years. Italy on a budget, The Balkans
• 0:45
  but make it chic. But and if this is a massive but
• 0:48
  that we are going to spend the next hour unpacking.
• 0:52
  If you book that ticket today thinking you're getting the
• 0:55
  Croatia of 2015 or even 2019, you are walking into a buzz saw.
• 1:00
  A financial and logistical buzz saw a very sharp 1.
• 1:04
  We have a huge stack of research on the desk today.
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  Articles Traveler reports economic data that suggests the
• 1:11
  budget Croatian narrative isn't just outdated, it's.
• 1:15
  It's dead. It's completely dead.
• 1:17
  We're looking at a destination that has undergone what, you
• 1:20
  know, the economists call a structural price shift, right?
• 1:23
  And what tourists call Wait, why is my burger €20?
• 1:26
  Exactly that. Why am I paying Zurich prices
• 1:28
  right now? We're calling this deep dive the
• 1:31
  Adriatic Odyssey, and the data we have is it's fascinating
• 1:35
  because it shows a country caught in a really violent
• 1:38
  transition. It's trying to be Monaco on
• 1:41
  pricing, but it's still operating largely on, let's be
• 1:44
  honest, Balkan infrastructure and that gap.
• 1:47
  That's where all your vacation stress comes from.
• 1:49
  So today we are going to audit your vacation.
• 1:51
  We're going to look at the three big shocks that hit first time
• 1:54
  visitors, the disappearance of cash, the myth of the sandy
• 1:57
  beach and the new, like you said, Swiss level pricing.
• 2:00
  We're going to figure out if the soul of the place that authentic
• 2:04
  slow paced Mediterranean life and survive the wallet reality.
• 2:08
  And while you're looking for the soul, I'm going to be the
• 2:12
  buzzkill looking at the spreadsheets.
• 2:14
  Someone has. To someone has to because the
• 2:16
  sources are very very clear. If you don't book your ferry
• 2:20
  tickets weeks in advance, you are literally swimming to the
• 2:24
  next island. This isn't a place where you
• 2:26
  just wing it anymore. That era is gone.
• 2:29
  I love that framing, soul versus wallet, because on one hand, I'm
• 2:34
  looking for the soul. I want to know if you can still
• 2:36
  find that authentic fishing village where you know old men
• 2:40
  are playing cards and the wine is cheap, right?
• 2:42
  Or is the whole coast just a backdrop for influencers now?
• 2:45
  That is the $1,000,000 question, or I guess now the €1,000,000
• 2:48
  question. Right, right.
• 2:50
  Let's get into the specifics then.
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  We have three big surprises from the research that we need to put
• 2:55
  on the table right away. OK.
• 2:56
  Let's do it. First, let's talk about the
• 2:57
  beach situation, because when I think beach vacation, I think
• 3:01
  sand. I think building castles.
• 3:03
  We'll just just delete that image from your mind.
• 3:06
  Surprise number one, no sand. It's rocks like pebbles or.
• 3:10
  No, no sharp jagged limestone rocks.
• 3:14
  Or, if you're lucky, pebbles the size of your fist, but mostly
• 3:18
  rocks. So.
• 3:19
  So if I just flopped down on a towel without checking, I'm
• 3:21
  going to I'm going to bruise a rib.
• 3:23
  You will 100% bruise a rib and then you'll probably get impaled
• 3:28
  by a sea urchin. We'll get to the gear later, but
• 3:31
  soft is not a word used to describe the Croatian coast.
• 3:35
  OK, that's a good warning. Surprise #2 and this is a
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  shocker for me, given we were talking about the EU.
• 3:42
  Cash is king. I thought we were tapping our
• 3:45
  phones everywhere. Apple Pay, everything.
• 3:47
  It's not just king, it's practically a religion.
• 3:50
  Despite being in the Schengen zone and the EU.
• 3:53
  If you don't have a stack of euros in your pocket, you are
• 3:56
  going to struggle. Really.
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  Even in the main cities. Oh yeah, Small cafes, ice cream
• 4:00
  stands, even some private accommodation.
• 4:02
  They want cash. It's a cultural thing as much as
• 4:04
  it is, you know, a tax thing, right?
• 4:06
  OK. And the third one, which might
• 4:08
  hurt our caffeine addicted listeners.
• 4:09
  This one is important. The coffee culture, it is slow.
• 4:12
  Incredibly slow. If you are looking for a grab
• 4:16
  and go latte or a Starbucks, you are in the wrong country.
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  So no venti ice macchiato to take to the ferry.
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  Absolutely not coffee. There is a ritual, not a fuel
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  stop. It is designed to take an hour.
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  An hour. At least.
• 4:30
  So our mission for this deep dive is pretty simple.
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  We want to help you navigate the friction of modern Croatian
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  travel. Right.
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  We are going to cover the budget bans.
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  What does a beer actually cost? The transport traps that catch
• 4:43
  everyone out. And by the end of this hour,
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  we'll have a verdict for every type of traveler.
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  From broke backpacker to yacht week millionaire.
• 4:51
  Exactly whether you should go. And just to set the analytical
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  tone here, we need to understand that Croatia is currently a
• 4:57
  destination that is priced like Switzerland, but it is still
• 5:01
  operating largely on infrastructure that hasn't
• 5:03
  changed much since the 90s. That is the core conflict we're
• 5:06
  going to explore. OK, let's unpack that priced
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  like Switzerland comment, because that feels like
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  hyperbole. I mean, surely it's not that
• 5:15
  expensive? It feels hyperbolic until you
• 5:18
  look at the receipts. And to understand why, we have
• 5:21
  to look at what we're calling the post Euro hangover.
