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Writer's pictureshellyvix
Apr 14, 20238 min read

Croatia 🇭🇷

Updated: Oct 30

8 Days in Croatia: Dubrovnik, Hvar, Split, Zadar & Zagreb

ZAGREB


Car Rental (8 days): We landed in Zagreb at midnight and picked up our Fiat Panda from Alamo for $188. I highly recommend renting a car in Croatia because it gave us a lot of freedom and flexibility without any hassle. Parking was fairly easy, as well as getting gas and paying tolls with a credit card.


Hotel (1 night): Hilton Garden Inn: Zagreb-Radnicka $90/night (parked right in front and woke up to an 8 Euro parking ticket. We stayed here our last night, as well, and realized there is free street parking around the corner.)



Day 1: Drove from the capital city of Zagreb down to the southernmost city of Dubrovnik, a 6 hour drive that we broke into two segments (coffee + breakfast and wine + cheese). Croatia is gorgeous and very mountainous; our route took us through tunnels with different weather on each side.


We stopped in the tiny village of Sibenik (pronounced with an SH), a filming location in Game of Thrones, at Winery Rak, a small family-run vineyard and enjoyed a 30 Euro six-wine tasting. The gracious host not only poured us each a glass and continually asked us if we wanted more, but brought complimentary cheese, olives and bread.


We bought two bottles of wine - one white Marastina and a red Babic, each only 15 Euros, and drove out of the quaint little town heading south through stunning landscapes, into the sunset, and over bridges with a brief evening stop in the tiny medieval village of Ston before arriving in breathtaking Dubrovnik at night - speechless!


DUBROVNIK


Hotel (2 nights): Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel $142/night includes an incredible breakfast, large room, beautiful pool and stunning view


Dubrovnik Wikipedia Facts:

  • 7th century: Byzantine Empire, later under the sovereignty of the Republic of Venice

  • 14-19th centuries: ruled itself as a free state

  • 15-16th centuries: maritime trade, high level of development, notable for its wealth and skilled diplomacy, cradle of Croatian literature

  • Napoleonic Wars: occupied by the French

  • Incorporated into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, then Illyrian Provinces

  • 19-20th century: part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austrian Empire

  • 1918: Kingdom of Yugoslavia

  • 1929: incorporated into its Zeta Banovina

  • 1939: part of the Banovina of Croatia

  • World War II: part of the Axis puppet state Independent State of Croatia, before being reincorporated into SR Croatia in SFR Yugoslavia

  • 1991 Croatian War of Independence: besieged by the Yugoslav People's Army for 7 months and suffered significant damage from shelling

  • Repair and restoration in the 1990s and early 2000s: re-emerged as one of the Mediterranean's top tourist destinations, as well as a popular filming location



Day 2: We had a delicious breakfast at our hotel overlooking the Adriatic Sea and then headed to Old Town to walk the Walls of Dubrovnik - about a mile long with exactly 1080 stair steps and noted several Game of Thrones filming sites (photos below).


Then, we had lunch in Old Town Dubrovnik at Gradska Kavana Arsenal Restaurant & Bar - black risotto with cuttlefish and fish stew with a shrimp, Adriatic fish, squid, mussels and polenta.


GAME OF THRONES


Day 2 (continued): We spent the afternoon on the western side of Old Town, outside the city walls on a 37 meter cliff exploring Fort Lovrijenac (Fort of St. Lawrence). It's also known as "Dubrovnik's Gibraltar" and was the location for various Game of Thrones scenes (photos above).


After a day of exploration, we headed back to our hotel and walked to dinner at Restaurant Marinero.


HVAR


Hotel (1 night): Heritage Hotel Park Hvar $125/night includes breakfast and a gorgeous sea view


Day 3: Drove north out of Dubrovnik with a stop back in Ston, a village known for oysters, salt, and its wall, the longest in Europe. We had oysters and wine on the sea at Vila Koruna and were entertained by a server sneaking up on kids with live lobsters - a recommended stop!


Further north, at the port city of Drvenik, we purchased Jadrolinija ferry tickets to take us, along with our car, to the town of Sućuraj on Hvar island. While we waited for the ferry, we had a couple Ozujsko local beers at a small restaurant on the sea. We got out of our car on the ferry and sat in an enclosed comfortable area with snacks and a view.


Once on Hvar island, we drove from the east end to the west end and stayed the night in Hvar city, a quaint port and resort town with turquoise waters, gorgeous sunsets, fortress walls and palm trees. We were likely supposed to park in a lot for 15 Euros, but a kind man saw that we were confused, came out of his house and directed us to park in front of it. On the extremely narrow one-way roads, he saved us a ton of unknown hassle - thank you!


We had an excellent dinner of swordfish and tuna with a bottle of red wine at Kod Kapetana and sang happy birthday to a local man turning 80 with his wife.


STARI GRAD & FERRY TO SPLIT


Day 4: We woke up early and had our complimentary hotel breakfast, meeting a nice retired couple from Sweden, before walking up the long steps to our car and driving 30 minutes to Stari Grad (Old Town in Croatian) to explore. The village dates back to the 6th century. Photos can’t do justice to the details of the architecture and the historical beauty!


