Last year in September, I made my way aboard the MS Ribic to sail Croatia with Travel Talk Tours – and it was the very first group tour I’ve ever been on.

When I booked this tour, all I knew is that I’d be sailing from Dubrovnik through the Dalmatian Islands and we’d finish in Split. Wherever I go or whatever I do, I always try to limit my expectations because I’d rather being able to enjoy it for what it is rather than what people tell me it’s going to be. However, when booking any sort of tour I like to do my research. This means reading reviews (good and bad) so that I can decide if it is the best option for me and my travel style.

So if you were thinking about jumping aboard to sail Croatia with Travel Talk Tours, here’s a review of my experience and recommendations:

Sail Croatia with Travel Talk Tours in a nutshell

My tour started in Dubrovnik where I began my next 8 days and 7 nights with 18 of my newest friends. (Also a shout out to our tour leader, Jojo, who was amazing.) Each day brings a new destination surrounded by the same beautiful, turquoise sea.

Aside from a general city/ town introduction with your tour leader, no activities are included in the price. All activities and dinner during the week are optional. This means that like all activities, your dinner each night will come at an extra cost.

Highlights

✘ Waking up to a new place each morning

✘ Jumping off the boat in the morning into the most vibrant turquoise waters

✘ Our tour had a diverse mix of people, which worked out really well. The ages of our group members ranged from 19- to 38-years-old, with members coming from as close as England to as far as India and Australia. In the end, we became a little family!

✘ Offers a perfect mix of culture, history, relaxing and nightlife

✘ You’ll have a lot of free time. Where you’ll have the chance to take part in optional activities, such as walking the City Walls in Dubrovnik and ziplining in Omis. (Both must-dos, in my opinion.)

Lowlights

✘ The showers: In fact, you might ask (like I did) “what showers?” The shower is basically a hose that extends from the hand basin. You won’t have a decent shower all week so it’s a good thing you’ll be surrounded by ocean.

✘ The toilets: From the day we arrived on board our toilets were constantly blocked in the lower deck cabins. Unfortunately, we also encountered some rough weather so our blocked toilets also overflowed. (As gross as it may have been, our group was really easygoing and laughed it off. We closed the lower deck cabin bathrooms and used the ones on the upper deck for the remainder of the week).

✘ Storms: My tour was toward the end of the season and we ended up experiencing a bit of rough weather along the way. There was one night that it stormed and the rain flooded some of the downstairs cabins, including mine. At the beginning of our tour, we were required to stay in Dubrovnik for an extra night due to some wild weather that would’ve affected our safety and, unfortunately, missed out on Mjiet. Destination changes can and will be changed to ensure everyone’s safety.

Food, accommodation and facilities

The tour price included a breakfast spread each morning and three-course lunches every day, which were prepped and cooked by the boat staff. Dinners were not included in the price.

The accommodation on the MS Ribic (one of Travel Talks two Croatian sailboats) was twin share, with a bunk-bed type set up in each cabin. Each cabin had its own small ensuite.

The overall experience of sail Croatia with Travel Talk Tours

Sail Croatia with Travel Talk tours was one the most memorable weeks of my four months in Europe last year. I saw some beautiful and historical sights, swam straight off a boat, experienced Croatia’s notorious nightlife and met an amazing bunch of new friends to share it all with. (Some of who I was able to meet up with again or visit in their hometowns). But as you probably figured out from some of the lowlights I mention above, this is not a luxury cruise but it’ll certainly be a lot of fun!

If you go without expectations, you won’t be disappointed. If you do go with expectations, at least keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If what I’ve described sounds like your type of experience, I could not recommend sail Croatia with Travel Talk more!

Before and after your sail Croatia with Travel Talk Tours (Dubrovnik to Split option)

Most of the things that I wanted to find out about my trip to Croatia had to do with the logistics of transport, so this will hopefully cover some of the questions you might have too.

Getting to Dubrovnik from Dubrovnik Airport

From Dubrovnik Airport, you can easily hire a taxi or you can jump on the shuttle bus that will take you to the main bus terminal near Old Town. A bus ticket will cost you approximately 40 Croatian Kuna.

Getting to the tour meeting point in Dubrovnik

If you’re staying in Old Town, there are three options to get to Gruz Port, including taxis (which will set you back approximately 90 Croatian Kuna), the bus or approximately 30 minutes by foot if you’re feeling like some exercise. Personally, I was feeling super lazy and caught a taxi.

Pre-tour accommodation and activity recommendations in Dubrovnik

For my pre-tour accommodation, I stayed at King’s Landing Hostel in Old Town, Dubrovnik. For basic, clean rooms located in the heart of Old Town, a night here set me back around EUR 40.

You will only have a short amount of time in Dubrovnik before your sailboat departs so I would highly recommend arriving in Dubrovnik a day or two early to fit in any activities you don’t want to miss. Some of the popular activities include the City Walls walk, Lokrum Island and the cable car up to Srd Hill.

Post-tour activity recommendations from Split

When I booked sail Croatia with Travel Talk Tours, the only other place I really wanted to visit that wasn’t on the itinerary was Plitvice Lakes. When we arrived in Split on the last day there was a bunch of us that organised rental cars and took a day trip to the Lakes.

Unfortunately, I’m not sharing accommodation recommendations for Split as a group of us stayed in an Airbnb for the night and it was a bit of a nightmare. 

Other things to keep in mind

✘ Travel Talk Tours have some pretty generous sales on their tours, which is always good to keep an eye out for if you want to go on this sailing trip. You can look at their site here.

✘ Travel Talk Tours require a “local payment” for this tour, which means you pay a certain amount upfront or before you go and pay another amount (generally in GBP) to the tour leader when you arrive on the first day of your tour

✘ The local currency is KUNA, but most places will accept EURO.

✘ There are ATM in most cities and towns, and your tour leader will be able to direct you to one.

✘ Croatia, particularly Dubrovnik, is not at cheap as you might expect it to be.

 

Please leave any questions you might have in the comments below and I will do my best to answer your queries.

This is not a sponsored or paid post, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with Travel Talk Tours and wanted to share my experience with anyone considering a sailing trip through Croatia.