Reader's trip: The best and worst things about travelling Croatia

NAME Susan and Ron Petersen

THE TRIP Croatia

THE ITINERARY After reading Sue Wragg's experience with a great tour operator in Spain, I recalled the wonderful experience we had when we decided to travel to Slovenia. As my husband and I travel in December/January due to work commitments, tours are hard to find. After extensive searching I found Slovenia Explorer, a company based in Ljubljana. Gregor Födransperg, the owner and manager was amazing in putting together a private, yet inexpensive tour that included friendly, informative English-speaking guides and even lunch at a guide's family home in the country, one of our highlights. The hotels were centrally located,and very comfortable.

Gregor recently helped with a similar tour in Croatia. I listed the sites we wanted to see and his very affordable private tour itinerary was emailed in a few days. It included an English-speaking guide who took us to many off-the-track places we would not have otherwise known about. I would recommend Slovenia Explorer as a tour choice for anyone travelling to either of these places (see slovenia-explorer.com).

Our tour began in Zagreb, where we met Branko, our guide for the next 10 days. We travelled all around Croatia in a private car, stopping to see amazing sights including the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, Roman Amphitheatre in Pula, KRKA National Park, Mostar, Split, Plitvice National Park and Dubrovnik. There was never a quiet moment, with Branko's incredible knowledge of the area and its history, coloured by family stories and the occasional joke. Branko even showed us where he spent his childhood holidays on the beach at Murter and took us into Bosnia for half a day, something not on our original itinerary. After our time with him, we spent three days in Dubrovnik, bought a Dubrovnik card and explored till our feet were sore.

BEST BITS Sunny days, amazing sites, great food.

WORST BIT Cannot think of any.

BEST TIP Remember how lucky your are to travel the world

WHERE TO NEXT Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Morocco on coach tours then Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland in 2019 (we hope).