• 5:24
  OK, You have to remember, for decades, Croatia was the budget
• 5:28
  alternative. If you couldn't afford the
• 5:30
  French Riviera or the Amalfi Coast, you went to Dalmatia.
• 5:33
  Yeah, it was beautiful. Slightly rough around the edges
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  and cheap. Right, I remember friends going
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  10-15 years ago and living like kings on 50 bucks a day.
• 5:45
  Exactly. They'll come back with stories
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  of like 20 cent beers and stuff. That era is dead.
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  Put a tombstone on it. The recent shift is that Croatia
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  joined the Eurozone and the Schengen area.
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  That happened on January 1st, 2023.
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  Which seems like a good thing on the surface, easier travel.
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  It's great for political integration for sure, but for
• 6:03
  the traveler it resulted in a massive price correction.
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  But switching currency shouldn't automatically double prices,
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  right? That's not how economics works.
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  Theoretically, no. In an ideal world, no.
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  But in practice we saw this phenomenon called rounding up,
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  but on steroids. So when the local Baker swapped
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  his prices from the old currency, the kuna, to the euro,
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  he didn't do a direct conversion.
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  If a loaf of bread was 7 kuna, which is about $0.93, he didn't
• 6:31
  price it at 93 euro cents. He priced it at €1.00.
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  He. Priced it at one point €50 or
• 6:36
  €2. That's a 50% jump overnight just
• 6:39
  because the currency simple changed.
• 6:41
  Exactly. And this happened across the
• 6:44
  entire supply chain, coffee, fuel, labor costs, everything.
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  Then you layer on the global post COVID inflation and you add
• 6:52
  the fact that demand for Croatia is at an all time high thanks
• 6:56
  to, you know, Instagram and Game of Thrones.
• 6:59
  It created a perfect storm. We crunched the numbers from the
• 7:02
  source material and prices on accommodation and food and
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  tourist hubs have jumped anywhere from 20 to 50% in just
• 7:09
  the last three years. 50% That is astronomical.
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  That completely changes the entire value proposition of the.
• 7:15
  Trip it does, and it's not just inflation, it's a structural
• 7:17
  pricing shift. Croatia has decided it is a
• 7:19
  luxury destination now. But here is the problem, right?
• 7:24
  The social media hype cycle hasn't adjusted to this economic
• 7:28
  reality. You scroll through TikTok or
• 7:30
  Instagram and you see these dreamy empty streets in
• 7:34
  Dubrovnik at golden hour. The empty streets lie, yes.
• 7:38
  The empty streets lie. I see this all the time, right?
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  Just a girl in a sun dress twirling in an empty medieval
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  square. Precisely.
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  The source points out that the influencer who took that video
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  woke up at 4:30 AM to get that shot.
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  Of course they did. They are selling you a vision of
• 7:53
  solitude. But the reality of high season,
• 7:56
  we're talking July and August, is defined by what one writer
• 7:59
  called logistical friction. I like that term logistical
• 8:02
  friction. It sounds painful.
• 8:03
  What does it actually look like on the ground?
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  It looks like sweat and crowds and stress.
• 8:07
  You have to look at the infrastructure versus the
• 8:09
  demand. OK, you have these ancient Old
• 8:11
  Town Split, Dubrovnik, Aishwar. These places were built for
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  donkeys, carts and a few 100 local residents.
• 8:18
  Right for a medieval population. Exactly.
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  Now they are trying to process 10,000 cruise ship passengers a
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  day. The physical space literally
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  cannot handle the volume. The source material had this
• 8:29
  great warning about the luggage reality.
• 8:34
  I think this is something people totally forget.
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  You pack that massive rolling suitcase because you're going to
• 8:39
  your for two weeks. I think your outfits.
• 8:41
  You want your outfits and that is your first mistake.
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  It's a huge mistake. If you bring a massive rolling
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  suitcase to Dubrovnik Old Town, you are going to break a wheel
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  or you were going to break your back.
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  Why? It is nothing but stairs.
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  Steep, slippery stone stairs. There are no ramps, there are no
• 9:00
  elevators. In the old buildings you see
• 9:02
  people literally trying to carry these things on their shoulders.
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  So you're dragging 50 lbs of luggage up four flights of
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  medieval stairs in 90° heat. Correct, while 1000 people try
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  to squeeze past you on a staircase that's, you know, 3
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  feet wide. So the take away right off the
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  bat is this is not a relax and do nothing trip.
• 9:21
  This is not a flying flop vacation.
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  Not unless you were on a private boat.
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  That's the exception to everything.
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  If you are doing the land based island hopping route, it
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  requires active participation. It's a sport.
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  It's an active sport. You are managing logistics, you
• 9:35
  are hauling gear, and you are navigating crowds.
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  OK, let's get into the sensory experience.
• 9:41
  Let's say we've committed, we bought the ticket, we know about
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  the luggage, we are landing in Croatia.
• 9:46
  What does that actually look like?
• 9:48
  Well, first let's talk about how you land, because a lot of
• 9:51
  people mess this up during the booking phase.
• 9:53
  Oh, interesting. The expert advice here is very
• 9:55
  specific about flight strategy. You want to book an open jaw
• 9:59
  ticket? Break that down for us because
• 10:01
  usually I just click round trip on Skyscanner or whatever.
