Now or Never

After driving across nearly the entire country of Bosnia & Herzegovina we re-entered Croatia. The scenery during the drive was picturesque with scenic overlooks, vineyards, and islands not far off shore.

Our first stop was Dubrovnik, which is particularly famous for its walled old town built right along the sea. Many know it as the site of Kings Landing in Game of Thrones. While it was absolutely packed with tourists, we could see why it is so popular. The 13th century architecture is stunning and it’s easy to get lost in the winding, narrow walking paths. Also we couldn’t have asked for better weather, 75 °F and sunny – we’ll take that every time.

Our Airbnb was about a 40 minute walk from old town which, after experiencing the heavy crowds first hand, tuned out to be a God send. While the Airbnb itself was much smaller than we expected, it was also only a 10 minute walk from a large, scenic cove that was great for swimming. After so much go go go in the weeks prior, it was nice to slow down a bit and unwind.

Following our three nights in Dubrovnik we headed north up the coast to Split, our final travel leg with Diane and Morgan. Despite the outside building of our Airbnb looking like an old communist block, the inside of the apartment was nice and because we were on the 13th floor, we had AMAZING views of entire city and sea. Compared to Dubrovnik, Split was a bit more built up and modern but there was still plenty of places to explore during our one full day in the city.

The tourist epicenter of Split is near the port waterfront at Diocletian’s Palace in old town where we had a great walking tour with a local guide. Diocletian was a Roman emperor who, after abdicating his throne in the year 305 AD, retired to what is now Split. So, in other words, the palace is the most elaborate retirement home from the time 🙂 While very little of the original palace still exists today, the old town that was slowly built up in the area over the centuries is well maintained and is also credited with several Game of Thrones film sites. From the walking tour we headed to Park Šuma Marjan, a large hilly park on a peninsula in the west of the city. Once we got to the top the views were unbeatable – it was the perfect way to cap off an action packed day in Split and week of travel with Abby’s parents.

Once we bid farewell to Diane and Morgan we boarded a ferry to Korčula, one of the many islands just off the coast of mainland Croatia. Korčula is about halfway between Split and Dubrovnik and because only Dubrovnik has nonstop flights to our next destination, it made for the perfect stop over. The island itself is about 30 miles long but we stayed in the main town at the far eastern end. While we were worried about a rainout, beyond some clouds we lucked out and got nice and pleasant weather. Our Airbnb even had an outdoor terrace with great views of the water. The island is known for its old town (noticing a Croatia trend?) and its wine production so we made sure to experience a bit of both. We found a quaint tasting room on the edge of old town and around the corner we also discovered a cocktail bar operating at the top of a 15th century turret at the water’s edge. Pricey drinks but couldn’t ask for a more memorable experience during our time on Korčula!

The two nights on Korčula went by too fast and we both agree we could have stayed for an entire week, but onward travel calls. We caught another ferry back to Dubrovnik and had an overnight layover before taking our first flight since arriving in Europe. Next up, 10 days in Greece!