Croatia and Slovenia by train

Guidebook reviews: Western Balkans, Lonely Planet Guide, 2nd Ed 2009

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St Donatus from the cathedral tower Photo - Zadar, Croatia

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Western Balkans - Lonely Planet Guide (2nd edition published May 2009) - Marika McAdamLonely Planet does well from its multi-country guides as members of its peripatetic, Inter-railing, backpacker audience often "do" more than one country (and sometimes a whole continent or region at least) within one trip. I was looking for the guide to the countries of former Yugoslavia and this one happened to look reasonably good (and was available in my local bookshop to which I was exiled from Amazon by my own tardiness), so I picked it up without doing more than a cursory check and the realised that from my point of view at least it had one major failing: it did not do what I assumed it...Read More

Western Balkans - Lonely Planet Guide (2nd edition published May 2009) - Marika McAdam

Lonely Planet does well from its multi-country guides as members of its peripatetic, Inter-railing, backpacker audience often "do" more than one country (and sometimes a whole continent or region at least) within one trip.

I was looking for the guide to the countries of former Yugoslavia and this one happened to look reasonably good (and was available in my local bookshop to which I was exiled from Amazon by my own tardiness), so I picked it up without doing more than a cursory check and the realised that from my point of view at least it had one major failing: it did not do what I assumed it would (and what I believe the first edition did) - it did not include Slovenia (presumably because it wasn't considered Balkan enough?). This is, I think, a major mistake. If the inclusion of Albania and Kosovo are natural and understandable, exclusion of Slovenia is at best unsettling, especially as it's not exactly a huge country with scores of cities and regions to cover and the books as it is is still not among the fattest guides at less than 500 pages.

Thus, on the ground I only used the Croatian section of the guide, though I did have a good read of the other parts and have already been inspired into contemplating another Balkan trip.

"Western Balkans" have all the positives one expects from a Lonely Planet guide: snappy but informative background sections, informed and inspired local coverage and readability that goes beyond just practical. One can always dispute their particular selections (and for eating places I tend to find Rough Guide picks a bit more to my taste, for example), but generally Lonely Planet offer reliable information for a budget to mid range traveller and "Western Balkans" is no different. I tend to buy a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide depending on which is the most up to date one, but with Lonely Planet I always wish there was some allowances for people travelling with children (Rough Guides do that). This is the publisher's policy though and can't be held against them.

Selectiveness is always an issue with multi-country guides and in addition to the obvious blunder of dropping Slovenia, there are some notable ones even in the few sections I had a chance to use. Chapter on "Around Zadar" covers Plitvice Lakes which are three hours away by bus and by no means local to Zadar in any more meaningful way than they are to Zagreb, but mentions the Kornati archipelago only in passing and ignores the other local islands (Pag, Dugi Otok) or Krka waterfalls (which really belong to Sibenik section, but are still more local to Zadar than Plitvice are). This somehow confirms my earlier experience with Lonely Planet being much better at covering city destinations that countryside ones.

All in all, Lonely Planet's "Western Balkans" is a decent enough guide for country hopping in the region. I felt that the more truly "Balkan" areas (from Albania to Montenegro and Bosnia) were given a better (and more heartfelt) treatment than Croatia, and it loses a star for dropping Slovenia altogether.

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Croatia

Zadar: Sights in Town

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Zadar is the main city of northern Dalmatia, a less popular destination among the foreign visitors than Split or Dubrovnik further down the coast, but deserving to be better known. It's a major Croatian resort, popular also with Italians (there is a direct ferry from Zadar to Ancona, 6h, around 50 Euro for a foot passenger) and visitors from Slovenia and Austria. The old town, located on a peninsula sticking out towards the islands of Ugljan, Pasman and Dugi Otok, retains a lot of the old character: marble streets, medieval churches and countless cafes, bars and restaurants. Next to the old town, just behind a massive wall and through impressive gates (all part of ...Read More

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Zadar: Beaches and Islands

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BEACHES AND RESORT AREAThe main resort area of Zadar stretches towards the outlying districts of Puntamika and Diklo, and centres on Borik. Consequently, most of the holiday accommodation is somehow out of town in those suburbs, but the transport to town is provided by reasonably frequent, air-conditioned buses (and the bus route runs along the cost, offering lovely views). There is even a road train which runs from the Borik resort to the old town - more expensive, but worth taking once or twice if you have any children with you as it is itself an attraction for the little ones. In the resort suburbs every second house seems to offer rooms or apartments for rent, and th...Read More

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Konoba Rafaelo

Restaurant | "Meat Feast"

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We spent ten days in Zadar in the high season of August 2009 and stayed in a tourist apartment near the Borik area. There were several restaurants nearby, but the one we visited more than once was Konoba* Rafaelo, near the Uskok sailing club.All of the seating was outside, on a spacious well shaded terrace surrounded by plant boxes and overgrowing in places with vines. Some tables were rustic wooden ones with benches next to them, some were more conventional restaurant ones covered with tablecloths. The atmosphere was lively but not rowdy and the customers were a mixture of foreign and Croats, with a mixture of families and couples.There was nothing special about the ambience b...Read More

We spent ten days in Zadar in the high season of August 2009 and stayed in a tourist apartment near the Borik area. There were several restaurants nearby, but the one we visited more than once was Konoba* Rafaelo, near the Uskok sailing club.

