Continuing the (highly annoying) pattern, Monday greeted us with more wind and rain but thankfully racked off to allow us a nice afternoon by the beach (but you know, not for too long because that would imply we were on holidays and enjoying ourselves or something). We really love you Croatia but can you please get your shit together?
We spent the night again at Autokamp More (125 HRK) before packing up early and heading to Split. As we descended the mountain, we realised Split was behind the wall of dark grey storm clouds we were quickly approaching.
There was only one camp ground in the area (Camping Stobreč Split) so we headed straight there for what would be another uneventful afternoon. Turned out to be 208 HRK for 1 night which is about $40 AUD but the site was more like a resort than caravan park (fancy wrist bands for showers – whaaaat??!).
Wednesday morning we woke to no rain – yay – so drove into the town (no public transport from the caravan park) and parked at the marina. Split was absolutely beautiful and packed full of people. We entered through (what we would describe as) the underground dungeons of the walled city that are now market style shops – very weird but very cool and old. This lead you straight into Diocletian’s Palace and the juicy old town. We wandered for a while and climbed halfway up to Marjan, a hill overlooking the city and sea before getting gelato and saying adios.
From Split we started our journey back north, the first stop being Krka National Park. We stayed at Camp Krka for 110 HRK (bit of a difference to Split) which was a lovely spot located super close to the park entrance at Lovozac (there are different entrances but this is the easiest).
We woke early on Thursday to get to the national park by 8am when the gates opened to avoid the crowds. IT WAS PERFECT. Entry was 110 HRK each and after buying tickets, we walked down the mountain (free shuttle bus also available) and were at the waterfalls well before anyone else.
We then looped back to the start via the walking track through the forest before heading back up the mountain. There is heaps more stuff to see and do at Krka but most is only accessible by boat. We had seen the main waterfall and had a lil splash so were happy to get back on the road.
We kept the national park theme running and headed from Krka to Plitvice. We got to Plitvice in the late afternoon and had walked enough for the day so stopped at Camping Korana which was a HUGE site (something like 2000 spots available) and 213 HRK for 1 night (ouch). The site offered a free shuttle to the park entrance, departing at 9am and returning at 5pm each day. The weather was on and off so we left it until the morning to decide what was best to do.
Come morning the drizzly, crappy weather was in full force so instead of catching the shuttle, we checked out and drove up the road to the first entrance and parked there instead. By the time we got there it was about 9:30am (park opened at 7am) and we knew we would have to deal with loads of tourists.
Entry to the park was again 110 HRK each and we followed the crowds down to the first lot of waterfalls (keeping an eye out for stray umbrella spokes). There are four walking trails to choose from plus the options of buses and ferries to easily get around the park. We decided (not mutually) to take the ‘K’ route which was the longest and snaked around the lakes and sometimes up into the forest. It turned out to be really cool but muddy and probably would have been ideal if not wearing Converse but it avoided the crowds so I’ll take the blisters. Would 100% recommend and do again in a heartbeat.
We left the park, exhausted, at about 2pm and stopped in at a different camp site heading out of town. Camp Bear (cute) was literally across the road from Camping Korana and only 160 HRK for the night. It was aloy smaller but considering the miserable weather, it didn’t really matter.
We had a lil sleep in on Saturday morning, mainly because our legs didn’t want to wake up. The rain had continued all night and was still hanging around so once packed up we hit the road and headed further north to Zagreb, the capital and our last stop in Croatia.
We had a couple of stops on the way before reaching Camper Parking Zagreb – a simple car park (no facilities) but close-ish to the city (about 15 mins by bike) with a huge shopping centre down the road. We thought the weather might improve, but it didn’t so we unfortunately didn’t get to see much of the city.
Because of the Schengen Visa laws and our future plans, we wanted to spend the maximum amount of time in Croatia (who isn’t a part of the schengen area) as possible meaning we spent two nights and ended our week (somewhat underwhelmingly) in Zagreb.
NOTES:
- Free or wild camping in Croatia is illegal (plus there really are no obvious places to stop on the coast) and it is the only country who does enforce this rule (other countries have similar rules but turn a blind eye ie. Spain).
- Croatia uses a different currency as they are not in the EU. We have familiarised ourselves with the pound, euro, franc and now the Kuna (HRK).
- 1 HRK = roughly 0.20 AUD
- The PEOPLE of Croatia are something else, super relaxed and friendly and (mostly) excellent with their English.
- ICE IS SOLD AT GAS STATIONS!!!!! 20 HRK for 2.5kg which is about $4 AUD so not particularly cheap but we will take what we can get and not ask questions.
Until Week Sixteen. Dovidenja x
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