Exploring 3 Stunning Places in Croatia
The Old Town of Split is mainly within what was the Roman Emperor Diocletian's Palace and makes for a wonderful place to explore the narrow lanes, with the odd little square popping up on your wanderings. With plenty of restaurants to choose from you won’t go hungry or if you fancy a boat trip out exploring further afield there are numerous options to choose from.
With our full day in Split we walked up to the wooded Marjan Park which covers much of a small peninsula next to the old town. There are great views from the lookouts and plenty of shady corners for a picnic out of the midday sun. We spent just two nights in Split seeing the main sights, but you could easily spend longer there visiting the museums and use it as a base to visit the likes of nearby Trogir which looks really interesting or take a boat out to some of the nearby islands.
Our next stop was the island of Korcula, about two and a half hours by catamaran from both Split and Dubrovnik. It fits really well between to the two cities and with the catamaran stopping off at a number of different islands you could easily add in more island hopping stops if you had the time. The old town of Korcula is great for a wander around, exploring the nooks and crannies, with lots of eating and shopping opportunities as well as various boat excursions to choose from. We stayed in Lumbarda which is only a 15 minute drive from Korcula Town. The village is built around a number of bays and has a couple of sandy beaches to choose from. The small Grk winery is great to visit for a tasting on the way to the beach too - the Grk grape is only grown in Lumbarda and has a very distinctive but lovely taste.
Visiting in mid October we found the island fairly sleepy but this was perfect for us and the weather was still hot enough for lounging around (when Esme gave us the chance) but not too hot for exploring. Many of the local konoba (restaurants) were closing for the end of the season whilst we were there and day trips and water taxis were not very regular. We were lucky with the October weather - I would recommend visiting at the end of September at the very latest to increase your chance of beach weather and to have more dining and transport options.
Our last stop, Dubrovnik has lots to offer with its history, museums, galleries, boat excursions and kayaking - with just a day and a half and a one year old in tow we didn’t do any of that! We had a relaxed time just seeing the old town, we spent about an hour and a quarter walking the walls to take in the fantastic views and then took Esme to the beach (she’d had her first beach experience on Korcula and loved it). Dubrovnik does not have a great food reputation but we did find a couple of decent restaurants. I also hadn’t realised how many steps there are around the old town, so anything beyond a couple of streets across from the main drag are up flights of stairs - so if you don’t want to be carrying your bags up dozens of steps be careful where you are staying. This can certainly turn your sightseeing into a full workout!
What we saw of Croatia in the short time we were there is really just a taster, there is so much else to see around the country and I am sure we will be back to see more of it another time. Get in touch to plan your Croatian adventure on 020 3292 0515 or sarah.coombes@travelcounsellors.com