Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TIs are good places to get a city map and information on public transit (including bus
and train schedules), walking tours, special events, and nightlife. Many TIs have informa-
tionontheentirecountryoratleasttheregion,sotrytopickupmapsfordestinationsyou'll
be visiting later in your trip. If you're arriving in town after the TI closes, call ahead or pick
up a map in a neighboring town.
The TIs in these countries are run by the government, which means their information
isn't colored by a drive for profit. I find TIs in Croatia and Slovenia to be better informed
and more helpful than in most other parts of Europe. Local TIs are not allowed to make
money by running a room-booking service—though they can almost always give you a list
of local hotels and private rooms. If they're not too busy, they can call around for you to
check on availability. While every major town has at least one travel agency with a room-
bookingservice,evenifthere'sno“fee,”you'llsaveyourselfandyourhostmoneybygoing
direct with the listings in this topic.
The language barrier in Croatia and Slovenia is actually smaller than in France, Italy,
or Spain. You'll find that most people in the tourist industry—and virtually all young
people—speak excellent English. Bosnia and Montenegro also have many English-speak-
ers.
Of course, not
everyone
speaks English. Be reasonable in your expectations, especially
when trying to communicate with clerks or service workers. It always helps to know a few
words of the local language. Croatian and Slovene are closely related, but not identical.
Still, they're similar enough that the same basic words work in both. For example, “hello”
is
dobar dan
in Croatian, and
dober dan
in Slovene.
Hvala
means “thank you” in both lan-
Croatians and Slovenes pronounce a few letters differently than in English, and they add
a few diacritics—little markings that signal a particular pronunciation. Here are a few rules
of thumb for sounding out unfamiliar words:
J / j
sounds like “y” as in “yellow”
C / c
sounds like “ts” as in “bats”
Č
/
č
and
Ć
/
ć
sound like “ch” as in “chicken”
Š / š
sounds like “sh” as in “shrimp”
Ž / ž
sounds like “zh” as in “leisure”
Đ
/
đ
(only in Croatian) is like the “dj” sound in “jeans”