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  And that's the trap. Open jaw or multi city on the
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  booking sites means you fly into one city and out of another.
• 10:10
  OK, specifically you want to fly into Split and fly out of
• 10:14
  Dubrovnik or vice versa. The key is do not loop back.
• 10:19
  Why is the drive bad? It looks beautiful on a map.
• 10:23
  The coastal drive is beautiful, but it is incredibly slow.
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  It's a 2 lane Rd. that winds along the cliffs.
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  A four hour drive on paper can take 6 hours with traffic, and
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  the ferries are mostly designed as one way flows for tourists
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  moving South. If you try to loop back to split
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  at the end of your trip just to catch a flight, you are wasting
• 10:42
  5 to 6 hours of your vacation on a bus or a ferry did a whole
• 10:46
  day. It's an efficiency killer.
• 10:47
  You're paying for a day of travel just to get back to where
• 10:50
  you started. OK, so we fly into Split.
• 10:53
  The sources describe the sensory hit of landing there.
• 10:55
  It's not like landing in Frankfurt or London where it's
• 10:58
  just, you know, air conditioned greatness.
• 11:00
  No, it hits you the moment the plane doors open.
• 11:03
  The smell. The smell.
• 11:04
  Yeah, it's the specific mix of pine needles, salt and diesel
• 11:09
  fuel from the boats. It's very distinctive.
• 11:11
  And the heat, it's not humid. It's a dry baking heat.
• 11:16
  You feel the sun immediately. And then you have to get to the
• 11:19
  city. The airport isn't in town.
• 11:20
  Or it's about 30 minutes out. The airport bus is mentioned as
• 11:23
  a rare win in the logistics column.
• 11:26
  A win, I'll take it. It's cheap, it's reliable, but
• 11:29
  it drops you off at the port of Split, and that is where the
• 11:31
  chaos begins. Describe the scene.
• 11:34
  Imagine fairies loading cars, thousands of tourists dragging
• 11:38
  those rolling bags we warned you about, and touts trying to sell
• 11:42
  you boat tours to the Blue Cave. It's intense.
• 11:45
  But then you walk into Diocletian's palace and this is
• 11:47
  where the soul part comes in, right?
• 11:49
  Because this isn't a museum. No, and that's what makes Split
• 11:52
  so unique. It's a living city built inside
• 11:55
  the ruins of a Roman emperor's retirement home.
• 11:57
  That's so cool. It's amazing.
• 11:59
  You walk through these 1700 year old arches and you look up and
• 12:03
  there's someone's laundry drying on a line strung between Roman
• 12:07
  columns. Yes, people live there.
• 12:10
  It's gritty and majestic at the same time.
• 12:12
  You can smell cooking. You can hear CVS playing from
• 12:14
  the windows. It's alive.
• 12:16
  But then the wall reality hits you again.
• 12:18
  The source mentions the menu shock on the Riva Promenade.
• 12:21
  Oh, the Riva, It's the main waterfront, It's beautiful,
• 12:24
  lined with palm trees. But it's a financial trap.
• 12:27
  The host in our source material talks about sitting down and
• 12:30
  seeing a beer for €7.00 and a burger for €18. €18 for a burger
• 12:36
  in the Balkans. I mean, I expect that in Paris
• 12:38
  or in Zurich. Exactly, that was a moment of
• 12:41
  realization. We aren't in the Balkans anymore
• 12:43
  Toto. Wow, you are paying Western
• 12:46
  European capital city prices and usually the quality on the Riva
• 12:50
  doesn't match the price you're paying for the view.
• 12:53
  But amidst that price shock, there is this cultural concept
• 12:57
  that the sources highlight, the Shaka.
• 13:00
  Can you explain that? Because it sounds like something
• 13:02
  I need in my life, especially after seeing an 18 year old
• 13:06
  burger. The fjaca is the Dalmatian state
• 13:08
  of mind. It's often translated as
• 13:10
  laziness, but that's totally wrong.
• 13:12
  It's the psychophysical state of aspiring to nothing.
• 13:16
  Aspiring to nothing. The art of doing absolutely
• 13:18
  nothing and feeling 0 guilt about it.
• 13:21
  It's staring at the sea for three hours with one coffee.
• 13:24
  That sounds incredible, but there's a contrast, isn't there?
• 13:28
  You have this Shaka Vibrolax. Take it slow, clashing with the
• 13:32
  stress of the modern tourist experience.
• 13:34
  A. Huge contrast, You're trying to
• 13:36
  channel Shaka, but you're also trying to check into your Airpnb
• 13:39
  in the Old Town. And remember, Old Town means
• 13:42
  charm, but it also means the 4th floor, no elevator, and a
• 13:47
  staircase that is barely wider than your shoulders.
• 13:50
  So you're sweating, dragging bags, stressed out.
• 13:53
  All while surrounded by locals who have mass the art of doing
• 13:56
  nothing. They're just sipping their
• 13:58
  coffee, watching you suffer. It's almost like the country is
• 14:00
  taunting you. Look how relaxed we are while
• 14:03
  you panic about your ferry connection.
• 14:05
  Exactly. And Speaking of panic, let's
• 14:08
  talk about the coffee. This ties directly into Jacques.
• 14:11
  If you go to a cafe and split and ask for a coffee to go, they
• 14:15
  will look at you like you just insulted their mother.
