Croatia is one incredibly beautiful country and to think it was one massive part of an even larger country, the former Yugoslavia. Oddly, but fortunately, I discovered Croatia via Google Maps. I was sitting at my work desk looking at the central region of Italy and these long islands to the east quickly grabbed my attention and curiosity. A few days later, I fell in love with this newly discovered country, Croatia. A few weeks later, I discovered the Balkans. A few months later I wanted to make a trip to the Balkans. 3 years later, I had the most incredible 5 month adventure in this region of Europe.

Croatia is kind of a big deal in a sense that it opened up a huge experience to me by simply, it’s geography. It not only has many long islands sitting off of the coast, but it has an unusual shape of a country. What I see as far as it’s shape goes is a crocodile with it’s mouth open. Not to forget, the end of it’s bottom jaw is separated by Bosnia, hahaha. Taking it’s unusual shape into consideration, I had to figure out how I would see all of the country in one shot on the same trip.

Most people I know that go to Croatia, only visit the most famous cities in the country, that is Zagreb, Plitvicka, Split, Zadar, Hvar, and of course Dubrovnik leaving many other incredible places out. How I managed to figure out travel in almost all of Croatia was to come from Serbia. Although I did want to visit these listed historic towns, I wanted to see other less known places, especially with my massive curiosity of the Yugoslavian wars in the 90’s.

 

North Croatia

Vukovar & Zagreb

 

For starters, I visited the Danube town of Vukovar in the north Croatian region, Slavonia. From Novi Sad, I crossed the border to visit this once completely destroyed town. In 1991, Vukovar was not the place to be as it was the crossroads between war. A nearly three month siege decimated the town and killed many people. Although the town has bounced back and caught up with the times, it still has scars throughout with bombed out homes, bullet riddled walls, and a damaged water tower as a reminded through dark times. I’m not the kidn of person to brag, but i certainly bragged about being in this town throughout my time in Croatia. Why? Vukovar is a reminder to many Croatians about strength and perseverance during a time when they were outnumbered by a massive military power. Reminds me of the colonists vs. the British army when America was in beginnings.

Sitting on the Danube River

Bulletholes remain from the Siege of Vukovar

Across Slavonia, I made it to the capital city of Zagreb, small and decent city to spend time in. For the third capital city in a row, it rained miserably and was really difficult to enjoy. But in the two days I was there, I did enjoy decent slow walks around the small city center. Hell, they have a Museum of Broken Relationships there to get out of the rain. It was here where I saw the most streetcars in one place at the same time. Kind of chaotic.

Grafitti near the bus station.

Zagreb city center and beyond

Zagreb city center

 

The Croatian Coast

Istrian Peninsula

From Zagreb, I made my way into Slovenia for about a week and change before I boomeranged my way back into Croatia. This was by far the most clever way to enjoy all of Croatia. How did I do it? In order to enjoy the Istrian peninsula, I hitchhiked from Portoroz, Slovenia to Bale, hitchhiked from there to beautiful Rovinj where I spent two hours walking around, and finally catching a bus to Pula where I stayed for a night. Long enough to walk around town and see Croatia’s very own colosseum.

Bale city center	Bale city center	Beautiful Rovinj	Rovinj city center
Pula Colosseum	Pula Colosseum	Sunset over Pula

 

Rijeka

Using Blablacar, I got a cheap ride to the port city of Rijeka, an energized city with a large local crowd and a mountainous coastline. It was here where I put use to my hiking boots, went a few KMs inland and hiked to the top of a mountain overlooking the harbor, a few islands, and beyond. This was by far one of the best views I’ve ever had, and best off, I was the only one on the mountain.

