To get to Croatia, we are lucky enough to have direct flights from the US, first making a stop from Denver to Newark, but then continuing on directly to Split on United Airlines. The flight from Newark was an overnight flight, so we made sure to try to get some rest. We landed in Split earlier than scheduled, around 6:15am, and found our rental car wasn't open until 7am. We had to wait around but soon were on our way with the better part of the day to make our way to the national park.

We stopped in a few towns along the way, Sibenik and Zadar, both very scenic and then on to the Plitvice Lakes NP where we checked into our hotel the B&B Plitvica Lodge and had tickets to the park for entry after 4pm. We spent a few hours in the park, in awe of the beauty, before having dinner at Degenija Restaurant for our first Croatian meal. We enjoyed the homemade pasta with truffles and fresh sea bass with appetizer of Croatian cheese. Tired after a long journey and full day, we were exhausted and ready for bed!

Sibenik and Zadar towns

On our drive, we stopped at two towns alond the Adriatic coast. The first town was Sibenik, where we found parking and walked into the town, admiring the old feel of everything. We walked past several churches and through the cobblestone streets. It was still early morning, so it felt like we were the only ones there! After getting a few pastries to try from the local bakery, we enjoyed them in a park and then stopped at a grocery store to pick up some fresh fruit, mozzarella and warm bread to enjoy by the sea side.

We still had more time before we could check into our hotel at the national park so we continued up to coast to visit the town of Zadar. A bigger town than Sibenik, Zadar is known for its stunning seaside views and a very unique attraction, the Sea Organ. Opening in 2005, the sea organ is a unique place where 35 pipes are concealed into concrete steps leading down to the sea. When the waves come in from the sea, it plays chords, creating a unique sound. We listened to the organ and dipped our feet in the sea before stopping at the local cafe for our first Croatian wine.

Plitvice Lakes - Lower Lakes Loop

After checking in at our hotel, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Plitvice Lakes National Park. On their website, you can choose to purchase two day tickets. When purchasing them from the online website, you will need to choose an initial entry time, but if you choose two day, you can enter at any time on the second day. We chose to enter at 4pm (or later) on the first day, to experience the afternoon light and less crowds. After reviewing the park map, we opted to do the loop of the lower lakes on our first day.

We could actually walk there from our hotel, accessing the park through their 3rd gate, which not many people go to. The loop plus the walk from our hotel ended up being about 3.5 miles, but the views all were stunning! In the park, you walk over wooden bridges and dirt paths. Many times, the wooden walkways would be directly over the rushing water below your feet. The lakes are in stages down a hill and each of the lakes was surrounded by gushing waterfalls. The lake water was so clear you could see through its light blue color. Around every turn, there were more and more stunning views until you get to the big waterfall area. There, the falls are gushing into a huge vally just underneath your feet and around the corner another huge waterfall coming from the top. We were super thankful to have gone there during the sunny and warm afternoon, as tomorrow would turn out the be much different weather!

Since we had already covered about half of the national park yesterday afternoon, today was focused on the Upper lakes region. Equally as beautiful, the upper lakes has a lot to offer with many miles of trails through the park. We walked about 4-5 miles around the loop, even though our weather was less then ideal. We hadn't planned on any rain on this trip so we were some of the only tourists without a rain coat... Luckily, the trails were semi protected by the forest as we walked around in the off and on rain. After finishing up in the park, we drove a few hours back toward the coast, stopping at one of Croatia's many wineries for a break. The Bibich winery surprised us with some very unique wines and delicious lunch where we tasted their specialty of local octopus on potato puree. We loved their wines so much that we ended up ordering a case to be sent home.

Our final stop was in Primosten where we would spend the night. Our apartment host met us and transported us by golf cart to the apartment. Primosten was an amazing mostly walking town on the sea and we strolled through the town doing a little shopping before having dinner. Only a few steps away from our apartment, dinner at Konoba Capocesto was top notch. We dined on fresh mussels and octopus salad for appetizer, then seafood pasta, sea bass and Croatian famous black cuttlefish rissoto for dinner all while enjoying the sunset.

Plitvice Lakes - Upper Lakes Loop

We woke up to vastly different weather, with temperatures in the 50's and misting / raining. However, today was our only day to see the remainder of the park so we still got up to enter the park before 8am. We walked down to the boat dock from entrance 3, planning to catch the ferry across the lake. After waiting for the ferry for 20 minutes, we found out it actually wouldn't be there until 8:30, so we decided to save some time and walked back to the car to drive to the other entrance, since we would have to make that same boat ride and drive later in the day if not.