• 14:17
  Really. No paper cups.
• 14:19
  Very very rare. Coffee is a sit down affair.
• 14:22
  You get a tiny cup glass of water and you sit for an hour.
• 14:26
  The waiter won't bring you the check until you ask for it
• 14:29
  because rushing you would be rude.
• 14:30
  Wow. It's a complete clash with
• 14:32
  American efficiency culture. I love that though, Forced
• 14:35
  relaxation. But let's get serious about the
• 14:38
  money. We've hinted at it, but we need
• 14:39
  to do a financial deep dive. We need to talk numbers.
• 14:42
  Let's do it. Because if I'm planning a trip,
• 14:44
  I need to know if I can afford it.
• 14:45
  Let's get the spreadsheet out. We are looking at a standard 7
• 14:49
  day itinerary split. HVR, Korchula, Dubrovnik.
• 14:53
  This is the golden path most people take.
• 14:55
  OK, let's start with where we sleep accommodation tiers in
• 14:58
  July or August. What are we looking at?
• 15:00
  If you want to be near the action or the water, prepare
• 15:02
  yourself. The budget tier hostels are
• 15:05
  charging 40 to €60. For a.
• 15:08
  Room for a bunk, a single bed, and a dormitory with six other
• 15:12
  snoring strangers. Wow, OK, OK, that is steep.
• 15:15
  I remember when hostile beds were €15.
• 15:19
  Yeah OK. What about mid range?
• 15:20
  A couple wanting a private room. You're looking at private
• 15:23
  apartments or sobs, which are basically rooms in a locals
• 15:26
  house. OK, those are running 120 to
• 15:29
  €180 a night. And you have to be careful here.
• 15:31
  Sometimes soba just means a bedroom and a bathroom, no
• 15:34
  kitchen. And the high end if you want a.
• 15:36
  Proper hotel Hotels start at €350 and go up infinitely from
• 15:40
  there. The luxury hotel market in
• 15:42
  Dubrovnik is comparable to London or New York.
• 15:44
  A 508 hundred €1000 a night is not uncommon.
• 15:47
  So the days of the 40 year old apartment by the sea are gone.
• 15:50
  Long, long gone. Maybe in November, but not in
• 15:53
  summer. Let's talk about food, because
• 15:55
  you have to eat. What's the food economy like?
• 15:57
  It's polarized. On the low end you have survival
• 16:00
  mode. I like that.
• 16:01
  This means living on Picara, the bakeries, every town has them.
• 16:06
  You can get a Berwick, which is this greasy, delicious phyllodo
• 16:10
  pie filled with meat or cheese for three or €4.
• 16:14
  I've heard about Berwick. It's legendary.
• 16:15
  It is. It's heavy, it keeps you full
• 16:17
  for hours. If you do that for breakfast and
• 16:19
  lunch, and maybe grab some supermarket ham and cheese for
• 16:22
  dinner, you can survive on €25 a day.
• 16:25
  That's the back pack a route. What about the mid range reality
• 16:28
  if I want to sit down at a nice terrace and have dinner?
• 16:31
  This is where it gets tricky. If you want one sit down meal a
• 16:35
  day, pasta, pizza, maybe a glass of wine plus a bakery breakfast,
• 16:40
  you are looking at 60 to €80 per person per day.
• 16:44
  Per person. Per person, a simple bowl of
• 16:46
  pasta in Age Bar Town can easily be 20 to 25 euros.
• 16:50
  And high end if I want that fresh fish everyone talks about.
• 16:53
  Fresh fish, good wine, €150 a day per person, easy.
• 16:58
  And that's being conservative. Now there is a specific charge
• 17:01
  mentioned in the sources that drives tourists crazy.
• 17:04
  The Kuvair. The bread tax.
• 17:06
  The bread tax. This is a classic fiction point.
• 17:09
  You sit down, The waiter brings a basket of bread and maybe some
• 17:13
  olive oil or fish. Payday.
• 17:14
  You didn't order it. Right, it just appears.
• 17:16
  It just appears you eat a piece because it's there.
• 17:19
  When the bill comes, you see a charge.
• 17:21
  Kuvair 4 or €5 per person. Per person just for bread.
• 17:25
  Yes, and tourists get angry. They argue.
• 17:27
  They say I didn't order this but the advice is do not fight it.
• 17:32
  Just accept it. It is standard practice.
• 17:34
  It covers the bread, the table, setting the service.
• 17:37
  Just factor it into the price of the meal mentally before you sit
• 17:39
  down. It's just how the system works.
• 17:41
  OK, noted. Don't fight the bread tax.
• 17:44
  Yeah, now transport. We're island hopping, so we need
• 17:47
  ferries. And ferries add up fast.
• 17:49
  The catamarans. These are the fast passenger
• 17:51
  boats, not the slow car. Ferries cost about 20 to €25 per
• 17:54
  leg per person per person per leg.
• 17:57
  So Split to Hevar is 25, Hevar to Corchula is 25, Corchula to
• 18:02
  Dubrovnik is 25. If you are a family of four, do
• 18:06
  the math. You are spending 300 to €400
• 18:09
  just on ferry tickets for the week.
• 18:11
  That's a significant line item, and that's before you do
• 18:13
  anything. Fun activities.
• 18:15
  Big ticket items walking the famous city walls in Dubrovnik.
• 18:19
  That used to be free. Then it was cheap, now how much?
• 18:21
  That's €35 per person. Just to walk on the wall.
