Croatia itinerary
welcome to Euro Travels by Design where
I do all the research so you don’t have
to today we are talking about
Croatia choosing a destination is only
the first step in planning your dream
European Vacation after you’ve chosen
where to go all the hours of research
planning and booking begins this can be
frustrating and overwhelming I will
cover all the exact itineraries
Logistics expert tips and tricks so that
you aren’t burnt out before you even
depart
this video is going to be an overall
itinerary for the country and then in
future videos I will break down each leg
of this itinerary and give you very
specific details about everything you
need to see and do as well as logistics
for each spot each section of this
itinerary could be a trip on its own
this itinerary just gives you an overall
Taste of the country letting you see as
much as you can in a short amount of
time I want to start by talking a little
bit about why Croatia should be at the
top of your travel list I get the
question all the time what is my
favorite country in Europe and it’s
really impossible to decide I love them
all my husband says his favorite place
is wherever we are but Croatia
definitely tops the list although it is
certainly becoming more popular it is
still lesser known than some of the big
Heavy Hitters in Europe like France
Spain Germany and Italy of course I
think this is going to change as more
people come to know Croatia and see all
that it has to offer it has a, miles of
rugged beautiful Coastline has hundreds
of islands absolutely stunning national
parks Roman ruins and a fascinating
history these are only some of the
reasons I love this country so much so a
little history Croatia lies on the
Adriatic Sea directly across from Italy
it has been inhabited since prehistoric
times the Greeks had settlements here by
the late 1 Century Romans controlled the
area followed by the byzantines croats
from Southern Poland and Western Ukraine
began migrating to the area in the late
6th Century since the 1100s parts of
Croatia have been under the rule of
Hungary Austria the Ottoman Empire and
Italy Croatia of course was part of
Yugoslavia until the brutal war of
independence in the 199 90 s all of
these influences have mixed together to
make a beautiful and interesting culture
this itinerary assumes you have about 10
to 12 days this is a really common
length of time for a vacation about one
work week and two weekends again this is
a very overall broad itinerary and I
will go into much more detail of each
leg of this itinerary in future videos
CA is a long and skinny country and it
kind of widens out at the top this makes
it a little bit awkward to make a loop
of the country if you want to fly in and
out of the same airport you can handle
this in a few different ways you can
break up this itinerary and do just the
North in one trip and then the south in
another trip another way to handle this
is to fly into one airport and out of
another airport this is what I’m going
to suggest in this itinerary just so you
get to see more of the country so I
would fly into the north either into
Zagreb or into uh lublana Slovenia and
then out of a airport in the South
either split or deenik of course you can
go the other way around but for this
itinerary I’m going to start in the
north and end in the South so let’s get
into the itinerary so this is assuming
you’re flying into Zagreb you’ll need
two knights here to kind of get your
bearings get over jet lag and see the
sites spend some time in benan lulich
square and see St Mark’s Church which is
the one with the iconic tiled roof and
go to the top of this Tower you know me
I can’t say anything so I’m just going
to put things on the screen you’ll also
want to see dolac market and maybe a
museum or two such as the Museum of
broken relationships if you fly into
lublana you’ll also want to take two
nights there to get over your jet leg
and see the sights Oldtown is extremely
Charming with quaint Bridges crossing
the lublana river and the beautiful
lublana cathedral there are cute
Riverside cafes lining the river as well
and you can climb up to lublana Castle
for panoramic views of the surrounding
area next on the itinerary is heading to
the easan peninsula and this is a piece
of triangular land that is in the
northwest of Croatia this area of the
country has a diverse landscape with
rugged Coastline Rolling Hills and
mountains you want to spend at least two
nights here if you love Roman ruins head
to Pula to see the beautifully preserved
Ampitheater rovine is an absolute must
SE and is a great place to have your
home base it is a picturesque medieval
Town located on a small Peninsula
surrounded by gorgeous blue water it is
absolutely delightful to wander and
explore the Eastern Peninsula also has
many charming hilltowns and beautiful
panoramic views Monon and Gran are two
of my favorite towns to visit while
these don’t have any big sites exploring
the narrow Alleyways walking the
cobblestone streets and seeing the
Charming old towns are a delightful way
to spend a day picha National Park is
next on the itinerary while I hate just
spending One Night in a stop this is
what I’m going to suggest here ficha
national parks is absolutely worth going
but you can see most of it in a day
ficha is known for its 16 cascading
waterfalls gorgeous lakes and
spectacularly Crystal Clear Blue Water
there are boardwalks and paths
throughout the park as well as a boat to
take you on the Lakes this park is truly
stunning and you you won’t forget your
trip here next we head to split on your
way down to split I would consider
stopping in either Shick or zadar along
the way the shonet cathedral St
Michael’s Fortress the Oldtown and the
prominade are all worth exploring zadar
is famous for its sea organ where the
waves of the sea play pipes set under
large marble steps you’ll need two or
three nights in Split depending on how
many day trips you want to take split is
home to one of the world’s best
preserved Roman monuments a UNESCO world
heritage site the old town of split is
literally built into the 4th Century
Palace of the Roman Emperor Dian you’ll
need a day to explore all the Alleyways
churches and squares of the palace as
well well as the riverfront
prominade the second day consider
visiting an island we love VAR but other
islands like bra or Vis are also great
options it is easy to find fairies out
to the
islands VAR which is spelled HV v a r
but pronounced without the H so just
pronounced VAR is a wonderful day trip
from split the old town in the harbor is
lovely to walk around and there is a
13th century Venetian Hilltop for
Fortress with Gorgeous views there are
smaller towns on VAR worth visiting as
well and there’s Lavender Fields all
over it’s famous for lavender and you’ll
you’ll find roadside stalls and shops
that sell lavender another option for a
