Every journey changes you. Every step you take on the road brings new discoveries that make you happier and richer.

My desire and wish is to show you the real world, beautiful, amazing people, culture, heritage, nature and history. Language of the country, customs, food, what people do and wish for in their everyday life in the country you are visiting. To take you beyond just the visit, make you feel at home. I have been educated in Tourism and Hospitality with additional training in art and history. I hold guiding certificates for European destinations. I have been guiding, creating itineraries and planning trips for over 15 years. I spend more than 200 days on tours and trips and about 42 000 km (27 000 miles) on the road yearly. I talk to, guide and prepare for around 1200 travelers each year. I remember so many as many became my good friends after being on the road for 18 or more days together. We still keep in contact. I have travelers coming back year after year to visit and explore new and different destinations around Europe together again. I hope you will be with me on a new travel discovery, especially now when times are so challenging and trustful, updated information and host from the destination you wish to visit is so important. Safety always came first for me as well as being a part of new sustainable travel to beautiful destinations.

All you have to do is choose your style, let us know your wish and thoughts for the next trip, how many people will be traveling with you, share with us your wish and we will prepare the rest. 

I work with an amazing group of people in destinations and in the office that make our trips so memorable. 

I will be looking forward to hearing from you soon and having a pleasure to put all my knowledge and experience at your disposal for creating a perfect trip.

Jelena

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GABE (Texas, USA), June 2023.

She is an excellent guide who made great arrangements for all the necessary logistics. She is a pleasant and fun person, with a thorough knowledge of Croatian history, food, art and geography. An overall enjoyable experience for us.

JD (Texas, USA), June, 2023

The tour of Croatia painted marvelous memories and visions that will be with me forever. The tour guides and driver were friendly and professional, and shared the customs and history of the country continuously while we traveled together. The landscapes were majestic and beautiful. The food and wine were amazingly good. In short, the tour was a wonderful experience!

Mary (Canada), Holiday in Croatia, June 2018.

Our trip through Slovenia and Croatia was one of the best trips we have had. . Our trip planner - Jelena did an excellent job in helping us plan the trip and making the arrangements. The tour guides, she arranged for us in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, were top notch .. very knowledgeable and engaging. Our drivers to and from the airport were also very knowledgeable and provided us with insights. Jelena assisted us throughout our travels with any concerns we had as well as checked in on us periodically!. Without a fault, everything fell as was planned. Thank you, it was marvellous.

Hiker Docs (USA) trip to Slovenia, Croatia June 2018.

