Croatia

Such a beautiful country with lots of history and sites to see. You’ll find some of the clearest waters, plenty of yachts, and adorable towns with orange roofs. Croatia has over 1000 islands so island hoping is a must do here! We were in Croatia for 10 days and stayed in Split and Dubrovnik.

Split

Day 1 Arrive in Split We flew from Florence to Rome and from Rome to Split, Croatia. It was the smallest airplane I think I’ve ever been in and it was super quick. We met my sister, her husband, and my niece in Croatia. We stayed in an airbnb, it was very modern, had a nice deck with views of the city and the sea, and it was pretty big. We went down to the market to get some food to cook dinner and played games the rest of the night.

Day 2 Explore Split We started with the Diocletian’s Palace in Old Town Split. We saw the treasures they found, the Cathedral, and we hiked to the top of the bell tower. If you are claustrophobic I do not recommend doing this because you have to squeeze into very tight spaces, it’s also very steep, but the views are gorgeous at the top. You have a perfect 360 degree view of Split.

As we were leaving we caught a play happening in the square. Basically these random people dressed up like the old times came out and did a whole scene, I’m not exactly sure what it was but it was entertaining! Supposedly this happens a lot.

We then got lunch and went to the beach. We relaxed and swam but honestly the beaches in Split aren’t the best, they are rocky and I didn’t see any beach clubs by us. Make sure to bring water shoes! They are a lifesaver.

After hanging by the beach we walked back to our Airbnb, relaxed, and then headed to dinner at Bokamorra. You guys HAVE to try this place! It’s a really fun and cute pizza place in Split. They have some of the best pizza I’ve ever tried. Make a reservation because they do book up, it’s pretty popular.

Day 3 Boat Day We headed down to the port in the morning and met our skipper Joseph. We had a full day private boat tour that would take us to the nearby islands, including Vis where Mama Mia 2 was filmed! I am a huge fan of Mama Mia so of course Vis was on my list. Joseph said it would take the whole day to go to Vis so that’s what we did.

About 30 minutes into the trip we stopped at a small island on the way to get coffee and then continued on, it was about an hour and 20 minute boat ride. We even saw dolphins swimming! Our skipper turned around and we tried following them and even stopped to get photos. He was awesome.

As we started approaching Vis our skipper started playing Mama Mia, I almost cried. It was such a surreal moment. He was pointing out different filming spots and then took us to the harbor where we got off and explored.

We went to some shops, got a bite to eat, and visited different filming spots (like on the port and where Harry gets tied up in the chair at Jastozera Lobster Restaurant). Joseph then took us around the island to see different caves, the water was so blue and crystal clear. I’ve really never seen anything like it. Everything was just so beautiful.

Joseph then took us to a small little Island off of Vis that we were able to get off and swim at. Very small! There was hardly anyone on this island but we swam and laid out for a few. We saw plenty of fish, crab, and jelly fish! The water was super clean and abundant. We then headed to the other side of Vis where we got off and explored some more filming locations including the iconic Dionis and the Greek Market Square.

Mama Mia 2 Filming Spots

This was such a perfect day! There’s nothing better than being on a boat sailing and exploring beautiful landscapes. Our skipper was great, he knew a lot and told us plenty of cool stories. It was nice because we could just tell him exactly what we wanted to do. If you’re going to Split, you have to do a boat day!

Day 4 Krka National Falls We decided to rent a car for a few days so the five of us could go to Krka National Falls. It was easy picking up the rental car and it took us about an hour and a half to get to Krka. We arrived at the Skrodin entrance of the park, it’s usually less busy this way, and we grabbed lunch before going to purchase our tickets. You don’t need to purchase your tickets in advance for this. With our tickets we could also take the ferry to the falls and back, so we got on the ferry and officially arrived at Krka National Falls.

This park is extremely peaceful, despite the tourists. There’s so much nature that felt so untouched and countless wildlife in the park. The water looked so clean and clear. It was a great hike with my family. FYI you can’t get in the water anymore at the falls but it’s still a great experience! I know it can be a bummer, I love swimming, but I understand their reasoning. The park does have some restaurants, shops, and cafes so if you get hungry, no worries!