Main walkway in Rijeka

Fortress in Rijeka

Mountain hiking near Rijeka

Atop a mountain near Rikeka

 

Zadar

Since the day I discovered the Croatian islands on Google Maps, I’ve always dreamed of riding along the Croatian coastline with the most insane views of the islands and this is exactly what I experienced on my way to Zadar from Rijeka. The very islands that basically created this trip in the Balkans is what I was seeing with my own eyes. It was a HUGE deal. I arrived in Zadar with enough time to enjoy the sunset with many other travelers and locals alike in the old town. Sadly, the massive sea organ was not working.

Riding along the Croatian coastline

Riding along the Croatian coastline

Zadar city center

Sunset over Zadar

 

Plitvicka (Plitvice Lakes)

is a very touristy attraction, but is certainly not something to miss in Croatia. Despite the hoards of tourists coming off of tour buses and rumbling the boards of narrow paths over the water, the park is beautiful with so many interesting and picturesque waterfalls. If you choose not to ride the long boat ride, you can walk a nice path along the water alone without the noise of tourists.

 

Sibenik and Krka Nat’l Park

From Zadar, I tried my luck with hitchhiking and found a ride in a van turned RV with a Spaniard and Brazilian headed to Split. On the way is the town of Sibenik where I made my next stop. Here is where I found one of the most beautiful city centers in all of the Balkans. The city center is nothing but narrow paths, grey colored walls, green window panels, and orange colored roofs. Welcome to Dalmatia. Krka National Park is like the smaller version of Plitvicka, except here you can swim near the falls. This I did, but my god it was extremely cold. :O

 

Trogir

Hitchhiking attempt didn’t exactly work out so well, but i took a quick 45 minute bus ride to Trogir where i couchsurfed for the first time with an incredible host. Oddly, Croatia sucks for couchsurfing. Either I am in too many tourist towns or Croatians aren’t too CS friendly. But, here I enjoyed lots of personal time with my host, enjoying delicious Cevapi, laughs, and good conversation about America and the war of Yugoslavia. Next day, him and his girlfriend showed me around the city center sandwiched between and island and the mainland, enjoyed some time at the beach and I made my way to the next city, Split.

Couchsurfing in Trogir	Beach near Trogir	Trogir City Center
Trogir City Center

 

Split

Split has a lot of hype for a city and personally, didn’t fascinate me so much. It’s Croatia’s second largest city. So it makes it just another big city, only it sits on the coast serving as a focal point of many island ferries. It’s city center is quite nice but due to the “hype”, it’s crowded with tourists and stupid bus tours. This is all in May by the way which is when things get started up. I would kill myself in July.

I got very very lucky to find a couchsurfing host in this busy city who eventually showed me and another guest around on his bike to the high point in Split overlooking the city and islands in a panoramic view. The other guest, a girl from Taiwan, cooked an incredible meal for us and we had a late night conversation about life. Despite my low impression of the city, this experience made up.

 

Croatian Islands

Vis

The Croatian islands was once a dream, and now became a reality. My first island was the island of Vis, an island referred to me by a friend I made in Slovenia and his girlfriend. During this time, it had been 3 months since I started traveling and I felt like I really deserved some vacation time within my, vacation. I stayed in a fairly cheap Airbnb with an incredible view of Komiza and the nearby island. This was probably the most relaxed I had ever been throughout the trip, literally doing almost nothing. Aside from relaxing at a nearby beach, eating at a local restaurant and befriending a family. This was certainly one of my favorite places in Croatia and on the journey.

 

Hvar

Next stop was the town of Hvar and coming from Komiza that same day, I’ve got to say, I have dissapointed. Hvar is a hyped up tourist town where just about everyone coming to Croatia stops before going to Dubrovnik. When I went, it was jam packed with tourists and the streets were noisy with terrible music from 15 years ago (And people were dancing to the music like it fresh records in a club). I did however spend the evening with two beautiful, sweet Jewish American girls sharing stories and tossing back brews at a local spot with live music. The following morning was much quieter and was much more pleasant to enjoy taking a walk to the Adriatic side of the island and enjoying a nice dip in the sea.

