Croatia Travel List

3. Activities Recommendations

Laura’s advice & personal recommendations for family travel:
Laura recently co-ordinated a trip for 40 guests to Croatia. For more advice or  information email: laura@tasafaris.com, Groups Manager at Timeless Africa Safaris.

• Definitely stay few days in Dubrovnik, visit Elaphiti islands (apparently Lopud is the best for children) - big sandy beaches, lots of bars and restaurants.
• Can go car free. They can get there with the public boat line or they can rent a full-day boat
• Beach Pasjaca,  Konavle - beautiful, one of the best beaches in Croatia.
• Konavle is also a quaint area for a day out on bicycles. Stunning lunch spot there.
• Banje Beach is a beach bar. They can rent sun beds for half day or full day - overlooking the city of Dubrovnik
• Lokrum Island - nature park.
• For Game of Thrones fans, this is where the Iron Throne sits.
• There is a public catamaran line that connects Dubrovnik with islands: Mljet, Korcula, Hvar, Brac and Split.
• All of the islands are really beautiful (Mljet is peaceful, Korcula is great for families, Hvar is popular for the nightlife and wonderful hidden spots, Brac is also great for families, Split second largest city in Croatia, bigger than Dubrovnik, rich history, great cuisine and shopping opportunities.
• National Park Krka (might be crowded during summer), Cetina river = adventurous)
• Most places will have watersports and depending on the hotel,  they will have waterslides and watersports activities at their beach area.

Activities in Dubrovnik:

• You will find a few nice little water spots. This is a great hidden gem to go swimming. There is a little bar up in the hill as well. From the East Side - When you enter the old town/wall this area to your left has some great waterfront restaurants and lots of boats. You can take a range of boat trips from here. If you have time, try to head out to one of the islands. Also, just inside the walls, you see the famous old clock tower and church of Saint Bliase. 
• “For your trip, Dubrovnik is one of the most beautiful places on this planet. North Side Entrance to old city walls. This is where you can start the City Walls walk. This is the most amazing experience. You walk up the stairs and then start to walk a full loop around the city. Spectacular views and photos from here. it takes about an hour to walk around. Just outside the South entrance you can walk off down some stairs to the left and follow them around. You will find a few nice little water spots. This is a great hidden gem to go swimming. There is a little bar up on the hill as well.”
• “From the East Side - When you enter the old town/wall this area to your left has some great waterfront restaurants and lots of boats. You can take a range of boat trips from here. If you have time, try to head out to one of the islands.”
• “Just wander the city walls. On some of the small lanes with steps you often find a little bar that has cushions on the steps you can sit and have a drink. Quite a unique experience.”
• Plitvice National Park
• City Walls (Visit early)
• Buza Bar (Cliff drinks and swimming)
• Rector’s Palace
• Franciscan Monastery / Pharmacy
• Walk of Shame (Jesuit Steps from Game of Thrones)
• Mount Sech Hike
• Lokrum Island (Peacocks, monastery, Game of Thrones filming locations)

Activities in Hvar:

• Lungo Mare in Hvar - “Go to the blue cave.”
• Islands - Lots to see, Hvar is one of the best
• A few thoughts: I’d definitely do the Plitvice Lakes if you’re flying into Zagreb and headed towards the coast - they’re halfway. We loved Dubrovnik and wish we’d have spent longer there and a night less in Split. Split is beautiful but has a bit of a Myrtle Beach vibe - crowded, young people pouring in/out of bars, clubs, etc. Dubrovnik is much quieter and, frankly, more beautiful. We also stopped in Sibenik, which was a lovely and small seaside town with no tourists.
• “You can explore the city one day, do a day trip out to Lake Bled”
• “Postojna: If interested visit Postojna Cave/Predjama Castle”
• “While in the area you could visit Secovlje Salina’s salt pans and even pop up into Italy for a few hours in the city of Trieste.”
• “Brijuni Islands for a fun bike tour.”
• “There are a number of cute towns in the area that you could visit either on your own or with a guide, such as Rovinj, Pula and Motovun.”
• Check out https://www.rewildingeuropetravel.com , and https://www.rewildingeuropetravel.com/home/velebit-mountains/

Activities in Split:

• “We had hired a boat in Split to island hop for swimming and lunch for the day. We quite enjoyed it.”
• “Split, as you might already know, is a very cute, seaside town (the second largest city in Croatia, next to Dubrovnik), yet itt quaint city center, a UNESCO world heritage site can be toured by foot in hours, not. days. It can become quite overrun by cruise ship tourists as it is a major cruise ship stop along the Dalmatian coast. For me, this ruined our visit--but takes nothing away from the "people or place" which we found charming and worth visiting (preferably on a date or time when its not packed with cruise ship tourists). There are a number of nice cafes lining the narrow midevil erra cobblestone streets, including a few near the port.”
• “Not being ones content to stick too close to ports where tourists abound, we rented (and felt safe doing so) motor scooters and explored areas not accessible to tourists without wheels. We truly enjoyed going to a beach a few miles out of town. Bear in mind, beaches in this part of the Dalmatian Coast at least are rocky (not sandy like we find in the US and other "beachy" destinations, so temper expectations accordingly. We also took the scooters out west of town to Parc Suma Marjan. Not too far, very easily accessible by scooter. The park is elevated above the old city center and offers wonderful vistas of the bay and the sea. The park also contains the remnants of a quirky little labarynth, a circular maze of sorts constructed of stone.”
• “We found plenty of time to tour the old city center (walking distance from the port) by foot, grab a quick bite at an outdoor cafe, rent scooters, visit both the park and the beach, stop and chat with locals (outside the city center) and get back to the city center all in the space of five-six hours. Perfectly lovely day--and plenty of time to get the feel of the town. If you're big into shopping for trinkets and souvenirs, you might spend much more time in the narrow alleys and cobbled streets of the city center. Of course, there is much history here, so touring monuments, churches, museums, and historical buildings alone (I'd advise a tour guide to get the most of the history) could consume two full days. We didn't do that.”