My wife and I are 64 year old activity travelers and have checked off our last 2 bucket list locations with the help of Evaneos. (Portugal with Anna and now) Croatia / Slovenia with Jelena of Puget Sound Travel. As busy as Jelena has been with small independents such as us or leading bus loaded tours, she always found time for us. Beginning the trip's process with variable dates and length of travel, she remained calm and organized. Jelena quickly found out we were doers and not leisure lizards. She offered various itineraries and guided or independent treks including a variety of accomodations and sites. From there, she and Lauri grew the trip to cover both history, culture, people interaction, beauty and action. They explored their options on the internet and came up with a slighty more extended plan with additional highlights. We started in Zagreb to find out how little, we Americans know of the region. That simply added to the mystery of the history and evolution of this Balkan region. Lauri and I kept reading as we explored the region from city-state-and now the national Countries of the area from Illyrian, Greek, Roman, Venetian, Nappleonic, Habsburg, Austro-Hungarian, Yugoslavian cultures and now the newly re-soverign nations with Ottoman and Islamic influences. This simply super-enhanced the architecture, flavors, people, wars of appreciation by Jelena's recommendations. We toasted with the locals in Vrhnika, ate in stone cities, mountains, lakes and hilltops with wild or farm to table local foods. We chose Slovenian truffles with Croatian wines and ate the best steaks ever. Jelena was soon to find out that Lauri and I are over-achievers; we added a hiking guide for 2 days in Triglav National Park and indulged in Lake Bled and Bovec / Soca activities. We added Skocjan Caves and Predjana Castle Cave, Piran and Motovun on our way to Opatija where we walked the lungomare and had an extensive breakfast buffet under covered tables on the Grand Palace's gorgeous deck overlooking the Adriatic sea. Each accommodation was increasingly thought out for our enjoyment and interest by Jelena and if we got lost getting there even with GPS in the tiny car-challenged streets, Jelena helped us through. She even met us at our up-scaled BandB to meet and talk in Plitvice. Understanding Croatia and site recommendations are definitely Jelena's strength! Zadar (harmonic steps), Trogir (effervescent energy), and seaside towns to Split along the coast road and not the super highway further enlightened the history and development of Jelena's country. Oh my, what an understatement Split is for it's more heavily tourists "sister" Dubrovnik! We stayed in a re-gentrified home/UNESCO turned BandB at Heritage Palace Varos with original in-floor olive mill 2 blocks from Split old city and Diocletians Palace. Split has accommodated Croatia's attraction well. By adding a half day private tour to our schedule, Jelena only enhanced it's unique history, cobbled with a young, energetic esplanade and great restaurants, bars and squares, street music within the Palaces courtyard and a wonderful Marjan Park with great views highlighted the coastal towns. The Jewish immigration and current presence over the centuries was most interesting to us. We added options like walking Ston's walls and eating oysters and appreciating the still functioning Roman salt pans before we got to Dubrovnik. As Dubrovnik was a City Nation-State, we stayed just outside this living double walled millenial fortress at the gorgeous Blue Hotel resort. We continued our activity with an extended prearranged tour and fine foods of pastas and seafood, took a short "fish-eye" view of this historic town from the sea and a "bird's-eye" view from the top of the gondola. We better understood the development of this wonderful country following the third Balkan War and left grateful for Jelena's masterful arrangements including car pick-ups and deliveries to and from the airports. Jelena deserves 5 star kudos for a most wonderful trip. Sincerely.

Sue (USA), Fun Croatia, Herzegovina & Bosnia Days, holiday in Croatia, June 2017.

Jelena did the following for us: Pick up from Zadar airport for drive to Troger. Local-food lunch in Troger and brief tour of the restaurant area. Dropped us off at the Cornaro Hotel in Split, making sure that our next morning tour would start at 9a when the weather was less hot. Arranged a van, driver and tickets for Krka National Park to accommodate us and extended friends and family. Picked up our luggage and delivered to new accommodations in Hvar Town. Made sure we had ferry tickets to get to these accommodations. Van driver dropped us at the ferry port. Picked us up at Hvar Town and drove us via ferry to Mostar, stopping at Kravice Waterfalls along the way. Took our son and daughter-in-law to bus station in Mostar for departure to Sarajevo and got us registered into City Hotel. Took us to Mostar guide and accompanied us throughout the old city tour. We enjoyed Bosnian coffee and sweets, lunch of cevapcici with local bread. Drove to Medjugorje where we climbed the hill. Drove back to Croatia, stopping at Ston Walls and enjoyed oysters in Peljesac Oyster bay and then on to Dubrovnik. Arranged tour of Dubrovnik city. Driver to Dubrovnik airport and departure to Rome. All in all, this was a great trip and it is all due to the many talents of our agent, Jelena, and the beautiful Croatia, Herzegovina and Bosnia countries! Thank you!

Jelena - We hope you appreciate her as much as we do. She is a master at guiding and helping travelers to enjoy their experiences. She helped us make so many memories; we will continue to enjoy each and all forever! Here are some areas where she excels: 

1. People-Person. From the start she asked many questions, which I am sure is the “usual” for people who ask for your company’s help. Jelena, though, went beyond what we consider to be the “usual;” it’s more like she learn to read our minds. 

2. Country Knowledge. Jelena did more than a “Wikipedia” recital of the areas we visited, she actually narrowed in on what we asked of her. We wanted to be more than a visitor; we wanted to be a part of the areas. We are foodies and she keyed in on the desire to “eat local, enjoy “local” and avoid American cuisine. She accomplished this over and over again. 