The upper lakes were just as stunning with so many waterfalls flowing from every direction. We were probably the only ones there without proper raincoats, but we made the best of it and luckily there were a lot of forest to cover us. We walked along 3 of the lakes and in between them on the wooden paths, still enjoying them even though the sun wasn't out and we didn't experience as much of the light blue colors as the previous afternoon. After finishing our hike, we caught the park shuttle back to near where we parked. We were super thankful that we had done the other loop the day before. Overall, this park is amazing and on our must see list when visiting Croatia!

We had the morning to explore and enjoy Primosten, as our apartment host told us they had no one checking in and we could spend as long as we wanted. We wished we could have spent longer, if we had not had a long drive to Dubrovnik ahead of us. Still, we were able to sleep in and take another nice walk around the town, visiting the local store for breakfast items. We left Primosten around noon and headed out taking the toll road to Dubrovnik. The roads in Croatia are quite good but you may sometimes be slowed down when not on the toll road due to the winding roads. It was close to a 4 hour drive and we had planned an apartment on the outskirts of the old town which was only a couple minutes walk to the city rental car return. After checking in to our new apartment and returning the car, we checked out the local Bellevue Beach, less than a 10 minute walk. The beach was set in a beautiful cove but was a little chilly for swimming since the sun had already gone behind the mountains. We had dinner only a few minutes away at Marangun Restaurant where we had a variety of local dishes.

Primosten

Primošten is a small coastal town in Dalmatia, sitting between Split and Šibenik. Its old town, which sits on a small peninsula that was once an island, is completely walkable and we saw only a handful of cars the entire time. During our time there, we loved walking the narrow stone streets, seeing the old houses, and made our way to the church at the very top of the hill. From there you can look out on the sea and its deep blue waters before making your way back to the walking path that surrounds the city. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, perhaps too many!, and tons of local stores selling jewelry and other souveniers including local honey and olive oil. The town has a large beach and crystal clear waters in which to swim. We think Primosten is definitely worth visitng over some of the more popular towns for a more low-key atmosphere and authentic local vibe.

Today we boarded our catamaran that would be our home for 3 days and nights! Huck Finn Adventures offers a 3 night tour of the Elaphiti Islands, the group of islands located closest to Dubrovnik. The catamaran has 4 cabins all with connected bathroom and shower. You can lounge on the front deck on the nets and relax while you're cruising through the scenic islands. We originally had two other guests on board but they ended up switching to another boat after the first day, so we ended up having the whole thing to ourselves with our captain, Marina. She was so friendly, helpful, and informative and made the entire trip relaxing and fun! The cabins had a lot of storage and the beds were comfortable. We had a small fridge that we could bring snacks and drinks and markets are available on every island.

We boarded around 10am and had one major stop on the island of Koločep before spending the night in a protected bay of Šipan. We had a fantastic dinner in the town at Konoba Kod Marka, perhaps our favorite meal yet where we had fresh prawns, seafood risotto, anchovies and local salad. We also walked around the town before sunset and explored some of the back alleys where we came across several hedgehogs! We had no idea that you could find hedgehogs here in the wild! We also passed a scenic church, found pomegranate trees blooming, and vsitied the beach where you can admire the view of the Adriatic sea from the rocky cliff above. The Šipan bay is a popular spot to stay for the night because it is very long and protected. We attached to a bouy and went to and from the shore with the small dinghy boat that you can lower from the back.

Koločep Island

We anchored in the bay outside the town in Koločep and had our first chance to experience the the waters of the adriatic. Our boat comes equipped with paddle boards and kayaks as well as snorkeling gear. We paddled around the bay for a while and then docked at the town. From the beach area, there are steps up to the top of the ridge where you can look over the cliffs and sea below. There are also several caves you can visit by boat, but we were told it was crowded and perhaps too windy today. After seeing the view, we walked back to town for lunch at a local restaurant specializing in fish. We chose to have a fresh grilled fish, french fries and the ocotpus salad, all well prepared. Make sure to bring enough cash if you travel here, as some of the places do not accept credit cards.

