Adventures of David and Paul: Croatia

Earlier this year we were planning a week-long fall vacation in Europe and deciding where to go. We landed on Croatia based on a few factors including weather and recommendations from friends. After some research we decided to get a rental car and do a little road trip on the Dalmatian coast with a jaunt into Bosnia. With our car and hotels booked, we waited until November then set off for Croatia.

Our flight was early on a Thursday evening, and we were delayed a bit leaving Atlanta and were worried about our short connection in Amsterdam. We ended up having only around an hour layover, but luckily it wasn't a problem as immigration was really quick and they didn't make us go through security. It was cold (39 degrees) in Amsterdam and quite chilly as we took the bus to the plane. This flight, from Amsterdam to Split, also was a bit delayed due to a sick co-pilot.

We arrived in Split Friday around 12:45PM. It was sunny and fairly warm, a nice contrast to the chilly Amsterdam airport. We then picked up our rental car. We've driven on international trips before, for example in Japan, Italy, and South Africa, but we've never really done a full-on "road trip." We were excited to have a bit of a different itinerary and the ability to stop at more off the beaten path locations and have day-to-day flexibility.

We started in the historic coastal town of Trogir, just a 12 minute drive from the airport and a UNESCO heritage site. We parked in a lot and crossed a small bridge into town. Trogir is a cute little city, and we enjoyed walking around for a while before going into Kamerlengo Castle and then climbing to the top of the church tower. Our internal clocks were a bit off, and we decided to skip lunch and have a pastry snack. Trogir was a fun little stop, and worth a few hours of wandering. It was very quiet - this was our first taste of how the off-season is in Croatia. Most things were still open, but there were no crowds.

David on the walls of the castle in Trogir.

View over Trogir.

Looking up at the tower of the castle.

Interesting carvings on the door of the church.

View of the main square from the church.

Blue water, boats, and red-tiled buildings on hills - this would be a common theme on the trip!

Climbing down the church tower.

Snack time!

We're a Cro-Go family now!

One of the cute narrow streets in Trogir.

From there we drove north to Šibenik, where our hotel for the first two nights was located. It was about an hour drive, and the road went up into the mountains a bit before returning to the coast. Our hotel, Armerun Heritage Hotel, was very nice. It's pretty new, but is built right into the side of the old town and is very well done. It only has about 14 rooms. The hallway and staircase have some artifacts from the old monastery that was originally on the site.

We walked around town for a bit, and saw a wedding party outside the Cathedral of St James (a UNESCO site), and went uphill to a graveyard for a nice view of sunset. The sun sets very early (around 4:30pm) in Croatia in the fall, so our vacation mostly consisted of early mornings and early bed times. Sibenik is another cute little city, with lots of narrow atmospheric streets. It was also very quiet, and while it has tourist infrastructure, it seemed relatively less touristy than the other cities we visited on the trip. One thing about off season is many restaurants are closed or have limited hours, and even the ones that are open are mostly empty. Google became a bit unreliable at telling us when things were open, and often on this trip we found out something was closed when we got there and saw a sign on the door. We had dinner at Konoba Centar, where we were the only patrons. We sat outside in a narrow alley, which was a bit chilly but not too bad, and enjoyed some local Dalmatian cuisine.

The view from our hotel room was delightful.

The alley entrance to our hotel.

A wedding outside the cathedral, complete with a guy waving the Croatian flag.

The cathedral is known for having 71 carved faces along the exterior.

The main cathedral square in Šibenik.

Another church down a narrow alley.

Lots of cats - we'll have a whole separate Balkan cat post. :)

Sunset across the islands.

We like when things are clearly labeled. Otherwise Paul could be eating a sandwich!

Dinner time!

The next day, Saturday, was our national park day. We started a bit after 7am with breakfast at our hotel's restaurant, which was included, and was very nice. They brought a fruit tray and bread basket to our table, and then we could also order off the menu.

We then hit the road for the two hour drive to Plitvice Lakes National Park. This is one of the most famous places in Croatia, and often appears on social media. The drive there was easy - Croatia has very nice roads, and a large part of the drive was on a modern toll road. The most interesting part of the drive was going through a 5km tunnel. It was sunny and warm on one side, and foggy and cold on the other side. The temperature was near freezing when we arrived at the waterfalls. After parking in the mostly empty lot, we walked to the entrance and decided to do a 5km route ("Plan E") that visited the main waterfall sections of the park. We started with a short electric boat ride, then hiked a one-way route that was partly on wooden boardwalks and partly on paths around lakes. Since it was a completely cloudy and cold day, the water may not have been as beautiful as it would be in the summer, but this was still a magical place. The waterfalls cascade from lake to lake directly through foliage and tufa formations. It's a really unique setting, and quite different than most waterfalls we've seen. The only thing in the US we've been to that is somewhat similar (on a much, much smaller scale) is Hanging Lake Trail near Glenwood Springs Colorado.

