Crazy Time in Croatia

I arrived early evening in Dubrovnik and immediately met my friends who were already there out at dinner at a pizza place. From there, we went to a literal hole in the wall bar in the side of the cliffs of Dubrovnik over the ocean called Buza Bar. It’s got stunning views and LITERALLY sits on the side of a cliff and is an outdoor bar. It’s such a fun, unique experience and a must do! We spent most of the evening there and even went back the next day for sunset.

The next day, we explored the city. Dubrovnik is surrounded by a huge wall as it used to be a fortress, which is why it has been featured multiple times in Game of Thrones as the famous King’s Landing. There are tons of GoT-themed souvenir shops as well as GoT tour you can take around the city. We spent some idle time shopping and exploring before taking a tour of the Dubrovnik wall.

After the tour, we stopped at an outdoor cafe for lunch, then headed to the harbor for a swim. The water is so clear and a great temperature. For dinner, we went to the gorgeous Restaurant Panorama, which sits on the hilltop behind Dubrovnik. Make reservations DAYS in advance - we got really lucky with getting a same day table with no reservation as they had a cancellation, but that's unusual. You take a gondola up the hill to the restaurant. If you couldn’t get a res, you can still go up for sunset and drinks! This is another MUST do. The food is phenomenal and the views are even more insane.

We took an early ferry to Hvar early morning, about a 3 hour trip. When we got there, we settled into our Airbnb and then had a lunch at a courtyard restaurant in the city center by the water. Hvar is known as a party island and in the summer tourism increases its population by 15,000. It wasn’t too bad, but if you can go in an off season, it will be less crowded. After lunch, we walked the harbor / coastline. There are a ton of artisan merchants selling beautiful jewelry, paintings, clothes, etc, so we spent some idle time shopping on our way to a beachside bar called Hula Hula Hvar. Its expensive, and a little over-hyped, but if you’ve never been its a really fun spot to go to.

They have mattresses that you can float on in the ocean with your drinks, couches and lounge chairs, and cabanas all over to enjoy. They usually have a live DJ playing as well. It’s definitely more of a party scene than a chill scene. We spent most of the afternoon there swimming, meeting people, and getting drinks. That evening, we went to a Croatian spot for dinner that was situated in a garden atmosphere. It was absolutely delicious. I don’t remember the name, but google will help with the food recs!

We booked a boat island hopping tour the day before with a touring company we met on the dock, and this was the most fun thing we did almost the whole trip! We had 2 guides and we were supplied with water and beer for the trip and brought our own lunches. We set off early morning to the Blue Grotto / caves where once you arrive, you get into even smaller boats and tour the famous Blue Caves. Absolutely stunning to see, and they tell you what makes them so blue. On the way, they stop at some different sea caves and let you jump out and swim /snorkel through them. They supplied us with goggles.

The island that has the blue caves also has a small cafe with restrooms and refreshments. We spent the first half of the morning there before heading to a different island with a gorgeous beach tucked in between two cliffs in a small cove. It’s a completely pebble with crystal clear water. There are some cabanas you can rent if you want as well as lunch spots. It is one of the most famous beaches around Hvar and you can see tons of boats / yachts in the little cove where people dock. We had so much fun on this island hopping tour and highly recommend taking one! There are multiple companies that do very similar tours.

That evening, after a nap, we went out to the local bars. There are tons to choose from all along the beach line and they are pretty lively and fun with vibes for everyone.

In the morning, we went on a small hike up the hilltop behind Hvar to take a free walkthrough of the castle that sits there. It’s a very moderate, short hike, and the views from the small castle show you all of the western side of Hvar. It’s a cool little detour to take and didn’t take long at all. We had another ferry to catch around midday to Split, which was about an hour ride or so. Once in Split, we started with our typical exploration time. Split is more of a modern, and bigger city, than the first two we visited so there is a lot of shopping and cuisine options. There are also some sprinkled in older attractions, such as Cathedrals, tombs, etc. We took a short tour of one of the tombs / catacombs as it is a sort of Museum under the old palace. It’s self guided and kinda fun to get lost in. For the evening, we found some live music in a big plaza and sat down to dinner there. We had an early morning the next day, so decided to keep it low key.

This is another MUST see. Krka is a famous national park with gorgeous waterfalls, hiking, and rivers a couple hours drive from Split. There are buses and tours daily to Krka from split. Book these in advance too! When we arrived, you take a ferry down the river to the main part of the park. It’s absolutely stunning nature. At the main center of the park, there is a gorgeous multi-faceted waterfall with a big swimming area and gorgeous foliage surrounding it to spend a lot of time at. This is where you see those famous photos from. Beyond there, you can hike (Walk) up the waterfall and through the rest of Krka. It is pretty developed due to all the tourism and there are restrooms, food places, paved walkways, etc. We basically spent the entire day exploring there, and it was stunning.

For the evening, we made a spur of the moment decision to take a sunset booze cruise. It was about 20 euro per person and we got free champagne the whole ride. It’s about a 90 minute cruise around the coastline of split during an awesome sunset. We had an amazing time and it was the perfect way to close out our last night. You can find a ton of these types of cruises advertised on the harbor when you’re walking through.