Grumpy in Zadar

Read about my miserable trip to Croatia where my review on TripAdvisor ended in the hotel owner threatening to sue me.

When I told people that I was going to visit Croatia they all replied with the same responses about how brilliant Croatia was 'meant' to be or that they had an amazing time there when they visited 10 years ago. The problem is that Croatia has changed so much in the last 10 years and not for the better and peoples nostalgic memories of empty coastlines, low cost accommodation and cheap food and drink just don't match the reality of Croatia today.

We chose to visit the ancient city of Zadar which is the historical center of Dalmatia. It has a history that can be traced back almost 3000 years and over that time it has found itself under the rule of many an empire, including the Roman and Byzantine followed by centuries of rivalry over the Dalmation territory. The old Citadel of Zadar sits on a small peninsula of southern Zadar completely surrounded by water and a fortress wall that was built by the Venetians in the 16th century to keep the Turkish out. That's enough of a history lesson, let's get to the suffering.

Zadar's Sparkling Solar 'Sun Salutation' Installation Lights up the Night With LEDs

The danger of letting your other half book the accommodation is that your level of grumpiness is likely to be amplified when you find out that the hotel isn't quite to your liking. This is what happened to me in Zadar and I spent the whole holiday with 'a right grump on' as my better half so eloquently puts it. I knew that I wasn't going to like it before we even arrived, because my GPS said that it was 2.5Km to Zadar and only 200m from the hotel. The fact is, you can't actually stay in the old citadel unless you book well in advance or can afford a really expensive hotel. There are literally hundreds of hotels and B&B's marketing themselves as being in Zadar when none of them are actually anywhere near where you want to visit.Here's what I wrote on TripAdvisor about where we stayed. Who would have thought that the owner would threaten to sue me over these comments. I'm usually much more scathing in my criticism!!!

Not a big fan of this place and thought it was expensive for what you get. We were told local currency in cash only for payment, so had exchanged a load of Euros at a rubbish exchange rate and then were charged at the rate of 7.5KN to the Euro, so it ended up costing us nearly €30 extra in exchange rate losses. Then told that we could have just paid in Euros!!!

The apartment we had was big, clean and well equipped, but with a few quirks. One very annoying thing was that we had a light in our apartment that could be turned on and off from another apartment, so we had the light going on and off at strange times during the night. There was also a lack of cutlery in the kitchen, which meant that preparing and eating a meal was a bit tricky. The hob is a dual burner, gas/electric but the gas isn't connected, leaving only 2 hobs usable. 

Breakfast was quite poor with a very limited selection of low quality food, particularly the cheap ham and cheese that was offered.

In terms of location, it's almost a bit dishonest to say that this is in Zadar, because in reality it's quite a long way from the old town of Zadar that you're presumably here to see. The beach is supposed to be 300m away, but I checked on google earth and if I'm being very generous then it's 500m in a straight line and more like 15+ minutes walk with children. You also have to pay for the beach when you get there or stay in the smelly and crowded, free part.

Maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea, but I didn't really like the place and I'm only giving it a 3 rating because my partner said that she thought it wasn't too bad and Anna was friendly and the place was at least clean and tidy.

Stay tuned for more.........

Grumpy in Schwangau

Being British, it's not difficult to be grumpy in Germany, but when you end up in a dump of a hotel you just know that you'll find lots to grumble about!

If you've got a daughter under the age of 10 who's addicted to everything pink and fluffy and wants to be a princess, sooner or later you're going to end up in Schwangau visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle because it looks like the 'Disney' castle. To be fair, it does look a bit like a fairytale castle, but I'm not sure that it makes it worth the expense and suffering to go and see a castle covered in scaffolding like it was on our visit.

Neuschwanstein Castle covered in Scaffolding

When you do get to the castle and you manage to park your car in one of the many car parks inconveniently located some distance away, you will then find that that castle is actually situated at the top of a hill! There are 2 options for getting up this hill, sweat your tits off spending 30 mins walking up with hordes of others, or you can partake in some casual animal cruelty and hop in a horse drawn carriage with 20 sweaty strangers and let 2 knackered horses drag you up the hill. Expect to pay anywhere between €5 and €10 for this privilege.

