There is a reason Croatia has become one of the hottest destinations in Europe and the world. From picturesque walled cities, to gorgeous secluded beaches, Croatia has something for everyone. We spent 6 days hopping up the coast and making the trek to Kirka to see one of the most stunning parks in the region!
When planning your trip to Croatia, Dubrovnik is a must visit. This walled city has an incredible mix of history, foodie culture, and party atmosphere. While we went to Split, we recommend skipping this city (or stopping by for an evening) and continuing on to a nearby island for a few days of relaxation. Definitely take a day to visit one of the two national parks, Krka or Plitvice, but be strategic about visiting to make sure you miss the crowds. We didn't have to time continue north the Istria, but heard amazing things about food and coastal towns.
The perfect first stop on our tour of Croatia, Dubrovnik was an absolute Gem. We were awed by the beautiful old town with its charming cobblestone streets, impressive outer walls, and fantastic food. If you have two or three days in Dubrovnik, the best way to spend them is wandering around the old city. We stayed at an affordable and cozy airbnb at the very top of the hill overlooking the old town. While it was only a 10 minute walk to and from the city, I only recommend this if you don't mind steps. There are tons of guest houses, hotels, and airbnb's in the city. So how far up you go is only a function of your stair tolerance.
Our favorite exploration in Dubrovnik was the tour of the outer walls. For a small fee you can spend a few hours marching around the perimeter and taking in the sights. The views of the city and over the sea was mind blowing. You can see multicolored rooftops and pick out the ones that were bombed in the wars based on the age of the tiles.
Lovrijenac (or Fort St. Lawrence), just north of the walled city was a great stop to get a few different views and see some Game of Thrones filming locations. We had a blast roaming around the fort and catching views of the old city. You can get in for free with your ticket from the wall walk, so make sure to save it!
We took a ride up the gondola right before sunset to see the views. This was a short trip, but highly recommended and the 20 minute wait was well worth it!
Since we were traveling with my parents, we opted for a somewhat tame kayaking trip which took us from the bay between the old city and Lovrijenac, around Lokrum Island, and to a few caves. We did the half day tour with X - Adventure Sea Kayaking. Overall we were pretty disappointed with the trip. It was beautiful to kayak under the walls of the old city, but the bay and caves were pretty crowded and the experience felt like a tourist trap. We didn't have much time to stop along the way to enjoy aspects of the trip so it was basically just paddling.
If we had to do this again we would have gone for a more off the beaten path trip such as Adria Adventure, which takes you to a few different islands. We also could have replaced the trip with a simple day of expolring Locrum.
While researching the trip I found tons of off the beaten path beaches to spend time at. Unfortunately, since we had so much fun exploring the old city, we only made it to Banje Beach, which is adjacent to the old city. This was a nice place to go for a dip, but pretty crowded. Here is a great post if you are looking for top beaches in Dubrovnik.
When we planned to go to The Balkans, we made it our mission to learn everything about the history and the wars of the 90s. We had family involved in a few of the conflicts and had never really understood what happened and why such atrocities were committed. The War Limited Museum was an amazing learning experience and taught us so much about the three wars. It was a beautiful photojournalistic exhibit and did an incredible job breaking down the causes of the conflicts.
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Split
Split is a modern city and about a two hour drive north of Dubrovnik. The Ruins of Diocletian's Palace are massive and essentially create a historical downtown that is full of incredible shops, winding alleys, and food excursions. The city itself can be explored in a day, and is generally used as a jumping off point to get to nearby islands. If we had to do the trip again, I would recommend skipping Split, or just stopping by for an evening of food and exploring the downtown. It would have been more enjoyable to just go to a nearby island, and spend a few days relaxing.
The food scene is the best part of Split. We enjoyed bouncing around from bar to bar and finding different spots to sit outside and people watch. Most of the restaurants have seats in the streets, so an incredible ambiance is created.
On our only day spent in Split, we booked a food tour through airbnb. This was a private tour with an incredible local who was able to teach us not only about the food scene in the city, but also about the culture, history, and current state of affairs. During the tour, we went to the Split fish market to pick out fresh food and meet some of the vendors. We then picked up fresh produce and sheep's stomach cheese. After selecting our veggies, we took everything to Diocletian Wine House for preparation and lunch!
My favorite part of split was Kasjuni Beach and I wish we had gone here for a full day and not just an afternoon. The beach itself is stunning, and there is a great bar for food and drink. They have stand up paddle board rentals and kayaks as well. Explore the park and you will be able to find cliff jumping and deep water soloing. I came upon a few climbers who were free soloing on the cliffs, but unfortunately I didn't have the time nor shoes to join.
We did a full day boat tour out of split. This was an easy way to see a bunch of the surrounding islands, stopping at Biševo, Vis, and Hvar. While the islands are beautiful, and the Blue cave of Bisevo was one of the most unique caves I have ever seen, SKIP THIS TOUR. We ended up spending most of the morning waiting to get into the Blue cave, and the rest of the day basically bouncing around islands not accomplishing much.
Hvar Town had a beautiful little stretch and we enjoyed sitting at a beach here. We also stopped at Carpe Diem Beach, which would have been a fantastic (but maybe a little sceney) place to party.
Bottom line: Dont try to do everything and skip this tour. Instead - pick a day trip to a beach such as the Golden Horn and call it a day!
My absolute favorite thing we did in Croatia was visit Krka National Park. Between hiking, boating, and swimming, this ended up being an incredible day. We opted to go to Krka over Plitvice because we were driving from Split and it was a few hours closer. We wanted to be the first people in the park.
We had heard that Krka and Plitvice were comprable, but Plitvice is just bigger. Krka ended up being pretty big as well, and is a great option if you just have one day. The one thing to know here:
Be the first ones in the park!
By the time we were finishing up our hike, hordes of people started pouring in. If we had been part of the large group, we probably would not have enjoyed our hike.
We also opted to take the boat to Visovac Monastery which was stunning. The boat ride there was awesome and the monastery was incredible in its beauty and serenity.
How to Krka:
There are a few options for entering Krka. We drove to Lozovac and took the bus down to the park. We then got ahead of the crowds and did the Skradinski Buk hike which can be done in a little over an hour if you push it. We had two hours to enjoy the hike, go for a swim, and get back to the pickup point for the boat to the monastery. If we had had more time, we could have driven to Skradin to park and taken the boat in. But this would have kept us from being the first in the park - so it ended up being a good decision to drive right in.