Dear Wanda,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Every step of the way on our admittedly unusual journey was handled with impeccable care by both of you and your team, and I could “feel” all the caring work that you both put into making our travels memorable. Everything was absolutely delightful. I know you have your favorite places that you wanted us to see, including fabulous Istria (which we will go back to in a New York minute, as they say), and your preferred restaurants and hotels, and I thank you for arranging those for us: it was all verging on the spectacular all the time, and that’s not easy to do. But you did it.

Especially when you stretched to accommodate my interests in the less traveled areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro. I can imagine the effort to find just the right “special” hotel and guide for us in Podgorica (which turned out to be a lovely quiet respite for us). But you did it. And our guides always commented that you were checking on us, even when we didn’t know it, just to be sure that all was always in order. We felt extremely well-taken care of, thanks to you. Our guides were all superb, knowledgeable, patient, open and willing to share their stories (and you know that is what I was looking for!), and I hope we weren’t too much of a bother for them. I would very much like to stay in touch with them, especially Dino, our guide in Sarajevo, who was a wealth of knowledge, and our fabulous guide in Istria. Even the drivers were world-class and extremely helpful.

Mirela, once again, I apologize for not being able to meet up in Opatja: that would have been lovely and special for us: we were tired at the end of a long day, and anticipating another wonderful Croatian meal that evening! Next time we are in Croatia.

Thank you once again for advising me, and for putting together a simply marvelous tour of an incredible country and region.

With warm regards,

Dean & Sheryl Foster – Brooklyn, NY
April 2018

Dear Wanda!

Everything has been so wonderful.  I’m enjoying my last few moments on sunshine from our beautiful terrace overlooking Dubrovnik. We will not hesitate to recommend your company to friends and Mirela was indispensable!  A few photos are attached.

Best regards,

Lindsay & Edward Timlin – Rye, NY
May 2018

Hello Wanda

On behalf of all of us who traveled to Croatia this April, THANK YOU! We had the most wonderful, informative, relaxing time discovering this beautiful new country thanks entirely to the plan you made for us.

Throughout our 10 days – in Dubrovnik, Korcula Island and Split, we met guides who clearly love their jobs and showing people their city. Each one was nicer, funnier and more enjoyable than the last and their English is as good as ours.

Our hotels were spectacular – whether the Hotel Grand Villa Argentina in Dubrovnik, the Hotel Korcula de la Ville on Korcula Island, or the Marmont Hotel. We think our favorite was the Hotel Korcula – sitting on the grand terrace watching the sun set into the Adriatic is as serene as one could want. We spent a good deal of time on that terrace watching boats and people.

The wine tasting trip you suggested was great – we liked what we tasted so much we sent more than a few bottles back to the states. We then went to Ston with our guide and tried the famous ston cake – unfortunately we couldn’t bring that back with us or we would have.

Mirela Benić, the in-country concierge truly is a ‘personal guardian angel’ – she watched over us and even when we didn’t realize it, she was checking all our steps and arrangements to assure no plan went awry. When we decided to adjust our travel at one point she followed up behind the scenes to be sure it would work as we, the naive travelers, anticipated.

In all, we look forward to returning to Croatia and would tell anyone thinking of going not to step foot in the country without your expert planning and recommendations.

Again, thank you for all you did to make our first trip to this beautiful country an extraordinary experience.

Sincerely,

Bob & Cathy Twomey & Leslie Taylor – Metuchen, NJ
April 2018

Dear Wanda!

We are home but wanted to thank you for a wonderful vacation. With the exception of the rooms at the hotel in Dubrovnik, everything was exceptional. Your country was beautiful. We would definitely recommend Tasteful Croatian Vacations to our friends.

Susan Pinto – Wellesley, MA
September 2017

Dear Wanda,

The trip was amazing and exceeded all expectations! It was truly a magical week. All of us can not say enough about Gulet Linda, Captain Toni and crew!

Our group would like to rebook with Gulet Linda for 2020 and take a route north from Split and plan to spend additional “land” days in Istria/Pula.

Though I will miss staying at Villa Dubrovnik again, just a beautiful hotel!

Though 2020 seems a long time away, we will all look forward to working with you again for planning another amazing Croatian Holiday!

Hope all is well and you are enjoying the summer!

