Customer reviews: Croatia independent walking holidays

Everyone who goes on a Headwater holiday will be emailed a link to our post-holiday questionnaire where they can give us an honest assessment of all aspects of their holiday - everything from how quickly we answer the phone to how clean the hotels were - plus an overall rating and comments about their holiday.

Any feedback collected is posted to our website, so that people can make an informed decision based on past experiences before heading off on holiday. We don’t edit the reviews, the only thing we do is proofread them and alter any typos, where necessary, to ensure they are easy to read for everyone. All reviews will be published (except in certain extreme circumstances), and a member of the Headwater team will respond to any constructive criticisms/comments under the reviews, at their discretion. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of our holidays, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.

A Valued Customer
Dalmatian Islands Walk
15/10/2024

We've travelled with Headwater for many years. Consistently excellent service, great choices of hotels and all of the details sorted.

Mrs Henderson
Dalmatian Islands Walk
04/10/2024

Accommodations were excellent, walks were really good. It was great to have options.

Mrs Barry
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
17/09/2024

We really enjoyed this holiday because the routes chosen enabled us to explore areas of the islands that we wouldn’t otherwise have seen. Mostly the paths were clearly marked and easy to follow. We walked through forests, on mountains, alongside coastal waters, around lakes and through tiny villages. We decided to spend our day at Mjlet walking round the lake, but there are lots of different routes you can opt for. Troghir was delightful and the walls of Dubrovnik were fantastic. We had some of the best fish I’ve ever eaten. Take your swimming costumes with you, and swim along the coastline in the beautiful clear waters.

Marion Sugars
Dalmatian Islands Walk
15/08/2024

Very good experience, as before. All staff with whom I had dealings (both in UK and Croatia) were helpful, attentive to any needs, polite and friendly.

Simon Yates
Dalmatian Islands Walk
04/07/2024

Enjoyable holiday but extreme heat prevented us from walking as much as we would have liked.

Ian Lorimer
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
15/06/2024

A very good walking holiday, plenty of opportunities to swim along the way. Island hopping was fun too.

William Chadwick
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
31/05/2024

A very well thought out itinerary. The walk on Korcula started fairly dull, the detour to the fort has little merit, the picnic bench with a view is no longer white and nowhere near the fort this might be better as a 1/2 day walk taking in the rocky glen. There were lots and lots of butterflies and wild flowers at the start of June. All the local taxis were spot on time. Very handy to have all the ferry tickets pre-booked. Perhaps advise folk to take beach shoes and swimming gear to Mjlet, the restaurant on the island in the lake there is still reasonably priced.

Gillian Whittingham
Dalmatian Islands Walk
23/05/2024

A truly great walking holiday, our fourth with Headwater. Hotels in fab locations, excellent food, challenging walking and incredible scenery. We loved it.

Melanie Ridley
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
11/05/2024

Very good overall, perhaps 4* hotels are best where possible in Croatia

Janet Gosling
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
11/05/2024

I have travelled with you on numerous trips and find your organisation is very good. The information you supply is comprehensive and generally covers everything I need to know. The staff are always very helpful and quick to respond to any queries

Judith Cumino
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
10/05/2024

Jeremy Hawkins
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
04/05/2024

We both thoroughly enjoyed our Dalmatian Island hopping experience. It was a perfect combination of hiking and exploring the stunning and historic local area - soaking up the beauty of the natural scenery as well as the spectacular towns. The itinerary was very well thought through with plenty of free time to sightsee and the local guide was excellent. All of the transfers worked like clockwork and we loved the additional experience of catching boats between the islands. We got an early morning flight to Split which meant that we had plenty of time to explore Trogir which was well worth the early start! We had been to Dubrovnik previously so we spent our last afternoon just relaxing in Lapad. But others may want longer to explore the delights of Dubrovnik. Overall we would definitely recommend this trip!

