The country had a very Spanish island feel to it on the coast. Thin roads with the odd passing lane placed up and down.
The coastal drives though were absolutely beautiful with gorgeous gleaming turquoise waters, although for the most part
pebble beaches. It was simply stunning driving up and down the road overlooking the beaches. The roads near Zagreb on
the other hand. Not so nice, busy lots of traffic away from the gorgeous coast line. Very slow border crossings.
All in though Croatia is definitely a place I could recommend to couples of people expecting a slower more chilled out
rate of discovery and it has a good mix between history, stunning lakes and beaches. Although I couldn't recommend it
just for a beach holiday.
Dubrovnik, the city wasn't far from the airport. We were staying in the old town which meant trouble parking and trouble finding our place.
We ended up having to loop round thrice in order to find it and ask 3 different people where it was. In the end we found this little oasis
up in the hills overlooking the old town.
On our first night here we headed down into the old town looking for some form of supermarket and a place to eat dinner. We really didn't find
much as most of the old town was converted, little did we know of the places just the other side of the old city walls. In the end we found a
place to grab some food. It was a Michelin star restaurant with a chef just back from training in France. We walked in in the clothes we had
flown in, a t-shirt, jeans and trainers soaked in sweat from walking up and down this hill to our place in 33°C heat. We love sitting down in
a place like this and having everyone look at us and judge us as we walk in and then we show them all up. Everyone else all dressed in suits
and shirts and skirts and smart shoes only affording a small glass of wine or water and a small main. We rock up grabbing a bottle, water,
appetisers, steaks and deserts. I love changing people's opinions as they realise they should never judge a book by its cover. :)
During our time here we explored the old town which although nice, was busy and didn't have a whole lot in the way of places to visit except
churches, the walls and the waterfront. We did find a nice little quiet spot overlooking the beautiful water near an attraction most people
seemed to miss. High out on a point there was a couple of trees, shade and a nice breeze along with a sketchy rope swing that went out over
the water's edge.
We arrived in Plitvice having spent the previous two days exploring the beautiful lakes and caves of Slovenia. Some of the most stunning
things we had seen on our trip. We knew Plitvice would be busy and expected it to be less enjoyable as a result. In some ways we weren't
wrong as part of the park was way too overcrowded. Almost dangerously so. Thankfully though we had made the smart choice and started early
heading up to the northern section of the park first. We had a beautiful view over almost all of the sights on our own. It was absolutely
stunning in the morning light as I'm sure you'll agree from the pictures. We then walked all the way back down the high road overlooking
the lakes as the shuttle wasn't turning up. Not entirely sure you were allowed to, but it wasn't like they could stop us once we had
committed. :D
The park is definitely a must visit sight and I would recommend it to anyone nearby either in Slovenia or Croatia. Although I would strongly
urge against a day trip from neighbouring areas unless starting really early and also make sure you don't come on a coach tour. They really
were horrendous. It reckoned to see what we did (most of the park) that you needed 5-6 hours, but if you go early on and its quiet in the
morning you can definitely get the walk done in less time. I could see it taking longer if you had to work around queues of other people
though.
We arrived in Split in the late afternoon having come from Plitvice in the day. Parking at our hotel was a nightmare, but we made it work. In one afternoon we had seen most that Split had to offer. It was a nice place with a historic layout a bell tower and a dungeon, but everything was priced at tourist levels and so not ideal. We technically had another morning to spend in Split but we decided instead to head up into the hills to where some of Game of Thrones was filmed and enjoyed the nice views over the city and coast. The next day we headed on from here on route to our final stop of this Eastern European tour.
Our last day of driving was from Split to Dubrovnik. We had found out the day before that this was supposed to be a really nice
drive. So we were pleasantly anticipating it. A 4 and a half hour drive with views along the way in 30 plus degree heat. I can
think of worse ways to spend a day.
The views didn't let us down. We had fantastic views all the way and really enjoyed the drive. We simply couldn't believe how well
our last days drive was ending up. We even pulled off at a few beaches to enjoy them. Including a nice stop for lunch at a busy
local beach. We passed large lakes, inlets, islands and beautiful cove after cove endlessly. We couldn't have hoped for a better
last drive.
Croatia marked the end of our Eastern European road trip we had been pleasantly surprised by what Eastern Europe had had to offer. It had made us reconsider Europe a bit for future trips. About the hidden gems that it may hide if you look carefully enough. We had seen everything from mountains, lakes, waterfalls and lots of local village life. Quiet remote places and busy cities. 8 more countries racked up in only two weeks and it was fantastic to boot. It had been a great trip.