3. Customer Service. What a “service” delight she was in that we only mentioned something and she went out of her way to deliver; she delivers beyond the traveler’s expectations. Example: At one point when my son and wife joined us, she juggled the desires of two generations but understood each. We experienced a landscape that each enjoyed but also the advice she provided was worded in the best way possible. Our son had plans to travel to Sarajevo via train. The train is inoperable and Jelena explained the safest means would be to travel by bus from Mostar. She drove them to the bus station, traversing through multiple detours and traffic jams, speaking with locals to find the best route and finally walked with them to be sure they purchased the correct ticket and were safely en route. This was well beyond a normal interest and used her expertise to overcome our concerns. 

4. Selection of Guides that were like-minded. Split Palace Jelena gave great insight to the Palace but also focused on our interest in construction, charms of Split and our desire to see current local living as she explained the more interesting places to walk and eat to further our visit. Mostar Boris was such a delight as he explained the usual interesting parts of the old bridge but also his personal experiences and struggles with a country still recovering from “the war!” Dubrovnik Lijula was more traditional but held fast to Jelena advice to her for our need to rest and find local, interesting places to investigate and enjoy Lijula’s recommendation of Moby Dicks restaurant was perfect. 

5. Jelena’s Energy. Jelena guided me up the Apparition Hill in Medjugorje, encouraging me along the way on a very hot day! She is always positive...sees that light at the end of EVERY tunnel. There are many more examples of her many talents but these come quickly to mind. 

Only two areas come to mind, both of which are totally unforeseeable and an “experience” of all travel. 1 The weather was unusually hot. I spoke with Jelena on our first day about my husband's diagnosis of prostate cancer, which we received after planning this trip. We wanted to take this trip and be as “normal” as possible. Jelena took this to heart and made every effort to advise us of better routes to take and where to rest whenever possible. 2. The steps to our last accommodation. Jelena had advised a hotel where we would take the local and usual bus to the old city. I requested a more “natural” setting for our last nights’ stay - a B&B outside the city walls, she mentioned inside the walls would prevent sleep due to the many visitors who like to party late, and experience more of the local setting with a good breakfast. Jelana accomplished exactly what I requested. The only problem was that it had 97 steps to get to it. As we struggled to get our luggage to our room (we packed far too much but needed seasonal wear for each country visited - Iceland/Italy/Croatia), Jelena was fighting traffic to help us. We did OK but were exhausted. Jelena got a large pitcher of juice and asked us to rest while she readied the room. The room was wonderful, the air conditioner worked great and the breakfast was the best of our trip; we had many, many great breakfasts. Looking at the terrain of the area, how else could these accommodations exist without steps??? The steps are a LARGE part of the charm and Jelena made sure that we would have help with our luggage when getting to the airport. The young driver was very polite and thought the luggage was easy to get into the vehicle. Jelena also made sure we had an easy route via foot to the old city by advising a minimal-step access...it worked well! Plus, she also arranged a package to the old city tours, which included using the local bus. While we honestly had no use for the bus due to cooler weather and the route she advised, we also took her advice for a tram ride and it was fantastic!

Lisa (USA), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September 2019.

I found Evaneos by doing research online. I called 4 different tour companies and loved how quickly Jelena responded to my request. She called and talked to me about our group, wanted to know our likes and dislikes. She and I worked together to plan a trip of a lifeline for our group. She is why I chose Evaneos. We loved the hotels she secured, the cities we visited but truly loved seeing the National Park. She also added in a day of sailing during our trip for our last day and it was so special. She went above and beyond our expectations.

Dan (Canada), trip to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2019.

