Croatia is renowned for its stunning islands which number more than 700 but our itinerary only allowed us enough time to visit one of them. Well, in reality, the choice wasn’t so wide. We had to choose an island which lies between the cities of Split and Dubrovnik and could engage us for two days, so it came down to three options – Brač, Hvar … Continue reading Hvar: The Town
A nice retirement home in a beautiful location is a dream for many of us and the Roman emperor Diocletian was no different. Now, retirement is not a word that is usually associated with emperors, but in 305 AD, after 21 years of rule, Diocletian became the first Roman emperor to voluntarily abdicate his throne and retire. To spend his retirement days, Diocletian had chosen … Continue reading Split: An Emperor’s Palace
It happens quite often that places from which we do not have a lot of expectations tend to surprise us. Šibenik was one such city in Croatia which we visited without any expectations but ended up being thoroughly charmed by it. As the 12th largest city in Croatia, Šibenik cannot be called a hidden gem, but it often gets overlooked by the tourists visiting the … Continue reading The Stormy Šibenik
The old town of Zadar has enough things to keep one engaged throughout the day. But despite the abundance of ancient and medieval structures, we found amiss with the town. It just did not have the charm of Istrian towns like Rovinj, Poreč, Grožnjan and Hum. These towns, with their narrow cobblestone streets and stone buildings, had the air of a medieval museum. This ambience … Continue reading Zadar: Where Ancient Meets Modern
During the previous eight days in Croatia, we had explored the atmospheric Zagreb, the lovely northern town of Varaždin, the charming coastal and hilltop towns of the Istrian peninsula and the magnificent Plitvice Lakes National Park. On the ninth day of our trip, we finally arrived in the region that is Croatia’s biggest claim to fame as a tourist destination – the Dalmatian Coast. A … Continue reading Zadar: The Beginning of the Dalmatian Coast
We have found that sometimes places which are really famous and hyped a lot fail to live up to that hype. Fortunately, Plitvice Lakes National Park was not one of such places. It promised plenty and delivered even more than what it had promised. In the previous post we wrote about how, after an adventurous drive to Plitvice and a walk along the magnificent lower … Continue reading Plitvice Lakes National Park: The Upper Lakes
Back in the school days, the books told us some interesting facts about water – like 71% of the earth’s surface is covered with water, or 60% of the human body is made up of water etc. What the books didn’t tell us is that water is also an agent of magic that has the ability to cast a hypnotizing spell on humans. Now if … Continue reading Plitvice Lakes National Park: The Crown Jewel of Croatia
According to a local legend, after building all the hilltop towns in Mirna river valley in central Istria, the giants had only a few stones remaining which they used to build one last town. I guess the number of stones left with the giants must have been barely any because that last town – Hum – turned out to be the smallest town in the … Continue reading Istria: Magical, Little Hum
Our fourth and final day in Istria began with a day trip to the most famous and best-preserved medieval hilltop town of Istria – Motovun. After visiting Motovun we felt that the town, which is the site of an international film festival in the summer months, had a lot of things working for it – fortifications dating from the medieval era, magnificent views all around … Continue reading Istria: The Walled Town of Motovun
In the last two days, with Pula, Rovinj and Poreč, we had covered the major coastal towns of Istria. It was now time to visit the gorgeous hilltop towns of Istria that we had read so much about. The first hill-town that we visited was Buje. This town, situated on a 222 m high hill, is just 10 km from the Adriatic Sea and four … Continue reading Buje: The Guard of Istria
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