Croatia was one of our favorite destinations among the four countries we visited in Europe during this summer. It was special as we visited Dubrovnik, popular for its locations from Game of thrones and also enjoyed a nice natural detox at Plitvice National park.
It was a great mix of both city and nature tours.
Day 1: We landed from Amsterdam to Dubrovnik and our air fares were really cheap as we booked in advance. We landed in Dubrovnik airport even though the airport authorities were not very friendly we managed to get out of the airport and take a shuttle bus to Dubrovnik city. The bus ticket was just 6 euros. We reached Pile gate one of the beautiful locations in the old city of Dubrovnik. Restaurant Dubrovka was the first place we chose as we did not have a stay due to over bookings during summer. It is the peak season. We thought we will find something once we land there. Dubrovka had the best view and awesome food. It was buzzing with tourists which didn't come to me as a surprise. We ate and relaxed and then visited the information centre nex to Dubrovka restaurant. They gave us a brief intro of things to do and tours to take. While traveling, the best way to find an accommodation is to ask the cab drivers i what I believe. It worked out for us quite well. Since we were backpackers, we had to find a way to get to some hotels. But fortunately, the cab driver didn't take money from us and we offered him wine instead. He also offered us to take us around the city for free but we denied. He dropped us at a campsite which was demanding 25 euros per night. While we met another cab driver who made some calls and found us a place to stay with the locals for 35 Euros a night. The hotels were expensive and mostly full. We checked in the apartment and the host was really helpful. We had coffee and wine with the hosts, went out for a bit in the city, and got back quickly to get some sleep.
Day 2: We had planned quite a lotta walking tours and things to do. Before Taking the city tours we hit the beach early morning which was at a 5 minutes walking distance. We got back and went on te city tour. We covered the important forts, the city wall while it started raining. We sat in a restaurant and took a ride in the cable car which had a beautiful view of the city. We had to leave as we had planned the National park for the next day. Make sure you book bus tickets in advance once you reach there as there are no online services to book tickets and also no trains running in Croatia.
Day 3: We traveled to Korana campsite where we camped and hit a restaurant inside the campsite. The campsite was amazing with a great view, amazing facilities like washroom and showers, supermarket, grill, restaurant, money exchange counter, bar etc. We loved the place. There was also a free bus service to the National Park at 9.00.am. We took the path which was for around 4 to 6 hours walking tour amongst the blue lakes of Plitvice and greatness of greenary. We saw the adriatic shelves which were mindblowing. We went back to the camp and stayed overnight and left to Zagreb next day.
Day 4: We traveled from Plitvice to Zagreb the next morning. We reached Zagreb by noon and had some good food. We booked an early morning bus to Venice, Italy. And crashed at the bus station with our tents for the night. We also went to see the city of Zagreb which was quite amusing with monuments and museums too.