Unchartered Territory in Croatia

September 17, 2011 by Andrea 2 Comments

Turning up at 7pm without a hotel reservation is rarely a problem in the off-season but this time I was unlucky as Rijeka was fully booked. Someone I spoke to suggested a hotel just out of the city but with only vague directions it was impossible to find.

Without a clue as to where to go and the thought of spending the night in the car unappealing, we stopped at a petrol station to ask for help. Luckily Croatia is one of the friendliest places in the world and the guys working there rang around until they found a hotel with a vacancy. They gave us the name of the village and 10 minutes later we were in paradise.

Bakar is a small but lively fishing village situated on the beautiful Bay of Bakar. The shops and houses are a little run down but full of character. You can get great views of Bakar from the old town and castle, found high up on the hill. The only hotel in the village, Hotel Jadran Bakar, is a historic building which was originally a nautical school and was converted to a hotel in 1905. The rooms need renovating but the wifi and location are ideal and the receptionist couldn’t do enough to help us.

This is one of the most peaceful places I’ve been to in Croatia and with hardly a tourist in sight, it’s somewhere I would be happy to stick around for a while.

Unfortunately I was due further south so quickly moved on to the seaside resort town Makarska. What a contrast with Bakar. Makarska had tourists from all over the world packed onto the beach like sardines. I was surprised to see so many tourists in September but the weather and beach were perfect so I can understand the attraction.

I adore Croatia but the packed beach and tourist restaurants were too much for me. If you do stay in Makarska, I would recommend eating at restaurant Roma, just up the hill from the bus station where the food is great and the prices much lower than on the beach.

We stayed at Villa Lelas which is brand new and with a very helpful owner. The wifi is a little weak but if that’s not an issue, this place is fantastic.

After Makarska I was tempted to spend time in Dubrovnik, one of my favourite cities in the world (even though tourists abound), but I’m trying to avoid visiting places where I’ve already been so opted for the quieter and cheaper Cavtat, 15 kms south of Dubrovnik. Cavtat’s old town is very similar to Dubrovnik with old stone houses overlooking the harbour. The water is crystal clear although there is no beach. If you want to swim you’ll need to put your towel down on concrete or hire a beach lounge for 4 euros.

Cavtat is beautiful, I loved it and have put it on my revisit list. For now though, I’m going to stick to visiting places I’ve never been before so next year’s Croatian itinerary is going to include Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes and Krka Falls. Anywhere else I should go?

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: bakar, cavtat, croatia, makarska

Dubrovnik

November 3, 2010 by Andrea 3 Comments

In September, I finally made my way to Croatia for the first time. I think I fell in love with Dubrovnik before I even hit the tarmac. Mountains on one side, the sea on the other. As soon as I got out of the plane the 30 degree heat hit me. I can’t believe how much I have missed that kind of hit you in the face heat, especially after this year’s cold and wet summer in Paris. While taking the airport shuttle bus to the city, I was able to watch a pink sunset over the sea. For 20 years I have wanted to visit Dubrovnik, my dream destination. I wasn’t disappointed.

We stayed in a nice little apartment (thanks to Marija, the very friendly and helpful owner) in Lapad, about 3 kilometres from the centre of Dubrovnik. At first I thought it was going to be too far from the action but it the end it worked out great. It’s much quieter than bustling Dubrovnik and its overpriced tourist restaurants. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants in Lapad, plus there are numerous beaches where you can rent lounges or lay down on the pebble beach and Dubrovnik’s old town is only a short bus ride away.

It seems most tourists head straight for the city walls and it’s not a bad idea as it gives you a great overview of the city and fantastic views of the sea and nearby Lokrum Island. We wandered around for more than two hours, admiring the cute houses and beautiful churches. Then it was off to explore the town. I would have loved to have spent hours or even days wandering around the little streets but it was so crowded in most parts that it wasn’t that enjoyable. I think later in the evening would be a better time to explore but I never got the chance to do that. Instead I left the old town and wandered up and down the coast, checking out the pristine beaches along the way.