Our captain told us that she would be getting up early to check the weather and start the boat, but no worries, we could sleep in as long as we wanted. We heard the motor turn on just before 7 and kept on sleeping well for another hour or so. The day was already sunny and beautiful and we sat on the front deck taking in the view and then had a simple breakfast of some yogurt, fruit and cereal. Other than boating, we spent the majority of the time today on Mljet Island. We had many hours to explore the National Park after which we had several hours cruising on the catamaran back to the protected bay in Šipan where we would spend the night. Even though we loved our dinner from last night, we wanted to try a different restaurant so went to Konoba Tauris where we had fresh scorpionfish, anchovies, a large salad and pasta pomodoro, maybe our best dinner yet! Night two on the boat and we were ready for a good rest before our final full day in the islands tomorrow.

Mljet National Park

One of the oldest National Parks established in Croatia, about 1960, Mljet NP is part of one of the longest islands on the Dalmatian coast. Before arriving at the offical national park town, we stopped in a small bay of crystal clear waters for some swimming time. We were already hot from the sun and excited to try out the water. We were the only boat there and had the bay to ourselves to swim and paddleboard around. The water was cool but refreshing and so clear! After that, we had a short ride over where we anchored at town and took the dinghy in. We visited the local market to pick up some lunch, bought our park tickets, and were soon on our way with e-bikes already included in our tour.

Mljet National Park is known for two saltwater lakes, one larger and one smaller. With the e-bikes, we rode up the hill and back down to access the lakes. The water around the lakes ranges from deep blue to light blue with almost see-through water, making the ride quite scenic. We biked to the smaller lake where they have a small swimming beach that was very popular with mostly local tourists. After finding a shady spot to have lunch, we tested out the waters for a quick swim. Back on our bikes, the path takes you around the bigger lake. We stopped to do a short hike up when we saw a sign for a viewpoint. The hike had very good views over the 12th centruy monastery that sits in the lake, and then up and over the other side where there were steep rocky cliffs to the sea. You can also take a boat ride to visit the monastery but it is from the other side of the lake. Almost up on time, we continued to bike around the lake, over a challenging bridge equipped with bike ramps up and down, and then back to town where we met Marina and headed back to the boat.

The weather today was much more rough and windy and Marina told us we would want to stay put until at least 4pm. But no worries, she had a plan for us for the day. The company has bikes stored on the island of Šipan where we had slept. We slept in and had breakfast and then spent most of the day biking across the island and back. After getting back to the boat, we had to jump in the refreshing water to cool off and swim before heading out to Lopud island. On this small island we attached to a bouy and spent sunset hour strolling around the town. There were a lot of restaurants and a large monastery along the water. Since it was sunset, we had an amazing view of the boats and other islands off in the distance. We had dinner at Mandrac restaurant where we were able to try the local oysters from Ston, also a fresh fish, salad, potatoes and pasta dish. We headed back to the boat around 9:30pm.

Šipan Island

The island of Šipan has two main towns, both rather small, but scenic. Marina helped us plan a bike ride and gave us several other options for things to do on the island. We ended up only having time for the bike ride, but the other choices were to hike up a hill for views and walk to a beach for swimming. We got a little bit of a late start so we headed out on bikes across the island. This time we only had regular bikes, which made us appreciate our e-bikes from yesterday! We had to bike uphill for a while but then it was more flat and a little downhill to get to Sudurad. The bike ride took us past a lot of fields growing wine, olives and other produce. There were several people selling their local products and we stopped to buy some olive oil from a small shop in Sudurad and also did a local wine and olive oil tasting at another home / shop. Both shop owners were so welcoming, as have been most everyone we have met.

After biking across, we found a small family restaurant, called Konoba TriSestre, with great views over the sea to have lunch. We had the local cheese in olive oil, monkfish carpaccio and prawns in white wine sauce with tomato salad. They grow a lot if not all of their produce in their garden and everything was very fresh and tasty. Sudurad was a cute town with quite a few shops. Biking back wasn't quite as hard as on the way out, so we made it back in time and did a quick shop at the store for snacks, returned the bikes and were back on the boat to swim before leaving.

Our final morning on the boat, we woke around 8:30am today with plans to have a quick swim at another scenic spot. We got there around 9am and had breakfast, while we were still the only ones in the bay. While we were swimming, a ton of other boats started showing up, spoiling our peace. There were a lot of fish swimming around in the bay too. We stayed there for about an hour an a half before it was time to head back to Dubrovnik. We said our goodbyes and were back on land. It was too early to check in to our apartment so we had lunch at a nearby pizza place called Zamagna that turned out to be very good. From there we caught an Uber to our apartment which is perched on the side of the hill, with excellent views of Dubrovnik old town.