 

Vela Luka & Korcula

After one night in Hvar, I made my way over to Korcula island, making a 1 hour pit stop in the small quaint town of Vela Luka. I stayed two nights in the historic town of Korcula with a hostel dead center of the city referred to me by a friendly Indian woman the night before. Although it seems as if I keep saying “X is my favorite place in blah blah”, Korcula is def one place I’ll never forget. The home of Marco Polo is a beautiful Venetian walled city on a peninsula that sits in between two islands. The views are insane! I had the awesome pleasure of kayaking in this area, even if the wind was way too strong. The sunsets here were incredible.

Vela Luka

Sunset over Korcula

Kayaking in Korcula

Since Bosnia splits the southern coast of Croatia with a small piece of land, I strategically made my way into Bosnia for about a week and a half. I crossed the waterway to the coastal town of Orebic where I hitched a ride about halfway up the island. From there I caught another ride to the quiet town of Trpanj to catch the Ferry to Ploce where I was able to hitch a ride directly to Mostar, Bosnia :).

Kayaking in Korcula		Orebic, Croatia
Trpanj, Croatia

 

Southern Dalmatia

Dubronik & Cavtat

A week and change later, I found a very cheap Blablacar ride by someone traveling from North Croatia through Bosnia all the way down to the southern End of Croatia. I made my 3rd and final entrance into Croatia to the city of Dubrovnik. Actually, since I was expecting an expensive stay and wanted to do my own thing to stray away from travelers who will probably persuade me away from tight budget travel, I stayed about 5 and 1/2 KM away. It was a $72 Airbnb for three nights in a studio with a full kitchen, with an incredible view of many islands up the coast.

Dubrovnik is certainly an expensive and touristy place, but it is without a doubt an incredibly beautiful historic town. I spent the whole day strategically trying to see as much as I could. Starting with arriving at the city center mid day and walking the old town. I managed to find a lone spot to switch into swim trunks and have an incredible cool swim outside of the walls. I took the gondola to the top of the mountain for the infamous photograph of the old town and beyond.

Swimming outside of the Dubrovnik walls.

Walking the Dubrovnik Walls

Lastly, my last full day in Croatia was well spent in the small coastal town of Cavtat. As much as I wished I had brought my swim trunks, I simply walked around the shoreline, people watched, and enjoyed an ice cream in town haha.

My travel day into Montenegro was quite difficult considering I didn’t have many Kunas left and didn’t want to grab any more money from the ATM. Plus I hate buses. So I went to hitchhike. Hitchhiking was a 50/50 experience for me in Croatia and here was a perfect example, except Croatians hate Montenegrins. This goes back to the war. I waited 2 hours near Cavtat for a ride a few KM away. Then waited an hour only to start walking about 6 KM. I gave the thumb a shot for 20 minutes and a Croatian woman gave me a lift to Herceg Novi. She said that Croatian people have their heads up their asses in paranoia and fear. Hey, she said that, not me lol

 

Hitchhiking out of Croatia en route to Montenegro (trying really hard)

Beauty while hitchhiking near the Montenegro/Croatia border.

 

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To wrap up my voyage across Croatia, this dream finally came true. But it came true in a way I never would have imagined. When I discovered Croatia, I learned about the common travel places first. I almost made a trip to Bosnia and Croatia in a meesly week and a half to two weeks, three of those days spent traveling and glad this never worked out. Being patient has allowed me to see more of Croatia than anticipated. I saw more places, some of which I learned about at home and some I discovered along the way. Although there is much more to see in Croatia, I honestly feel proud of how I did Croatia. Even Croatians were like “wow”.

For those of you who go to Croatia, go ahead and visit Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, and Zagreb. But do remember that there are wayyyyy more places to see than just those towns. If time is limited, I understand. But take it from me, substitute at least one of those places for a lesser known one. Hell, substitute all of them for lesser knowns places. I can guarantee you, it’ll be worth it. 🙂