Croatia

We had limited time in Croatia but we made the most of enjoying this gorgeous country. Mojo family fans may remember that we spent two nights in Dubrovnik, Croatia before we went to Bosnia for nearly one month. Then we had 4 nights in Croatia to enjoy some sights.

Split

Arriving in Split after being in Bosnia for nearly a month was very exciting. Even though it was late February, the weather was sunny and warm. Toursists were out and about and the main promenade was full of folks walking and drinking coffee. We appreciated ammenities like recycling, more modern infrastructure, and finding new food in the store - like fresh blueberries! We treated ourselves to Mexican dinner take out.

We were glad to be staying right in the main tourist area. Our place was very close to the bus stop, the waterfront promenade, and Diocletian's palace. It wasn't far to hike to the top of Marjan Hill or to go to a nearby beach.

the waterfront promenade

Diocletian's Palace

view from our hike up the hill

Rubbing the bishop's toe for good luck

We spent two nights here and really enjoyed this lovely town. Then we rented a car and had a two day road trip to drive from Split (which is on the Dalmatian coast, relatively South) to Rijeka (which is on the North coast near the Slovenia border.)

Hiking to the Oldest Geocache in Croatia

We started our drive slightly North and up into the hills. As you may know, I love geocaching and the oldest cache in Croatia is pretty old (Oct 2001). It's also on the top of a hill next to a cute little chapel with a beautiful view. It's about 2.5 km / 1.5 miles each way, and it was a nice day to get a hike in.

The Saint Ivan chapel

Looking for the geocache

Found it! Signing the log book.

Krka National Park

After the hike, we drove to Krka National Park to enjoy Skradinski Buk (the large waterfall). It was really great to walk along the boardwalks through some lakes, smaller falls, and to have different vantage points of the 'big falls'. This park (and the ability to walk and explore) was really amazing.

We spent the night in a little town called NoviGrad, not far from Zadar. We were only there for dinner, sleeping and breakfast. It's a tiny little town that had a good value apartment for the night... but in the off season in the evening, everything was closed. The 2 little grocery stores and bakery were closed after lunch and all the restaurants were closed for the season. We didn't want to get in the car and drive further to sort out dinner, so we had a strange picnic of all the snacks, cereals, pasta, and lunch meat we could put together for a creative dinner.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

The next day we drove to Plitvice Lakes National Park - the well known and busy tourist attraction. It's a little higher in elevation and cooler, but there wasn't much snow or ice despite it being late February. The lower lakes are open in the winter (the upper lakes area opens April 1), so we walked through the recommended "B" tour. The largest waterfall was stunning. Then we walked along the boardwalks, enjoying the beautiful azure colour of the water and the smaller falls here and there. A boat ride (included in the entry fee) takes visitors across the lake, and then a short park bus drive brings you closer to the end of the loop walk. We were in the park for several hours and really enjoyed it. There were other tourists but we didn't have any crowds.

Rijeka

The town of Rijeka was the end of our road trip, where we returned our car. We spent one night in this town, that feels a bit more industrial in parts and less touristy. The main pedestrian street is still beautiful and has a really different feel than Southern Croatia with Venetian and Austrian architecture. Jason and I had a nice run along the breakwater before we caught the bus that took us to our next stop - Venice, Italy.