Tuesday Column - Croatia Tourism 7: Guides and Tourist Information

When we first came over here, almost four years ago, we could only find one guide to Croatia generally available in the bookshops. A year after that there were a number around though most in their first or second edition. Now you have Lonely Planet, The Rough Guide, Eyewitness Travel and Footprint, to name but a few. However, the tourist industry is changing so fast that it’s good to hear there is a brand new guide from Time Out Publications, due out next month.

Not only is Time Out producing a Guide Book but also a magazine for visitors to Croatia, on sale in most international cities and airports. The magazine is a first for Croatia and will be exploring a number of topical issues as well as supplying the standard listings. Features include the property market and sailing in Croatia. The property market is beginning to settle down and become a much more attractive proposition than it was when it was fuelled by hype. As for cruising the Adriatic, it has to be the ideal way to take in the best of what Croatia has to offer. Croatia has no major tides or currents, over 1000 islands to explore and great Mediterranean weather, so it’s one of the safest places to learn how to sail. There are a large number of reputable charter companies – international names and local companies – and all will provide skippers for inexperienced sailors at an additional cost of about €120 per day. So there’s no excuse not to try it!

Apart from the guides, you have the National Tourist Board – see our links section – and this is a good place to start when you’re looking at specific destinations. However it doesn’t contain the more detailed information that is available on even the smallest village so try the local tourist boards listed on the main site. Croatia is rich in history as well as natural assets and there is a mine of information available on the web, if only you can find it. In our Monday columns, on individual destinations, we try to give you as much information as you can to help you find out the real story on the places you have decided to visit.

If you intend to sail Croatia then again there are a number of guides around. The Croatian Hydrographic office (HHI) has recently issued its first Cruising Guide in English. However it is based on the Croatian version which was written a few years ago and is now a little out of date. Similarly, Imray published the fourth edition of its Adriatic Pilot in 2004 but things have moved so quickly that again, it’s become a little dated. The good news is that Nautical Data are publishing a Cruising Companion on Dalmatia later this year and at this stage, I have to declare myself as co-author. Modesty aside, it’s based on our detailed knowledge of the coastline and marina industry, based on travelling around Croatia for four years, by sea and on land, and should be the most authoritative guide to sailing in Dalmatia for some time.

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