Let me put my comments into context. We are Canadians in our early 70s. My wife and I travel regularly, 41 countries and 91 UNESCO Wold Heritage Sites to date. I have used 'in country' agents to set up trips for independent travel in the Azores, Ireland, Greece, Alaska etc. I only 'discovered' Evaneos on-line in the fall of 2018 when starting to plan a trip to Croatia. The concept intrigued me and when I saw Jelena's ad mentioning UNESCO sites I took the plunge. I started our planning in late Nov 2018 even though we wouldn't be traveling until Sept 2019. We chose Sept hoping for warm but not cold weather rather than hot weather which would be the norm in the summer months. We also hoped for less tourists to contend with. Working with Jelena by e-mail we quickly came up with a 16 day self drive itinerary focused on UNESCO sites in Croatia and one which also included a drive through portions of Slovenia. I found Jelena to be easy to work with and quick to respond to my inquiries etc. She was clearly knowledgeable and able to answer any questions that I had. The final written itinerary was very detailed. She went so far as to provide addresses for parking lots to use while visiting sites we were interested in. The itinerary was set out day by day in a logical manner. The accommodations were clearly chosen to facilitate exploration by foot in the larger locales such as Zagreb, Ljubljana and Dubrovnik. She arranged for private tour guides for walking tours of the big sites and without exception these guides were experts: knowledgeable, personable and very helpful in all respects. The accommodations were excellent and very memorable. Breakfasts were all good, some exceptional. The distances to drive each day were quite reasonable and left enough time for us to explore and even choose to visit places not on the itinerary, the Motovun truffle festival for example. While self driving is challenging and occassionally stressful when one misses a turn as dictated by Athena, our GPS, I found the roads and drivers in Croatia to be quite good. We used a Garmin NUVI handheld GPS for driving and with one notable exception in Split it worked wonderfully. We purposely chose to stay longer in Zagreb, our first city, in order to rest up from our flight from Canada and again we lingered longer in Dubrovnik to relax after our journey and prepare for the flight home. The international flights, as many co travelers will confirm, are the worst part of international travel these days, even when using highly reputable carriers. I am confident that Jekena, who is very well organized, has our tour in her 'system' and that it is a well used and reliable route with accommodations carefully selected for parking etc. I suspect that we will travel with Jelena's guidance in other locales in that part of Europe as she is very knowledgeable of those locales. Our only regret is that we never had an opportunity to meet her personally as our telephone conversations while in country and exchange of e-mails over the months have made us to regard her to be a respected professional. I take pictures, lots of them!! Some people even think I am a photographer!! When I get around to editing them and if it is possible, I will try and add them to this review.

Several locales will provide fond memories. Zagreb for its many parks and Sycamore trees. Ljubljana for the craft beer/hamburger festival that we happened upon and the canal/city walking tour as well as the outstanding breakfast.at our hotel. Lake Bled, the Bled castle and a little further inland, Lake Bohinj and the boat cruise we took there awesome. Pula looked very interesting in addition to the Roman Amphitheatre. The Diocletian Palace in Split was OUTSTANDING as was walking the Old City walls in Dubrovnik. Opatija was also outstanding, with the historical atmosphere of the Riviera, albeit on a smaller scale. Korcula Old Town on Korcula island was also outstanding. Motovun, a hill village perched as it is on a small mountain was also outstanding. The renowned and beautiful Falls and cascades of Piltvice were beautiful and in fact, it was images of them that drew us to Croatia in the first place. Heck, it was all GREAT!! It would be remiss not to mention the people of Croatia and Slovenia. Without exception, everyone was most helpful and generous with their time and knowledge. Near perfect English is spoken everywhere.

The worst part of self driving in Croatia is the parking. According to locals, parking has been an increasing frustration starting at least 6 years ago. Parking lots are inconsistent in the manner of payment so one must prepare for a number of eventualities. To her credit, Jelena did her best to prepare us for the rigours of parking In Canada, toll roads are not at all common, only a half dozen or so in the entire country. I had expected that they would be a pain to deal with in Croatia but rather than the novelty of having to pay to drive on a road, they were actually very user friendly and not overly expensive. We tended to use smaller, no toll highways in any event as we were there to explore, not conduct a road race by the fastest route.

Christina (USA), Croatia, September 2018.

The best part of the trip was that it was tailored to our wants and needs. I did my research and knew exactly where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. Our local guide Jelena was AWESOME in making that happen.

