One week in Croatia

This itinerary is based on my own vacation to Croatia (with Montenegro and Bosnia day trips), taken in June 2021. We landed in Zadar and we rented a car from the airport. I sugest you rent one as well, as it will be more easier to follow this itinerary if you have one. I also highly recommend you to reserve your car online ahead of time! We didn't do this and we barely found a car after asking about 5 companies if they have any avaiable.

After we get your car, drive to Rastovaca, which is located near Entrance 1 of Plitvice Lakes National Park. We stayed at House Flora and we quite liked it. The villa was nicely decorated, comfortable and in walking distance from the park.

If you are hungry, you can eat at Licka Kuka restaurant which is located near the parking lot of Plitvice Park. They have a variety of dishes including traditional ones.

I recommend you start your visit to Plitvice National Park early, like we did. This way you will be able to visit much of the park before it gets really crowded. We started our visit at Entrance 1 and did the C trail which includes both the Lower and the Upper Lakes. We also saw Veliki Slap, the Postcard viewpoint and the viewpoints on either side of the Lower lakes. You will spend a few hours walking in the park so make sure you wear comfortable shoes. If you gey hungry or thirsty, you can stop at one of the cafes or restaurants inside the park.

After you finish visiting the park, you will drive to your next destination: Split. We stayed at The Duke Luxury rooms there and we like it. The bathroom has a bit of a weird design, but we knew about it beforehand. The room was modern, clean and the location was in walking distance from Diocletian's Palace where the heart of the city is. The accomodation offers parking (extra fee) which is important.

During our first night in Split we dined at Bokeria Kitchen & Wine and I really recommend their burgers (my photo doesnt make them justice) as they were really tasty.

We spent the majority of this day exploring Diocletian's Palace, which is located in the city center and was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian (hance the name). The palace is well preserved and it's an amazing feeling to walk inside it and see how the modern people are still living and using this historic building.

During the day we ate at a sushi bar, since we both love sushi and it was very good. There are only about 2 tables outside the place, so it's indeed mini.

We ended our day in Split dining at Bosso steak and burger house. We got chicken steak with salad and potatos.

We left Split early and in morning and drove directly to Kotor, Montenegro. Here we visited the old city center which is remarkably well preserved.

On our way back to Croatia, we also stoped at Perast, a lovely small village on the edge of Kotor Bay, which is very popular with visitors. Here you can visit the Our Lady of the Rocks, which is a small church built on an artifical island in the middle of the bay. The cheapest ticket will always be from the boat captain itself, so ignore the guys claming to give you an offer that you might encounter in the parking lot.

From Perast we went to Croatia's crown jewel: Dubrovnik. Here we stayed at Amorino apartments and it was great. We had an amazing view of Dubrovnik Old Town from our balcony, the decor was nice and modern, everything was super clean and on top of it all, we had a private parking spot included which is very important to have in Dubrovnik.

I suggest you spent most of this day exploring the stunning Old Town of Dubrovnik, like we did. Make sure you bring your camera, because I guarantee you'll want to take lots of photos.

We ate lunch at Portun and we like it so much that we also ate dinner here.

To end the day, we took a boat tour to see Dubrovnik Old Town from the water and while the views were nice, I didn't like the fact that the boat also acted as a water taxi. After it turned a bit around the Old Town it wemt to Lokrum and then to a beach to get people from there.

If you visit the Walls of Dubrovnik (and you really should!), make sure you start the tour as early as possible, especially if you go during summer. There's not much shade up there and there's only a cafe and a small shop from where you can buy water, both located fairly close to each other. If you start the tpur near Ploce Gate as we did, you'll reach them near the end of the visit.

We decided to get some cold drinks at Cele Dubrovnik Gourmet & Lounge after our tour of the Walls.

Lovrijenac fort offers beautiful views of both the sea and the Old Town. Entry to the fort is included in the ticket for The Walls, so really there's no reason not to visit.

With only one day left from our trip, we left wonderful Dubrovnik and drove to Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. If you decide to do this trip as well, I recommend you cross the border near the city of Metkovic. That's because many of the other border stops that Google Maps shows are only for locals.

I recommend you try some Bosnian cuisine while in Mostar. We ate at Sadrvan restauran and we really like it.

We ended our night in Zadar, listening to the Sea Organ as we watched the sunset. A great ending to an amazing trip! The Sea organ is a clever musical installation located on Zadar's sea promenade, which produces sounds as the waves crash in.

As the sun set almost completely and it got dark, we went to see the Greethings of the Sun light installation, which is located at the end of Zadar's promenade.