• 18:24
  Just to walk on the Wall Blue Cave Tour, you're looking at 80
• 18:26
  to €100. So if we sum this all up, what
• 18:29
  are the daily totals looking like?
• 18:31
  For a backpacker in survival mode you're looking at 70 to
• 18:34
  €90.00 a day minimum. OK, for a mid range couple you
• 18:37
  are looking at 350 to €400 a day total.
• 18:41
  That's for accommodation, food and one activity.
• 18:43
  And for luxury? Oh, start at €800 a day and go
• 18:46
  up from there. Sky's the limit.
• 18:48
  That leads to the big question. Value is the value there for
• 18:51
  that mid range traveler? Because if I'm spending 400
• 18:54
  years a day, I can go to a lot of places.
• 18:55
  And this is the core of the debate in the sources.
• 18:58
  The argument is that for the mid range traveler, the value is
• 19:02
  borderline. Borderline you are paying
• 19:04
  premium prices, Paris or Rome prices, but the service can be a
• 19:09
  bit take it or leave it. What do you mean by that?
• 19:12
  You are paying for the location, the view and the water.
• 19:15
  You are not necessarily paying for five star hospitality.
• 19:19
  The waiter might be grumpy. The AC in the apartment might be
• 19:22
  weak. There is a disconnect between
• 19:24
  the price and the Polish. Take it or leave IT service.
• 19:27
  That's a good warning. It brings us back to that Balkan
• 19:29
  infrastructure issue. Exactly.
• 19:31
  They have so much demand, they don't always feel the need to go
• 19:33
  the extra mile. Let's move to logistics and
• 19:36
  planning traps. These are the things that will
• 19:38
  cost you money or sanity if you don't know them.
• 19:40
  And there are some very, very specific traps in Croatia.
• 19:44
  Trap #1 the fresh fish scam. And I feel like this is a rite
• 19:49
  of passage. I've heard horror stories.
• 19:50
  It is Here is the scenario. It plays out 1000 * a night.
• 19:54
  You sit down at a nice Canova, which is a Tavern.
• 19:57
  The menu says fresh sea bass €60.
• 20:00
  OK, steep, but it's a treat. You think, OK, €60 is expensive
• 20:04
  but it's our anniversary or whatever.
• 20:06
  You order it. The waiter brings the fish out
• 20:08
  raw on a platter to show you. It looks great.
• 20:11
  You nod, smiling. You're excited, you're excited.
• 20:13
  They cook it. The bill comes and it's €120.
• 20:17
  What? What happened?
• 20:18
  How does it double? The price on the menu is per
• 20:21
  kilogram. The fish you nodded at was 1.2
• 20:24
  kilograms, but you didn't know that and the waiter forgot to
• 20:28
  tell you. That is brutal.
• 20:30
  So what is the fix? How do I avoid being the idiot
• 20:33
  with €120 fish? You have to be aggressive.
• 20:36
  You have to ask for the exact weight and the exact price
• 20:39
  before they take it to the kitchen like.
• 20:41
  Make them weigh in front of you. Yes, ask how much does this
• 20:44
  specific fish weigh? At what will the final price be
• 20:47
  on the bill if they get shifty or if they say don't worry about
• 20:50
  it? Red flag.
• 20:51
  Huge red flag. Just stick to the octopus salad
• 20:54
  and the black risotto. They're fixed prices and usually
• 20:57
  delicious. OK, good advice trap #2 the car
• 21:00
  rental mistake. Americans, listen up.
• 21:03
  We love our cars. We do, we want to rent a car in
• 21:06
  Split and drive it to the islands.
• 21:08
  The expert advice across the board is do not do this.
• 21:12
  Hi. I like having my own wheels.
• 21:15
  Freedom. Right.
• 21:16
  It's the opposite of freedom, because the car ferries are
• 21:19
  purgatory. In July, you might wait three
• 21:22
  hours in a line of cars under the baking sun just to get on
• 21:25
  the boat. Three hours.
• 21:26
  You can't leave the car because the line moves inch by inch and
• 21:30
  the ticket for the car is expensive, 40 to €60 each way
• 21:33
  and. If you miss the ferry.
• 21:35
  You wait for the next one. And here's the kicker, buying a
• 21:38
  ticket online for a car ferry often doesn't guarantee you a
• 21:41
  specific departure time on the popular routes.
• 21:44
  What it just and tease you passage sometime that day so
• 21:47
  it's first come first served in the car line.
• 21:49
  That sounds miserable, so what's the strategy?
• 21:51
  Be a foot passenger, take the fast catamarans companies like
• 21:55
  Creelo or TP Line. They are quicker, they drop you
• 21:57
  right in the Town Center and they have AC.
• 22:00
  And if you need a car on the island?
• 22:01
  Rent a scooter or small car there for the day.
• 22:04
  It's cheaper and way, way less stressful.
• 22:06
  Trap #3 timing in Dubrovnik. This is about crowd management,
• 22:11
  yes. This is crucial.
• 22:13
  If you try to visit the Dubrovnik city walls at 1.00 PM
• 22:17
  in August, you are making a massive mistake.
• 22:21
  Why? 2 reasons.
• 22:22
  First, the sheet. It's 35°C and the stone reflects
• 22:27
  the heat back up at you. It's like being in a convection
• 22:29
  oven. People literally pass out from
• 22:31
  heat stroke up there. And the second reason.
