If you’ve always dreamed about living on your own island, book a holiday in Croatia. In the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea, there are 718 islands.
10 Things To Know Before Traveling To Croatia
Make sure you have a valid passport and your EU residency card with you. You have to cross a border between Slovenia and Croatia and your passport needs to be valid for at least three months or more. This was not the case with our children’s passports as they had just less than three months left, we had to cancel our flights and drive to the border where we were lucky to enter the country. We had a very friendly border control police officer who stamped our passports and let us through, but you might not be so lucky so make sure you have the right documents.
If you drive, do it over a few days. After we cancelled our flights we jumped in the car with no plan and drove to get to Croatia, don’t do this! The Austrian mountains are spectacular and I’m sad that we didn’t spend a little more time exploring Austria and Slovenia. It’s a 3500 km drive from the Netherlands to Croatia and back and there are roadworks for kilometres and kilometres driving through Germany, be prepared with loads of snacks, playlists, movies for the kids and a good book.
Go camping/glamping. Camping in the Netherlands takes lots of courage and bravery, if you like camping this is your chance to do it, the weather in summer is perfect, not too hot and not much rain. We stayed in Šibenik in the Solaris Camping Beach Resort, there are many places in this area to stay, from five star hotels to one man tents and hammocks in a tree. Šibenik lies between Zadar and Split and you can get a ferry from Split to the majority of the popular islands like: Bol, Vis & Hvar. We only went to Hvar for one day, the ferry ride from Split to the port of Stari Grad on Hvar island took about two hours, I would recommend catching the earliest ferry to get the most out of your day!
Eat where the locals eat. Yes, it is really fun to visit as many restaurants as possible for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, however, that may put a strain on your budget. Find out where the locals eat and visit the grocery stores and fresh food markets that you’ll find throughout Croatia to prepare a few meals yourself. Like true South Africans we had a charcoal braai almost every other day which was allowed at the campsite where we stayed, we bought a tiny foldable braai that can fit into the basket of my bicycle that goes everywhere with us.
Make a list of activities you want to do. There are speed boat tours to the islands, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, catamaran cruises, zip-lines, snorkeling, river rafting, cliff jumping, jet-ski’s. You name it and it’s an option, all of this can be overwhelming and expensive so once again the key is to plan, especially if you are a family of four like us and everyone has their own list of activities they’d like to do.
Rent a boat and go to your own island for a day. This was the absolute highlight of our holiday. We rented a boat here and went to Otočić Oblik and Otok Rakitan where our kids could jump off the side of our little boat and swim to their own island. From their we visited Zlarin where no cars are allowed, the island is smothered in cypress, olive, almond and fig trees, it’s a great place for hiking and kayaking to secluded beaches.
Have cash in Kuna. If you go to the more remote islands it gets tricky when you want to pay with a card or euros, it’s 7 Kunas for 1 euro so you feel like your money should go further but we found that the prices are more or less the same as in NL. Croatian is the main language spoken but the majority of Croatians speak English very well which makes it easy to communicate.
Visit Primošten. This was one of our favourite towns. Primošten is famous for its huge and beautiful vineyards and for the traditional donkey race that takes place every summer. It’s one of Croatia’s most photogenic old towns, on its own small island. The jumble of medieval houses is connected to the mainland via a causeway. While you’re wandering through the stepped streets of the old town, head uphill to the 15th-century church of Sveti Juraj (St George) and take in the views, seeing the sun set over the ocean with people diving from the side of the hill is quite something!
Get lost in the history. I watched this short Youtube video with my kids that explains a little bit of the history of this beautiful country. Its architectural styles are a blend of Baroque, Romanesque, and Renaissance and most of the buildings and houses are built from stone. There is still signs of the war that was fought from 1991 to 1995 but most of the country has been rebuilt, restored and modernised.
Visit a different beach every day. People worldwide are traveling to Croatia for its beaches. They are of the pebbled variety, and bringing along a pair of water shoes is a wise idea. The bluish-green waters of the Adriatic Sea is unforgettable. This is where you rent a beach chair, lie under a grass umbrella with a cocktail in your one hand and a good book in the other!
Beaches we visited: White beach, Beach at Zlarin island, Slatine Beach, Beach Mala Raduča.