Discover Croatia, Slovenia & the Adriatic Coast Reviews

We have visited most European countries and although all of them are special in their own right, Slovenia and Croatia take first prize for the variety and incredible beauty they offer. This was our first tour with Collette and would use them again. Being met at the airport with a glass of wine was a new and welcome added extra. Kotor, Plitvice Lakes ...read more (featured in our photo) and Dubrovnik were the highlights. The tour was well organised, with a Croatian guide and excellent driver, who skilfully navigated the scenic, but high roads. This was a truly memorable trip. Thanks again to Georgie for arranging the trip.

The Istrian and Dalmatian coasts offer spectacular contrasts for the traveller. Roman ruins such as the Amphitheatre in Pula and Diocletian's palace in Split, romantic mediaeval towns, walled cities like Dubrovnik and natural wonders of the calibre of the Plitvice Lakes make for a rich and interesting travelling experience. This Collette tour doesn’t l ...read moreeave much out, although Mostar should have been included, but it just doesn’t cut it on the logistical side.

The tour is badly planned and doesn’t flow from one destination to the next, necessitating too much time on an essentially uncomfortable bus getting from one place to another. Rather than start at one destination and straightforwardly wind its way up or down the counties visited, the itinerary demands travellers go backwards and forwards from place to place. This resulted in two full days of cramped, unrelenting coach travel when it could have been avoided.

I was informed that Collette intends to reconfigure this tour in 2019, probably as a consequence of feedback similar to the above, and I would not recommend the existing tour to anyone who wants to limit their time on the road so as to experience as much as can be experienced in these wonderful countries.

The standard of accommodation was high, the tour guide was knowledgeable and efficient, but the grade of coach offered, with seating that was as cramped as a typical regional airline, was not as good as what I have experienced with Globus and more akin to what I have experienced with the operator Trafalgar.

Our tour of Croatia & Slovenia was excellent, particularly because our tour guide was so experienced and spoke the language of the country we were visiting. The booking procedure was simple, the hotels were the best available in the area and the meals provided were excellent. Jovanka had a lot of information to give us about the areas we travelled ...read more through, both geographically and politically which added to our knowledge. She always made sure we were comfortable and well taken care of. There are several that spring to mind - climbing past the Plitvice Lakes in the pouring rain; exploring Dubrovnik and staying at the beautiful Valamar President hotel; dinner with the family in Cilipi and discovering the beautiful the city of Ljubljana. That was a complete surprise.