All of the seating was outside, on a spacious well shaded terrace surrounded by plant boxes and overgrowing in places with vines. Some tables were rustic wooden ones with benches next to them, some were more conventional restaurant ones covered with tablecloths. The atmosphere was lively but not rowdy and the customers were a mixture of foreign and Croats, with a mixture of families and couples.

There was nothing special about the ambience but it was pleasant enough and I appreciated large-surface, heavy tables, chairs and benches which limited potential damage caused by children.

Rafaelo offers a variety of food, including a selection of pastas and some seafood, but its speciality seemed to be all kinds of grilled meats. The open fire and girdles used for the cooking were visible, located very near the door to the inside section (which, clearly due to the heat, was completely empty of guests and with a couple of tables only – but needed to be passed on the way to the loos).

On our two visits (both in the evening) we had grilled chicken, two kinds of beefsteaks, pork kebab, and pleskavica (mixed pork and beef, spicy burger present in every eatery we have ever visited in Croatia, from fast food places to proper restaurants). All were fresh and well cooked: only slightly charred, reasonably tender and altogether very tasty.

A defining characteristic of Rafaelo's meats seemed to be the truly humongous portion sizes: the beef steaks were generous enough, although not huge (perhaps around 250-300 g), but the other types of meat came in portions easily enough for two people: my daughter's chicken consisted of two boned breasts, the pleskavica took most of the (large) plate, and the kebab was in fact two kebabs, each easily enough for a generous meal.

All grilled meats came with chips, which also came in extremely generous portions and were crisp and greasy, somewhere half way between thin French Fries and fat rustic chips.

We also had salads (nothing special and not particularly huge, but adequate), grilled vegetables (ditto) and mushroom sauce (huge portion of creamy, mild and rather tasty, but a little bit bland concoction) as well as some chocolate pudding: a wonderfully rich, dark, sticky brownie base topped with silky, dark chocolate butter cream.

The prices at Rafaelo were pretty reasonable: our meals (which would comfortably feed 4 adults) cost around 40-45 euros each, including water, beer or house wine.

All in all, a straightforward food for fans of all things grilled and recommended for a great meat-feast.

*"Konoba" is a Croatian word denoting an inn or tavern, a somehow more casual eating place than a restaurant. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 11, 2009

Konoba Rafaelo
Ulica Kneza Trpimira 50
Zadar, Croatia
+385(0)23335349

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Zadar to Ljubljana by Train

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Train from Knin to Zagreb Photo - Croatia, Europe

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After ten days in lovely Zadar, we get a bit bored with swimming, sunning, eating and Dalmatian churches and decide to move on. Our plan is to go to Ljubljana and then Trieste. We arrange the hotel in Ljubljana (see my City Hotel review) and contemplate the means of getting there. Every journey seems to involve a change in Zagreb, although theoretically going via Rijeka should be quicker, so Zagreb it is. My husband has an Interrail pass left from his earlier travels and a large part of the route to Ljubljana is marked as "scenic" on the Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe, so we reject the 3.5 hour bus trip on the new motorway for a 6 hours train journey with a change in Knin. The ...Read More

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Slovenia

Lovely Ljubljana

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Ljubljanica river Photo - Ljubljana, Slovenia

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However much of a linguistic cliché this might be (the word Ljubljana is very close to the word for love in many Slavic languages), Ljubljana is lovely indeed. A city on a human scale, at about 300,000 inhabitants and with the role of the country capital, it is large enough to offer all the advantages of city life without producing an overwhelming monster. But it's not just the handy size and civilised, educated, friendly, youthful inhabitants (the tourist information claims that 20% of the population are students) that make Ljubljana so attractive. It has funky bars and fancy restaurants, it has thriving culture with active theatre, art and music scenes. It is also, rather simply, a beaut...Read More

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City Hotel

Hotel | "Great 3-Star for Ljubljana"

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We stayed in the City Hotel in Ljubljana for three nights in August 2009. We were travelling from Zadar in Croatia and we chose the hotel on the basis of a quick look at the descriptions and reviews on the web (as accessible from a mobile phone), but we talked about the room and the price directly with the hotel via phone: we requested a large double room for a family of four (with a cot for the 3 year old and a space for the mat for the 8 year old). We arrived late in the evening and although the member of staff at the reception expressed a slight bafflement at our request of a "double room for four people" we reassured him we knew what we were doing and were fairly efficiently booked in....Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 5, 2009

City Hotel
15 Dalmatinova Ulica
Ljubljana, Slovenia
+386 1 239 00 00

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Ljubljana to Trieste with a Long Koper Interlude

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We leave Ljubljana by train to Koper, where we are going to catch a bus to Trieste. The train is, again, an old fashioned European type with compartments and we find one to share with only one other passenger, a serious looking young man seemingly engrossed in a book about astronomy. Slovenia has only about 50km of coast, and Koper is the only commercial port of note, located virtually on the Italian border and a scant 10 km from Trieste. The distance from Ljubljana isn't far either, but the train stops frequently and its route somehow meanders on the way and thus it takes over two hours to get there. But we don't mind: between Ljubljana and the coast is the elevated plateau of...Read More

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Croatia Journals

Croatia and Slovenia by train

Guidebook reviews: Western Balkans, Lonely Planet Guide, 2nd Ed 2009

Croatia

Zadar: Sights in Town

Zadar: Beaches and Islands

Konoba Rafaelo

Zadar to Ljubljana by Train

Slovenia

Lovely Ljubljana

City Hotel

Ljubljana to Trieste with a Long Koper Interlude

Italy

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