At the end of the hike, we caught the shuttle bus back to the entrance. It was about 2.5 hours total for the boat ride, hike, and shuttle. We stopped in the little café to warm up and have some hot chocolate before getting in the car to head back. This national park was definitely worth a visit, even in the off season. It wasn't too busy, but there were a couple of tour groups that arrived in buses.

A bit of logistics - we already mentioned the roads in Croatia are great, but it also was very easy to get gas. While we did not come across pay at the pump, every time we got gas we filled up then went inside to pay. We were able to pay with Visa by tapping our phone. Overall a rental car is a good way to get around the country if you're not just sticking to Dubrovnik and Split. During the summer things are probably quite different, with more frequent bus and ferry boat options.

Breakfast at the hotel was lovely.

Weather before entering the 5km tunnel.

Driving in the dense fog after passing through the tunnel, it was about 30 degrees colder on this side of the mountain.

Fish at the national park.

Ready to take the boat across. Shortly after this picture one of the tour bus groups got on the boat.

Walking on the boardwalks.

Dober Dan from Croatia!

Some of the waterfall formations look unreal.

David with the waterfalls.

We walked past a series of pools like this.

Who doesn't love a good waterfall.

Much fall. So fall.

It was very foggy on the largest lake we hiked around.

View from above, looking down towards some waterfalls.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Zadar, an old coastal city. This was another benefit of a rental car - we had left some flexibility in this day because we weren't sure how much time we'd spend in the national park. Zadar was a spur of the moment add-on. We got there around 3pm, and it was bright and sunny since we had passed back through the tunnel (the temperature was 4 degrees C on one side of the tunnel, and 16 degrees C on the other side... a crazy temperature difference for just a 4 minute drive!). Zadar has 70,000 people, making it the 5th largest city in Croatia. It has a long history, with human habitation starting in the 9th century BCE, Roman and Byzantine empire periods, and a Venetian heyday that accounts for the UNESCO portions of the city.

We walked around the old town of Zadar, which also has the remains of a Roman forum built by Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian. Another big attraction is the "Sea Organ," a musical art exhibit powered by waves. It's basically a series of holes in the steps right next to the water that make sounds as the waves come in and push air through them. We then went into the cathedral, which has some very old parts including a 5th century mosaic, and climbed up the bell tower for views. We finished up our time in Zadar with an early dinner at a restaurant called "The Taste," where once again we were the only people eating. While Zadar did have some tourists, it followed the theme of our trip in being very quiet, indicative of the off season.

We then drove back to Sibenik, and walked around for a while enjoying the streets. Not much was open, but we had dessert and cocktails at Bronzin next to our hotel. Apparently our hotel was the happening area, as the restaurant was actually pretty full.

The streets of Zadar.

The cathedral's bell tower, which wasn't completed until 1893.

The musical Sea Organ.

Zadar Cathedral.

Inside the cathedral. The main portion is from the 11th-14th centuries.

Mosaic from the original basilica.

View of the baptistry and Roman forum from the bell tower.

More bell tower views.

Looking up to the top of the bell tower.

Overview of Zadar,

There are boats everywhere on the Dalmatian coast.

David climbing down the bell tower.

We often got three of an appetizer, which seems like an odd number to standardize.

David's pasta had a whole family of clams.

The next day, Sunday, we slept in a bit, had a nice breakfast, and checked out. This would be our last morning in Croatia before heading over to Bosnia for a couple of days. We drove south on the toll road, which again was very well maintained and not busy at all. We found that Croatian drivers are generally courteous, but tend to tailgate, and also travel at a huge range of speeds. On the main part of the toll road the speed limit is 130 kph, but some people drive 90 and some drive 160. The morning drive had nice mountain views with fall foliage on a sunny day. We also noticed a number of wildlife overpasses for the country's small population of bears and wolves. We exited toward Bosnia and had nice views of Vrgorac, a cute little city on a ridge. The final road to the border was very narrow (one lane, but not one way) and led through a little farming area.