Croatia Part 1. Zagreb and Split

The bus from Ljubljana to Zagreb was a fairly quick and uneventful two and a half hours. And as usual, our arrival in this new city found us quite hungry. Fortunately for us the Zagreb bus station has no shortage of cafes, so we were able to find a quick snack, then purchased two tram tickets that cost €1.06 for 30 minutes, and made our way to our apartment.

Zagreb is Croatia’s capital and largest city. It has tall buildings, wide boulevards, statues, and fountains everywhere. It has no shortage of museums, the chocolate museum, the hangover museum, and the museum of broken relationships, just to name a few. The museum of broken relationships was both sad and funny, it contained personal items that people sent from the world over that held some meaning whether it was a romantic, family, work or other relationship that in one way or another no longer existed.

Our first day in Zagreb was spent exploring the city, using a map from the tourist information centre that highlighted various points, 14 in total. It was my job, according to Carmen, to conduct a walking tour based on that map. I found 10 out 14 before getting lost, giving up, and finding a bar.

After my feeble attempt at providing a free walking tour, we went to a local grocery store and bought some supplies for some meals in our apartment. Lately we had been burning through our budget eating at restaurants for every meal. It was time to reign it in.

The next day we had booked a tour to Plitvice national park. Our guide Ivan or John if it’s easier for you, picked us and six others up at the Westin, and drove us to the park. On the way we stopped at Rastoke, a unique village that sits right where the Slunjica river meets the Korana river. Now mostly Airbnbs, this town used to have several water mills

Plitvice national Park was established in 1949 and listed as a Unesco site in 1979. It is the oldest and largest national park in Croatia. The park and its waterfalls did not disappoint. A series of cascading lakes feeding water to the next lake through a multitude of waterfalls.

After Zagreb, we made our way to Split, 5 ish hours by bus that dropped us off near the old town. Our room was about a 10 minute walk away, mostly along the water. By this point we were used to the weight of our bags and transporting them in the summer heat. We set our bags in our room, and walked back into the old town to find some dinner.

The prices in the old palace were pretty high and the restaurants were fancy, so we opted for something outside the walls that was quite nice, and while we ate, a group of youth dressed in traditional clothing paraded into the square played music and danced. It definitely added to the atmosphere, and made for an excellent meal.

The next day was a beach day, we spent all day in or next to the water.

We opted to rent a couple of sun beds on the seawall, in front of us was the refreshing waves of the Adriatic, and behind us a snack bar where we could order drinks and food.

That evening we walked to the restaurant across the street from our room that had both delicious food and an amazing view. We watched locals swim and play in the water until well after dark, then wandered into the old town, hunting for gelato.

In the morning, we met up with a free walking tour that showed us many interesting facts about Dioclecian’s palace, the old Roman structure that makes up much of Split’s old town.

Split was great: sunny, relaxing beaches and a fun atmosphere. It did feel a bit manufactured in the sense that it felt like no one really lives there, and the ancient palace itself was rebuilt for tourist dollars. Our tour guide told us that roughly 80% of the workers there are seasonal and leave as soon as the summer season is over. 

After the tour we had a fantastic lunch, and made our way to the beach again. We had a couple of quick swims and then went to a local bar for a spritz and a beer. This was our view:

The next day we had a ferry to catch so after the drink, we had a quiet dinner and an early night. I’ll end the post here and continue later with our next two Creation stops, the islands of Brac and Hvar.