From Dubrovnik we did day trips to Lokrum Island, Korcula, and Mostar and all were incredible. I was reading a blog post today on how so many travel bloggers exaggerate when they describe a destination but the region around Dubrovnik really is stunning and unbelievably beautiful, to me anyway. I would have liked to have gone to Mljet and some of the other nearby islands but time was running short as I wanted to visit Split and the islands up that way.

As for the food, I was a little disappointed with the lack of variety between restaurants. It seemed like 90% of places offered the same menu: grilled fish and meat, pasta, pizza, and salad. Not very adventurous but delicious nonetheless and reasonably priced.

I will definitely visit Dubrovnik again, in particular to explore the islands a little more and the nearby towns like Cavtat. Croatia as a whole was fantastic and hopefully next time I’ll be able to take it slowly and enjoy everything it has to offer.

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: croatia, dubrovnik, islands, perfection

Split

September 26, 2010 by Andrea 2 Comments

My first view of Split was concrete apartment block after concrete apartment block. Luckily I new it was going to be like that so I wasn’t surprised. Of course, I’m wasn’t there to see the suburbs, I was there to see the stunning Diocletian’s Palace and the rest of the old town, along with the islands of Hvar and Brac (Bol).

Split’s old town is centred around the Diocletian’s Palace, a beautiful old Roman structure. I love this kind of building and it’s great to just sit and think about the people that lived there when it was built hundreds of years ago.

After visiting the ruins, I wandered around the old town, through the little marble streets, stopping for a drink here or there and doing a little shopping for local specialities.

Most people only visit Split to use as a base to visit the nearby islands or on their way to or from Dubrovnik but I really liked Split, provided you stick to the old town and Marjan Hill and stay away from the ugly suburbs, it’s great. I would definitely go back and spend more time exploring the nearby towns and islands including a visit to Brela (for its renowned beaches) and Vis (a small island town not far from Brac).

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: croatia, split, Travel

Lokrum Island

September 26, 2010 by Andrea Leave a Comment

Lokrum Island is small island just off the coast of Dubrovnik. It takes less then 30 minutes to get there and is well worth spending an afternoon.

The island is covered with forest and as it’s a nature reserve so you’re not supposed to touch any plants or leave rubbish and smoking is strictly forbidden. This means the island is pristine although I think every Croatian island I visited was pretty clean anyway.

At Lokrum you can visit the ruins of an old monastery. It’s very beautiful and the only inhabitants now are a few families of peacocks. I saw at least 20 peacocks while walking around the island and a couple even joined us for lunch at the monastery restaurant.

After eating another delicious fish lunch, we explored the island some more and went swimming off the rocky coast in the freezing, crystal clear water.

Lokrum Island is quiet, beautiful, clean and with loads of native birds and secluded swimming locations. This was one of my favourite islands in Croatia.

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: croatia, dubrovnik, islands, lokrum

Korcula

September 26, 2010 by Andrea Leave a Comment

Korcula Island is one of the many breathtakingly beautiful islands of the coast of Croatia. It’s easily accessible from both Dubrovnik and Split and makes a great, albeit rushed, day trip. If you had the time you could spend a few days here relaxing, swimming, and wandering around the old town where Marco Polo was (possibly) born.

I loved everything about this island. The old town is gorgeous, you can sit peacefully admiring the harbour, or swim on one of the rocky beaches. The only negative is the 1000s of other tourists and the touristy restaurants in the old town but that seems to be a common problem throughout Croatia. I guess there’s not much chance of having such a beautiful place to myself.

