Iโm thinking of spending August-October in Europe; Berlin was a strong contender, but Iโm hearing good stuff about Zagreb. Anyone have any experiences (good or bad) to share?
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Iโm thinking of spending August-October in Europe; Berlin was a strong contender, but Iโm hearing good stuff about Zagreb. Anyone have any experiences (good or bad) to share?
I have a rental on this island of Vis, right in town, walking distance to everything, with internet. Itโll be available the second half of August and all of September. www.vis-croatia.net.
Hi,
I live in Zagreb, coming back home from Thailand on 2. May, because warmer days are coming 
Most of the people move to the sea side, mostly between 15. July - 20. August, then the city is usually reserved only for people who are at work, even they tend to run away for the weekends outside of town. And city looks more empty during that time.
During this time there is usually lots of road works, because lots of people are out of town, this is a good time of year to do fixings of the streets.
You will also see a lots of tourists especially Chinese people talking photos of everything including you.
Because there are lots of tourists, more and more each year, there are things to do because our Tourist board is working a lot on promoting Zagreb as a Tourist destination.
You would usually walk around city, visit old part of town, buildings, museums, parks etc.
There are also day tours visiting other tourist attractions outside the city, most popular is Plitvice lakes/waterfalls - must see.
Town Samobor near Zagreb is pretty looking place, good for one day tour.
Most of the nightlife is located in city centre. Tkaliฤiฤeva or locals say (Tkalฤa, eng ~ Tkalcha) is the most popular street full of bars, and around main square, eg: Cvjetni Trg.
Sadly not so many things are open after midnight, and there are not lots of places where you can go after if you would like to party. Busiest hours are 6pm - 10pm.
Itโs just because all of the people move to the see side, all the nightlife is moved there so most of the clubs are closed.
Good thing is that you are 2-3 hours away from the sea side with bus/car.
If you traveling, try to avoid Fri - Sat, 3 hours become 6, because on weekends most of tourists are traveling home/coming for vacation.
Not likely you can travel with airplane, you can probably go to Split, Pula, Zadar or Dubrovnik only, not so many plane connections.
Things slowely start to get busy after 20. August, when most of the people are coming back, then the nightlife returns back to Zagreb too.
September is usually good month to visit because temperatures are high, around 25 - 30, depends on the year, and there are things happening, people are hanging outside, on Gornji Grad (uptown) there is street festival each evening with live music called Griฤevanje, clubs are open with various things to choose.
Internet is good, you can choose either Vipnet, T-HT (T-com actually) or Tele2.
Bonbon (owner is T-HT)
If you are in Zagreb reception is usually great, and I personally use only 3G, because itโs enough for me. Not sure, but most of them donโt offer 4G for prepaid plans. Maybe there are some tourist promotions which iโm not familiar with, but it changes every year so itโs still early for me to say which one would be ok.
Anyway, best reception where ever you go you should have with Vipnet, T-HT and Bonbon (they use T-HT infrastructure)
For the land line, internet speed is 5Mpbs+, usually everyone has just the lowest speed with flat rate internet, this again depends on where you stay. But the connection is stable.
Coworking spaces:
Cost of living is cheap, just to compare here are some prices:
The city and the centre is actually not that big, you can stay anywhere in around 3-4 stations with Tram, itโs only like up to 15-20 minutes walk anywhere you go.
So itโs not important to stay in the main square circle, just to have a Tram station near, then you will be fine.
After 1pm Tram are driving only every 1 hour and itโs difficult to get anywhere without Taxi.
Just ask for the Taximeter, 10Eur should get you anywhere, and just pay what you see on Taxi-meter no more.
I never had problem because Iโm local, but taxi drivers same like everywhere, they want to rip you off.
And always say that you are meeting a friend which is from Zagreb, and you are not first time here, itโs what I do where ever I am.
Hope this helps.
If you would have any questions feel free to ping me.
