I’m still in love with Italy but we were completely blown away by Croatia and will plan to return soon on our next vacation. Croatia has it all; history, great architecture, mountains, lakes, miles of coastline and over 1300 islands to explore. Its breathtakingly beautiful from Plitvice lakes and Krka National Park in its interior to its many islands, our favorite was the celebrity hot spot of Hvar.
Next on our Croatian, Island hoping adventure was the nature island of Korcula, Croatia which took a bit of traveling to get there. After leaving Hvar Town we drove about an hour and ½ to the end of the island and at the port town of Sucaraj we boarded a Jadrolinja ferry to Drevnik, then a ½ hour drive to Ploce for another ferry to Trpanj, then another ½ hour drive across the Peninsula to Orebic for one last ferry, finally arriving in Korcula at the town of Domince.
Early on in our vacation planning we had pondered the idea of Croatia as part of our Schengen exile (if you don’t know what I mean, read our article on the Schengen visa rules) until we could return to Italy. We tossed the idea around but were worried it might be too foreign, that language might be an issue, would it be safe to travel, was it too far…all the hymning and hawing you do when pushing beyond your comfort zones. We were already in Wales, had a month planned in England and it would be easy to just stay another month. But the universe spoke to us once again and now we can’t believe we are in the middle of our Croatian dream.
Second on the list of Croatian Islands we planned on visiting over our tour of Southern Croatia was the island of Brac. From Murter we drove down the coast to Split where we took our car onto a Jadrolinija Ferry (here is a link for planning all your ferry hops) for the 50 minute cruise to the third largest island on the Croatian Coast in the center of Dalmatia. Brac has the highest peak, Vidova Gora at 778m in the Adriatic and has some specular, albeit a bit nerve racking views as you climb its twisty, turny roads along the coastline.
After our day in Plitvice Lakes National Park we left Zadar and drove about an hour down the coast where we stayed for three nights on the Island of Murter,Croatia. You can drive to Murter as there is a small bridge at Tisno that connects the island to the mainland making it easily accessed. We booked an apartment in the village of Betina but you can look for accommodations in Tisno, Jezera and the town of Murter which combined only have a little over 5000 residents. Many of them rent out Apartments to tourists (they call them Apartmans) and you can see signs everywhere which makes for competition and low prices. It is a beautiful island on the Adriatic with a Mediterranean climate, sleepy this time of the year (late April) but starting to gear up for the busy summer season. Many of the shops and restaurants were still closed but there were a few catering to locals and the occasional tourist. We had the choice between plenty of grocery stores, a bakery and a few cafes that could provide everything we needed for a few days of relaxing.
From our home base in Zadar we made a day trip into the mountains to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park and it turned out to be one of the most beautiful places in the world we have ever been. My photos won’t do it justice, it can’t be properly described, you can’t imagine it, you just have to see it for yourself and have the OMG moments we did! If you’ve seen the Lord of Rings trilogy and thought Rivendale would be an incredible place if only it existed for real, well it does! In Plitvice (pronounced PLEET-veet-seh) Lakes National Park. There is no place like this lush valley of 16 terraced lakes, woven together by intricate waterfalls and miles of planked walkways, you’ll be certain you’ve arrived in Rivendale! At the bottom of this post is a video of these incredible falls come to life!
After leaving London, we arrived in Zadar,Croatia late in the evening and settled into our Airbnb for the night until we could venture out and explore the next morning. We had two days to see what Zadar has to offer and it exceeded expectations, the only issue was the temperature that had dropped from the mid 20’s the week before we arrived down to the blustery teens and single digits. We have high hopes though for the rest of Croatia as the locals tell us it isn’t normal for this time of year and should be in the mid 20’s.
