Preparation is everything!
For a road trip, it is recommended to arrange a few things in advance. The most important thing, of course, is to make sure you have a rental car when you arrive 😀
Croatia Tip 1: You can easily book a rental car several weeks or months in advance. With most providers, you can also cancel free of charge 24 hours before pick-up. If you find a better offer in the meantime, you can simply cancel the other rental car 😉
We deliberately chose a period when there is a little less tourism. When it came to the weather, we simply took the risk… but we were lucky! 😊 We had really wonderful weather 🙂 Our accommodations were booked in advance via AirBnb. The next time I visit Croatia, I would do something different.
Croatia Tip 2: It is best to choose 2-4 accommodations that you like for the respective day as back up and then book on that day. In between we checked the prices again. Compared to the current daily price, we almost always paid a few euros more 😉
That would be the end of the preparation 🙂
- Book a rental car
- Look for accommodation on the route (watch out for parking)
- And of course, roughly plan the route itself 🙂
Ideally you have a little buffer here and there, because:
Croatia Tip 3: Road trip = freedom! The best thing about it is independence and flexibility 🙂 If you meet other travellers on the way, exchange plans and experiences with them! You may receive real insider tip that will make your trip unforgettable! 🙂
Departure for a new adventure
And once again, this expectant tingling inside my stomach is back! I love this atmosphere and the spirit of optimism at airports. It has become a tradition that we officially start our vacation with 2 drinks of our choice at the departure location and toast together 🙂
After a short flight we ended up in Split. The processing with the rental car went smoothly.
Croatia Tip 4: Pick-up and Drop-off directly at the airport can save you some of your precious vacation time 🙂 If the difference in price to a station outside is not too big, the time saved is much more valuable in my opinion.
So, we took off with our red speedster 😛 After a few minutes of driving, we made our first stop at a supermarket. Here you can stock up on a few supplies for the next few days. I also have a little tick … I just love to go to supermarkets in other countries 😀 rummaging through the shelves and seeing and trying new foods and drinks … you can easily forget about time 😀 But after a while I made it to the cash desk and we started towards our actually official first stop.
Krka National Park
After initial confusion about questions such as: Do we have to pay somewhere to park here? Where is the entrance? Can we just go through there? and…. Where’s a toilet? 😀 we could finally start with our first hike 🙂
Oh yes – by the way, the answers to the questions are (in the same order): No, parking is free. The entrance is at the two barriers, where most of the time there are buses too. No, you can’t just go through 😀 We were called back and then led to the ticket counter, which is located near the bus stop. The toilet is on the far-right side of the parking lot 😉
Croatia Tip 5: Bring swimming gear and a towel for this national park! More on that later 😉
Croatia Tip 6: If you have hiking shoes, you should take them to Croatia! There are so many great hiking routes here 💖
For this national park you should take about 4 hours. You have the choice whether you want to start hiking directly or take the bus for the first part. We decided against the bus and were rewarded in no time 🙂 After a few meters we met our first new friend in Croatia.
For the rest of the hike we simply enjoyed the beautiful nature and the great weather! The small paths and many waterfalls are simply indescribably beautiful. My personal highlight on this day was the last waterfall! Here you could cool off in the fresh water after a strenuous hike and swim a few laps. There are also several small stands where you can get refreshments 😉 We also tried the typical Cevapcici from Croatia… which we unfortunately didn’t like at all 😀 But the cool beer tasted even better 😛
This day was really a great start to a great holiday!
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Croatia Tip 7: If you, like us, plan to visit the Plitvice Lakes National Park, I recommend you booking an accommodation nearby and being there in time for the opening the next morning! That way you will be one step ahead of the tourist crowds 😉
First of all: If you go to Croatia, you MUST include this stop in your schedule! Winnetou fans know why, you should marvel at this unique landscape;) This park is significantly larger, which is why you should plan a whole day here. Within the national park, you can choose between boat or hike on certain routes. We tried to do as much as possible on foot to see as much as possible 🙂
Of course, you should also pack some snacks and drinks, as there are several places that invite you to a wonderful picnic in nature 🙂 (don’t forget to repack your trash afterwards! :P) There are also numerous waterfalls in this park, which made me think of my amazing time in Iceland <3 But here I could see everything in green for a change 😀
In contrast to the Krka National Park there is no possibility to cool down here 🙁 But we treated ourselves to an accommodation with a pool in Omiš for the evening – which was a very good decision 🙂 This view was simply the perfect ending for this great Day!
Ziplining in Omiš
One highlight chases the next! At this point, I already noticed that it will be very hard to say what I liked best in Croatia 😀 If you can overcome yourself, you should not miss this experience! Price/performance is more than okay for me with this experience. And again, for you as a reassurance: I also had some concerns before, and height is not my best friend… But during the whole trip I had a very safe feeling. You are sitting very relaxed and very safe in the mount! Also Vanessa was not afraid and could enjoy the unique view to the fullest 🙂
If you are still not interested in ziplining, Omiš has plenty more to offer – for example, this breathtakingly beautiful beach:
This was definitely my favourite beach on our trip!
Relaxation in Makarska
After several eventful days we decided to spend a relaxed beach day in Makarska. The beach here was also very nice…but I would have preferred to stay in Omis for another day 😛 Nevertheless it was very good to plan a day to relax and walk a little bit on the beach 🙂
Croatia Tip 8: In Croatia there are almost exclusively stone beaches. We had some bathing shoes with us which helped us a lot.
In the evening we had the best food we could enjoy in Croatia 🙂
King‘s Landing aka. Dubrovnik
When you arrive in Dubrovnik, you will hopefully still have some reserves in your wallet 😛 At the latest since GoT, Dubrovnik is known all over the world and is accordingly touristic. Nevertheless, it is definitely worth a visit! The old town is really unique! Inside there is also a supermarket, where you can buy some refreshments in between 😉 We enjoyed it very much to let ourselves drift and get lost in the many winding alleys 😀 There are also countless guided tours (including a GoT tour). 😉
Croatia Tip 9: In Dubrovnik the price level is very high! If you want to save some money, it is recommended to eat and drink something outside. The Beach bar Dodo or Pizzeria Tabasco are two very good places to go.
There is also a great viewpoint which you can reach in a few minutes by car (or taxi) 🙂 Here you really have an indescribable view over the city!
Croatia summary
Croatia was really an incredible combination of nature, relaxation, adventure & city trip! However, in retrospect, the wallet was a little more strained than we had thought before 😀 We actually wanted to put a “cheap” holiday in between 😉 Nevertheless, the price is still absolutely reasonable and you get unforgettable experiences in exchange.
I strongly recommend this trip to everybody 🙂