• 22:33
  The crowds. That is peak time for the cruise
• 22:36
  ship passengers. You will be walking shoulder to
• 22:38
  shoulder with 4000 other people. You can't stop to take a photo.
• 22:41
  You're just shuffling in a hot, sweaty line.
• 22:43
  That sounds like actual hell. What's the fix?
• 22:45
  Go at six PO 0 PM or even 5, three or five.
• 22:48
  The cruise ships usually leave around 4.0 PM.
• 22:51
  The city empties out remarkably fast.
• 22:53
  How interesting. The temperature drops, the light
• 22:56
  gets golden for photography, and you get the sunset over the
• 22:58
  Adriatic. It's a completely different
• 23:00
  magical experience. You actually feel the history
• 23:03
  instead of just smelling someone sunscreen.
• 23:05
  OK, let's talk about gear. There's one item the host in our
• 23:08
  source material insists on sea shoes.
• 23:11
  This is a mandate, a non negotiable.
• 23:13
  Do not argue, but they look so goofy.
• 23:15
  I know they look goofy. I know you think you have tough
• 23:17
  feet. You don't.
• 23:18
  The rocks and urchins of Croatia do not care.
• 23:21
  Why are they so essential? Two things.
• 23:23
  One, the sea urchins. They are everywhere in the clean
• 23:26
  water, which is a good sign, but if you step on one, you are
• 23:29
  spending your vacation in a clinic getting spines dug out of
• 23:32
  your heel. Ouch 2 The rocks.
• 23:36
  The limestone is razor sharp. Getting in and out of the water
• 23:39
  is a balancing act. If you slip you will get cut by
• 23:43
  the 10 year old neoprene shoes. Wear them.
• 23:46
  Look like a dork? Save your feet.
• 23:48
  And finally, the golden timing. When should we actually go?
• 23:51
  If July and August are so crazy, is there a better window?
• 23:55
  If you have any flexibility at all, do not go in July or
• 23:58
  August. The expert advice is September
• 23:59
  1st to September 15th. Why that specific window?
• 24:02
  Why not later in September or May?
• 24:04
  It's the sweet spot. The prices dropped by about 20%
• 24:07
  immediately after August 31st. The crowds dropped by 40%
• 24:11
  because European schools are back in session, but.
• 24:13
  The water holds its heat from the summer.
• 24:16
  It's still warm enough to swim all day.
• 24:18
  If you go in May, the water is freezing.
• 24:20
  If you go in October, it's getting too cold.
• 24:22
  Early September is perfect. OK, let's talk safety. 2nd 5
• 24:26
  Safety, comfort and health. Generally I've heard Croatia is
• 24:30
  safe. In terms of crime, incredibly
• 24:32
  safe violent crime is basically nonexistent.
• 24:34
  Really, you are safer walking alone at 3 morning AM and split
• 24:38
  than you are in London or New York at noon.
• 24:40
  You can leave your phone on the cafe table and go to the
• 24:43
  bathroom. It will be there when you get
• 24:44
  back. That's refreshing.
• 24:47
  But safety isn't just about bad guys.
• 24:49
  Right. The real risks here are
• 24:51
  environmental. We talked about the heat, but
• 24:53
  specifically dehydration and sunstroke.
• 24:56
  There's a wind called the Bora. The Bora, it's a north wind.
• 24:59
  It can be strong and it tricks you.
• 25:01
  It cools your skin so you don't feel how hot you're getting, but
• 25:04
  the sun is still cooking. You drink twice as much water as
• 25:07
  you think you need. And the ground itself is a
• 25:09
  hazard. The limestone in the old towns
• 25:12
  has been polished by millions of feet over centuries.
• 25:15
  It is smooth than marble. Even when it's dry, it's
• 25:17
  slippery. If it rains, it is an ice
• 25:20
  skating rink. You need shoes with grip.
• 25:22
  Flip flops are a death trap on those stairs.
• 25:25
  Slips and falls are the number one injury for tourists.
• 25:27
  And the sea looks so calm. Currents The channels between
• 25:33
  islands look calm, but the water moves fast.
• 25:36
  Do not try to swim from 1 island to another unless you are a
• 25:39
  professional swimmer. Just because you can see it
• 25:41
  doesn't mean you can swing to it.
• 25:43
  Are there scams other than the fish thing?
• 25:45
  Taxes. It's the universal travel
• 25:47
  problem, isn't it? Always.
• 25:48
  Yellow cabs have been known to charge €50 for a three kilometer
• 25:52
  ride. They see a suitcase, they see an
• 25:54
  American, and suddenly the meter is broken.
• 25:56
  So use Uber. Yes, Uber is available in the
• 25:59
  main hubs like Split and Dubrovnik.
• 26:01
  Use it because the price is fixed in the app or if you have
• 26:04
  to take a cab, negotiate the price before you get in.
• 26:07
  Ask how much do the old tone. If they say meter, insist on an
• 26:11
  estimate. What about accessibility?
• 26:13
  This is a serious point for travelers with mobility issues.
• 26:16
  It's a tough reality and the sources are very clear on this.
• 26:20
  Croatia is a nightmare for accessibility, That's true, it
• 26:23
  is. We're talking about medieval
• 26:25
  cities. Stairs, cobblestones, narrow
• 26:28
  alleys, no ramps. If you have mobility issues,
• 26:32
  this destination requires extreme lanning or might just be
• 26:36
  too physically difficult. Even getting onto the ferries
• 26:39
  can involve steep ramps and gaps.
