When I arrive into Croatia, I generally get a bus straight to the village and then think I should go exploring however the sea and the food makes me never want to leave the village!
Over the years we have done a few day trips around Croatia from the village as to experience a country you need to get out and explore. Sitting on a beach soaking up the rays isn’t the way to see a country, you only see the resort.
So if you want to do a couple of day trips from Split, Makarska or Dubrovnik I would recommend the following trips.
Sibenik & Krka National Park
To be honest, I hadn’t really ventured north of Split (the airport doesn’t count!) and that was something that I was needing to rectify so last year Lisa and I did a day trip through Atlas Tours to Sibenik & Krka National Park.
Sibenik has a gorgeous cathedral in the middle of the old town and tiny little shops dotted around the centre.
It’s well worth a look as most tourists don’t really venture here. As our tour leader said, she didn’t realise how pretty Sibenik was until she became a tour leader and started to wander around the city herself as she only use to see the bus station and thought that was it!
We had the morning in Sibenik and then spent the afternoon at Krka National Park. To be honest you could spend the whole day at the National Park.
There are stunning walks to do, even for the non-walkers. There is a glorious path which takes you past tiny and very large waterfalls without breaking a sweat and you can wear very unsensible shoes like we did!
There is a restaurant at the starting point of the guided walkway and it’s a really lovely spot right by one of the many waterfalls. You can see the restaurant at the top of the photo below.
Biokovo
I hate heights and hair pin turns so taking a ride up to the top of the Biokovo Mountain range probably was one of the silliest things I could have done however I would have missed out on some of the most incredible views of the Adriatic. You can see the Islands of Brac, Hvar, Vis and Korcula from the top of Mt. Jure.
To get to the top of Mt. Jure you need to be based on the Makarska Riviera region. Once again Atlas tours offer this tour however you could rent a car for the day.
Makarska
Most travellers bypass right through Makarska if travelling on the bus; they might hop off the bus for the toilet or to buy a drink but they don’t go exploring.
I have been told that travellers find Makarska boring and that there isn’t anything to do. Yes you are probably right there isn’t a huge amount to do however you do get a snapshot of the lifestyle the locals have on the coast.
It’s a great base on the Croatian coastline as there are regular buses to Split, Dubrovnik, Mostar and Sarajevo and there are boats that will take you across to Hvar or Brac. You will find that the accomodation is a lot cheaper in the villages scattered around Makarska than in Split or Dubrovnik hence it makes a great base if you are on a budget.
I think the Makarska Riviera provides the best sunsets on the whole of the Adriatic.
Sarajevo
If you are staying in a major tourist area then you will find endless businesses offering tours to Mostar and Sarajevo.
Sarajevo had been on my travel wish list for a long time and when I finally got there it wasn’t a disappointment. Lisa and I did a day trip with Atlas tours again (they are one of the biggest tourist operators in Croatia).
We were given a guided tour of the city showcasing the wonderful city, lunch and then left to wander around for the rest of the afternoon.
After seeing Sarajevo on the news so much as I was growing up and then eventually visiting you get to see how much the city has changed and grown.
The river was a lovely chocolate colour which was mainly down to the heavy down pours during the day. It reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but it wasn’t a real chocolate river!
Mostar
Mostar was also on my travel wish list and I was rather lucky as Atlas called into Mostar on our way back from Sarajevo – talk about killing two birds with one stone!
Yes I would have loved to have had more time here however as the sun was setting, I think my unplanned visit was just perfect.
Whatever you do – you need to do a day trip to Mostar! It’s just so gorgeous! I will let the photos do the talking.
So many companies offer the tour of Mostar from Croatia; even if you are staying on Korcula!
Croatia offers so many day trips to see the different parts of the country, it is well worth doing at least one day tour if you are only visting Croatia on beach holiday. You could do your own day trip to one of the many Croatian Islands.
In the past I have used Atlas Tours for my day trips however I have just seen a new company called Ready Click and Go which offers private day trips at reasonable rates.
xxx