Cheers
Hey guys and gals! Iโm also heading to Croatia (at least going through Zagreb, but not sure where Iโll end up in the country) in Septemberโฆ hope to see some of you there. =)
Fantastic ! A nice small group of people in a gorgeous villa in a Crotian island sounds like a nice plan. I think we should probably start looking end of next week or so.
What is the best way to all get in touch ? I suggest all those interested, send me your email address in a private message and I will create an email message with everybody included.
Kepp me posted all those heading out in mid September.
@allbombs Try contacting the AirBnB hosts and making an offer. Iโve had a few places offer less than asking on the site, especially if you can confirm a monthโs stay. And look a little further out as city centre is in high demand.
Arrive in Spilt on Wednesday and trying to find accommodation too.
Looking at Hvar + Vis like many of you, but may setup in Split for a month?
Airbnb is definitely more expensive than I anticipated. Imagine more deals are to be had once I arrive in person and as September approaches?
Iโm also open to sharing a house/apartment with the right people. Early 30โs, need to work mon - friday, but up for exploring in the evenings and weekends.
@emondpph - that sounds interesting, although mid-Sept is the beginning of off-season and I think you might do better price-wiseโฆ? I am looking anywhere between early or mid-Sept but I wonโt know for another few days at least. 
Since a lot of nomads are asking about Croatian island wifi and such on different forums, I decided to ask a woman on FaceBook who has been offering to put people in touch with landlords in Split, Brac and Hvar for off-season. Here is what she said:
โMost modern apartments will have wifi, but it depends on the provider. Most islands will have T-com. It depends what speed package they have too. Brac island for example, has good 4G coverage. So you can use mobile wifi router. I have used it successfully to watch Netflix. I worked at a hotel in Hvar Town and internet was awful outside of centre. You need a good gadget though I use TP Link 4G LTE. It amplifies the signal. I use Bon Bon sim card I top up 6 euros and get 5GB data, north of Brac island has a good 4G coverage.โ
Also, I looked up T-Mobileโs 4G coverage map and here it isโฆ check out all that great coverage in the sea! 
Hi ! I am currently in Split for August. Itโs burning hot here, like 40 celsius !
I am also thinking of going a couple of weeks in a Croatian island early september. I was looking at Brac on AirBnb. Maybe there are other/better islands. Really open to any island destination.
I would be interested in joining with one or two persons to rent something bigger and nicer. There are really nice villas with Wi-fi on AirBnb for about 100 - 130 euro per day. So at 3 it could be pretty affordable.
Exemple in Brac:
Korฤula (town and island) is pretty chill, and as far as I can remember, has plenty of wifi in cafes, like much of the region. I was there two years ago in August, and it didnโt feel too busy, so I imagine September is pretty good.
Let me know when youโre around as I plan to be on the coast in September too.
Thanks! Vis and Pag are on my list to consider so far too. Where are you planning to go, @hannahvictorius?
Keep in mind that islands usually donโt have a good telecommunication infrastructure and not a very good 4G coverage, so there might be some wifi issues. Also, food and everything else is more expensive on islands. For any specialised shopping (laptop parts, cables etc) you will need to make a trip to the coast.
Vis has always been top of my list, but yet Iโve never made it.
Iโll be basing myself in Split and then day tripping to Braฤ and Trogir and a weekend in Sarajevo, so it works out better.
I have a feeling Pag may be a bit livelier, but that may not be what youโre after. Vis looks idyllic, but like I said, I havenโt visited yet. One day!
Any reason youโre choosing to base yourself in Split this time rather than returning to Korฤula?
A few reasons, but nothing negative towards Korฤula.
I want to be in a small city as Iโm travelling with my 20 year old brother and like to go and watch the big local football/soccer games. Also, Iโll be travelling up to Sarajevo halfway through my stay and canโt be bothered with the hassle of adding a ferry ride each way.
Also, Iโve never spent more than a day or two in Split, so looking forward to discovering a bit more about the city.
Cool, thanks! Iโll be in touch with you when my plans get better sorted, so hopefully we can meet up!