• 26:41
  And one last comfort tip, air conditioning.
• 26:44
  We take it for granted in the US.
• 26:45
  You not take it for granted there.
• 26:47
  If you are booking a soap or an apartment, verify AC exists and
• 26:52
  specifically verify it is in the bedroom.
• 26:54
  Oh, that's a good tip. Often they will list AC, but
• 26:57
  it's one week unit in the living room that doesn't reach the bed
• 27:01
  in July with stone walls retaining heat.
• 27:04
  That means you aren't sleeping. Read the reviews carefully.
• 27:07
  Look for mentions of the AC Let's.
• 27:09
  Get into the emotional side of things.
• 27:11
  We've talked about the friction, the costs, the scams, but people
• 27:14
  keep going back. There must be magic there.
• 27:15
  Absolutely. What are the moments that make
• 27:17
  it worth it? The soul moments.
• 27:18
  The sources are full of them. The host describes renting a
• 27:21
  Pasara boat on the island of Corchula.
• 27:23
  Tell us about that. What is a pasara?
• 27:25
  A pasara is a small traditional wooden boat with a tiny 5
• 27:29
  horsepower engine. It goes about as fast as a brisk
• 27:32
  walk. OK, and here is the kicker, you
• 27:35
  don't need a license to rent one.
• 27:36
  Really, they just give you the keys.
• 27:38
  Pretty much they show you how to start the engine, they give you
• 27:40
  a map of the little islands nearby, and they push you off
• 27:43
  the dock. That sounds amazing.
• 27:44
  The host describes taking one out to the Bedija archipelago
• 27:47
  near Corchula Town. You chug along.
• 27:50
  You drop anchor in a tiny Cove where no one else is around.
• 27:53
  You eat fresh figs you bought at the market.
• 27:55
  You jump off the boat into that turquoise water.
• 27:58
  You look back at the medieval walls of the city.
• 28:00
  That sounds like the dream. That's the Instagram moment, but
• 28:03
  real and earned. It is.
• 28:06
  It's total freedom. The silence, the water, the
• 28:09
  history. That is what you're paying for,
• 28:12
  that moment of autonomy away from the crowds.
• 28:14
  And the other high point was surprisingly humble breakfast.
• 28:17
  The burek again, specifically at a bakery called Pre Rata in
• 28:22
  Split. It's an institution going there
• 28:24
  at 7:00 AM before the cruise ships unload, getting a fresh
• 28:28
  cheese Burrick, hot, greasy, flaky for 2.50 euros.
• 28:32
  That's a deal. And eating it on a bench while
• 28:35
  the city wakes up. It's proof that value does exist
• 28:38
  if you live like a local, even for a moment.
• 28:40
  But then there are the disappointments.
• 28:42
  The tourism machine. We have to manage expectations.
• 28:45
  We do, and the blue cave on the island of Bijibo is the prime
• 28:49
  example it. Looks so cool in photos.
• 28:51
  It's sold as this mystical natural wonder, and physically
• 28:55
  it is. The light comes through an
• 28:57
  underwater opening and turns the whole cave glowing blue.
• 29:01
  Sounds amazing, what's the problem?
• 29:03
  The experience It's a factory line.
• 29:05
  You take a speedboat for an hour, you wait in the sun.
• 29:08
  In another line, you transfer to a tiny boat.
• 29:11
  They shove you inside The Cave for literally 4 minutes. 4
• 29:14
  minutes. The skipper is yelling.
• 29:15
  No photos or hurry up. You're bumping into other boats.
• 29:18
  It feels like an amusement park ride, not a connection with
• 29:21
  nature. So skip the blue cave.
• 29:23
  Unless you are dead set on seeing that specific blue color,
• 29:26
  yes. Spend that time and money
• 29:28
  renting your own PASAR boat instead.
• 29:30
  You'll have a much better day. And the nightlife Advar is
• 29:34
  famous for it. It's called the Croatian Ibiza.
• 29:37
  Itchvar Town. The host expected chic Revere
• 29:40
  vibes. What they got was a frat party
• 29:44
  drunk 20 year olds vomiting on 500 year old stone streets.
• 29:49
  Overpriced, terrible cocktails made with cheap alcohol, Loud
• 29:53
  bad music blasting from every bar.
• 29:55
  So the advice is know your demographic.
• 29:58
  Exactly, if you are over 30, avoid Echevar town after 1000 PM
• 30:02
  it's not for you anymore. Go to Starry Grad on the other
• 30:06
  side of the island. What's that like?
• 30:08
  It's one of the oldest towns in Europe.
• 30:09
  It's quiet, it's ancient, it's civilized, it has incredible
• 30:13
  restaurants and wine bars. It's the grown up version of
• 30:15
  Shafar. OK, we are nearing the end.
• 30:18
  I want to talk about alternatives if this all sounds
• 30:21
  too expensive or too stressful. If €400 a day is just not
• 30:24
  happening, where else should we look?
• 30:26
  The sources suggest 2 main alternatives that give you a
• 30:28
  similar vibe. First, Montenegro, specifically
• 30:31
  the Bay of Kotor. It's close, right?
• 30:32
  Just 90 minutes South of Dubrovnik, you can drive there.
• 30:35
  It has the same Venetian architecture, similar walled
• 30:38
  cities and these incredible mountains falling right into the
• 30:40
  sea. It is spectacular.
