Croatian Coast Holiday

Earlier this year Sam and I decided we would each be responsible for planning a "surprise" trip where one person would do all of the planning and the other would simply show up. I was in charge of our week-long excursion and I knew exactly when and where I wanted to go, September in Croatia. 

I've seen enough Game of Thrones and Below Deck Med to know that it was a beautiful destination, and it's really not terribly far away. I did A LOT of planning and ultimately blew the secret about three days prior to our trip - oops! But hey, Sam was still excited and knew nothing about our layover or the activities we had planned. After months of planning, here is exactly what we did, where we stayed, and how much we spent so you can plan your own Croatian holiday.

Getting There

I scoured the internet trying to find a flight deal, and kept coming up with $1600+ flights. That seemed quite high, and the direct option from Newark would get us in and out of Dubrovnik at $1350. I was very close to pulling the trigger on that flight, but then I found an Aer Lingus flight that got us into Split and out of Dubrovnik, thus avoiding the circle back to a city we'd already been to. The only catch was there was a 36 hour layover in Dublin, which turned out to be a major plus. So, I booked the ~$1000 Aer Lingus flight from Philly into Split and out of Dubrovnik.

Getting Around the Croatian Coast

Our three main Croatian destinations did not involve any road travel, but rather water travel. Split to Hvar was a 30 minute ferry ride, and then Hvar to Dubrovnik was about 3.5 hours (and very choppy). I had booked our tickets in advance through Bookaway and had no issues.

Three Days in Split, Croatia

Split airport was a 30-minute taxi straight to the Old City. Once there, we attempted to find our hotel, Gothic Palace Heritage, and had a bit of trouble locating it in the maze of pedestrian alleys. Once we knew where it was, we realized it was a perfect location just next to Diocletian's Palace, a great spot for enjoying music and drinks after the sun went down.

• Hike to Vrh Telegrin. This was a steep hike up to a lookout that had excellent Old City and water views. Tip: Go down the way you go up in order to avoid an even longer walk.

• Enjoy the beach at Plaza Bacvice. We had beautiful weather and took our suits and towels down to this popular destination. We also had drinks at the café right on the water.

• Take an Old City walking tour through Airbnb. Our private tour with a local guide was the perfect way to explore new streets and learn the history.

• Explore Krka National Park. We ended up going on a bus tour, which included a wine tasting. The park itself was pretty, but extremely crowded. Neither of us would recommend this exact tour simply because we don't enjoy bus tours and crowds in limited walking areas.

• Dine at Zoi or Bokeria. Both of these are places with great food. The below picture is from Zoi, where we enjoyed a charcuterie board and wine.

• Drink at Diocletian's Palace. I loved having a drink on the steps of Diocletian's Palace, where a waiter came around to take our drink order. There was live music and people popping in and out. We also went to Roof 68, which had great water views, but terrible service.

Two Days in Hvar, Croatia

Hvar is the most popular of the many islands in Croatia, and it is a major party destination. We only enjoyed so much drinking, but I can easily imagine many folks simply coming for the nightlife. All of our time was spent within walking distance of our hotel, Beach Bay Hvar Hotel. We absolutely loved this hotel because it was brand new, had excellent water views, and was reasonably priced ($235/nt). This is the view from our room...

There are other parts of the island that are worth a visit, but we had limited time and stuck to the harbor. Here are the activities and restaurants we enjoyed.

• Walk/Hike up to Fortica Fortress: You can't miss this while in the harbor books it towers above you wherever you walk. The walk was steep but not far and we paid the entry ticket to walk through the fortress. The views were excellent.

• Dine at Dalmatino: This restaurant had excellent reviews and it is important to get a reservation in advance. Sam said they had the best Manhattan he's ever had (something about it being mixed together for decades). The food was tasty and came with some extras here and there.

• Swim off the Sidewalk: There are spots to jump in the water all along the walk way. We explored some of the bars up the walk and decided to jump in right outside the U part of the harbor.

• Grab drinks at Lola Bar (cocktails) or Kiva Bar (beer): Due to its reputation as a party destination, we felt we needed to partake in some drinks. We started at Lola Bar where the bartender made some fancy cocktails and lit the bar on fire (literally), and then we ventured to Kiva Bar where the party had frat house vibes.

Two Days in Dubrovnik

After a rather bumpy 3.5 hour ferry ride, we made it to our final Croatian destination, Dubrovnik. Unlike the other stops, Dubrovnik's ferry did not drop us off right by the Old City. So we jumped in a taxi and made our we to our final hotel, Hotel Excelsior. This hotel was the fanciest and priciest of all, though I may have enjoyed our Hvar hotel more. However, the amenities at this place were amazing and check out our view! 

• Explore the steep streets of Dubrovnik: We didn't have time to go on the wall in the morning, so we just explored the alleys and stairways across the city.

• Take a wine tour: The winery we went to was enjoyable and had a great charcuterie board. The wine wasn't anything to write home about, but the hospitality was great. It was a very small tour and we only had 3 other folks in our small car. They were friendly and we met up with them for drinks in Dubrovnik.

• Grab beers and sit on the Game of Thrones steps: Our last night in Dubrovnik was a late one! We started on the steps and then met up with our wine tour friends. We ended up at an Irish pub, the only fitting way to wrap up a Croatian vacation.

We had very limited time to explore, which only means we will have to go back. Overall, our trip to Croatia was amazing and I'd love to go back to explore further. Take a look here to read about our short 1.5 day layover in Dublin.