day trip is this I think you say kirka
but I’m not sure it’s similar to picha
National Park it has two well-known
stunning waterfalls as well as an island
with a beautiful Monastery this is a
really easy day trip from split with
public transportation available if you
want to compare kirka National Park and
picha National Park I have a blog post
on my website Euro Travels by design
that kind of compare and contrast the
two and so you can go on there and see
which one will best suit your needs the
last stop on this itinerary is the
gorgeous deenik you’ll need two or three
nights here as well depending on your
day trips Jenik is known as the pearl of
the Adriatic and for good reason it is
AB absolutely gorgeous lying right on
the coast it has beautiful views of the
Adriatic
Sea walking on the walls and circling
the town is an absolute must as is
wandering its Old Town visiting churches
and palaces there are many options from
jovik for day trips such as mostar
Bosnia which is known for its Arch
Bridge and Turkish Bazaar type shopping
streets kotar Montenegro is located in
the stunning Bay of kotar and there are
also many islands to choose from I will
go in more detail about these in my
video about deenik I also have a blog
post about deenik day trips if you’re
interested in that on the website as
well so when should you go Croatia
especially deenik can get extremely busy
and hot in the summer months in July and
August deenik has over a million V
visitors a year and most of those are
coming during those months so if you can
I would try to travel on the shoulder
season so April May and even the
beginning of June and then September and
October as well the average temperature
in April is in the 60s uh in May it’s in
the 70s and then in September it’s the
70s and October is the 60s I get that
not everybody can go during these times
and sometimes you need to travel in the
summer if you do just try and get up a
little bit earlier and wander before all
of the day Trippers come and the and the
tourists arrive also if you’re in deenik
make sure to check the cruise schedule
and try to time your arrival when there
aren’t very many uh ships in Port so
getting around we always love to rent a
car when we’re in Europe we just love
the freedom it gives us that we can go
on our own schedule and that we can
reach all of the little uh off the
beaten path places Croatia is an easy
place place to rent a car the highways
are wellmaintained and it was easy to
drive around some of the back roads were
a bit skinny but it was no problem of
course when we’re in the big cities a
big bit busy City or if we’re in the old
towns we just park our car and wander
around and and we don’t drive in those
areas from Lana to rovine is about 2
hours if you’re starting from Zagreb
Zagreb to rovine is about three and then
from rine to picha is about 3 hours then
picha to split is 2 and 1/2 and then
from split to deenik is about 2 and half
as well of course I understand that not
everybody wants to rent a car and there
are plenty of options for you as well
although Croatia does have a railway
system it’s not as extensive as in other
countries in Europe some places like de
bronik for example don’t even have a
train station for this your options are
buses there is an extensive uh bus
system in Croatia and you can buy your
tickets online beforehand or at bus
stations and sometimes you can even buy
them on the bus from the driver even
with buses though there are some places
that might be harder to reach with
public transportation for this you can
hire a private driver or you can go on a
guided organized
tour so the language Croatian is the
official language and it’s a Slavic
language it’s close closely related to
uh Serbian and
Slovenian but you will have no problem
if you don’t know Croatian all of the
people at the hotels the
shopkeepers uh the waiters and most of
the places in the tourist areas will
know enough English to help you and
you’ll have no trouble at all so the
currency Croatia just switched to the
euro in 2023 and the euro is usually
about uh 1 for 106 to $110 us so the
euro is worth a little bit more it’s
always a good idea to have some cash for
those places uh like small shops and out
of the way restaurants that won’t take a
card but most places will take credit
cards so that makes it easy foods to try
so the influence of all the different
regions in Croatia as well as their
foreign rulers throughout the years can
be seen in the food in Croatia there’s a
lot of Italian influence with an
assortment of pasta dishes available
it’s location on the sea also influences
local dishes Seafood is everywhere in
every variety try the broetto which is a
fisherman stew it is a seafood stew with
tomato base the black risoto made with
cuttlefish or squid is also very popular
and then truffles which are hunted in
estria are found almost every on every
menu they have a very distinct flavor
they’re not my favorite but you need to
try them when you’re in Croatia who
knows you may love them ftill are more
my style they are a fried ball of dough
that usually have powdered sugar on them
sometimes they have fillings such as uh
lemon zest or raisins and they’re
absolutely delicious when you’re
traveling around ask a local where their
favorite kobas is these are taverns that
usually prepare authentic dishes and
they are a great way to find delicious
dinner is it safe I was a teenager when
the brutal War of Independence was going
on in Croatia in the
1990s because of this all of my
knowledge of the country was destruction
and uh Despair and tragedy even before
the war started Croatia was part of
Yugoslavia which was behind the Iron
Curtain and this made it seem isolated
dull and dark the Catia you see today is
none of those things it is vibrant clean
and safe of course you always need to be
aware of your surroundings and watch
your belongings especially when you’re
in a tourist area that’s really busy but
not more so here than in any other
European country that I visited we felt
safe walking around at any time of day
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[Music]
This video is an overall itinerary of the beautiful country of Croatia. We go over the must see stops as well as logistics such as how long to stay in each spot, language and more.
My website – www.eurotravelsbydesign.com
St. Nicholas cathedral – https://www.visitljubljana.com/en/poi/the-cathedral-church-of-st-nicholas/
Zagreb cathedral – https://www.visitzagreb.hr/zagreb/zagreb-cathedral/
Pula Arena – https://www.pulainfo.hr/where/arena-amphitheater-2/
Krka National park – https://www.npkrka.hr/hr/
Plitvice national lakes – https://np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/en/
Hvar fortress – https://www.hvarheritage.com/en/cultural-heritage/fortica
Diocletian’s palace – https://www.diocletianspalace.org/
Dubrovnik walls – https://citywallsdubrovnik.hr/