• 30:42
  There the price. It's slightly cheaper, maybe 20%
• 30:45
  to 30%. The euro is the currency there
• 30:48
  too, but the cost of living is lower.
• 30:50
  The trade off is the water. It's a Bay, not the open sea, so
• 30:54
  it's not quite as crystal clear as the Croatian islands, but
• 30:57
  it's. Stunning.
• 30:58
  And the budget option. The real cheap alternative?
• 31:02
  Aldania, the Albanian Riviera, places like Sommel and Suranda.
• 31:06
  This is the true budget alternative.
• 31:08
  How cheap are we talking? You can find apartments for €40
• 31:11
  and huge meals for €10. The water is just as turquoise
• 31:15
  as Croatia. It's the same coast, just
• 31:17
  further South. There's always a bud.
• 31:18
  The infrastructure is chaotic, trash management is a serious
• 31:22
  issue. You will see garbage on the side
• 31:23
  of the road. Driving is wild.
• 31:25
  The rule of the road is good luck.
• 31:27
  It lacks that Venetian Polish and deep history that Croatia
• 31:31
  has. It feels a bit more like the
• 31:33
  Wild West. But if you just want the water
• 31:35
  without the price tag, that's where you go.
• 31:36
  There's also a combo move suggested in research, right?
• 31:40
  This is for people who want a taste of it all.
• 31:42
  Do three days in Dubrovnik to see the big sites, the walls,
• 31:45
  the Game of Thrones locations, then cross the border.
• 31:48
  Where to? Go to Mostar in Bosnia for a
• 31:51
  day. Amazing food, totally different
• 31:53
  culture, very cheap. Then head down to Montenegro for
• 31:56
  a few days. You get the highlight reel of
• 31:58
  Croatia without spending a full week paying those Croatian
• 32:01
  prices. I like that strategy, it feels
• 32:03
  like a real adventure. OK, let's do the verdict matrix.
• 32:07
  Is the Adriatic Odyssey worth it?
• 32:09
  We're going to break this down by traveler type.
• 32:11
  Let's do it. Let's start with the backpacker
• 32:14
  budget under €70 a day. What's the verdict?
• 32:17
  Verdict is NO, not in high season.
• 32:20
  You will be miserable. You'll be counting every penny.
• 32:22
  You won't be able to afford the boat trips or the tours, which
• 32:25
  are the whole point of going. You'll be eating supermarket
• 32:29
  bread in a hot hostel. So where should they go?
• 32:32
  Go to Albania or come to Croatia in late October.
• 32:34
  Mid range couple budget 300 to €400 a day.
• 32:38
  Verdict is yes with conditions. You have to book your ferries
• 32:41
  early, stay in Sobes not hotels and avoid age of our town.
• 32:45
  Stay in the quieter towns like Steri, Grad or Jalsa.
• 32:48
  You have to curate your trip to find the value.
• 32:51
  You can't just show up and expect it to be easy.
• 32:53
  Verdict is yes, but pick a base. Do not try to island hop every
• 32:58
  two days with kids and luggage. It's a logistical nightmare.
• 33:01
  So what's the move? Pick one island as is great for
• 33:04
  families or maybe the north side of Corsula and stay there for
• 33:08
  the week. Rent a car on the island and
• 33:10
  remember, no sand castles. Prepare the kids for rocks.
• 33:15
  Buy them the shoes. And finally, the luxury traveler
• 33:19
  Unlimited budget. Verdict is absolutely this
• 33:22
  country is built for you now. If you can afford to charter a
• 33:24
  boat with a skipper, you avoid the ferry lines, you avoid the
• 33:27
  crowds, you access the empty bays that the land based
• 33:30
  tourists can't reach. You get the best version of
• 33:33
  Croatia. So to get a playground for the
• 33:34
  rich. In many ways, yes, that's the
• 33:37
  direction it's headed. So, bringing it all home, what's
• 33:40
  the final summary? Croatia is spectacular.
• 33:42
  The natural beauty is undeniable.
• 33:44
  That water really is that blue. But the era of the easy, cheap
• 33:47
  Croatian holiday is over gone. It now requires what I call
• 33:51
  military grade planning. To beat the crowds and the
• 33:53
  costs, you have to be a strategist.
• 33:55
  You need spreadsheets. But the payoff, Is it worth the
• 33:58
  planning? The payoff is that cent pine,
• 34:01
  salt, diesel, grilled fish when you were sitting there at sunset
• 34:05
  looking at water that is clearer than gin, holding a glass of
• 34:08
  local wine. Yeah, the headache is worth it.
• 34:11
  Just bring your C shoes. And your wallet.
• 34:13
  A big one. And that leads us to our final
• 34:15
  provocative thought for you to chew on.
• 34:18
  We talked about Jacca, the art of doing nothing.
• 34:21
  I want you to ask yourself this. Is Jacca actually possible for a
• 34:25
  modern tourist? Or does the price tag force you
• 34:28
  to hustle? When you were spending €400 a
• 34:32
  day, can you afford to just sit there and do nothing?
• 34:35
  Or do you feel that internal pressure to run around, see
• 34:38
  every site and get your money's? Worth.
• 34:40
  That is the paradox of modern luxury travel, isn't it?
• 34:43
  We pay a fortune to relax, and the cost itself makes us
• 34:46
  stressed. Something to think about while
• 34:48
  you're stuck in that fairy line. Thanks for listening to the deep
• 34:51
  dive. Safe travels and watch out for
• 34:53
  the urchins.