Looks like an old thread, but wondering if anyone has used an island as their base for an extended period, and how that worked out, in terms of Internet and enough services, cafes, etc? Iโm planning to be in Croatia for maybe a month or so in September and have grown weary of bigger cities and crowds lately. Looking for something a little more chill and bohemian would be great, if that exists in Croatia - without being super isolated.
It sounds like Split is perfect for you!
Itโs not a big city, and outside of the tourist season it perfect for chilling (and getting creative work done!). Also, you can go to any island for a day or two and get super relaxed! When I go to island I can never get anything done, they are just made for relaxing and enjoying! But Split is the place everybody says is perfect size, big enough to entertain you and small enough not to tire you.
Thank you, @tomislavmamic - and for all your other helpful posts on housing and co-working, much appreciated. I will keep it all in mind.
You can get wifi on Vis at the Admiral hotelโs cafรฉ on the riva, as well as in the so-called internet cafรฉ Biliba one street back (just behind the Admiral hotel) as well at at cafรฉ Bejbi (thereโs one near where the ferry lets you off and one in Kut). In Split thereโs a place called Backpackerโs Cafรฉ at the end of the street where all the ships dock and just before you round the bend heading up to the the big open-air market and the palace. They also sell used books and itโs usually a nice, quiet place to work.
Iโve spent 1 month in Zagreb during summer 2012. A lot of local people were saying surprised that we are going to stay in the city for more than 2 days. Everyone suggested to got to the seaside. Seaside IS amazing (Zadar, Kornati, Split, Dubrovnik) - but you know I really like Zagreb a lot. Itโs amazing underestimated city. Itโs much more comfortable than touristy seaside if you are doing slow travel. There are a lot of things to do in Zagreb, even in summer when some places might be closed.
Loving it so far! If they could just hurry up fixing the internet. The cost of living is cheap, you can walk everywhere and thereโs a lot of cool bars, cafรฉs and restaurants to check out.
Hey @juan, Iโll be heading there later this summer, this thread has me excited.
Would you mind sharing some ballpark figures regarding cost of living youโve experienced so far? Did you end up using airbnb?
We did @theunis, the place weโre in now is really lovely just uphill from Jelacic square, couldnโt ask for a better location. If you stay longer you can negotiate more, but for our 1-month stays weโre paying 750euro and 650 euro, respectively. Itโs significantly more than staying long-term, but still relatively cheap IMO.
Here are the two places, and a third that we viewed and wouldโve stayed in if the first two hadnโt worked out. All are well-located, have >4mbps and have plenty to do close by:
Current: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2038366
July-August: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1398561
Runner-up: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2618775
Hope that helps, if youโre here before August 15th let us know
Ah thatโs great, thanks for sharing!
Will definitely get in touch if I am
T-com owns all the infrastructure, so theyโre the safest bet. In my experience 3G/H (SIM) is plenty fast, and you can have 4G if you wish to pay extra. Also, someone should call the provider to fix the current connection, it shouldnโt be that slow.
So we arrived in Zagreb today and the internet is a lot slower at our apartment than promised (<1mbps), does anyone know what the fastest provider/service is locally?
Itโs always entertaining to see how foreigners see your city 
Anyway, just wanted to say if anyone is planing to come to Zagreb, you can drop me a question or two and Iโll try to help! I also offer accommodation via airbnb (lollipop apartment), I believe someone here askedโฆ
Internet is ok - most of the times you get 4Mb/s and itโs true, more and more places provide free wi fi.
Iโm on Bali currently. Everybody warned me internet is terrible on Bali, but so far itโs not much different than Zagreb (and Iโm not in Ubud)โฆ A bit slower for download, but upload is even better than back home
Spent a month in Zagreb and a few weeks in Split.
Pros:
Cons:
I had no preconceptions going into Croatia but it really made me feel at home.
Iโve been there this year and itโs a wonderful city, full of life and good vibe. But I think 2 days are enough for visiting it. Itโs not the big. The south of Croatia is amazing, Split, Rijeka and all the south coastโฆ The Lakes are also a must see.
