Bianca, a college friend who is doing her PhD at the University of Cape Town, who's parents are German so she has an EU citizenship, and who doesn't drink at all. She's been to Croatia a couple of times, the trip I am drawing from was with her brother and sister. The other is my old flatmate Paras, who is living the post-NYU MBA life in NYC, and who has very different attitudes towards substances. He went with a friend. I only highlight their habits because the responses from these two has been a case study on how my friends can be different from one another, as well as alike. They actually overlapped a lot, which is helpful! Croatia is also fairly small, from Zagreb to Dubrovnik is a six hour drive. I'm putting both of their responses side by side, in some places they agree, in others seriously diverge. We are landing in the northern city of Zagreb on July 18th in the early evening and leaving August 1st from Dubrovnik, in the south. We'll be renting a car. Here also is the initial map I had drawn before speaking to them, for a sense of geography:
so the best part about Croatia is Slovenia, the neighboring country. Haha just kidding, but visit if you can. Lake Bled in Slovenia is this fairy tale lake surrounded by forest, where you can go swimming, and a boat will take you the center where there is this little castle on an little island. The only things it's missing are lake mermaids.
Thought: North and South Croatia are quite different. The north has more of a Hapsburg Empire feel and the south is more roman. Since you will fly out of Dubrovnik, you should head south rather than linger around the north at Opatija and Pula.
Zagreb
I don’t remember much except this is a much bigger, more typical European city. There are some nice pedestrian streets that I would recommend sticking to. I only spent an afternoon here, and it was enough.
Onwards: 4 hour drive from Zagreb – you could go via Plitvicka Lakes, which are nice to walk around – you’d want to spend a full day here. The roads getting here aren’t great, so it’s a bit slow going. The park is quite full during the summer seasons so be prepared to queue and fight your way through tourist groups. Otherwise, I think you can skip this if your time is limited and visit Krka Falls near Split instead.
Plitvice Lake is a must, they are gorgeous and a nice walk for a couple hours, and it's a national heritage site but you can sneak away from the crowds and swim if you put your mind to it.
Rovinj is a beautiful, pretty posh town on the west coast. we spent a night there and I would recommend it but don't go out of your way.
The southern half of Croatia, until recently wasn't heavily visited by Americans. Historically the north has been a vacationing spot for Europeans (e.g. Germans). My reason for not going to Pula is because it is out of the way and is a lot like italy, but less to show for it. The south is more interesting history wise. History in terms of Roman to the Tito years. Plus you can do day trips to Mostar, Bosnia and Kotor, Montenegro if you go south. The south is less... developed... than the northern parts. And clearly has had less money, but is really really interesting. And beautiful.
Zadar: I wouldn’t recommend more than a day here, if at all. It’s pretty underwhelming, though they do have a nice sea organ. The old town is pedestrians only. However, I would highly recommend a day hike in National Park Paklenica, via the big canyon (Velika Paklenica) to Manita Pec (a cave approx. 1.5 hours max one way – you can visit the cave and can buy tickets at the cave, just double check when it closes since it is only open limited hours). You could keep following the trail along the river and get to Paklenica Hut and then take a trail from there back to the parking lot via the mountians. It’s nice, not too crowded and has great views. The river has a few swimming spots as well. If you’ve seen or heard of Winnetou (a German movie about the Wild West) you’ll doubly love the park since a lot of scenes were filmed here.
Zagreb
I don’t remember much except this is a much bigger, more typical European city. There are some nice pedestrian streets that I would recommend sticking to. I only spent an afternoon here, and it was enough.
Onwards: 4 hour drive from Zagreb – you could go via Plitvicka Lakes, which are nice to walk around – you’d want to spend a full day here. The roads getting here aren’t great, so it’s a bit slow going. The park is quite full during the summer seasons so be prepared to queue and fight your way through tourist groups. Otherwise, I think you can skip this if your time is limited and visit Krka Falls near Split instead.
Plitvice Lake is a must, they are gorgeous and a nice walk for a couple hours, and it's a national heritage site but you can sneak away from the crowds and swim if you put your mind to it.
Rovinj is a beautiful, pretty posh town on the west coast. we spent a night there and I would recommend it but don't go out of your way.
The southern half of Croatia, until recently wasn't heavily visited by Americans. Historically the north has been a vacationing spot for Europeans (e.g. Germans). My reason for not going to Pula is because it is out of the way and is a lot like italy, but less to show for it. The south is more interesting history wise. History in terms of Roman to the Tito years. Plus you can do day trips to Mostar, Bosnia and Kotor, Montenegro if you go south. The south is less... developed... than the northern parts. And clearly has had less money, but is really really interesting. And beautiful.
Zadar: I wouldn’t recommend more than a day here, if at all. It’s pretty underwhelming, though they do have a nice sea organ. The old town is pedestrians only. However, I would highly recommend a day hike in National Park Paklenica, via the big canyon (Velika Paklenica) to Manita Pec (a cave approx. 1.5 hours max one way – you can visit the cave and can buy tickets at the cave, just double check when it closes since it is only open limited hours). You could keep following the trail along the river and get to Paklenica Hut and then take a trail from there back to the parking lot via the mountians. It’s nice, not too crowded and has great views. The river has a few swimming spots as well. If you’ve seen or heard of Winnetou (a German movie about the Wild West) you’ll doubly love the park since a lot of scenes were filmed here.
Onwards: 2 hour drive from Zadar: Recommend you take a half-day stop at Krka National Park – these are some terrific waterfalls you walk around and through via a wooden walk way before getting to the bottom of the falls. At the bottom of the falls you can go swimming. The city Sibenik is nearby and worth a visit as well since the medieval city is still intact. You can get lost exploring the old city and going through narrow passageways and stairwells. The small city of Trogir is up next – it’s a lot like Zadar and Sibenik except it still has a bit of visible ancient Roman buildings.
