Croatia – my trip to Dubrovnik, Split, Plitvice Lakes, & Zagreb

Sunday, February 17th 2019 Travel

After our whirlwind Trafalgar tour mum and I continued our travels to Croatia. My maternal side of the family is all Croatian, but I’m the third generation to be born in New Zealand. Growing up, I didn’t know a great deal about the country, despite having half my ancestry from there. This was a great opportunity to meet some extended family and learn more about the place where we came from. On top of that, Croatia is a beautiful country with a lot of interesting history so it was great as a tourist destination it it’s own right.

Dubrovnik

We took a short 1 hour from Rome to Dubrovnik on Vueling. Vueling is the European equivalent to Jetstar, a low-cost airline which did have some bad reviews but everything ran smoothly for us. To be honest, I was asleep the second we got on the plane and remained that way until the wheels hit the tarmac in Dubrovnik – we had been up late partying with our tour friends the night before and had to get up at around 4:30am to get to the airport!

We were picked up from the airport by our hosts from Mia Apartment. The apartment was relatively no-frills, with two single beds in the way European hotels seem to do it, a bathroom, and small kitchenette. It was all we really needed, and my favourite feature was the little patio with an incredible view down to Dubrovnik harbour and the Adriatic sea.

Once we’d settled in, we walked a few minutes into old town Dubrovnik and had a much-needed breakfast at Gradska Kavana Arsenal. The food and coffee were great, and the harbour-side location was absolutely beautiful. One thing we discovered in Croatia is that there isn’t much of a brunch culture, or even really going out for breakfast. We developed a way to tell, by looking at the size of the tables. If the tables were small, it was just a ‘coffee and cigarette’ cafe, but if they were restaurant sized, we were in luck! On the cigarette note, everyone smokes absolutely everywhere which is something I struggled with, being a non-smoker.

There are a lot of activities to do in Dubrovnik, from harbour cruises to tours of Game of Thrones filming locations, but we were pretty content to just chill. After an activity-packed week on our tour, we were worn out and so we had what we called the Dubrovnik Detox (also recovering from many nights spent enjoying local wines). We caught up on sleep, swam in the sea, wandered around the old town, and just enjoyed exploring the town.

I noticed a lot of cats around town in Croatia, and it turns out I’m not the only one – Terri from Female Solo Trek did too. I wonder why there’s so many of them? It was a fun activity to spot them all. On the topic of animals, the region of Croatia where Dubrovnik & Split are is known as Dalmatia, and legend has it this is where the Dalmatian dog originates from. I didn’t see many of them though!

After a couple of days, we continued our Croatian adventure by catching the bus to Split. It was much cheaper than flying and we also had the opportunity to see more of the beautiful Dalmatian coastline. We booked our bus tickets online with GetbyBus – you can buy tickets at the bus stations but it was easier for us to book online as the information was all in English. People in Croatia generally can speak English especially for tourist activities but there can still be some language barriers.

Split

In Split we stayed in the charming Guesthouse Vrlic. Our hosts were delightful and the location was wonderful. It was less than 10 minutes walk to the harbour and near to shops and markets. We didn’t have a kitchen but didn’t really need one, the only thing we made in our room was coffee! Despite being a coastal town, the beach in Split isn’t amazing, but we still had a good time swimming at Batvice Beach.

We had a fantastic dinner at Uje oil bar, which served a modern take on traditional Dalmatian cuisine.

On our second day in Split we did a boat tour exploring the islands off the coast. This was one of the highlights of my trip, as we got to see so many stunning places. We chose Toto Tours  from the many operating in Split which wound up being a great decision as our guides were incredible. We first went to the Blue Cave on Bisevo Island, which was just unreal. The water is so bright, which is caused by the sun hitting the sand in the underwater cave.

After the Blue Cave we took a break at Komiza, a fisherman’s village on the island of Vis. Komiza was one of the filming locations for Mamma Mia 2, along with Stiniva Bay which we visited next.

Stiniva Bay was judged best beach in Europe in 2016, and the surge in popularity that followed has meant that boats are no longer allowed into the bay. Good thing I’m a strong enough swimmer to swim in! It was worth it for the crystal clear water.

The last stop on our boat tour was Hvar Island, which is where my grandmother’s family are from. Sadly we don’t have any relatives left there, but it was special to walk around the streets that Nana would have walked on.

Zagreb

After a wonderful few days in Split we were on the road again, travelling by bus to Zagreb. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia and is inland, up near the border with Slovenia. There we stayed with relatives – my first cousin twice removed and her family. I had to work out that with a chart, but to simplify things, it was my grandfather’s cousin, her daughter and her husband, and their children. My great-grandmother, my paternal grandfather’s mother, left Croatia in the 1920s and moved to New Zealand, never seeing her family members again. How incredible that almost 100 years later, her descendants could connect with her sister’s descendants and spend time together.

They showed us around Zagreb where we saw sights such as the Zagreb cathedral, Croatia’s parliament building, and had coffee in one of the many cafes lining the streets. We learned more about the history of modern day Croatia, from the fall of communism in the last 1980s to the collapse of Yugoslavia and the ensuing war of independence during the 1990s. I was a young child during that time so I didn’t really know much of what happened before I went there. Part of what I like about travel is learning more of the history of different places.

The vibe of the city was different to Split and Dubrovnik, it felt much more urban and cosmopolitan compared to the beachy tourist nature they had. Zagreb’s population is around 800,000 so half that of Auckland, whereas Split and Dubrovnik are around 200,000 (similar to Wellington) and 42, 000 respectively (similar to Whanganui). However the large numbers of tourists give them a more bustling nature than those cities.

We visited Moderna Galerija which is the national museum of modern art. Our relative that we stayed with is one of the curators, so she gave us a personal tour.

Plitvice Lakes

On one day during our stay in Zagreb we took a two hour bus trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Plitvice was a big draw card for us to visit and they were worth the trip! I had been seeing beautiful photos of them for years and the pictures really didn’t even do them justice. I’ve never seen such picturesque lakes. You can choose several different walking tracks around the park, ride a tour bus, or even catch a ferry.

Before long, our time in Croatia came to an end and we had to bid farewell to our relatives. It was a wonderful trip and I really want to go back. I’d love to visit more of the country as well as neighbouring countries – the guide on our Trafalgar tour told us that Slovenia is one of the places he recommends the most. We flew back from Zagreb to Auckland via Doha, again with Qatar Airways. It was a very long trip but I loved flying with Qatar, the staff are so nice and the planes were comfortable even after 16 hours!

If anyone would like to know more about Croatia, or wants any advice, please leave a comment as I would really encourage anyone to visit!

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