You can find a lot of cafรฉs with wi-fi, itโs everywhere. Itโs also cheap to eat and sleep there.
Iโm from Portugal, and Croatia and Italy are the bestr european countries Iโve been so far.
Croatia is by far one of the best places Iโve ever spent a summer.
I will say there was much alcohol to be had, and many boat trips around some truly pristine islands. It wasnโt tooโฆeducational, but when I went back to do a more historical tour of Croatia it was incredible how much history is there.
YOU MUST check out
I spent a few weeks in Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik, Hvar, Vis, and Split. Other than Vis, internet was pretty easy to find at internet cafes without having to pay too much. Decent for a bit of work and some Skype calls.
Bear in mind that in the offpeak season, thereโs less to do and fewer places open on the islands.
Sold! Zagreb is booked for May 15th and Iโm currently trying to sort out accommodation through AirBnB, anyone have any recommendations/links to places theyโve stayed at there?
I was born in Croatia โ not Zagreb but I lived there for 7 years as well so itโs a bit hard to see things from the outside
Internet is decent, and free Wi-Fi is everywhere (in Zagreb; not so much in smaller cities). You wonโt be getting 100mbit connections (theyโre available but few people have them), but for Skype video it should be ok.
If youโre coming in August or September, Iโd definitely recommend going to the coast. Itโs not that far and in summer months it has a lot more to offer than Zagreb, though of course it all depends on what youโre looking for.
In general, Iโd say the most interesting things in Croatia are of the nature kind - there are 7 national parks, the coast is beautiful and there are things to see in the mountain parts of the country as well.
I donโt party much so I canโt tell you how it compares there
The country is quite small so regardless of where you spend most of your time, if youโre going to have more than a couple of weeks I think it makes most sense to travel around. Itโs quite diverse and an hour long drive can get you to a totally different environment (i.e. from frozen mountain lakes to sunny coast).
Iโm curious about the same. My ancestry is there and my girlfriend needs to get out of the Schengen Zone by mid-May (weโre currently in Barcelona), so itโs on my short list. My main concern is internet, as I do a lot of Skype video calls for work.
Does anyone ever travel to any Islands like Bermuda, Barbados, Barbuda and St. Kitts & Nevis?
I'm in need of a tax advisor who understands "our" typical situation. I'm all good on being legal on taxes at this point, but as I'm doing more investing and there's more compliance and KYC and such, it's getting more complicated to deal with this topic. Not living in my country of citizenship, company in another country, resident in yet another country, banking in a different country ... you know how it is, a pile of red flags.
Would be great to find a good tax advisor to sort things in a way that makes my situation as "explainable" and easily dealt with as possible. Any leads?
Hi, I've got a question to anyone who had experience with the digital nomad lifestyle. I'm 24, I'm in my last year of university doing computer science, got 3 years of experience mostly doing web development.
I never liked the idea of staying in one place, getting a job and growing roots - hence the will to take the opportunity and travel the world. My main question is โ how do I go about it? Are there any useful resources I could look into?
How do I go about insurance and such once I decide to move. I currently live in Switzerland and do freelance work for one company. It's not a lot, since my studies don't allow me to pick up a full time job, but it allows me to cover simple expenses.
I'd be happy to get some insight into how things work and also happy to network with anyone interested.
Hi guys ! hope you are doing well.
I would love to get your feedback regarding the best insurance for digital nomads. i'm traveling around Asia since 1 year and for next 4 or 5 years. Would love to buy an insurance to cover especially :
- health
- laptop, phone ...
- Flights
Hello, we are US citizens that have been able to stay in Italy past our standard visa stay due to covid. Now we must leave. We want to drive to Croatia as our โout of EUโ stay. But Iโm now wondering what considerations I need to take care of for my visa. I wonโt go through an airport and get my passport stamped. But I assume I need to get my passport stamped as a way to prove Iโm out of the EU.
Anyone else travel in and out of Schengen zone via car? Or know what I should do to properly handle the visa situation? I get unclear answers online. Hmm.
