John and Susan Curby

When we planned our eight day trip to Croatia in May 2006, the country was somewhat off the beaten track. There had been little coverage of the country in the tourism media. From the moment we spoke to Wanda, we knew that we were in the right hands. Her enthusiasm for her native country was infectious. We were met by our guide/driver in Venice and drove to Opatija in northern Croatia via Trieste. For the next two days we explored the Istria Peninsula and then drove down the coast to Split where we stayed two nights at a wonderful hotel located in the middle of Diocletian’s huge palace. We never tired of viewing the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic. With a second guide/driver we followed the coast to Dubrovnik where we spent two days exploring that fascinating city. While we very much enjoyed the sites that we visited, perhaps the highlight of the trip was discussing life during the war with our guides. Our first guide had lived all of his life in Opatija but had a Serbian patronymic. He and his family were subjected to considerable abuse even after he joined the Croatian Army. Our second guide had grown up in Dubrovnik and had joined the fighters protecting the city. His hatred of the Serbs was not far under the surface. Had he met our first guide he would have been immediately suspicious of him based on his name – the horrors of civil war! It was interesting to hear their differing views of Tito and later Croatian leaders. Wanda’s choice of guides, hotels and itinerary was excellent. Although we had driven over much of northern Europe, given the complexities of the Croatian language and highway signage, we were delighted to have a driver! We were also pleased that we avoided the camper/trailer invasion of northern Europeans that occurs during the summer months. We look forward to returning to explore the beautiful coastal islands.

John & Susan Curby – MO
April 10, 2011 – Condé Nast Traveler