Anyone been to Croatia?

Planning for when life gets back to normal. My wife and I enjoy travelling and can't scratch that itch right now so we're just researching options. We've never been to the Adriatic area. It would just be the two of us. We'd likely rent a car and use Airbnb.

Any recommendations?

"Normal" for the coast of Croatia in summer is maddeningly crowded with tourists from everywhere - be ready for it. Many of the roads are small and occupied but Dutch and German tourists towing caravans. Slowly. Popular places are overrun - don't even think about Dubrovnik unless you tolerance for crowds is high. You will encounter wannabe social media influencers and Instagram stars selfieing their way through the countryside, and harbors filled with douche-laden megayachts.

That said, there's a reason. It's beautiful, the water is spectacular, and the food is good. It's not as cheap as it used to be, but that's no surprise. Working south, Istria is a nice somewhat self-contained area that was once part of Italy (you'll find Mussolini-era public works if you look). Pula is the largest city, right on the southern tip - great local museum and well preserved Roman coliseum. Rijeka, Split, are Zadar are all larger cities, and of course Dubrovnik all the way at the southern end of Dalmatia. There are many, many smaller places along the way worth checking out.

Depending on how adventurous you are, my personal recommendation would be to ditch the car and travel the islands by ferry. The history of the area is largely maritime, and I think you end up with a much more relevant and interesting experience on the water. I did it seven years ago on a small private boat, and it was spectacular. Rent scooters when you're on the islands. You'll still have to deal with tourists, but not nearly as much traffic. Krk, Losinj, and Korcula are probably the most visited. Personally, I love Mljet and Lastovo, which are still reasonably normal.

Thanks for the input. Hadn't considered the water transport option. Our plan was to go in May or September of next year to avoid the worst of the high season crowds.

Definitely try to go out of season if you can. As 02Pilot wrote, it's a major tourist destination, especially with people trying to visit a bunch of Game of Thrones locations these days.

If you're in the area, make sure to go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitvice_Lakes_National_Park

It's been a good 20 years since I went there and I enjoyed it, although the service in some of the areas was still a bit "good ol' communist service". I would expect that to have changed since.

Also, +1 on Istria. And while you're there, hop over to Trieste.

That's a good time to go - I'd prefer May over September, if only because it will be a little cooler (both water and air) and as you may know, air conditioning is very much not the norm. Personally, I'd look for smaller local hotels/pensions rather than AirBnB - again, more interesting, plus insider local knowledge and recommendations that are invaluable in that part of the world.

Oh, and the local firewater is grappa. Get good at drinking it if you want to impress (and be accepted by) the locals.

Stayed at Split overnight one time and in the middle of the night the cops came and took our passports !

this was in the Commie days........

Hey they gave them back to us in the morning !    But the walk to the police station in the morning was scary not knowing what we did !

But  Split was a neat place  that at the time very few people went too.........

PS , and at the time the coast road was narrow ,  just wide enough for 2 small cars ,  and the goats that would come running out from behind  the rocks......

Maybe that was why there were Crosses on the side of the road with flowers  for the  drivers that ran off the road and down the cliff !

Stay safe

My last ex-wife and her husband went to Croatia a couple of years ago & loved it. Sorry I don't recall the details.  Croatia is probably a good place for her.