Appreciate your help!
Hello,
We are in Umbria until August 31. We've been here since March, but crisis-level visa extensions are over. After that we have to leave the EU. We would like to stay out of the USA (our home) due to it's covid crisis, at the same time we want to be responsible about travel. Ideally we would not travel at all, rather stay hidden in the countryside of Umbria forever until covid is more under control globally, but here we are!
So we must leave the Schengen zone. We should avoid USA. We should avoid long air travel.
We were thinking Croatia.
Do you recommend a route to Croatia? We are open to long train rides. Ideally not long ferry rides. Is there a ferry route under 4 hours? I read about it...I don't see it. If not, the other option is to make our way north and up over to Croatia via train.
I'd appreciate your thoughts and insights!
Thanks.
Anyone know of any groups or resources for Ph.D. students working on dissertation while living as a digital nomad? I know there are several virtual writing groups around, but wondered if there were any specifically for digital nomads, particularly those who are dissertating.
Thanks!
Hey Nomads!
Iโm looking for an international health insurance (no travel insurance) for my nomadic life. It should cover the basic services and at least be accepted in the EU (itโs ok if itโs not accepted in the US as Iโm aware they rarely are). Nice to have: enter into a contract online. Anyone got a good experience or a recommendation?
Thanks in advance!
Hello digital nomad!
I dream of being an independent digital nomad. But it feels very elusive & unattainable with my success rate. In full disclosure, whilst I have dreamed about making money online since high school; I have not earned a single cent making money online. $0, nada, zilch!! On the contrary, I have spent a lot of time & money on books, podcasts. Even though I have spent a lot of time reading/listening to others, I do not have anything to show for it!
I have made attempts in the past to start an online business, but these fizzle out quite quickly when I do not see traction especially when the goal I have set myself is too high.
Instead of reaching for the ultimate nomadic lifestyle goal, I want to start much smaller. Really small! I am simply looking to make $50 profit per month from a new online business. Thatโs it.
I need some advice from you please!
Is $50 profit too low? How long did it take you to earn $50 profit per month?
What is a good way of achieving this goal?
Thanks
Mark
aka the $0 online business entrepreneur
Hello everyone! Iโm new here and probably this is a very newbie question, but it doesnโt leave my head.
How do you, nomads, pay your taxes? I mean, if youโre constantly traveling, how are you going to pay taxes for a certain country if you are going to stay there a short period of time?
Or do you return to your โoriginal countryโ and then pay them?
By the way, this forum has very nice cool formatting features!
All members of my family has different needs and hobbies so how do you pick the perfect places?
Hi!
I am planning to move to Latin America for 3-4 months (Oct-January). Iโve narrowed down 6 different places that I want to visit before committing to settling down, but Iโd love to get some community input.
Here are the cities Iโm considering:
The most important things Iโm looking for:
Anyone have any experience with these places and can give some insight? Iโm also completely open to other recommendations.
Thanks!
Rose
Thereโs been a lot of discussion on this recently.
Nomads usually stay in hostels, hotels and short-term apartments. But itโs all not very optimal.
Iโve heard people suggest getting funding and building a network of houses you can stay at for a subscription price (e.g. Bruno Haid is working on that).
I donโt want do physical stuff, so Iโm thinking of building a platform around making housing better for nomads.
What are the housing problems nomads face? And how can we solve them with products/services?
Hi all, I was looking for a cool spot in Southern Europe for winter and Iโm considering Sicilyโฆ Have you ever been there? If yes, how was your experience? If not, why?
thanks!
Greetings!
Does anyone have experience in Bari, Italy please? We are thinking of going from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bari by boat in mid-March. Has anyone taken a boat across? Is it nice or can it be choppy? (We are trying to avoid planes, to reduce our carbon footprint, so adding more surface travel.) Also, any info you might be able to offer about Bari and the surrounds? Next step will likely be trains up Italy as the Spring progresses.