Warm Regards,

Peggy Tonelli – Andover, MA
June 2017

Wanda-

At long last, I am sending just a few of the many photographs we took during our fabulous trip to Montenegro and Croatia. As I have told you previously, our trip was splendidly organized by you and your team in every respect. The drivers and guides were informative, courteous and punctual, and the hotels were excellent without exception. Your concierge’s restaurant suggestions also were terrific. My family was impressed with the way in which every detail was arranged, and send their thanks once again.

I wanted to make special mention of the services that your concierge provided in locating our family members in Montenegro. My family in California had lost touch with our Montenegrin relatives over the past couple of decades, and we were not able to give you many details with which to work as you began the search. Nonetheless, after piecing together the information we were able to provide, your concierge located them and put us in touch. We were able to arrange a truly remarkable meeting with a multi-generational group that had gathered to meet us in Gornji Brceli, the birthplace of my grandfather. The photo of the large group below is from that amazing afternoon. (I am in the lower right, my brother is in the lower left, and my mother is, appropriately, seated in the middle of the photo.)

Our interpreter, Mina, was tremendous…she worked quite hard as the language barrier was substantial. She did a wonderful job, and was (very endearingly) swept up with the rest of us in the emotions of the day. Although all 12 days of our trip were fantastic, that day stands out as a monumental event for our family, and particularly for my mother who had never seen her father’s homeland. You and your colleagues, and your concierge in particular, have our gratitude for making that experience possible.

Mark Gustafson – Durham, NC
September 2017

This trip was truly outstanding. All the guides, drivers and accommodations were the best one could hope for. I especially appreciated the little extras afforded me due to my somewhat limited mobility. We added a couple days in Rome which Wanda Radetti arranged with no problems and the tours were artistic gems.

Bob Thurston – Greensboro, NC
October 2017

Dear Wanda, 

I have been home from my visit to Dubrovnik for a couple of weeks now so I have given this email some serious thought. 

Ms. Batinic was a delightful guide and quite engaging but I cannot recommend her as “a licensed architectural specialist’ as was stipulated in our contract (attached.)  I am not asking for a refund but I strongly suggest that you not promote or accept Ms. Barinic in that role for any future clients.  I was too polite to resist going to her haberdashery or her art gallery but I did turn down her offer to watch the feeding of the pigeons at noon.  I had expected much more in-depth discussion of such things as the unique redesign of the city’s main street following the 1667 earthquake which utilized the newly developed Renaissance principals of perspective.  She mentioned this feature but could not point out or analyze the technique.

When I visited Split, I had a wonderful tour with a young woman who had both the history undergraduate degree as well as a graduate degree in historic architecture that I expected with your guide.  I hope that you can find someone like that in Dubrovnik.

Respectfully,

Darleen Melis – Salem, CT
October 2017

This company is incredible. Its rare to find a full service travel company that does NOT OVERCHARGE while getting you the finest accommodation, guides, tours and mapping out your trip. They cover it all, including restaurants, and options and on the trip are incredible with having a hands on person available to attend to all your need or deal with changes on the fly!

Mark Diamond – Toronto, Canada
October 2017

We had the most amazing honeymoon thanks to Wanda, Tasteful Croatian Journeys, and our personal concierge. Wanda is a pro and really gets to know her clients, and she knows Croatia inside & out!

Every one of our drivers and guides was amazing! Iva was our little angel on the trip, and she was just a wonderful wonderful person for us to meet and be in contact with. Special shout out to Mladen in Dubrovnik who will always have a special place in our heart!

I will *never* plan a trip on my own again!!

Wanda & team made our honeymoon so wonderful and stress-free, not only by eliminating all the preliminary planning work but also by helping us every step of the way while we were in Croatia with our personal concierge. Wanda took the time to really understand what we personally wanted out of the trip — a mix of relaxation, history, excursions — and she struck the perfect balance. We traveled around Croatia but not in excess and we able to enjoy things like a private motor yacht excursion to the islands, the best hotels & restaurants, restaurant reservations with the best seat in the house, private driver excursions, wine tastings, olive oil tastings, you name it!

Also, thank God for tasteful croatian journeys because we accidentally left my bag (with my passport) behind at a coffee shop before we departed for the islands and our next hotel. With 1 phone call, Wanda’s team came up with a solution, and I had my bag back that night at our new location, which was 2 hours away.

I can’t thank Wanda and her team enough!!! Thank you!

Lindsay & Girard

Lindsay – New York, NY
October 2017