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: croatia, dubrovnik, islands, korcula

Bol

September 22, 2010 by Andrea 4 Comments

My original plan for my trip to Croatia was to visit Dubrovnik then work my way up north visiting the islands along the coast, then heading to Plitvice Lakes, Zagreb, and finally crossing the border to Ljubljana. I met F and his mother in Dubrovnik (they arrived from Albania) and we eventually made it up to Split. The problem with heading further north was that eventually they would have to travel by bus back to Albania and the trip would be too long and exhausting for F’s 70 year old mother so we decided against it.

Plan B was to spend a couple of days on Bol, a small town on Brac Island with beautiful pebble beaches. All I wanted to do at that point was lay on the beach and swim in the crystal clear water. That’s what I did on the first day. The famous beach in Bol is at Zlatni Rat and it is just as beautiful as I had seen in the photos. The water is so clean and clear, if not a little on the chilly side, although that is probably normal for September. If you swim out a little bit away from the beach you can see lots of fish swimming in the deep waters below.

Day 2 was a complete washout with a huge storm lasting the entire day. With no internet access in my guesthouse, I had nothing to do but lie around reading my book. As relaxing as that sounds, it was kind of boring but the apartment owner Petra made it somewhat interesting by insisting on chatting with me in a mixture of Croatian and German, neither of which I speak.

All the locals in Bol were extremely friendly and helpful. I loved every minute there. I considered never leaving but the thought of living in a tiny town with only one ferry per day was enough to put an end to that idea.

If you want an amazing meal with a menu which is far from the standard pizza, pasta, black risotto, grilled meat and fish menu you see at 90% of Croatian restaurants, then I recommend Vagabundo. The food was incredible and even though it’s an upscale restaurant, the price was less than 20 euros per head.

Brac definitely ranks among my favourite islands in Croatia.

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: bol, croatia, islands, split

Hvar

September 22, 2010 by Andrea 2 Comments

Another beautiful off the coast of Croatia is Hvar. It’s a rushed day trip from Split as the Catamaran doesn’t leave until 11am and the ferry back to Split is at 5:30pm. That gave us enough time for a delicious seafood lunch at Maconda and a brief walk around the beautiful old town. There are some gorgeous rocky beaches around Hvar Town but I didn’t have time to swim. I hated being rushed but I didn’t have time to stay this time around. I’d love to go back to Hvar and stay for a week or so to relax and explore the town and the rest of the island.

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: croatia, hvar, islands, split

Trogir

September 22, 2010 by Andrea Leave a Comment

Trogir is a short bus ride from Split. Its small old town has tiny maze like streets, similar to other towns in Croatia. I read a lot about Trogir before heading there and everyone seemed to love it but it didn’t feel that special to me. It’s definitely a cute town but maybe I had seen enough Croatian villages at that point and boredom had set in. I don’t know but I would only recommend it if you are Split and you’ve already been to Hvar and Brac Islands. It might also be a nice alternative to staying in Split.

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: croatia, split, trogir

Wine Tasting Near Dubrovnik

September 5, 2010 by Andrea 1 Comment

I don’t drink much wine and I never drink rakija but it was fun tasting various Croatian specialities at a winery just out of Dubrovnik. The lighter wines were quite nice, the 14% alcohol wine too strong for me, the sweet white wines extremely sweet, and the cherry rakija was delicious (although I was quite drunk at that point so maybe my judgement was impaired).

Filed Under: Croatia Tagged With: croatia, dubrovnik, rakija, wine

Ston

September 5, 2010 by Andrea Leave a Comment

Before heading to Korcula Island for the day, I stopped off in Ston, a little town known for its salt production, the longest fortifications in Europe, and its locally farmed oysters.

Back when salt was traded like gold, Ston was a very wealthy town as can be seen in the quality of the stone buildings in the old town. Salt is still produced and sold for use as salting roads in winter and along with a little tourism, that’s about all they have here. Most tourists stop on their way Korcula or to walk the 5.5 kilometre wall which is the second longest in the world after the Great Wall of China.

I enjoyed my quick stop here as well as a brief visit to neighbouring Mali Ston for a tasting of local oysters.