Robert (USA), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, June 2018, May 2019.

We landed in Zagreb, spent a day or so there, moved onto the Adriatic Coast and Pula, stayed in Opatija for three days and traveled down the coast to Split. Every day was perfect.

Our guide, Jelena, was wonderful beyond words. We were four old friends traveling, but she fit in like the missing piece in a puzzle! Her plans worked out perfectly and she took us to some beautiful places we would have never found on our own. We can't thank you enough for helping us find her! 

Dana (USA), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 2017.

Croatia has always been on our bucket list. My grandfather's family is from Croatia, which added to our reason of visiting. I found a tour on that we liked and was contacted by Jelena. I do not think this trip would have been as amazing as it was without Jelena. She customized everything to exactly what we wanted. We emailed for months before our trip to make sure it was all perfect. She even helped find my family, and was our translator for the day, plus 2 days in Zagreb. Every city was amazing! We loved the Plitvica Lakes, Sailing trip to the Kornati Island, Diocletian's Palace, Hvar, Dubrovnik, and Mostar. The scenery, food, and people are breath taking. Jelena was in contact through phone or email the entire tip. She made sure we made it to each hotel and all the way back to Florida. I would love to go back. The price for the trip truly reflects in the activities, beautiful hotels/homes, excursions and food we had. It was all amazing. Thank you Jelena for the trip!

Validity
These terms and conditions apply to all our offers, announcements, statements, acceptances and agreements made as from as understood under the Croatian law of package travels, linked travel arrangements and travel services to the extent that we otherwise in writing declare. In any event, they prevail over possible similar terms and conditions of the client. Terms and Conditions will be presented as well in the booking contract between the agency and the client as well.

Quotations
Our price estimates and quotations are offered without obligation. We cannot be held responsible for faults, omissions or miscalculations in price quotations, by us, or by third parties. Price estimates and quotations are subject to change. After the conclusion of the contract, the client may have to bear additional fees, charges and other costs payable to third-parties that we could not reasonably calculate or know at the time of the conclusion of the contract, such as resort fees, tourist taxes, entrance fees, and so. Such fees and charges, where applicable, are not included in our offers, and are payable directly.

Corrections 
We reserve the right to correct the price of travel arrangements which have been confirmed and invoiced up to 20 days before departure if such corrections are the result of omissions or miscalculations by third parties, and (a) should the exchange rate fluctuation equal or exceed five (5) per cent, (b) transport costs, including the fuel costs and/or (c) levies and taxes owed for particular services. If the increase exceeds the total price of a package travel by 8%, the client can terminate the contract without compensation. The client shall have the right to a price reduction corresponding to any decrease in the costs referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) that occurs after the conclusion of the travel package contract before the start of the travel package.

 Prices
Our prices are quoted in Euros (€), unless otherwise indicated. Travel packages can be paid in other currency in which exchange rate will be calculated on the day of the invoice.

 Payment terms
The minimum required deposit and final payment terms will be advised at the time of invoicing. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that payment is received on our bank account, or charged to a credit card, on or before the due date indicated on the invoice. 

Late payment
Late payment or non-payment can result in cancellation of the confirmed arrangements with all associated costs borne by the client. In case of late payment or non-payment, the provisions of clause under cancellations will come into effect, and the relevant cancellation charges will be deducted from travel costs already paid. Extra costs borne by us due to late payment by the client (e.g. express postage, courier delivery or express banking) may be charged to the client’s account in full.

 Exchange rate fluctuations
The appropriate exchange rate shall be taken as the selling rate of our bank on the day the invoice is raised.

