When we think of visiting Croatia we often think about Dubrovnik as Game of Thrones was filmed here or Split as it’s the most spoken about. We, a group of 6 friends decided to take a trip to Zadar in our Campus off. Ryan Air as usual gave us the best deal so we could fly in our budget for 3 nights. The best part was our flight duration was 2 and half hour and both the times we landed in just 1 hour 10 minutes.
Zadar is a small but beautiful city with bright but subtle colour buildings. It is a small old easily walkable town. Walking through the streets here is a complete relaxation as it gives you those positive holiday vibes. Though small there are many things to see. My favourite part was walking through different streets and reaching the sunset every evening, it was soothing and a peaceful escape from your everyday routine.
The trip was not a sprint so we spent 2 days within the city wandering, exploring, watching sunsets, visiting illusion museum and tasting good food. Zadar is home to Croatia’s one of the most famous churches. Church St. Donat which is simple and round-shaped. The town also has an attractive Cathedral with beautiful portals and a bell tower to climb, which gives you best views of the Town. Wandering around the city you will find a traditional city market where women sell homemade lace cloths and men/women selling slabs of Salty Pag cheese and famous Croatian wine.
Zadar has a beautiful waterfront where you have a Sea Organ and Sun Salutation. Sea Organ is an art installation, formed by cutting steps of the concrete waterfront section. It is a small musical instrument played by the waves. The higher the waves, the intense the music.
The blue disc, a solar powered light display which lights up at the night is the Sun salutation. It soaks solar rays, and dazzles coloured light patterns and brings happiness to people standing on the discs. There are some smaller discs which radiate their own rainbow glow. This is like a huge solar powered public dance floor with sea organs music.
There are three national parks very close from Zadar- Paklencia, Plitvice Lakes and Krka. The third day was our best decision during this trip where we planned to visit the Plitvice National Park. We went through a local tour guide which was around 70euro. (500 Kuna) we also got an additional student discount here. The tour included a pick up from your location, walk through the national park, boat rides within the park, lunch and drop at your location. We got to meet many other people with the same tour and see the best spots in the national park. (Perks of having a local guide)P.S. You can explore the place all by yourself as well it is not necessary to go through a tour, but a little bit of study and budget planning is recommended.
Plitvice Lakes National Park is a 295 sq km forest reserve. It has a chain of 16 lakes joined by waterfalls. There are walkways and hiking trails around and across the water. The water is so clean that you are allowed to drink it. There are boats which link the upper and lower lakes. Walking through the clear turquoise water surrounded by forests with the sound of waterfalls is the best view you can ask for. This place is perfect and makes you realise how beautiful nature is. It is like a gift from Mother Nature, a home away from home. My words won’t do justice to this place with mesmerising views but I hope these photos do.
P.S. You are not allowed to get into the water here, if you are looking for a swim amidst the nature KRKA is the best recommended.
The last day we relaxed in our apartment thinking about the best times we spent. I am not a person who likes to visit the same place again but Croatia deserves to be visited again. I am ready with the places I wish to visit during my next trip. KRKA is defiantly on top.
Currency: Kuna 1 euro= 7.4 Kuna (might differ)
Cards and Banks: Cards are accepted in some of the places when you eat but it is recommended you carry cash as most of the places you will need only cash. Withdrawing cash there you will have to pay some additional charges.
Language: Almost all the Croatians spoke English so communication was not a problem.
Weather: Croatia has pleasant weather. The peak months are from June to August when it is hot and ideal water temperature for swimming which attracts most of the tourists. The other months are good to visit with pleasant climate, sunny skies and rains at times. It is usually cool and rainy winters and hot and dry summers.
Flights: There are many flights going to Croatia you can check RyanAir for the best deals in your budget. You can also check Eurowings, Easyjet.
Public Transport: Places are not very big so you don’t need public transport within the city, But if you plan to go to national parks or other cities or to the airport you will need to take public transport. Here you can check Flixbus, there are variety of tours, Take a Taxi or rent a car.
Stay: There are dozens of hotels, hostels, apartments which you can find online. As we were a group of six we booked an apartment which gave us access to everything as it was at the city centre. Name- Voshta – 2 bedroom apartment.
Food: We found a variety of must try sea-food in Croatia. You should definitely give a try if you are sea-food lover. Squid is amongst the most recommended food here. There are a few vegetarian options but if you tell them, many hotels can make veg dishes for you.
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