Croatia in October?

I have stayed in some beach towns in Greece, for instance, that were fine in the first half of October but much more closed up in the second half. Rick's book gives that same impression for smaller coastal towns in Croatia. The issue should not affect cities like Split and Dubrovnik or inland destinations.

It affects the islands more than the mainland cities. We were in Croatia from 9/20/15 to 10/14/15. 24 days. Visited Dubrovnik, Korcula, Miljet, Hvar, Brac, Split, Rovinj, Pula. Of these, Brac, during the second week of October, was on the verge of shutting down for the season. In late September we had to stay two more nights on Miljet because the ferry schedule changed to shoulder season. I would definitely pay attention to Rick's advice.

Zadar was lively when I spent a night there in early October last year, but it's a city, not a coastal resort.

I was in Dalmatia last September (I left 23 September) and many of the restaurants and some hotels on the islands and in the smaller mainland towns were getting ready to close at the end of September. We went for morning coffee in a resort on the way back to Split airport and there was only one cafe still open!

To some extent, it depends on the weather, as many places just offer outdoor seating, so if the weather breaks early (it did c 20 September), then this influences when they close. Split was still in full flow, so stick to the larger places and you will be fine.

i belive some towns in croatia are well making restaurants and other services work in order to prolong season, for instance city of rovinj

I just returned from 14 days in Croatia and Slovenia. We did not visit any of the big tourist coastal towns other than Rovinj. We stayed in Zagreb, Rovinj Croatia and Piran Slovenia. Rent a car for one day to visit the castle and caves in Slovenia. http://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/come-and-visit-us/predjama-castle/ I have been to Europe many times and have to say Croatia and Slovenia are excellent countries. We were there during busy holiday times and never ran into a lot of people an no lines anywhere! It took three days before I heard an American accent! Enjoy your time there...you'll love it!

I was in Rovinj first week of October. Some places were already starting to shut down, especially along the shoreline where it got very cool in the evenings. Good news is that room prices were heavily discounted and the larger Istrian towns like Pula were still bustling. The rest of my Croatia visit was mid-to-late September, so reporting on that part of my experience won't help you. As another person noted, keep in mind that ferries usually change to low-season schedules on October 1.

I will be there in December/January--on an Adriatic cruise with extensions in Zagreb and Slovenia. I was told that many of the "tourist shops"/some restaurants close down about October/November...as the weather gets colder and tourists are fewer, but that the cities/towns and most tourist sites are still open. One can hope that the reduced number of tourists will make up for the fewer number of restaurants/tourist traps available to us!

I just returned from the Dalmatian Coast, and it was packed in August. I am certain that Dubrovnik and Split would be wonderful in October. I think the waters of Dubrovnik would still be swimmable at that time. Some of the locals swim there nearly year-round. And Hvar was a relatively large island. I think you would be safe to book a couple of nights there in October as well. There are enough people who live there, that it can't completely shut down. I recommend all of those places highly. Along with Krka National Park (a day trip from Split) and Trogir. You're gonna have a great time. Croatia was incredibly beautiful and exceeded all expectations.

I just returned from the Dalmatian Coast, and it was packed in August. I am certain that Dubrovnik and Split would be wonderful in October. I think the waters of Dubrovnik would still be swimmable at that time. Some of the locals swim there nearly year-round. And Hvar was a relatively large island. I think you would be safe to book a couple of nights there in October as well. There are enough people who live there, that it can't completely shut down. I recommend all of those places highly. Along with Krka National Park (a day trip from Split) and Trogir. You're gonna have a great time. Croatia was incredibly beautiful and exceeded all expectations.

We were in Slovenia/Croatia the last week in Sept till around the ~10th of Oct last year (14 days) and it was PERFECT....lighter crowds and weather was great. Locals were telling us that their summer was extremely hot last year so we were glad to have not gone during the summer.

It was still tourist season so all the places were open and lively. Beyond the 10th of Oct may be even lighter crowds and perhaps this is why the places are 'shut down'. It's truly better to have some crowds as it keeps the places "alive". You may want to move your dates to last week in Sept till mid Oct. Hereon, I will plan my travels around that time.

We also hired a chauffeur with a van....took us all the way from Ljubljana down to Montenegro with several stops and layovers in between during our ENTIRE trip. The chauffeur left us in Dubrovnik (so we didn't have to return to Ljubljana).....if you ever need such a service, email neso@transfer.si. Reasonably priced! We had a great chauffeur and felt very safe (we were 4 women travelling).

Enjoy your trip....loved Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Montenegro!!! If you wish to know our itin and lodging, let me know!