Split: I would recommend at 2-3 days here since it’s a good place to visit other places from. You could easily see historic Split in a morning, go to the beach in the afternoon, and do an excursion the second day. The city itself is really beautiful. I recommend staying near the historic centre, but make sure you double check your accommodation has parking – the streets are very narrow and tight and often can’t fit cars. Park Suma Marjan is a hill worth walking up to Vrh Marjana – Telegrin. If you want to go for a swim, head out to Beach Bene. It’s a rocky beach surrounded by pines, but much quieter than the other beaches near the harbour. Plus the walk there is really beautiful. I would recommend staying in Varos, or immediately to the west or east of the historic center. That way you can access everything by foot and the areas are nice to walk through. There’s a fresh food market at Zelena tržnica, near the waterfront at the east side of the old city – great if you like fruits, veggies and figs. If you want ice cream (or cake), I highly recommend Luka Ice Cream & Cakes. Walk through the city streets as much as you can –there are new places you’ll keep discovering –medieval, Roman, and modern. You should go up the Saint Domnius Bell Tower, if you aren’t afraid of heights. Be warned – it’s got a hollowed out middle and you ascend wooden steps that circle around a steep drop.
Split: I would recommend at 2-3 days here since it’s a good place to visit other places from. You could easily see historic Split in a morning, go to the beach in the afternoon, and do an excursion the second day. The city itself is really beautiful. I recommend staying near the historic centre, but make sure you double check your accommodation has parking – the streets are very narrow and tight and often can’t fit cars. Park Suma Marjan is a hill worth walking up to Vrh Marjana – Telegrin. If you want to go for a swim, head out to Beach Bene. It’s a rocky beach surrounded by pines, but much quieter than the other beaches near the harbour. Plus the walk there is really beautiful. I would recommend staying in Varos, or immediately to the west or east of the historic center. That way you can access everything by foot and the areas are nice to walk through. There’s a fresh food market at Zelena tržnica, near the waterfront at the east side of the old city – great if you like fruits, veggies and figs. If you want ice cream (or cake), I highly recommend Luka Ice Cream & Cakes. Walk through the city streets as much as you can –there are new places you’ll keep discovering –medieval, Roman, and modern. You should go up the Saint Domnius Bell Tower, if you aren’t afraid of heights. Be warned – it’s got a hollowed out middle and you ascend wooden steps that circle around a steep drop.
Hvar is another must, super sunny and active beach/party town, actually a large island off the coast. I remember great seafood restaurants, and also it's an over the top party town place, which you may not value but it's at least worth the spectacle. For one it draws absurdly rich travellers, like yachts everywhere, it was just a competition in over-compensation, like one yacht rolled up with a another yacht inside of it, and everyone was like woah, and then another yacht showed up ten times bigger which had like a yacht inside it and then also a helicopter parked on top. I remember my friend in a borat voice was like - small penis, but BIG boat!! nice! ok and then the coolest thing was club Carpe Diem. So at night there are two parts, they also have a little island called 'carpe diem beach' which they ferry you out too all night on a little speed boat, and it's like this magical music video, seems like there is very little staff and just like a DJ and dance floor but also adjoined to the ocean with I think a diving area, and good looking people are just getting naked and going swimming. I know you hate clubs, but if i were you I would just go anyway.
Onwards: 3 hour drive from Split if using the Toll road, otherwise 4 hours along the Route 8, coastal road (the old highway). There are several neat abandoned sites from Soviet days here, some hotels and a children’s hospital. I managed to get into Krvavica, a 1963 children's health resort. If you want to go, drive to Krvavica, park near the boat area and walk South along the beach a little bit. You won’t miss it. Dubrovnik + Trsteno: I recommend at least 3-4 days here – one day to tour the city and a couple of days to enjoy the surrounds. I highly recommend staying in Trsteno. It’s a short drive from Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik which you can easily visit in a day – just head there early to find free or cheap parking on the city outskirts (around Lapad there is some) and walk into the city. (Parking in the city even if you find an airbnb there is annoying – almost everything is zoned for residents…). It’s gimmicky, but I really to recommend doing the city walls walk (approx 1 hr) – it gives you an amazing view of the city. The city itself you can easily explore by foot within a few hours. It’s also worth viewing the city from Fort Lovrijenac, nearby. (You don’t need to go in).
Dubrovnik. It's rampant now I hear because they filmed game of thrones there, but for good reason. Ancient sea side castle town, now an incredibly charming town with clubs and shopping etc. My friend and I were in different moods and split up that night, I went to some dance club, got smashed alone and danced all night, then walked around around sunrise and ran into some kids smoking a joint, and they invited me to join and hang out at some empty seaside restaurant. Very cool place, people there and especially in Slovenia were super nice and easy to hang out with.
Now onto the real gem – Trsteno. This is an oasis of calm and absolute beauty. I cannot recommend any place more highly. It’s simply amazing. Near the water there’s a really cool abandoned villa you can explore – if you decide to go upstairs, be careful not to walk in the middle of the rooms where the floors are caving in. Otherwise it is quite safe to go all the way up into the tower. There was a creepy rabid black cat the last time I was there, so if you see him walk away – he’s vicious. There’s an Arboretum in Trsteno you can get into for free if you stay in the town (since to access the village you would walk through it). This is really nice and you can walk through and find all the cool nooks and crannies. (Hot tip: Was a Game of Thrones film location, no one knows about).
