Croatia Itinerary
How long was your stay?
3 days
How did you travel?
As a couple
Tell us why you traveled to this destination.
We wanted to know Croatia but at the same time we wanted to start with a not typical city but interesting with a lot of things to do.. so we picked ZADAR 🙂
What was your itinerary?
Day 1: Arrived in hostel Backpackers home hostel in Zadar, after leaving luggage went to Puntamika Beach, Dalmatian Coast, The Organ Sea.
Day 2: Explored Kornati National Park, Our Lady of Tarac, Telašćica National Park, Lake Mir and had lunch at 4 Kantunas.
Day 3: Travelled to Diklo beach, Borik beach, enjoyed some food in “Famous Beach Bar & Grill, after that went to Kolovare beach and Roman forum.
Give us all the details! Tell us where you went and what you did on your trip.
Our weekend in Zadar was in the beginning of May. We think it’s important to tell you this because everybody told us that is the best month to visit the city. Before May, it’s too cold, so you can enjoy the city but not the beaches or the national parks. and in June it’s already crowded and too hot. So we think May was a perfect choice, we could enjoy everything, good weather, beaches, old town, restaurants, and main tourist attractions without waiting.
Day 1: We arrived Friday morning and went to the hostel (which one we really recommend: Backpackers home hostel). After leaving our luggage, we went to Lidl to buy some food to make a picnic at Puntamika Beach (2 km from our hostel). It’s a very nice beach with stones (not sand) like most of Croatia. The water is super clear and clean, and luckily, we didn’t see any hedgehogs so we could swim without nautical shoes, so much better!!
After the picnic, swimming, and sunbathing all afternoon, we decided to start walking to the center to see the sunset. They call it “The best sunset of the Dalmatian Coast”, and the best place to see it is in “The The Organ Sea”. The sun seemed like a big ball of fire, accompanied by the sound of the organ that is given thanks to the incredible architecture made by Nikola Bašić, the renowned Croatian architect. We enjoyed some delicious pizzas with beer at Crazy Pizza restaurant in the old town and then we went to sleep early since on Saturday morning we had to wake up early to go to Kornati National Park.
Day 2: We took an 8-hour tour of Kornati National Park. Kornati consists of 140 uninhabited islands, islets, and rocks and is known for its rock shape and high cliffs. The excursion included breakfast, free water all day, and lunch. On the way to the park, we enjoyed a sandwich with a coffee, which was super necessary since it was very windy and we were a little cold. Despite that, we really enjoyed the beautiful view from the boat and saw many little islands and incredible landscapes. After sailing for 3 hours, we arrived at our destination. We couldn’t get to “Tureta Fort” (maybe 40 min climbing) because the excursion didn’t give us time to continue climbing, so we got to the middle and then we went back down and got to a nice small church full of history, called “Our Lady of Tarac”. We continued our trip and had lunch (pasta/fish with salad) with the gentle movement of the tide and the strong wind caressing our faces. We arrived at the Telašćica National Park; which is a natural park that covers the 10 km long bay of Telašćica, one of the largest bays in the Adriatic. After a short walk, we arrived at Lake Mir, a salt lake located in the southern part of the park. We relaxed and sunbathed on the shore of the lake, eating some fruits and enjoying the quiet environment.
Then, we returned to the boat to start our way back to Zadar. It was very nice to return to lying on the floor of the boat, covering ourselves from the wind but the sun hitting our faces, drinking a delicious coffee, and surprisingly after the shout of a child, we got up and saw the dolphins playing with the track left by the boat. Once we got back to the hostel, we took a shower and quickly went to the old town by bike, since we had a reservation at a very nice restaurant, called “4 Kantunas” which is usually full of people. We cycled through the old town and we could see the sun hiding between an orange sky and the mountains. Sooo… To start we ordered two Croatian beers called KarlovaÄŤko; I ate a quinoa burger with vegetables and chickpea hummus (veeeeery tasty) and my boyfriend chose crunchy octopus with barley and vegetables. For dessert, we ordered our favorite, chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream and raspberry topping… Mmmmm, just perfect!!
Day 3: On the last day we visited different beaches by bike; first we went to Diklo beach, it’s like 4 km away from the hostel and it’s a very nice place, luckily we brought water and snacks because there was nothing nearby to buy. Then we went to Borik beach, it’s the only one that has sand, I’m not gonna lie.. it felt sooo good. Besides that, we also enjoyed some food in “Famous Beach Bar & Grill”, a nice bar with a great view. The last beach that we went to was Kolovare beach, this one is in the center, and there are many people who don’t prefer it but we truly enjoyed it because it’s long, the stones are small so they mold to your body and is in the center, which was our next plan. After finishing our beach day we went for a walk to the old town to buy souvenirs and see the Cathedral and the Roman forum. It’s a city that catches you and makes you fall in love, immerses you in history, and in a warm atmosphere that is difficult to let go of.
Would you recommend this trip to a friend?
Yes
What was the highlight of your trip?
We think that the excursion was a really good plan, since it was an 8-hour boat experience and we got to know a wonderful place, we even saw dolphins! I would also add something that we did not mention, we ate cheese borek and many other bakery things, sweet and salty; we highly recommend trying products from different bakeries, they are delicious! We can also add that we really liked staying in a place a little far from the center. We were in the middle of the center and the beaches, which was very comfortable for us. We highly recommend using bicycles, it is a city that is worth exploring by bike.
If you were to take this trip again, is there anything you would add or do differently?
Next time we would like to be able to climb the stairs to the Bell Tower, which they say has an incredible view of the entire city. It would also be good to do a walking tour with someone who tells us the story while we are walking because we read before going to see each place, but maybe the other way would be more efficient. We would also like to get to know some neighboring cities, such as Pag, Vir, Stari Grad, Bibinje, and others.
Barbie from Argentina
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