If you actually want to see the inside of the castle (not likely if you're a grumpy traveller) then it costs €12 for an adult. The only saving grace is that it's free for under 18's. The tour is the biggest waste of money as you get to visit about 20 rooms, is done in silence as you all get given an audioguide so that you look like a fool with a telephone stuck to your ear as you walk around. As they conduct the tours in groups of about 30 you get ushered on as soon as your feet stop moving and the tour is over before you know it. You're also not allowed to take any photographs, presumably so that they can sell you an overpriced guide.

Here's a sneaky photo that I took without them seeing :D

 

If you do purchase one of the guidebooks, you will no doubt be as disappointed as I was to find out that construction of the castle only started in 1868 and it opened to the public in 1886. So it was actually built as a tourist attraction and doesn't have any real history!!! I guess it really was the first Disney castle.

 

After you've finished your quick tour of the castle you can buy a souvenir mug of coffee with free cake ( half a mouldy waffle) for only €5 and then walk another 20 minutes up hill to get to the famous bridge across the gorge. You'll know when you're close because you'll suddenly find yourself in the melee of vertigo suffering Japanese tourists too scared to go out onto the bridge to take a photo. Once you've fought your way onto the bridge to get a photo opportunity you'll soon realise why all those Japanese were so scared as the bridge creeks and shakes with the weight of 2000 people on it (see first photo for view from the bridge).

 

After a long day of walking up and down hills and looking at a relatively modern castle that's pretending to be an ancient one, you'll know doubt be looking forward to checking-in to your hotel. That is of course unless you've booked a hotel in Schwangau and even less so if you booked Hotel Scwanstein. I've been here and visited it so that you don't have to, so just don't even bother.

Despite the reasonably good reviews on the usual booking sites, Hotel Scwanstein is old and dated and not particularly clean. The breakfast was at best average, the price was too high and the parking spaces were limited. Schwangau itself is just like the hotel in that it's a bit run down and there's not a lot there.

 

Instead of putting yourself through this, you are far better off staying in Füssen, which by contrast to Schwangau, is a charming little village full of traditional craft shops and groups of people dressed in lederhosen doing impromptu street shows. There are also lots of good bars and restaurants to eat in or to drown your sorrows after another miserable day on holiday. A good, cheap place to stay in Fússen is at Hotel Fantasia. It's a short walk from the town centre, has really good size rooms, friendly staff and offers a reasonable breakfast. Don't let its 2* rating put you off.

 



 

If you do decide to take my advice and stay in Füssen, make sure that you go and eat at Gasthof Krone. It's a medieval themed restaurant where serving wenches deliver massive portions of food and giant steins of beer to your table. Don't be tempted to order a starter and a main because you simply won't finish it all. Watch out for the rubbery mash potato though, you have been warned!!!

 

Not so Grumpy with my beer!



 

Tips For The Grumpy Traveller in Schwangau

• Stay at home
• Don't stay in Scwangau, stay in Füssen instead
• Don't bother with the tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle
• Eat at Gasthof Krone
• Try a biscuit ball, which is a local specialty from Füssen
• Stay at Hotel Fantasia

 

If you've travelled to this part of the country please let me know what you thought of it and share your top tips to avoid being grumpy in Schwangau.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog where you can come and share your holiday misery with me. This is a blog for me to vent my my frustration about all of those little things on holiday that come together to ruin what should be a relaxing family holiday.

You know the sort of things that I'm talking about. The queues at check-in, the excess baggage charges, the rude Ryanair staff, the scrum to get 3 seats together on Easyjet, the terrifying transfer, the moody and unhelpful receptionist at the hotel and the disappointing sea view that turns out to be a view of a brick wall.

As well as sharing my top tips on how to survive a week away from the comforts and familiarity of home I will also give tips on places to visit and things to do in popular destinations that might just turn that holiday to forget into a holiday to remember. At the same time I'm hoping to get feedback from fellow grumpy travellers that will make my future holidays more bearable.