Croatia

sophieleblanc
Jul 23, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Sep 3, 2019

Dubrovnik

I took the bus from Kotor to Dubrovnik. On the bus, I met a girl who was coincidentally also heading to the same hostel as I was heading to in Dubrovnik - Hostel Lina. It was a lovely hostel - everything was white, bright, modern, shiny and clean. In the evening we walked around the Old Town.

ree — Dubrovnik Old Town at night with stormy skies.

The next morning we headed back down to the Old Town nice and early. We got there before 9 am, and walked the city walls. It wasn't yet crowded with tourists and it wasn't too hot, so it was quite pleasant! Dubrovnik is absolutely stunning, a picture perfect medieval city, a sea of red tile roofs perched on the Adriatic Sea.

Our tickets for the city walls also included entrance to Fort Lovrijenac. We overheard quite a few Game of Thrones tour groups, the guides were explaining where in Dubrovnik certain important scenes were filmed.

Lokrum

In the afternoon we took a boat to Lokrum Island, just off the coast of Dubrovnik. It's a nature reserve, full of pretty, Mediterranean forests, peacocks and rabbits. We visited the ancient monastery, and inside there was a little museum. They had an Iron Throne from Game of Thrones and neat videos explaining how Game of Thrones filmed on location in Dubrovnik, Split and Spain. We also walked up to the highest point for nice views of the island and Dubrovnik.

Hvar

After Dubrovnik, I headed to the beautiful island of Hvar by ferry. I stayed at The White Rabbit Hostel, which was a very friendly little spot close to the main square and the port. In the morning, I walked up to the Fort for some nice views of the town of Hvar and the stunning turquoise waters of the bay.

Then I took a taxi boat for a very reasonable price to Mlini Beach, a little rocky beach with turquoise waters on a smaller island near Hvar. I got there before 11 am and read and lounged on the beach. The water was pretty chilly so I just waded a bit but didn't really swim. I hadn't realized that the first taxi boat back to Hvar wasn't until 4 pm, and I didn't pack any snacks and only a small amount of water. I found a comfy patch of grass to nap in while waiting until 4 pm. It was a very pretty spot.

In the evening, I walked along the waterfront enjoying some chocolate ice cream and a beautiful golden hour.

I spent two nights in Hvar. Afterwards, I took a ferry to Split, and from there a bus to Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Plitvice Lakes

In Plitvice Lakes I stayed at an AirBnb which was unfortunately much further away from the park than I realized but it all worked out. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere but it's an absolutely beautiful area full of green valleys dotted with houses.

I ran my first half marathon in Plitvice Lakes National Park. It wasn't too hot but there were a lot of hills, but I managed to finish in 1:52:50 and my goal was under two hours so I was pretty happy! The tickets for the race included a ticket for the park so after my race, even though I was exhausted and my legs felt like jello, I went and explored the lakes for a couple hours.