Cancellations & amendments
Once an offer or quotation is accepted by a client (by telephone, letter, email, or by any other written or electronic means, such as messaging ), it is immediately considered a confirmed booking, subject to cancellation and amendment penalties.
It is the responsibility of the client to check the details of the offer or quotation for accuracy, and to advise us of any corrections before making the offer firm. Names in bookings must match first and last names in passports. We cannot be held responsible for errors in a booking which are not brought to our attention before the offer or quotation is made firm. Our minimum cancellation fee is twenty-five (25) per cent of the total cost of the confirmed arrangements, if the cancellation can be attributed to the client, regardless of when the cancellation is received. We shall automatically retain the full balance of travel costs. We reserve the right to charge an amendment fee for each change to a confirmed program or itinerary, of up to twenty-five (25) per cent of the travel costs.  We consider a postponement of a booked and confirmed trip to be the same as a cancellation, and our standard cancellation terms will apply.

Transferability of the package travel booking(s)
Before the commencement of the journey, the client can transfer his/her package travel to a third party, who shall have to comply with all the terms and conditions of the package travel contract. The transferor must give us a notification of this transfer latest 7 days before departure. The transferring client and the transferee are fully liable for payment of the total price of the journey and transfer costs. The client expressly agrees that the cost of the transfer may be equal to the price of the purchase of a new travel service.

Resolving complaints
A client who is dissatisfied with a service we have booked must make every reasonable effort to give us, or our nominated representative, the opportunity to resolve the problem while they are still in their destination. We reserve the right to refuse to consider a complaint if the details of the problem are only brought to our attention more than one month after termination of their holiday. If any of the package travel services are not performed in accordance with the package travel contract, we shall remedy the lack of conformity, unless that (a) is impossible; or (b) entails disproportionate costs, taking into account the extent of the lack of conformity and the value of the travel services affected. Unless the lack of conformity is attributable to the client, we shall provide an appropriate price reduction for the period during which there was a lack of conformity. No compensation shall be due for any damage as a result of a lack of conformity when this lack of conformity is attributable to the client, or a third party unconnected with the provision of the travel services included in the package travel contract and is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances

Cancellation insurance
Protection against the financial consequences of enforced cancellation is available through cancellation insurance with client choice of choosing and booking this type of insurance directly with the insurance company. We do not automatically close-off a cancellation policy with each confirmed booking. It is the client’s responsibility to request a policy. 

Visas and passports
It is the responsibility of the client to ensure they hold valid passports, visas and other documentation for the purposes of their travel. Before the conclusion of the contract, ATC will inform the client in writing which passports, visa and other documentation are necessary for the purposes of their travel.

Release of documentation
We reserve the right to withhold release of tickets, vouchers and any other travel documentation until such time that travel costs, cancellation and amendment costs, or any other costs have been paid in full.

Force majeure 
In the event of force majeure on our side, the client shall be offered the choice between another holiday which is of equal or better quality, without the obligation to pay a supplement, or the reimbursement of all the sums which he has paid in execution of the agreement. Except for package travels, all and any prepaid services and bookings will be charged to the client to the extent that they are not refundable by the third-party supplier. Force majeure is understood to include, amongst others: war; danger of war; strife and riot; hindering regulations of internal and external governments; fire; strikes; personnel shortage; traffic jams; shortage of transport; flood; lock-outs; sabotage and in general all unforeseen circumstances; both within and outside of Croatia, the result of which observance by us of the agreement cannot reasonably be expected.

Tailor made trips

We specialize in tailor made trips for each traveler based on their request. It is the client's responsibility to share truthful information with the agency such as their medical status and capabilities to participate in the trip planned. Tailor made trips are one to one made trips with itinerary especially created based on client's wishes. Itinerary is the final book and trip plan by which the cost of the trip is calculated. Terms and conditions can be adjusted to each individual itinerary and booking contract if necessary.

Disputes
Disputes arising may be only referred to the courts of Croatia.

OFFICE

JP TRAVEL 

PUGET SOUND DOO

Drage Gervaisa 37, 51000 Rijeka

Jurjevska 23, 10000 Zagreb

OIB: 77991515852

TAX: HR77991515852

Director: Jelena Peric

E: jelena@jptravelexperience.com

W: www.jptravelexperience.com

Agency code: HR-AB-51-040237366

Bank: Zagrebacka banka, Zagreb, Croatia

Bank account: IBANHR7023600001101952575

Swift: ZABAHR2X