After spending a few hours hiking we headed back to our Airbnb. We then got ready to go to dinner, we ate at Restaurant Adriatic. Our skipper recommended this place to us and guys it was SO GOOD! The views were spectacular, looking out over the sea, right by the harbor, it’s classy, great wine, and the food was awesome. I had monk fish, it was my first time trying it, very interesting dish! It tasted like a mix between crab and scallops. I definitely recommend this place, and we were able to get in without reservations but I would recommend booking one still, it was pretty full and I think we got lucky.

Day 5 Beach Day & Relaxation We took the car again to a beach in Omis. It was about 45 minutes from Split. Really pretty drive down. We swam, laid out, and grabbed some food and drinks when it started pouring ran. We then headed back and dropped off the rental car. We stayed in for the night, cooked our own dinner, and played games. It was a nice relaxing day!

It would recommend just staying in Split if you aren’t too big on driving. The beaches in Split are good, really the highlights are the islands! We would have preferred to just stay in Split rather than driving an hour and a half there and back to just go to a beach that’s only a little better than the ones in Split. Just my opinion.

Day 6 Hvar Beach Club OMG! This was the PERFECT day. You guys have to do a beach club day in Hvar. We caught the ferry to Hvar in the morning and arrived at Hvar Beach Club early afternoon. I booked us the peninsula section, we had 4 layout chairs with umbrellas and a large bed. It was amazing! Hvar is beautiful too. We popped champagne, had mimosas, swam, and had a ton of fun.

We noticed there was a water park bounce house nearby so we walked over to that a few hours in and this was so fun! We all felt like kids again and laughed so much.

After the water park we headed back to get lunch at the beach club. We had amazing sushi and steak and this wonderful view! After a ton of playing and a great lunch we relaxed the rest of the day and then headed back to Split. This day was so fun, the water in Hvar is a striking blue and crystal clear. Our experience at Hvar Beach Club was very luxurious, it was so fun and relaxing. We all loved it.

Split was awesome. Sailing to the islands is the best thing you can do in Split. It’s truly breathtaking. We absolutely loved our beach club day at Hvar. Honestly, I wouldn’t spend too much time in Split, the islands are the star of the show!

Dubrovnik

Day 7 Headed to Dubrovnik We took the ferry from Split to Dubrovnik, it was a little over five hours, not the best ride, the ferry we were on did not have any food so I’d suggest taking food on board with you! This ferry also stopped at multiple locations to drop people off and Dubrovnik was the last stop, so it made the ride a little longer. Other than ferry, really the only way to get to Dubrovnik is to drive.

Once we got to Dubrovnik we headed to get lunch and then checked into our Airbnb, we had an awesome place! We were just outside the old town and had the most amazing views of the castle and the sea. We had a hot tub and a pool, plus we were close to a little market, overall it was a really great place. This day was pretty long due to the travel getting here so we really just relaxed, settled in, and enjoyed some wine in the hot tub at night with our awesome view.

Day 8 Elaphiti Islands We booked a boat day to the Elaphiti Islands. Our first stop was Lopud, we spent about three hours here, explored the botanical gardens, our guide said that this was the oldest botanical garden in Europe.

We then headed to the beach (tip: they have golf carts that will take you to the beach on Lopud, I recommend taking one especially if you’re on a time crunch). The beach was super cool, they had cute, very coastal restaurants and bars on the beach, seat swings, and awesome views.

The second island we went to was Sepan, when we arrived it started pouring so we ran to a little winery in town that our guide recommended to us. We bought one of the most unique bottles of wine I have ever come across. It was a 2015 red wine that was aged 2 years 30 meters under the sea, it had calcium build up all over the bottle and had shells growing on it. It was so cool and the best part was the price! The bottle was about $100.

Sepan is a very small island, there’s not much to do. It’s very pretty and untouched looking. If you take this tour or come to this island, definitely check out the wine store (I believe it’s the only one in town).

The last island we went to was Koločep. We only spent about 45 minutes here, all we did was swim in the sea. It’s a beautiful island! I recommend this tour if you want to explore some of the islands off of Dubrovnik. The boat ride was nice and they served us lunch and alcohol. It was a really fun time!

We relaxed a little more at the airbnb before heading to our dinner reservations at Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal has authentic food, it was really good and the atmosphere is very charming. Highly recommend this restaurant!