Hello all,
Iโm planning on spending a couple of month in Mauritius Island and even when Iโve been there for a week, never rented or worked there.
Does anyone here has tips or experience to share about Mauritius?
Cheers!
Hey all:
Does anyone here have any experience attending a full time fitness bootcamp or a fitness resort while working? I know there is one in Cambodia for digital nomads (Fitness Retreat Resort Kep Gym), unfortunately the time difference vs my work schedule would make my life suck if I tried to go there. Iโm looking for a place between US and Europe timezones that lets you live with them, kicks your butt with fitness, but would also have good WiFi/accommodate working eight hours a day. Iโm also open to other tangential ideas for something close-ish to get that same experience.
Thanks for any help!
Whatโs the best place?
For residency Iโm looking at Portugal and they have the NHR (non habitual resident) program which would exempt dividends from foreign income.
So all Iโm really looking for is the best place to actually start the company.
Biggest factors are of course low taxes and ease of setting up the company plus a business bank account that enables me to receive payments through Stripe.
What I found so far:
Hong Kong
Corporate tax rate of 16.5% (8.25% for the first HK$2 million)
โ/โ offshore income from outside HK is exempt from taxation but itโs not clear whether this can be done in the first year and prorated or if itโs only through filing the offshore exemption claim. This might take two years and requires not income from HK at all. More info on that would be great
โ seems very difficult to get a business bank account
โ necessary services and fees are roughly around โฌ2000 / year
โ accounting requirements seem to be very strict
โ Doesnโt require local partner
โ Agencies available that seem to handle most of the work
Singapore
Corporate tax rate of 17% (0% on the first S$100k, 8.5% up to S$300k)
โ requires a local director. What are the implications of this?
Malta
Corporate tax rate of 35%
There is the โfull imputation systemโ but I donโt really understand it.
"In most cases, the tax refund to the shareholder is 6/7 of the tax paid by the company on profits distributed as dividends. The tax refund rate may be different in the following cases: " This would result in an effective corporate tax of around 5%.
โ European customers would have to pay VAT and Iโd have to deal with that
Cyprus
Corporate tax rate of 12.5% and there seem to be ways to lower this
โ European customers would have to pay VAT and Iโd have to deal with that
โ requires staying in Cyprus for 2 months / year
I find it surprising how much research this requires and how much โit dependsโ information is out there when Iโd assume that there are probably thousands of digital nomads who probably have very similar requirements.
When you meet new people or reconnect with old friends, do you โoutโ yourself as a digital nomad? The simple question โwhere do you live?โ makes us uncertain now. We wonder if some places may be less welcoming to digital nomads, or if โdigital nomadโ has a negative connotation in some places. If you are forthcoming from the start, does your status as a digital nomad make it hard to form friendships?
We would love to hear how other people navigate thisโฆ how to balance being authentic in relationships vs. withholding the context (and allowing people to assume youโre on vacation, for example).
Thanks!
I have been a digital nomad for the last couple of years. I have always worked in tech and now run a couple of profitable online businesses that give me a reliable income and allow me to fund a nomadic lifestyle.
I recently exited one of my businesses and I am considering to invest the income from the sale in properties, mainly for 2 reasons:
a) I donโt want to keep wasting my money in renting apartments across the cities I stay
b) I believe in properties as investment and I want to diversify my investment portfolio (mainly stocks)
After years of constant wander from one place to another, now I am the type of digital nomad who sticks to few locations: I mainly rotate across 4 places each year (San Francisco, Medellin, Berlin, Bali). Buying a house in each of those location would be difficult and too expensive. Therefore, I was wondering if there was any sort of service that combines an investment opportunity with the ability to access different properties around the world (even if just for a limited time per year) ?
Imagine living in 4 cities per year and having a house in each place that you can exclusively use for 3 months and at the same time having your investment growing (this depending on the market, of course). Wouldnโt that be great? I believe it could be done via a property fund selling you a share and giving you access to some of their properties for a limited timeframe each year.
Has anyone heard of anything like that?
Thanks!
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