Coast of Croatia in September

Discussion in 'Europe' started by nicole309, Jul 4, 2016.

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  1. nicole309

    nicole309 Pundit (899) Jan 10, 2011 Alaska
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    I'll be traveling to the coast of Croatia in September. I would love to hear any trip reports or advice on not to miss breweries, craft beer bars, or bottle shops.
    I will not make it inland this trip as I will be sea kayaking the entire time, I know I'll be missing many of the best beer spots in Zagreb. I will definitely be in Dubrovnik, Hvar, Split, and Zadar. Willing to make short trips inland if there is something I absolutely can't miss.
     
  2. Mitchellm

    Mitchellm Initiate (0) Jun 5, 2016 California

    I am going to Dabrovnik August 8 for a week and am wondering the same thing. I will keep following your thread, i hope someone can give good insight to the beer culture there. Hope there's some good ipa's and stouts to be had.
    -Mitch
     
  3. nicole309

    nicole309 Pundit (899) Jan 10, 2011 Alaska
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    If nobody else replies, you will have to let me know what you find. Total Croatia News has been doing a craft brewery series that might be worth checking out. I found this brewery in Hvar that I will most likely check out:
    http://www.total-croatia-news.com/item/12655-croatian-craft-beer-series-vunetovo
     
  4. euromannn

    euromannn Initiate (0) Apr 15, 2013 Washington

  5. JCDenver

    JCDenver Zealot (586) Feb 8, 2010 Texas
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    Visiting Croatia and Montenegro in early August. Would love some more info on the local scene there as well. If not, I guess I will let you guys know what I find!
     
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  6. nicole309

    nicole309 Pundit (899) Jan 10, 2011 Alaska
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    I'll be traveling primarily by sea kayak. I have had a slight change in plans as I am now flying into Zagreb and will spend a couple days there before heading out to the coast. I will be in Zadar, Split, Hvar, and Dubrovnik over the course of two weeks. I arrive in Croatia September 9th and depart September 26th.
     
  7. doner24

    doner24 Zealot (565) Apr 16, 2013 Minnesota

    My post from November.

    Adding to this thread, just spent a few days in Dubrovnik and the craft beer scene in the old town was certainly lacking. The only bar I found with any craft options was a place called Glam Cafe (outstanding coffee as well I am told) and they carried a porter and pale ale from Zmajska Pivovara that were both solid.
     
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  8. euromannn

    euromannn Initiate (0) Apr 15, 2013 Washington


    Just booked a flight to Podgorica arrive September 8?

    Can you hints of where to stay, eat out, beers, beaches?
    Then I'll go north to Dubrovnik/Split.....and wherever the wind blows after that!
     
  9. euromannn

    euromannn Initiate (0) Apr 15, 2013 Washington

    I'll be in Montenegro Sept 8. Probably a few days then head for Split/Hvar areas.
     
  10. JCDenver

    JCDenver Zealot (586) Feb 8, 2010 Texas
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    Back from the trip with some current info. As doner 24 said, Dubrovnik is pretty lacking when it comes to craft beer, but Glam Cafe is not. They had about 15-20 different beers from Croatia and Serbia from five or six different breweries, and the quality surprised me. Summer in Zagreb, a wit from Pivovara Medvedgrad, and Bura Brew's IPA were particularly tasty. The owner is very passionate about craft beer and will willingly offer recommendations if you need them. Based on my conversations with him, he's also developed some great relationships with breweries across the Balkans, and I fully expect that he'll have a few new beers from other breweries the next time someone visits. They also sell everything to go, which is great if you want to enjoy a few beers at your hotel or airbnb.

    Montenegro
    Yes! I didn't make it to Podgorica, but I did spend some time in the vicinity of Kotor and one day in Cetinje. I highly recommend finding a base camp in the Kotor area and exploring from there, especially if you have a car. Most of the beaches around Kotor are rocky, but the water is crystal clear, and there is easy access from concrete beach piers, most of which have ladders or stairs right into the ocean. If you are looking for sandy beaches, Plavi Horizonti is easily the best one. It is also known as Przno beach, which is really confising, because there is another Przno near Budva. If you drop these coordinates into Google Maps, it will direct you to the correct one: 42.386000,18.682361. It's about twenty minutes by car from Kotor. The farmer's market just outside the old city walls is great as well. We stocked up on fruit, cheese, smoked meats, and olives, grabbed a bottle of wine, and had dinner in one night. We also enjoyed Cesarica, in the old city.

    I would also highly recommend going to Perast. It's got some sort of historical designation, so all the houses are built of stone. The entire town is car free in the summer, and there are big lots on each edge of town where you can park for a couple euros. I would recommmend taking the ferry out to Our Lady of the Rocks, a little church in the middle of Kotor Bay. It's beautiful. We had an excellent meal at Skolji there as well. Fifteen minutes by car from Kotor.

