Rick Steves' Croatia & Slovenia

If you are going to do Slovenia and Croatia on your own, this book is extremely helpful. We just got back from a trip of five days in Croatian Dalmatian coast and 2 days in Slovenia with a day of travel in between the two. We were there at the end of September which is an excellent time to visit as far as not having to deal with crowds except for Dubrovnik. We flew into Dubrovnik and stayed there for 3 days before renting a car and driving up the coast to Orebic across the water from Korcula for 2 days. We then took a drive up to Lake Bled in Slovenia where we stayed at Pension Mayer for two days. The book was extremely helpful in regards to picking restaurants to eat at and activities to do. It was also extremely helpful to avoid crowds. Dubrovnik was bad during the day with all the cruise ship passengers coming into town so we did some simple but very enjoyable day excursions to get away from Dubrovnik Cavtat, Lokrum, Zaton Bay Sea Kayaking (Sea Kayaking through Huck Finn Croatia and not Steve recommendation). We walked the wall early (at 8 am) before all the cruise ship passengers came in (as Steve recommends) and that was a spot on recommendation. The only lodging recommendation we took from the book was Pension Mayer in Lake Bled which I would definitely recommend. Basic room but reasonable prices, excellent breakfast and restaurant and good location for checking out Lake Bled. Hindsight is 20/20 but if I had to do it all over again I think I would have spent all my time in Croatia. Slovenia is awesome but to me the Dalmatian Coast is pretty unique - very beautiful, the water is a little cool 72-75 degrees Farenheit but definitely swimmable, one of the cleanest seas in the world and no worry of shark attacks (only one type of smallish shark with no documented history of shark attacks). The coast is rocky so I would recommend bringing or buying a pair of water shoes. Didn't get to do Istria, Plitvice or trips to Mostar (in Bosnia) or Montenegro which I would definitely like to do as this book recommends (if you have sufficient time).

Sometimes Rick Steves' books rub me the wrong way. When I'm looking for something comprehensive, sometimes his "Back Door" travel philosophy (which he explains in the book) just doesn't work for me. Suffice to say that this book works very, very well.I travel a lot. I use a lot of travel guides. I've found few as good as this one, for any region or country. First, Rick chooses all the right places in Croatia, Slovenia, and even in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. His selection of sites is spot-on perfect. Second, he really takes the time to explore the local culture, which is extraordinarily rich in this part of Europe. The fundamental flavor of the culture shifts from Germanic to Slavic to Turkish in a very brief spot of land down here, and Rick makes sure the traveler is aware and appreciative of these things. All this is the long way of saying that the historical and cultural contexts in this book are superb.Listings and travel practicalities are typical Rick Steves quality. While the listings aren't entirely comprehensive, they are truly a sample of the best. Rick tells us that he has personally traveled this entire region to make updates himself, and it shows.This book is, without question, the best travel guide currently available for this region, and one of the best travel guides in print. If you've not been to these fascinating places, this book will make you want to go even more.

Overall, this guide book was helpful, which is about 80 % of time. We just left Croatia, so I believe this my opinion is based on fresh impressions and not too biased.Although Mr Steves provides most of time quite useful amount of tips and hints for travelling families, a few more would be nice to include. For instance, nearby Split there is town called Omis, with semi-sandy (Croatia is mostly pebbly on the shore) beaches. Shore between Omis and Split is same, - shallow waters, sandy or pebbly beaches, with lots of apartments, villas for rent, - a big hot spot for vacationing families. We found this place by accident, and if not running out of time would love to stay there longer. No word about Omis there was in the book. Also, the town was famous for its pirate brigade, and we found a small show for kids, including a boat ride, dinner with pirates etc. - a bit cheesy, but kids were delighted. Again, no line about in the guidebook.Personally speaking, we found Omis resort area nicer, than one Steves recommends, towards south, Dubrivnik area. Waters at Dubrovnik Riviera are magical blue, clear, and so beautiful, however, shore is very rocky most of time, and going to a nice spot often turns into rock climbing. Not much reflection we found in the book. Also,independently of the guide book, fyi - if you are on a rented car,and driving coastal highways past state A1, there is a 5 km stretch in town of Neum belonging to Bosnia, that you have to cross, and not every car rental agency allows this detour. We ended up taking a ferry from Ploce to Trpan, in order to avoid going through Bosnia.Do not take me wrong, Dubrovnik itself is a beautiful town, especially for those who follow the Game of Thrones saga. It was worth to visit. Another thing, which the guide book might benefit from - a small village Cilipi, next to Dubrovnik airport, running a folklore show with traditional dances, wine tasting, a beautiful museum - every Sunday from April to October. Again, not mentioned in this guide book, despite regular group tours from Dubrovnik.Overall, I would recommend this guide book as an additional source to Lonely Planet guide, or Internet based tourist resources.