Croatia

We went on a month long road trip to Croatia and back home again. From Hungary, we got to Croatia and our first stop was in Zagreb, the capital. The views and general ambience in the city centre at night was peaceful and relaxed. During the day it was still quite mellow, though there were many more people around.

I walked up to the cemetary at Migoroj, a suburb of Zagreb. It is still funtioning and is the eternal home of some Croatian statesmen. Of more interest to me was the picturesque architecture with vines climbing over the walls.

The village of Rastoke has lots of pretty waterfalls and tributaries running between the houses, making for a lovely place to walk around. After lunch and having a mooch, we went for a swim in the river there.

Although we had seen pictures of the lakes and waterfalls in Plitvice, we were not prepared for how truly beautiful and enchanting the place is. We arrived early to beat the crowds and the heat, which made it much more enjoyable.

We spent several days on the island of Solta. We specifically chose this island as it is not as busy or developed as some of the others in Croatia but still had enough of the facilities we wanted. We stayed in a lovely apartment and had a great time snorkelling, diving, paddle boarding, swimming, chilling and ambling about. These photos are from a full day boat trip we did. We circumnavigated the island and had lunch on the nearby island of Brac. During that trip we did a lot of snorkelling as well as some cliff jumping.

We got the ferry to and from Solta from the city of Split. When we came back from Solta, we spent some time in Split and actually met up with some friends from home who were coincidentally there at the same time.

In old Split there is a mix of ancient Roman ruins (Diocletian's palace etc.) as well as more recent old architecture. It is nice, though overly touristic and busy for our taste.

Zadar is a bit quieter and more relaxed than Split, though still too many tourists around, arriving in busloads into the narrow streets of the old town.

We spent a couple of days in Sibenik. The views across the bay from the forts overlooking the city are exceptional and it has one of the prettiest groups of islands I remember seeing. The views of the old town from along the coast are also rather special. In Sibenik we found it to be more relaxed, less busy, so more easily enjoyed. We also found some exceptional baklava, which helped.

One of our favourite things was a water feature, which on closer inspection had terrapins all over it, in the water and on the rock, enjoying the spray.

One of the last places we stayed in before leaving Croatia was in Seline. It and neighbouring Starigrad are quiet seaside villages with a laid back feel and nice sunsets.