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How did you miss this, Rick?

We spent a wonderful ten days in Croatia this past September and were surprised that Rick's guidebook makes no mention of the town of Zadar, just up the coast from Split. It has a lovely Old Town on a peninsula. There are several Venetian gates in the city walls. Surrounding the Roman-era Forum is 11th-century St. Mary’s Convent, with religious art dating to the 8th century. There’s also the grand, 12th-century St. Anastasia’s Cathedral and the round, 9th-century pre-Romanesque Church of St. Donatus. Zadar is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It was awarded European Best Destination 2016.

A recent addition to Zadar's many attractions is the Sea Organ, an experimental musical instrument which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps on the shore. It makes otherworldly but pleasing sounds.

Posted by
5362 posts

Shhh! You're going to ruin it. You won't see me spilling my Croatia secrets on here. In fact, I'll often throw perfectly good places into the conversation just to distract.

Posted by
1878 posts

I like to look at the images on Google to figure out whether a place looks worth visiting, and Zadar looks very appealing. As a bonus, looks like you can get a full day tour to Plitvice from there for a reasonable price. Bahn.de is not working for me right now, but I am guessing it breaks up the trip between Split and Zagreb, too. My wife and I have traveled with Rick Steves guides since 2003, you do have to use your judgment and consider other places that might not be covered in his books though.

Posted by
8377 posts

You found your own "back door". That's Rick's real message.

Posted by
19052 posts

Somewhere in one of Rick's early books he said that you should find your own back doors.

I have a couple of guidebooks from the eighties that list practically every town in Germany. Rick's guidebooks, on the other hand, are more of a "highlights". They are guides to some prominent towns, plus encouragement to the reader to find their own. Following his advice, I've found my own "backdoors" in the Bavarian Alps and the northern Black Forest. \

With all the information available today on the Internet, there is no reason to limit yourself to one or more guidebooks.

Posted by
4 posts

Yes, I get that. I don't expect a guidebook to include every roadside hamlet. It just surprised me that there wasn't even a mention of this town, which is well worth a visit.

Posted by
3200 posts

Rick only covers a few places to which to travel. He acknowledges that. If the RS guides are the only travel books that one reads, then there is much missing. I think RS just wants to make it easy for those with little time to research. Lonely Planet guides, except Italy, are my go to guides as they cover the most areas, appealing or not. RS guides are great for 'how to' information; i.e., train stations logistics, etc.

Posted by
650 posts

RS covers what he covers exhaustively. Lonely Planet and Rough Guides cover practically everything but with much less detail. RS is perfect for a first trip, then you need something else.

Traveling is just ongoing learning and experiences - period. There are multiple sources of info. on each place. For example, my husband and I have been to NYC multiple times. Each time is a different trip. We stay in different hotels each trip, different eateries, sites, neighborhoods, use different travel guides. It's always new for us.

That's why this forum is great for info.. The RS book gets you there and gives you a travel frame upon which you build your own trip. There are just so many factors for each traveler. Most of us face budget and time constraints. RS info. is trustworthy.

Posted by
32523 posts

How did you miss this, Rick?

Although RS staffers pop in for a look round from time to time, Rick himself, as far as we know, doesn't hang out here nor read the posts.

If you want staff to be sure to get your comments, use the Contact Us button below.

Posted by
162 posts

I was glad to stumble on to your post about Zadar. They actually have their own airport, and I saw a post about a great rate at a hotel there and was thinking about going for a few days. Croatia just recently got onto my interest list. I had no idea it had such beautiful coastal towns. Unfortunately I am in Spain now, and leave on May 17th. I don't like cold weather so I think it may be too early to go to Croatia. Next time though!

Posted by
2393 posts

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NOOOOOOOOO!!! If it gets in the book it will be ruined!

Posted by
12040 posts

I have no personal insight into how the editorial decisions Mr. Steve and his staff make on what to include and exclude from the books. But his style simply isn't suited (nor staffed) to provide a comprehensive geographical summary of recommendations from the entire continent. I've learned long ago that a recommendation from Rick Steves and Co. usually guarantees a certain level of quality and interest. An ommission, however, implies nothing. For example, I first discovered and loved Ghent and Antwerp a decade ago, before Mr. Steves added them to his Benelux book. At the time, some of the hardcore Ricknik contributors on this website couldn't fathom that these might be worthwile destinations overlooked by Mr. Steves (I was actually told in PMs to stop "leading people astray", as if I was a heretic in the Church of Steves). Nowadays, the debate is not how much time to spend in Brugge, but whether to base oneself there, Antwerp or Ghent.