We rested up and visited the grocery store then took the cable car to see the views overlooking the city. After walking back down, we finally made it into old town where we discovered all the rest of the people! Old town was super crowded for post-sunset / dinner. We felt like we had been transported into a medieval Italian town, with narrow extremely worn stone streets and alleys going out in every direction. We could see why Dubrovnik is a major tourist destination, as it was uniquely charming around every corner. We had trouble deciding on a place to eat but finally chose Ciao Cucina Italiana and had some Italian margherita pizza and mushroom truffle house made pasta. Of course we had to get some gelato afterward to top off the night!

Dubrovnik Cable Car

A popular thing to do while in Dubrovnik is to take the cable car up to the top of Mount Srđ where you can see the town from above. We decided to go about an hour or so before sunset. The cable car station was in walking distance to our apartment and you can purchase tickets on the spot, no need to buy online. Tickets are quite expensive at 30 EUR pp round trip for adults (above 12 years), perhaps limiting the number of people that want to make the trip up. You can also walk up or down the hiking trail for free, however, it is about a 1,000 foot climb.

We decided to purchase one way tickets up for 17 EUR each and walk down the trail to get more views of the town but still get the ride up. The viewpoint at the top is fairly small but with good views of the old town and the Elaphiti islands that we had just traveled the past few days. After taking in the view, we walked down the roughly 1.5 miles of rocky trail with many switchbacks until we finally reached what seemed like a million stairs to get into the old town.

Dubrovnik Old Town

Old Town Dubrovik feels like stepping back in time about 500 years. One of the most preserved medieval cities, the heart of the old town is surrounded on all sides by the impressive walls. Inside the old town today, you will find a lively atmosphere with pedestrian only limestone paved walking streets. Bustling with tourists, it's definitely where everyone heads for the evening, boasting restaurants and shops around every turn. The evening hours are magical with the old cathedrals and alleyways. You can definitely get lost in its charm for an evening or two!

We had a full day in Dubrovnik today so decided to get up early and do the walk along the city walls, followed by the beach. We wanted to get to the walls before it got too hot or crowded. Walking from our apartment to the walls and all around took us a couple of hours and by then we were more than ready for a swim. We went to the local beach just outside the old city and relaxed until early afternoon. After a much needed rest in the apartment, we headed back out in the early evening to have dinner at Arka where we had tried several different pastas with seafood, a salad and a grilled seafood appetizer . We spent more time walking around the old city and doing some last minute shopping before calling it a night.

Our flight back was on United Airlines from Dubrovnik to Newark and on to Denver, taking up most of the next day. Since the flights are during the daytime, it wasn't too bad and we could relax and have an occaisonal nap while making our way back home. Overall, our time in Croatia was an amazing experience that we would recommend more Americans explore, with less crowds and cheaper accomodation than some of the more popular European countries. We look forward to exploring more of the Eastern European countries in the future!

Dubrovnik City Walls

Dubrovnik's city walls are arguably the finest and best-preserved medieval fortifications in Europe, forming an almost unbroken circuit of nearly two kilometres around the Old Town. Walking the full loop takes about an hour or more, depending on how many photos you stop to take, and rewards you with breathtaking views in every direction. On one side you have the Adriatic sea and views of the Lovrjenac fortress, then from the inland side you look over the close-knit city with orange terracotta rooftops.

Tickets to the city walls are quite expensive, at 40 EUR per person (15 EUR under 18 years of age). You can purchase the Dubrovnik Pass for the same price but will not get a discount for children unless they are under 7. The pass includes a few other museums in the area. It's best to avoid the heat of the day when exploring the walls as there is little shade and they become more crowded. The one-way walking path covers 2 kilometers circling the entire Old Town. We went around 9:30am and it would have been better to go a bit earlier. However, large groups were arriving around the time we exited, so it probably wasn't the worst time to go.

Dubrovnik Banje Beach

Banje Beach is located just outside the Old City walls and is a popular place to go during the hot summer days. There are two sides to the beach, which is free to access, one for personal towels and another run by the beach club with chairs and umbrellas. Since we didn't have any towels, we splurged on the expensive beach chairs costing us 30 EUR per person plus 10 EUR umbrella and 5 EUR per towel. After walking around the wall in the hot sun, we were ready to take a swim. The water in June is still rather cold but it was refreshing and worth it to get in. We ended up spending about 4 hours enjoying our beach chairs before calling it a day and heading back to our apartment for some late afternoon rest time. Banje beach is a unique spot and worth checking out, whether you use the free beach or the beach club. Where else can you enjoy the clear adriatic waters while admiring Dubrovnik's ancient walled city!