Croatia has become a dream destination for many. With it’s incredible national parks, breathtaking beaches, gorgeous history, and fun nightlife, what’s not to love? Before heading to Croatia, make check out these things to know before visiting Croatia. 1. Croatia is bigger than you might think. Croatia seems quite small on the map, so it seems like an easy country to get around. While it’s fairly easy to get around, things are not especially close. If you’re taking the ferry from Split to Korcula, it takes over 2.5 hours (if everything is going according to plan!). And if you’re heading from Hvar to Dubrovnik, the ferry can easily take more…

When you look at visiting Croatia, you’ll see lots about Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Zadar. But flying under the radar is Korcula (pronounce core-chew-luh), an island near Hvar. Korcula refers to both the island as a whole, and the main town on the island. Getting to Korcula Korcula is a large Adriatic island near Hvar. You can get there with the ferries – there is no bridge connecting Korcula to the mainland. There are car ferries and fast ferries going to the island. The ferries go to both Korcula (the town) and Vela Luka. Take a close look at where your accommodations are to make sure you go to…

A few years ago, Croatia made all sorts of travel headlines for the beauty of the country combined with its incredible affordability. That made more people want to go visit, and then… Game of Thrones. So now that Dubrovnik frequently is jam-packed with people, and the country is on everyone’s “hot list” the question comes up. Is Croatia a budget travel destination? Croatian Travel Costs Given its newfound popularity, it is more expensive than ever to go to Croatia. In general, it’s still cheaper than most western European countries like Spain and France. Croatian travel is highly seasonal. The crowds come with the gorgeous weather and cruise ships in the…

Dubrovnik was my first city with Holly (yay!) and one I had definitely been looking forward to. I’m an avid Game of Thrones fan, so seeing so much of that in real life was really cool! But at the same time, I’m not so avid of a fan that I felt the need to do a “Game of Thrones” tour of Dubrovnik. I have to admit – most of them seemed really cheesy! A lot of them involved people dressed up in horrible costumes that look nothing like the show, and they all seemed to involve tour guides with binders of photos from the show so they could have proof…

As I was waiting for Holly to arrive in Dubrovnik, I timed it so I ended up with a few extra days that were unplanned in Croatia. I decided not to go back to the north part for any of the national parks (that was going to be a LOT of hours on ferries and busses), and I was contemplating going to Bosnia or Montenegro. (Side note: My mom did a great job handling the “Hey Mom I might be going to Bosnia next week” conversation. When I first said it, there was a bit of silence. And then (though I’m sure it pained her) “Sweetie, I trust you”. I…

Lumbarda is a place where the vineyards meet the sea and the water is as crystal clear as can be. The island of Korcula has both the town of Korcula as well as a few other towns on it – Lumbarda is one of those towns. Lumbarda is best known for producing a type of wine called Grk (pronounced kind of like “grriick”), and the grapes that produce Grk are only grown in Lumbarda. Lumbarda has a combination type of soil that’s sandy and the climate is perfect, so this type of wine is well-known as one of their key products. I went to Lumbarda just for a day –…

When I was in Zagreb deciding where to go next, I was a bit at a crossroads. I was thinking I’d go to Plivitce Lakes National Park (it looks gorgeous!), but the logistics of getting there and back were pretty overwhelming. Then, I realized that because I was there just on the border of August and September, if I waited three days or so, I could get in for significantly less. So I decided I would wait a bit on the Lakes and come back for them. Spoiler: I never made it back! As I was looking at places to go next, I thought about Split, but I’ve heard a…

After leaving Budapest, I took the bus down to Zagreb as my entry point to Croatia. It’s a city that keeps getting rave reviews as being up and coming (very similar to Bucharest), but I will admit I did not fall in love with it (also similar to Bucharest). My favorite part of Zagreb was that it’s a city of contrasts. The old and the new seem to coexist more peacefully here than many other places I’ve seen. It was so interesting to see brand new, very modern buildings, right next to buildings that have clearly been there for quite some time.