Expert: Vedran - 8/9/2004

Question
Hi Vedran!
I'm Brazilian, now living in France, and from 20th August until 4th September I'm going to backpack in east Europe. My itinerary is: Paris-Munich-Salzburg-Prague-Wien-Bratslava-Budapest-Zagreb-Venice-Firenze-Pisa-Paris with an Inter-Rail ticket.

In fact, I don't know exactly where to go in Croatia. People tell me the coast of Croatia is very beautiful and I would like to see it!! Can you tell me where to go ? The distance from Zagreb ? The prices ? How is the periculosity of backpacking in Croatia ? Are the trains safe ? Do you think it's worth to go to Bratslava (if you know it) ? I have to plan every step of this trip cause I don't have too much time nor money :(

Do you know if there is the coratian trains web site ? I would like to know the prices to go to Dubrovinik. Do you know how long does the train take from Zagreb to Dubrovinik and it's price ?

Thank you very much :)
In a long trip like this (having not too much information about the countries, places to stay, etc), every tip and comment will be very cool !!

bye bye, have a good day!  

Answer
Hi,
I'll try to cover the questions you raised but be advised there is so much to do and see in Croatia.
Here is my recommendation, since you plan to cover a lot of cities in a relatively short time I suggest you skip Zagreb (use it just for transit) and immidiately proceed to Dubrovnik. You can either take a train from Zagreb to Split (a beutiful city with spectacular sights as well) from there take a bus to Dubrovnik. From Dubrovnik i would suggest taking a bus to Rijeka (to the north), cover the Istrian peninsula (Pula, Rovinj, Poreč) and from there you have regular boat service to Venice.
The price are not high you can take a train from Zagreb to Split (about 350 km) for about 20 EUR or less. The trains and the streets in all Croatian towns are musch safer than in major European cities and there are lots of backpackers who come here every year.
I wish you an enjoyable trip.