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There were to be two parts to our visit to Croatia - the mother nature of the Plitivice Lakes and the history of Split and Dubrovnik. A lack of any detailed knowledge of Croatia set expectations for an austere and war-scarred country populated by grizzled farmers on rusty tractors albeit with tourism hot-spots on the many islands along the coast. After all Tito's Yugoslavia was communist and Croatia's 1991 War Of Independence was very recent.

I don't like studying too much detail of new destinations - I like surprises. And Croatia was certainly that. Clean, green and functional, 1st world facilities without the downside of rampant graffiti, over-development, junk food outlets and their fatty-boombah customers. If there was a downside to the visit it was that it wasn't edgy at all. Albania here we come?

Plitvice Lakes

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Cascades



A 6 seater people mover delivered us to Plitvice from the Trieste railway station in Italy via several hours' drive through wooded mountains of Slovenia and and a zig-zagging descent from a high-speed motorway to the 1st pit-stop at Opatija on the northern Croation coast - a prosperous, Riviera-looking place indeed. Later, after diverting off a motorway towards Plitvice our driver got a tad misdirected by his sat-nav and we found ourselves in backroad countryside of old-fashioned farms and small villages of Kamenica and the onomatopoeiacly named Slunj - and the few and only sights we had of damage from the 1991 war. A few shot-up walls with obvious bullet holes and some burnt out, over-grown farm houses. An accidental but worthwhile diversion through pretty scenery (Slunj excepted).

The Lakes

Limestone and chalk have built up as natural travertine barriers that have created a series of cascades, lakes and backwaters that form the UNESCO-protected Plitvice Lakes, now within the boundaries of a national park in the middle of Croatia. Despite the tourist hordes even in low season 1 cigarette butt was the total litter count on our circumnavigation of the Lakes. Ferries and buses hauling the multitudes to the various drop-off points are electric and it's obvious great care is taken to look after the whole environment.

Split

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Split

The drive from Plitivice to Split took in fields, farmland and forested hills with impressive mountain backdrops, through the 5.6km Sveti Rok tunnel and a sweeping descent to dry coastal plains - the difference in rainfall between the two sides of the mountains is obvious. A few hours break at the coastal town of Trogir was worthwhile with its historic town centre hosting a medieval festival with dress-up participants, a de rigueur market for Bev the inveterate browser and a nice waterfront.

Split was, to be fair, a little bit shit. It's a regional transport hub and port adjoining its chief attraction of Diocletian's Palace. The port is a collection of passenger and car ferry terminals, bus stops and railway station with all of the attendant hub-bub and concrete that could be expected of such facilities.

The Bacvice beach across the road from the Hotel Park looked OK from the hotel's treed terrace. On closer inspection it was comprised of wet dirt, no waves and the water was replete with non-specific floating objet-d'detritus. Grafitti covered walls along its edge was where the local young-and-hormonal hung out. Perhaps I'm being unfair; Split was not a highlight of Croatia but compared to a lot of crummy places around the world it's not that bad.

Diocletian's Palace, the Roman ruins content of the trip is a very worthwhile place to explore for a few hours while passing through Split rather than wasting 3 days there as we did. Roman emperor Diocletian built a large palace in preparation for his retirement in 305 AD, 10 kilometers from Salona the then capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Inside the Roman walls it's a collection of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture styles introduced after the Palace had been abandoned for several centuries until about 700AD. It's a living city within a city. Ignore the ground level moden day tourist retail and it gives an impression of a bustly, middle ages township.

Hvar

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Hvar



An hour from Split by fast Jadrolinija ferry the weather changed from stinking hot to cool, overcast and drizzley just as we left the very ordinary beach at Split for the far better aquatic destination of Hvar. The Venetian-era buildings at the port in Hvar town shone in the wet and restored our faith in Croatia's charm after some disappointment with Split.

The town is overlooked by Venetian fortifications built in the 1700s to protect Venice's trade interests. Stari Grad and other towns on the other side of the island are easily reached over an old, windy mountain road or through a new tunnel if speed is more important than scenery. A hired maxi-taxi with George the cabbie proved to be a cost-effective way to see the island - split (no pun intended) the cost 6 ways and it was pretty cheap and George, as a native, knew his way around.

Dubrovnik

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Dubrovnik



That's more like it! This is what i expected Split to be like. The old fortified town of Dubrovnik is a real treasure, while the city surrounding it is pleasant, clean, tree-lined and easy to get around.

Dubrovnik is a long but pleasant drive from Split with the good-quality, 2 lane coastal highway of Route 8 winding between headlands and the intersecting coves each typically with its village of Italianate buildings and the few resorty towns such as Podgora and Makarska (for a smoko, coffees and snot blocks on the waterfront esplanade). Very similar scenery to the Cinque Terre and Amalfi Coast of Italy - steep limestone rises high out of the sea, rugged and sparse on the upper reaches, covered by pines, olive groves and vinyards on the lower slopes; except for an interim inland diversion through flat, well-watered plains and orchards near a place called Ploce after which the highway returns to the coast after a windy climb back over the mountains.

Dubrovnik is separated from the rest of Croatia by a short Bosnian coast that took only about 15 minutes to pass through. Can't really claim to have been to Bosnia given the brevity of the transit; the same with Slovenia on the way in. While the Croatia/Slovenia border had border posts they were unmanned and we drove straight through, the Bosnia/Croatia border crossings are manned but offialdom is minimal - upon request the Bosnian official looked for passport stamps to mark our brief visit but couldn't find any - they're not used.


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