After wandering around town, we stopped for lunch at Kod Barba Luke where we had shrimp buzara, octopus salad, fresh bread and a bottle of white wine before heading to the port to take the Jadrolinija ferry to Split, back on the mainland.


After two hours on the very comfortable ferry (photo above), we drove the streets of Split to find a free parking spot to leave our car for two days. Wow, it’s slim pickings! Cats even get comfy on cars and motorbikes, as no one wants to move their vehicle. After a few dead ends, we finally found a spot and Toy parked like a Croatian halfway on the sidewalk.


SPLIT


Hotel (2 nights): Penthouse Matkovic $140/night and the most incredible accommodation I have ever booked due to its location overlooking UNESCO-protected 4th Century AD Diocletian’s Palace and its 3500 year old Egyptian black sphinx. Absolutely stunning! The apartment was equipped with a full kitchen, laundry and an outdoor patio where we were not only able to watch the sunset, but also a Latin mass procession with the archbishop as they entered the Cathedral of St. Domnius. There is no better location!


Day 5: We woke up and went to the patio to experience the bell tower ringing its usual 108 times and then headed to breakfast at Luxor, located in Diocletian's Palace. We spent the day walking around Old Town and hiking up Marjan's Hill for a view of Split, then enjoying a drink on the Riva Promenade. We explored Diocletian's Palace (the peristyle, church and baptistery) and climbed the bell tower for an even better view of Split than Marjan's Hill.


Day 6: On our way out of the old city, we stumbled upon the giant statue of Grgur Ninski (Gregory of Nin) and made sure to rub his big toe for good luck. Fortunately, our rental car was still safely parked where we left it with no tickets and we drove slightly over an hour north to the coastal city of Zadar.


ZADAR


Hotel (1 night): Rooms Tisa Old Town $75/night, very cute and located in the walled old town, walking distance from all the sights


Day 6 (continued): After checking in, we shared a seafood lunch and explored the walled city on foot. We watched the sun set at the incredible giant Sea Organ (middle photo above - reinterprets the movement of the waves into musical sounds) and the Greeting to the Sun (photo above on right - 300 photosensitive glass plates that absorb daylight and come alive at night with a magical light show) and ended the evening with a pasta and sea bass dinner at Pet Bunara near the North Gate.


PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK


Day 7: We headed out of Zadar and stopped at the incredible Plitvice National Park on our way to the capital city of Zagreb. There are routes of varying distances, but we used Entrance 1, Route A which is 2.2 miles and takes 2 hours. It was well worth the stop and highly recommended! From there, we made a quick stop at a truffle shop and learned how this very special mushroom is harvested.


ZAGREB


Hotel (1 night): Hilton Garden Inn: Zagreb-Radnicka $117/night, including breakfast


Day 7 (continued): When we arrived in Zagreb, we finally shared cevapi at the MS Grill and give it a double thumps up! This giant sandwich was 7 euros, made with beef or veal on delicious lepinja (Balkan flatbread) and enough to fill up two adults. Following the meal, we winded down a full week of travel with a Thai oil massage.


A few observations we made about Croatia after only a week of travel:

  • clean and well taken care of

  • friendly and accommodating people

  • excellent infrastructure

  • easily accessible gas stations from the highway with very nice cafe/restaurants inside serving fresh salads, sandwiches and pastries

  • many FAST, almost maniacal, drivers, even on winding mountain roads

  • stunning landscape

  • a lot of tall people

  • Mediterranean diet with little obesity

  • extremely rocky land that must be cleared to plant anything (resulting in a lot of beautiful rock walls)

  • a lot of smoking, even inside establishments

  • a lot of time spent outside even when it’s cold and windy

  • many outdoor eateries have blankets tossed over the back of the chairs


Croatia is a place that should be added to everyone’s European travel itinerary!


FRANKFURT, GERMANY (1 Night Layover)


Hotel (1 night): Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport 5,000 points/night includes breakfast and easily accessible from the airport on the S-Bahn


Day 8: We returned our rental car at the Zagreb airport and upon landing in Frankfurt, took the S-Bahn one stop to the Hyatt. We checked in and headed back on the S-Bahn toward Hauptwache to walk down Zeil, a famous street that was transformed into a long pedestrian mall (Fussgangerzone) called the "Fressgass".


We found a biergarten, Zwölf Apostel, and tried their bräu, Hell and Dunkel, some beef goulash, the sausage plate with sauerkraut, apple strudel and Apfelwein dessert - everything was delicious!



PACKING SUGGESTIONS


READ BEFORE YOU GO


GETTING THERE

We booked our flights from Chicago O'Hare to Zagreb with a layover in Frankfurt, Germany through United on Lufthansa Airlines for $588 each, round trip. We drove from Minneapolis to Chicago and left our car in Lot G for $15/day.


BUDGET (2 people)

Flight: $1177

Hotels: $969

Spending: $1575 ($224 cash + $1351 cc)

Transportation: $588 ($188 rental + $142 gas + $36 park/tolls + $50 ferry + $172 Chicago park/tolls)

TOTAL: $4309


For information on traveling on points, read Getting Started with Credit Card Points.

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