Split
Split forms a very interesting middle ground between Dubrovnik, a largely untouched tourist dream of a small city, and Zagreb, a bustling, Metropolis that loses some of the Coastal Croatian charm. Split is the middle ground. It has a large, if a bit too touristy (more on that in a minute) old town area that borders the waters, and a larger, bustling city center that is more or less charmless when walking through it - though nice looking from afar. Split is also close to a ton of different day trip destinations, including one of the more popular ones, a trip to the Island of Hvar, which we did on our last full day.
Split's old town is similarly structured to Dubrovnik, with a few key differences. First, it is mostly flat, as opposed to the quite high-banking topography of Dubrovnik. The old town is larger, with more shops and stalls, hiding a lot of gems around tourist attractions. The main open square is littered with restaurants with a bevy of outdoor seating. I stopped by one for a beer and appetizer one day. The food was good, but the view of people passing by was even better. It reminded me a lot of Krakow's main square. The old town also housed one of the best burgers I've had outside of the US, Mama's Burger Bar, nestled in a corner of one of the secondary squares.
The main attractions in the old town are St. Michael's Cathedral and the Dionecylsian Palace. Both well worth visiting. The Palace is more open and unstructured than most 'palaces' in Europe, but had some really good sightlines. The Cathedral was fairly ornate inside, but the real crown jewel was the Bell Tower that came with the ticket. The Bell Tower had a fair amount of steps that ranged between either really high (a good foot between steps), or narrow (for a 2-way staircase), but at the top was an incredible 360 degree view of the city. The only better view of Split came from the lookouts up Marjan Park. It is a decent little hike, with a truly spectacular view at the top.
Our dining in Split was more off the cuff than in Dubrovnik, with nothing approaching 360 Restaurant in scale and taste. Our best meal (other than the Burger place) was at one of the local Konoba's (restaurant in Croatian) that dot the outside of the old town. This one was a small, cozy little shop, but hid a good menu with great plating and good taste. I had squid ink risotto with octopus and a dish that consisted of roughly 40 grilled anchovies, each cooked well. The place also had local Croatian alcohols available for ~$4 per drink - make no mistake we had a few. Nightlife in Split is every bit as crazy as Dubrovnik, and if anything more varied with more options. The first night we spent it beach-side going to Bacvice Club, which is more of a large bar on the beach - something quite familiar to beach-side spots across the world. The other was Vanilla Club, with a DJ and laser lights and a great atmosphere with just enough breeze coming in from teh water. Vanilla Club lasted until 5AM, at least that's when we left. Who knows how much longer it goes to?
Split on the whole is a trumped-up version of Dubrovnik, a little more glitzy, a little more cliched in terms of catering to toursits. It also isn't as idyllic. But within the city is hidden a beautiful old town, great cozy restaurants and clubs to keep you dancing the night away. It is right up there with any Eastern European city, especially when you add in the bevy of day trips that chart out of its harbor and roads.
Lake Plitvice
Our last full day of the trip was centered around Lake Plitvice, a crown jewel of Croatia's vast, mostly empty, interior. The Lake is about three-and-a-half hours away from Split, mostly through winding roads up and downs hills and mountains with spectacular views of vast expanse of Croatian mountainside - an tableau far more impressive in scale and beauty than I imagined. It was a tough drive, mainly due to me being on little sleep after we were up until 5AM at Vanilla Club the day before. We made one pit-stop on the drive, to the random town of Neoric, in the middle of nowhere. We stopped there because we thought there was a cafe to get breakfast. It wasn't, it was a cafe that was mostly a bar, filled with the town locals in this random place. They didn't have food. The nearest restaurant they said was in a town a good 20 minutes away. They did have coffee, they were all mostly already drinking at 11AM on a Saturday. You got the feeling that most of the town was in that bar.
