Croatia in July! - Dalmatian Coast

Hi-
I'm heading down to Dalmatia near July 10th to do some island hopping and hopefully climbing. Ive heard good things about DWS on Hvar, and possibly other areas? Can anyone help out? as well as any information about climbers accommodation/possibility of meeting people etc. Ill be travelling solo.
Also would love to get out for sport/dws with anyone who's elsewhere in the split/dalmatia regions.

Cheers,
Caitlin Eggimann
Caitlineggimann@gmail.com

Go to the tourist information center in Hvar. You will find ladies standing out in front with folders showing pictures of their "pensions". They are like houses built with hotel rooms added on. They will likely include your own fridge and either a shared or private kitchen. A couple hundred dollars should put you up in a nice place for a week. Cleanest country I have ever been to, truck stop bathrooms are clean there.

I was in Hvar for my honeymoon so I can't say anything about climbing. If you have a car, getting between islands is difficult, you must go back to mainland and then back out again.. For foot traffic they have regular fairies between islands.

Incredible food, eat breakfast out, its amazing and dirt cheap. Look for "Toast". Best olive oil in the world. Make sure you get hold of Maraska cherries soaked in Grappa! Maraska is the one and only Maraschino. Stay away from the former communist resort side of the island, places like "Starigrad"

Check out Trogir on the mainland as well. Ice-cream ( gelato ) is also dirt cheap and amazing.

Learn some basic Croat phrases like Hello, thank you etc. The rest of Europe treats these people with little respect so if you throw some of their language at them you will make friends fast.

I just got back from 2 weeks in Sarajevo / Mostar / Split / Korcula / Dbrovnik. Definitely an amazing region with awesome topography. Like Rick, I wasn't there to climb, so I can't speak too much to that. I'm sure I did see a pamphlet for a rock guide in one city - Split, I believe. +1 for the food and people. Amazing seafood on the coast, and incredible continental fare inland.

I did not get the impression that Bosnia or Croatia were very well-developed with respect to climbing or even hiking. More-so Bosnia - I've read that the trails in the Dinaric Alps are barely mapped and little-visited since the war in the '90s. The locals I was traveling with said that part of the reason for this was landmines, which are a problem where fighting was intense. I think you'd be fine on the coast, and even in some of the national forests, but keep your eyes open for signs and maybe don't go wandering off-trail without checking with a local first.

Ciao!

Thanks guys! Your posts made me super excited for this trip.

I've been following this as I may end up there later on this year. Just wanted to add this article I found:

climbing.com/places/a-famil…

Thomas Gilmore wrote:I've been following this as I may end up there later on this year. Just wanted to add this article I found: climbing.com/places/a-famil…

I checked out that page. Calling Croatia a "war torn" country is dramatic and silly. You can see bullet holes in buildings in certain places but same goes for Germany. Is travel to Germany exciting because its "war torn?"

Croatia consistently has one of the lowest if not the lowest crime rates in Europe. If you got there, especially the Dalmatian coast, you wont even be aware of the most recent Balkan war ( 20+ year ago ) unless you go looking for it.

I agree with you Rick. I drove to Zadar from Germany back in 2012 (unfortunately just on vacation no climbing) and thought it was a very stable and peaceful place to visit. Anyway, I just thought I would try to add as much beta to the thread as possible so I could refer back to it for my own trip.