CROATIA, PART ONE

With its rich, diverse history and its relatively recent entry into the tourism game, Croatia is one of the most amazing countries I have been lucky enough to visit. Croatia has everything – beautiful cities, incredible nature, excellent food and a fantastic climate. I highly recommend taking your time exploring this intriguing country, we could have spent months there. We spent three weeks, and should have stayed longer.

First stop – Zagreb. The capital of Croatia can be reached by train, bus and plane. We caught the train from  Hungary – several leave each day from the central station in Budapest.  Zagreb seems quite different from the other Croatian cities we visited, more metropolitan. It is a lovely city to wander, and there are a few highlights. Generally you can start your day by grabbing a pastry from one of the excellent bakeries, then head to a café to eat it over a coffee. This seemed very strange, as in Australia its considered a bit of a no-no to eat another business’s food at another café. However this is apparently totally normal, and most places didn’t really seem to offer much of a breakfast menu beyond a croissant. Personally, I loved it. Some mustn’t miss highlights of Zagreb are St Mark’s Cathedral (Trg Svetog Marka for those of you playing at home), The Museum of Broken Relationships, the markets held in the main square and whiling away the day in café watching the world go by.

A tip for eating out – try the seafood. It’s world class.

There are stalls everywhere in Zagreb selling fresh strawberries!

A highlight of Croatia – and arguably of my life – are croatia’s national parks. Plitvice Lakes, or Plitvicka Jezera, are a UNESCO world heritage listed site, and for good reason. There are few places in the world that have made my jaw drop, and reduced me to tears from their sheer beauty. Plitvicka Jezera did just this. It is well worth staying a few days here, and doing the two different sections of the park. There are a few hotels around, and some cute bnb’s – we opted for the second which was lovely. There aren’t many places to buy food or eat out beyond the hotels, so I would suggest you take your own groceries and make sure the place you’re staying has a kitchen.

 

 

An alternative to these lakes are the Krka falls, which are closer to Split.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Love, Olivia