🙂 Fantastic scenery. Great beaches. Friendly people. Good food. Stunning waterfalls.
🙁 Cannot think of any negatives! Remember it being in the news during the war between 1991-95 when Croats wanted to leave Yugoslavia.
Currency: Croatian Kuna
The family decided that the best way to celebrate Paul’s 50th would be a sailing trip in Croatia! Unfortunately we were in lockdown at the time of his birthday in June but we managed to book a great deal in September with Avios on our British Airways American Express cards. Surprisingly reasonable for a chartered yacht with a chef and toys departing from Dubrovnik for 7 days and arriving in Split with a day in each to explore on either side. The flight is a mere 2hrs 45min from London.
ITINERARY:
Day 1: Dubrovnik, Day 1 & 2: Sailing – Dubrovnik to Lopud to Polace; Day 3: Sailing – Polace to Korcula; Day 4: Sailing – Korcula to Scedru (Borova Bay) to Bay of Vinogradišće. (Hvar); Day 5: Sailing – Bay of Vinogradišće to Starigrad to Tiha Bay; Day 6: Sailing – Tiha to Osibova Bay to Seget (Trogir); Day 7: Split and Surrounding Area; Day 8: Split Old Town
Insurance covered Covid: Battleface
FOUR THINGS WE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT CROATIA:
- Croatia is home to the world’s largest truffle – In June 2018 Giancarlo Zigante, along with his dog Diana, found the world’s largest truffle in Istria, weighing4.8kg. He never sold it but served it to 100 guests. In 1999 he also discovered a truffle weighing 1.31Kg which made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
- Zlatni rat beach changes in shape and colour depending on the wind, tide and the current and sometimes, the tip of the beach rotates so significantly that it forms a small pool.
- Marco Polo was born in Croatia. (or so claim officials in Korcula, much to the annoyance of their Venetian counterparts). Whatever the truth, Korcula town is worth a visit for its fine wines and sword dance performances).
Croatia is a nation ‘forged in war’, emerging only in 1991 as a truly independent country after centuries of turmoil at the outer edges of earlier empires, and a devastating later civil war when Tito’s Yugoslavia collapsed.
Now a more peaceful country with a population of just over 4 million, it is one of the holiday destinations favoured by British travellers with over 1.4m visiting in 2018 – and it is not all just down to Game of Thrones (though that has helped!).
It is easy to reach (2.5hr flight), plenty of sunshine, spectacular beaches, turquoise waters, atmospheric ruins, stunning national parks, friendly people and all this for great value utilising its own currency, the kuna.
The country has a national football team which finished 3rd in its first World Cup appearance in 1998 and advanced to another World Cup semi-final in 2018.
Croatia’s cuisine is delicious and varies by region, some dominated by Italian influences, elsewhere more by Austrian, Hungarian and Turkish cuisine.
WORTHY CHARITIES: CARE offers conflict prevention and peace-building programs, supports people’s livelihoods and access to rights, and works toward gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence. Marginalised communities, such as Roma and women and girls, are at the heart of their mission.
RELATED READING: Some great reads to provide history and context as to how modern Croatia has been shaped.
HOLIDAY CATCH PHRASE: “It doesn’t matter…”
