The biggest mistakes we made planning our trip to Croatia

No trip comes out perfect the first time, and ours through Croatia was no exception, not by a long shot. With the route now fully organized in the itinerary we sell today, here are the mistakes we made back then that, knowing what we know now, we wouldn't repeat.

Not booking the Hvar ferry far enough in advance. We traveled in the middle of August and came close to missing out on seats in the time slot we needed, which gave us a real scare a couple of days before leaving.

Eating right on Stradun the first day. We fell into the classic tourist trap: we paid more for the view than the food, without even noticing until we saw the bill. A couple of streets over, the value for money improves noticeably.

Wearing shoes that weren't right for Dubrovnik's stairs. We underestimated how many stairs the old town has, especially on the way to the walls, and paid for it with sore feet on day two.

Skipping travel insurance thinking "we wouldn't need it." On day 3's boat excursion there was a small incident with another passenger's luggage that made us realize how little insurance costs compared to how much trouble not having it can cause.

Underestimating the shift in pace between Dubrovnik and Hvar. We arrived in Hvar still stuck in Dubrovnik's calm, cultural rhythm, and it took us a full day to adjust to the island's much more party-driven atmosphere.

Croatia is pretty forgiving of rookie mistakes, honestly. But avoiding them saves you time and a bit of hassle you don't need to go through.