    We also took a detour up to the mountains to visit Lovcen National Park. It's a pretty hairy drive, if you look to the left on this link: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lovćen/@42.4008313,18.769021,14z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x134dcd307d6d2e33:0x37926cb0848a8933!8m2!3d42.3994444!4d18.8188889
    you can see it. All squiggles. We stopped in Cetinje on the way down and walked around. It's the old royal capital, and there are some really great old buildings and a nice boulevard.

    I didn't find any craft beers in Montenegro, I mostly drank Niksicko. If you drive from Kotor to Dubrovnik, Konoba Bonaca is absolutely worth a lunch stop. It's a bit upscale, but the food is great and the grounds are beautiful.

    Croatia
    We visited Lokrum, which is about a 15 minute ferry ride from the old port in Dubrovnik. Great swimming, a couple restaurants, and a little museum about the history of the island. It's a nice escape from the crowds in Dubrovnik if there are a lot of cruise ships in port. Go early. Ferries leave about every thirty minutes starting at 9am. Taking the cable up to Srd Hill from the city was a nice use of a few hours as well. There is an excellent museum about the Croatian War right behind the cable car stop, and it is very informative. Foodwise, I'd recommend: Barba and Locanda Peskarija (casual seafood), Pantarul and Kopun (modernized Croatian), Pepper's (small plates), and Taj Mahal (meat heavy Bosnian). Buffet Skola also has really delicious, cheap sandwiches for eat in or to go.

    We also took the ferry to Korcula, which was probably my favorite stop of the trip. Stayed in Korcula town, but we also went over to Lumbarda, which is about 15 minutes away. There are two sandy beaches there. The rest of the beaches on Korcula are pebbly, but they are all beautiful. We also did a half day boat/swim/lunch tour with Fish n' fun, which was really enjoyable. It's limited to about 8 people and it's very affordable. Restaurant-wise, Aterina (seafood/pasta) was the only place on the trip we went to twice. It's very good. We also enjoyed Nonna (italian) and Silk (dim sum/asian fusion)

    Accomondation wise, we stayed in Airbnb's most of the trip, which worked out really well. PM me if you have more questions!
     
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  11. nicole309

    nicole309 Pundit (899) Jan 10, 2011 Alaska
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    Finally returned from my trip to Croatia. I was pleasantly surprised by the beer scene. While many places didn't have Croatian Craft beers published on their menu almost everywhere had something available if you asked. The most common were the Medvedgrad and San Servolo beers. Also found Bura Brew was pretty common as well. There were also many places that carried both Belgian and Italian beers that I don't normally see in the United States. It seemed that there were an exceptional amount of Pilsner's and IPA's available.
    Every Konzum (grocery store) had a small selection of nice Croatian Craft and Import beers. Most high end wine shops carried a small selection of craft beer. Again I was finding a lot of fun Italian Craft beers.
    Some specific places I found were the Glam Cafe in Dubrovnik (also mentioned above). The weather was exceptionally warm while I was there and I found the cool dark alley a nice place to sit and enjoy some beer. I was able to find the Prvo Visko Saison which I didn't see anywhere else. I also tried the Janis Hoplin by Visibaba Brew Company, I didn't expect much with the cheesy marketing, but it was pretty good.
    Hvar Island had some of the best places for Croatian Craft beer, pretty much every restaurant had something available. My favorite find on the island was visiting Vunetovo Brewery, it is off the beaten path, but worth seeking out. Unfortunately, it was the end of the season and they only had one of their beers left the Saison Dekot. It was an excellent beer that made me with I had been there earlier in the season. This quiet possibly could be the world's smallest brewery. They have a small seating area that holds about eight guests. It attracts some dedicated beer people as it is not that easy to find. They brew in 100 liter batches, but they do bottle and you can find their beer in other parts of Croatia if you are lucky.
    To Je To Cafe in Split had a great line up of Croatian beer on tap and some additional bottles. They specialize in Croatian craft beer. The first time I had the Bura Brew Istrian Pale Ale was at this location. It was one of my favorite beers of the trip.
    Croatian Craft beer is easy to come by in Zagreb, there are several breweries you can visit and almost every bar and restaurant that I stopped in had a nice selection. The Craft Room seems to be the most written about, but both times I went there they were out of over half of the beers on their menu. It was a little disappointing. On the same street there are several other bars that have much better selections in stock.
    Overall, while it was easy to find craft beer in Croatia I didn't really find any beers that really blew my mind. Everything was pleasant and well made. The excitement over craft beer is off the charts, it reminded me a lot of what the craft beer scene was like in the US 20 years ago.
     
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  12. Skwalk47

    Skwalk47 Initiate (0) Aug 31, 2010 Massachusetts

    Leaving in a week or two. Looking back what was your favorite place?
     
  13. latifundija

    latifundija Aspirant (241) Dec 11, 2010 Croatia (Hrvatska)
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    Are you coming to Zagreb or just the coast?
     
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