The Dalmatian coast, Croatia

this is what i found online

http://www.bikerentalcroatia.com/

Im thinking the hybrid cause its not heavy as MNT but its got an upright tourist view position.

perfect, might be worth having a few tools in your hold luggage, word to the wise...

Cheers Digger - was planning on taking anyway. Would LOVE to be stuck miles away with a problem!

Any sites outside of Split i should make an attempt at seeing since i will be mobile?

My parent eventually stopped renting, cos dad always spent time working on them, the pics look good though, not tempted by the Cannondale road bike? The coastline there is one of the prettiest I've ever seen, I'll ask some mates about sites of interest, post later...

Any sites outside of Split i should make an attempt at seeing since i will be mobile?

Go to the islands! Much more chilled, cheap to get on the ferry and entirely possible to do a round trip in a few days. Was bloomin' hot though in late July, we were doing early morning and evenings when we were there.

trogir is close to split and worth a visit.
it's a walled city.
venetian design, very nice but only worth a day.

if you have the time the islands are amazing.

I want to go to Senj sometime--a hugely historic city (although much of interest has been destroyed in wars) and where one of my favourite children's books, 'Red Zora' by Kurt Held, is set.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=senj&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=28.058077,56.513672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Senj,+Lika-Senj+%9Eupanija,+Croatia&ll=44.991239,14.902053&spn=0.0061,0.013797&t=h&z=16

http://www.senj.hr/English/Eng.htm

It's still not connected to the rail system, though (which led to its losing its importance to Rijeka/Fiume a long time ago).

I done a thing about my trip;

Tour of the Balkans, 2010 on Vimeo

Nice. Is it unusual today that your camera even did underwater filming?

I had an HD camcorder and my mate had a point-and-shoot which was waterproof. Brilliant fun.

Can anyone give me advice on what of part of Croatia to stay? Myself and a few friends wanna go for about a week over the summer. We need to be near the sea in a area which is not a tourist trap but not isolated. I have heard Pula is nice?

Hobo - I toured from Pula to Bar in Montenegro last summer. Pula is nice as is Istria in general. If you go to that part of Croatia, check out Motovun - a hilltop town with a great film festival in July. Otherwise the islands are worth visiting, Hvar is a tourist trap but Brac, Rab, Vis and Korcula. Ston is a nice town on the Peseljac peninsula which was a part of Croatia I really enjoyed. Very pretty but unspoilt - Dubrovnik nearby too

check out Motown

Keming issues again.

forgot to mention zadar - beautiful city and very lively. not dissimilar to dubrovnik but without the hordes or tourists. and the place near pula is m-o-t-o-v-u-n ;)

and the place near pula is m-o-t-o-r-v-a-n ;)

These Croatian names are really quite puzzling. :)

Hobo: Did you go to Croatia in the end - I'm curious, how was it?

I'm planning on going early atuumn or next summer - my mum's from near Zadar and my cousin (based in Zagreb) and I have been talking about doing it for a while but never got round to organising ourselves properly

+1 to Motovun festival and rest of Torcida's advice, belatedly

Croatia was great. Mmmmm, octopus salad.

The only cycling we did was on some deathtrap crappy mountain bikes we rented from Split. Still, they didn't fall apart but I wouldn't say it was a highlight.

Go to one of the islands and rent a small boat with an outboard motor. We did it from Hvar, which has some islands you can easily get to (dodging the awesome yachts). Buzz around, go swimming off the boat and get back with a huge smile on your face :D

The ferries were quite pricey but we had a hire car. If you drive, the toll road was fantastic 3 years ago but the old main road to Zagreb was something to be seen - lovely scenery, great roadside restaurants doing spit roasts (we went to one and they were getting ready for a wedding, with two pigs on spits). The food inland was much better value than on the coast, and delicious.

Zagreb has this lovely street lined with bars where people just seem to parade up and down all evening. Really relaxed and a much nicer atmosphere than rowdy London bars.

The beer's nice. The cheese from Pag, not so much.

Just cycled the dalmation coast and then over the mountains and into Slovenia. The country is awesome! The ocean is beautiful, the cleanest I've ever seen and so many places to just dive in and swim with no-one else around! The islands from what I did (just the 2 Pasman and Ugljan) were gorgeous too, similar landscape but an even more relaxed way of life!
Crossing over the mountains takes you to a completely different place too, a lush green farming palce surrounded by huge lovely mountains. A real remote feeling, some fantastic little villages and great mountain roads. The people are great too, the most waves and greetings from my whole trip so far! And the Burek, fuck if theres a better apple pastry to eat after a long days riding I haven't found it yet and I've eaten a lot of pastries!
didn't get to Zagreb but heard great things, if you're thinking of heading there. DO IT!

i've just booked a week in mljet! woop. i can't wait, anyone know much about the ferrys on the islands? how much to charter a private boat?

For ferries everything you need is here:
http://www.jadrolinija.hr/default.aspx?lang=2

Jadrolinija (Pronounced with a 'y' = Adriatic lines, Jadro = Adriatic in Serbo-Croat) are excellent - cheap as they're a state operated service, reliable and there is always a proper espresso machine on board!

I don't know boat costs but it's best to go as direct as you can, you want to cut out any middle men to keep the cost down. I'd ask about when I got there personally, just ask around at the harbour.

I'd love to go cycling there one day. I've been three times now, most recently to Zadar. We went to Ugljan a few times and the roads are awesome - smooth and empty.

It would be a lot of fun to ride around that island (if hot).

Anyone got recommendations for cycling in Croatia? Will be based in Split and looking to make day trips rather than touring.

Made it to Split...Marjan Peninsula is lovely to cycle around with part of it being pedestrian and cyclist only although you're not going to rack up many miles doing it. One of the real treats was heading over to Brac and cycling over the island to Bol. Not much flat land so gears definitely recommended and definitely worth it to add a few extra kilometres riding up to the summit of Vidova Gora.

If I had more time I'd have done more riding round the Islands where you generally have less traffic to deal with than along the coast road - the latter not being especially pleasant.

Anyone have any recommendations for stuff to see and do in Croatia?

Have just booked flights with my girlfriend to and from Zadar next month. We’ll be there for eight days and won’t be cycling but will probably hire a car.

Obviously we will be doing some research ourselves but if anyone has some must-see/do suggestions that would be great.