Sheena Millar
Dalmatian Islands Walk
20/10/2023

Advance preparatory information was clear. Management of an itinerary change, due to unforeseen circumstances whilst on holiday was well managed and communicated with us clearly.

Timothy Wilyman
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
30/09/2023

Timothy Billington
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
02/09/2023

Christine Day
Dalmatian Islands Walk
26/06/2023

Highly recommended walking holiday to Split and Dalmatian Islands. We chose to do some of the shorter walks suggested to keep near the sea as it was very hot, so every walk also included a swim. Great accommodation with v friendly hosts.

SAUNDERS
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
10/06/2023

Croatia is a beautiful country. We had great walks, lovely scenery and good hotels. At the briefing we felt a bit overwhelmed with the amount of info re transfers, taxis and ferries but all worked well and all the tickets , bookings etc are well presented in a folder so we didn't loose anything! Day 3 - St Antonie - route on Jelsa - the bus drops you just outside of town rather than in the town centre so keep an eye out and check with the driver if you're at Jesla - we missed the stop but the driver very kindly took us back! Walking to the Tor at the beginning of the walk is more like a 3 booter and involves quiet a bit of scrambling. Once at the top though the rest of the walk is easier. We shared a cab back to Hvar with other walkers on the trip later in the day so as not to have to clock watch/ rush for the last bus back in the early afternoon. Overall a fab trip with varied and interesting walks.

The walks were challenging enough to get a sense of achievement without feeling overstretched. The GPS navigation made it almost impossible to go wrong and was a source of comfort, as was having Azra answering very quickly when I had to phone her with a question.

The accommodation and instructions were spot on, which led to me having a more relaxing week than when I have organised my own trips.

Self guided suited us as we’re used to ‘doing our own thing’ but this tour gave us our own space (with everyone having different walking paces) but provided the benefit of having other similarly minded people to share our trials and tribulations with at the end of each day - if you wanted to.

I would definitely recommend Headwater/Exodus to anybody wanting a self guided walking tour.

This holiday was beautiful! It was so well organised. Island hopping is very different to the other Headwater holiday's we have done and be aware of the extra mileage of ferry hopping on top of the walks. The hotels were well placed and their hosts were amazing! Mljet was stunning and the walk to the top is so worth it!!! Hvar was beautiful but the Jelsa bus walk was very tight on time. Adding an extra day in Split was fantastic and he Croatian people were so friendly and kind. Overall we enjoyed every second and i would thoroughly recommend it!

We visited Croatia May 20-28th 2023 and were very glad that we were not there in high season when apparently most of the islands we visited would be heaving with tourists. The weather was perfect and on many of our walks we met very few people, if any. Island hopping is an ideal way to enjoy the amazing scenery. One word of advice, make sure that you keep all your paperwork safe. It can be quite confusing at first to receive so many vouchers, which are essential for ferries and pickups. Having said that, everything worked seamlessly, apart from the time we nearly ended up in Dubrovnik, not realising we had docked in Mlijet! Take poles- nearly all walks are downhill on stony ground. I struggled a bit with the walk on Day 2 and opted to skip Day 3 walk due to the tight schedule. Otherwise all the walks were manageable and definitely worth it for the spectacular scenery. We found Croatia to be a little more expensive than anticipated. However, we would thoroughly recommend this holiday.

Mr Kilburn
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
06/05/2023

We travelled with our son who has special needs and we had a great time. The itinerary, organisation and choice of hotels and food was really good and the small number of special requirements we had were met really well. Croatia is a beautiful country and we had the best mix of activity and relaxation and met some lovely fellow travellers too.

Great holiday especially out of season! Would be very busy in peak season and loved having walks and beaches to myself, not having to book restaurants and everywhere so green and lush! Great walks and plenty of time to explore the towns.

Mrs Brown
Dalmatian Coast Island Hopping
15/04/2023

Wonderful mixture of walking and culture - really beautiful, walks not too strenuous and so give plenty of time for sitting down and reading a book etc as well.