Day 9 Kayaking Tour We did a kayaking tour through Airbnb experience and went to Lokrum Island, Betina Cave, and up to the Dubrovnik wall. It was just the five of us which was super nice! Kayaking really offers such beautiful and unique views of Dubrovnik and the sea. It was stunning, the water was so blue, the sea was pretty calm so it wasn’t super hard to kayak, the whole experience was really enjoyable. If you haven’t kayaked before I would feel comfortable doing it especially if you have another person in your kayak.

Our first stop was Lokrum Island at the famous Golub Spilja Cave, the water was so crystal clear and the cave was super cool. We also stopped here to do some cliff jumping. I LOVE cliff jumping, This spot was great because there were three different heights to jump from so if you’re a beginner, you’ll be fine! My whole family was jumping. I jumped from the medium and the top height, our guide told me I was the first girl to jump from the top one in 2 years (not sure I believe that though lol) it was about 13 meters high.

We then made our way to the Dubrovnik wall and passed a nudist beach! After passing the beach we stopped and our guide was telling us about the history of Lokrum island and how it’s “cursed” very interesting! Once we got up to the wall our guide was telling us more about the history of Dubrovnik, pointed out certain houses to us, and had lots of good stories. Our guides name was Marin and he was awesome! He made the experience really great.

We then headed to Betina Cave, this is definitely a must go to if you’re in Dubrovnik. The water is crystal clear, the cave is super cool, and the views are beautiful. We swam and snorkled here before heading back to our meet up spot to get lunch. The lunch was also included in this tour and it was good, very fresh food! I would highly recommend this tour, it was so much fun and you get to see some of the best parts of Dubrovnik in a cool and fun way. I would totally do this again, I would love to do the sunset one. I think watching the sunset from the kayaks on the sea would be beautiful! I’m telling you guys if you can only do one excursion, I’d chose this one.

For dinner we went to Bota Sushi and Oyster Bar in Dubrovnik Old Town. Cute setting and good food! We then walked around old town more and watched the sunset on the cliffs at Buza Beach Bar. Buza Beach bar is a really cool bar settled on the cliffs right outside the Dubrovnik walls. You literally have to walk through a hole to get there, it’s really cool! You have beautiful views of the sunset here but the most popular thing to do is cliff jump at this location.

Day 10 Beach Day & Dubrovnik Wall Our last full day in Croatia and of our 3.5 week Europe trip! We spent most of the day relaxing at the beach. We went to Banje Beach and also had lunch and dinner here.

After lunch we went to Buza Beach Bar to cliff jump, guys if you like to cliff jump, this is probably the best spot I’ve ever been to for cliff jumping. The energy is insane! There’s so many people here especially young people just having a good time and cliff jumping. I mean for hours long. We were here for a few hours. The views are awesome, there’s multiple different heights and places to jump from, you can also just hang out on the rocks and jump in the sea without needing to do a real cliff jump. It’s such a good spot to hang out and live your best life.

To end the day we walked the Dubrovnik Wall, which is one of the best things to do in Dubrovnik. You see amazing views of Dubrovnik and it’s a really cool experience. It took us about an hour and a half to walk the wall. Then we headed to dinner at Banje Beach Restaurant and had an amazing meal! The fish was so fresh, we had awesome views of the sea and parts of the city, service was great, and the restaurant was very nice. It was the perfect day to end our trip!

We really liked Dubrovnik, there’s good food, awesome views, and we loved the cliff jumping! I would suggest 3-4 days in Dubrovnik but you could do it in less time and obviously you can spend as much time in any city as you want! But I think you can see and do a lot in 3 days.

Summary

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Summary ~

Overall Croatia was absolutely beautiful. It’s the clearest/cleanest water I’ve ever seen so far in my life. The cities are charming, I love the white stone buildings and orange roofs. You have views of the sea and mountains which I love. The islands are stunning and probably the highlight of Croatia (for me at least), there’s so much beautiful, untouched nature here. The food is good but not the best in the world. I enjoyed the seafood and some of the local meats. They also have good wine!

I would totally come back to Croatia. Yacht week would be super cool, exploring north Croatia would be awesome as well. You could honestly spend weeks just roadtripping across the country because it truly is so beautiful. If I were to do it again I would spend more time on the different islands like Hvar, maybe even stay a few nights. You guys have to come check out Croatia, people aren’t lying when they say it’s one of the most beautiful countries in the world!