Question for recent travelers to Croatia

I went in late July/early August

1) Yes, nothing in Dubrovnik, Split or Sibenik was closed. I would google the websites of the places you want to go.

2) At that time indoor masking was strictly enforced. Very few ppl wear masks outside other than some interacting with the public.

3) No idea, I sat down everywhere that wasn't solely a carryout place. There are carryout pizza places galore.

4) I stayed in hostels, so IDK. However I will comment that I was told by many in the tourist industry that the government really pushed hospitality workers to get vaxxed and the rates of vaccination are pretty strong.

Overall I found Croatia to be a good mix of welcoming tourists back with open arms, but still taking the disease seriously.

There is almost nothing a recent traveler can tell you that will be helpful for a trip nearly 5 months from now. Truly.

Croatia's vaccination rate is not really very high by European standards. Under 49% of the population is fully vaccinated. The figure for the US is over 59%.

However, Croatia is currently vaccinating considerably faster than the US.

(Data from ourworldindata.org)

I am sure travelmom will chime in shortly, she was there for over a month I believe. I spent a week back in July and while that was a while ago, one reassuring thing is Croatia has been very consistent in its rules for the better part of a year. That should inspire some confidence in the future. They rely so heavily on tourism and they are so financially challenged that is also some comfort in the lack of volatility of their rules.

Are most of the sites (historical, etc.) open and how can we find out
if these sites are open prior to us leaving? This is the most
important question to us!

Yes, 100% when I was there.

Do most people there wear masks?

Inside yes, outside no.

Is it easy to get curbside orders from restaurants?

Never tried. But "curbside" implies that there are curbs and places to park along side the curb. Take out "maybe" but maybe you will feel comfortable eating outside in which case there are numerous options everywhere.

Did you find the hotels maintain the Covid restrictions (cleanliness,
social distancing, etc)?

They have established standards for this. I assume they follow them fairly well.

History is interesting - but looking at what happened last year to predict next year's pandemic response isn't helpful.

The most important question is what's the vaccination rate and what's the infection rate, and is there enough testing to make that a solid figure. Those are figures you can find online. But looking now is still pretty irrelevant because youre not travelling for months. 5 months ago in NZ barely 20% of the population was vaccinated - now 90% is - things change very quickly

We were there this past September for 5 weeks. We were in Dubrovnik, Korcula, split, Zadar, Porec, Motovun, Rijeka, Opatija, and Zagreb. Along the coast in Dalamatia, everything was open but more crowded then other years. Maybe because they had the least entry restrictions. Very few restaurants have indoor seating. I think we only ate inside once in Dubrovnik and once in Zagreb. For takeout, they have something similar to grub hub, I can’t remember the name cause we never used them. I could ask a cousin next time we talk. Masks were required inside stores and the tour guides had to wear them, but not many other people. We went to a few museums where we were literally the only ones there. we were told if we saw anyone else to put it on, otherwise not to worry. In Istria everything was open but it was October and things were winding down. The people who run businesses but don’t live on the coast close at the end of September and go home. Any business open after that are locals. In Zagreb all the museums in the lower town, except the Ethnographic Museum, were closed due to the earthquake. I highly doubt they will be open by then, no work was being down when we were here.
In the hotel in Zagreb we had to wear a mask in the lobby.

The most important question is what's the vaccination rate and what's
the infection rate, and is there enough testing to make that a solid
figure.

Depends on if you are assessing personal risk, or if things will be open.

I agree for personal risk but that topic other than to say "do what you are comfortable with" is taboo here, and for good reason.

In evaluating (pure guessing) what will be open an equal factor is the attitude in the country government in question.

Hungary has miserable numbers and from a risk perspective you might choose not to go; but Hungary, like Croatia, and Montenegro, and Ukraine and a few others has said closures is not in the general best interest and will be a last resort; and that has been their track record (and I assumed that was the intent of the question).

Other countries tend to flex and bend with each wave or change in numbers and as such, for my guess, are less reliable choices in the short term.

Thanks, James. :)

I was there for the month of September - and, in my opinion, it is true that what has recently happened or is happening now is a poor predictor for April and May next year.

However, to answer your questions:

1. Yes. I did not visit museums, though. I was there mostly for the nature, mostly.
2. No - although mask wearing was far greater in Dubrovnik than anywhere else. My favorite story is when the Krilo ferry employee came through - he made sure everyone had their feet off the seats but bothered no one about a mask.
3. Every meal I ate was seated outside at restaurants. All restaurants seem to have outdoor seating available. For some, that was all they had. Never tried carry out, but I did take leftovers a couple of times and that didn’t seem like it was an odd concept. (It was offered by my waiter.)
4. I stayed almost exclusively in apartments (through booking.com), so can’t speak to hotels. But the apartments were all very clean and I loved it. I also rented a car for about half the time. I did stay my last 2 nights in a hotel in Dubrovnik. It was a lovely place. Breakfast was also outside.

I stayed up with restrictions, testing results, etc. mainly through a very good Facebook group. I can message you that, if you are interested.

I really loved Croatia and there are parts I would gladly return to. I could easily spend a week in Istria and a week on Korčula. And there are so many places I didn’t get to!

Edit: I agree about the consistency for allowing entry. I wanted somewhere I was pretty sure would allow me in (and want me) and Croatia fit that description.

Hungary has miserable numbers and from a risk perspective you might choose not to go; but Hungary, like Croatia, and Montenegro, and Ukraine and a few others has said closures is not in the general best interest and will be a last resort; and that has been their track record (and I assumed that was the intent of the question).

Hungary is a real pain - its had its land borders open for months - but to fly in I'd have to have a PCR test even though I'm fully vaccinated. They don't recognize any vaccination record apart from the EU Vaccine certificate - very, very restrictive. As I'm getting off a cruise ship I'm unlikely to have to time to get results of a PCR test - so may fly to Vienna instead and catch a train.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. We’ll definitely take all your suggestions into consideration, and we appreciate everyone’s advice!