We finally reached Lake Plitvice around 2PM. They have a few different walking tour options, ranging from 3-8 hours (the higher gets you a tour of the entire Lake area). We picked a three hour option, and I think it was mostly perfect. The walking tour is well maintained, with alternating paths of wooden planks over and around lakes, and dirt paths up and down little hills. Each area gives you incredible views of lakes, waterfalls, forests, and expanse of Croatian beauty:
Lake Plitvice is in the middle of nowhere, but its quality more than establishes itself as a central destination in the tour of Croatia. The Lake also seemed to be the catalyst for everything going on in that region, including a host of roadside house-turned-restaurants that dot Highway 1 leading away from the Lake.
Lake Plitvice is a fascinating place, that combines the blue turquoise, pristine waters of the Caribbean, with the picturesque waterfalls of the rainforests, with the trees and forestation surrounding the lakes reminescent of Lake Louise and Banff National Park in Canada. Truly a mesmerizing combination.
Split forms a very interesting middle ground between Dubrovnik, a largely untouched tourist dream of a small city, and Zagreb, a bustling, Metropolis that loses some of the Coastal Croatian charm. Split is the middle ground. It has a large, if a bit too touristy (more on that in a minute) old town area that borders the waters, and a larger, bustling city center that is more or less charmless when walking through it - though nice looking from afar. Split is also close to a ton of different day trip destinations, including one of the more popular ones, a trip to the Island of Hvar, which we did on our last full day.
Split's old town is similarly structured to Dubrovnik, with a few key differences. First, it is mostly flat, as opposed to the quite high-banking topography of Dubrovnik. The old town is larger, with more shops and stalls, hiding a lot of gems around tourist attractions. The main open square is littered with restaurants with a bevy of outdoor seating. I stopped by one for a beer and appetizer one day. The food was good, but the view of people passing by was even better. It reminded me a lot of Krakow's main square. The old town also housed one of the best burgers I've had outside of the US, Mama's Burger Bar, nestled in a corner of one of the secondary squares.
The main attractions in the old town are St. Michael's Cathedral and the Dionecylsian Palace. Both well worth visiting. The Palace is more open and unstructured than most 'palaces' in Europe, but had some really good sightlines. The Cathedral was fairly ornate inside, but the real crown jewel was the Bell Tower that came with the ticket. The Bell Tower had a fair amount of steps that ranged between either really high (a good foot between steps), or narrow (for a 2-way staircase), but at the top was an incredible 360 degree view of the city. The only better view of Split came from the lookouts up Marjan Park. It is a decent little hike, with a truly spectacular view at the top.
Our dining in Split was more off the cuff than in Dubrovnik, with nothing approaching 360 Restaurant in scale and taste. Our best meal (other than the Burger place) was at one of the local Konoba's (restaurant in Croatian) that dot the outside of the old town. This one was a small, cozy little shop, but hid a good menu with great plating and good taste. I had squid ink risotto with octopus and a dish that consisted of roughly 40 grilled anchovies, each cooked well. The place also had local Croatian alcohols available for ~$4 per drink - make no mistake we had a few. Nightlife in Split is every bit as crazy as Dubrovnik, and if anything more varied with more options. The first night we spent it beach-side going to Bacvice Club, which is more of a large bar on the beach - something quite familiar to beach-side spots across the world. The other was Vanilla Club, with a DJ and laser lights and a great atmosphere with just enough breeze coming in from teh water. Vanilla Club lasted until 5AM, at least that's when we left. Who knows how much longer it goes to?
Split on the whole is a trumped-up version of Dubrovnik, a little more glitzy, a little more cliched in terms of catering to toursits. It also isn't as idyllic. But within the city is hidden a beautiful old town, great cozy restaurants and clubs to keep you dancing the night away. It is right up there with any Eastern European city, especially when you add in the bevy of day trips that chart out of its harbor and roads.
Lake Plitvice
Our last full day of the trip was centered around Lake Plitvice, a crown jewel of Croatia's vast, mostly empty, interior. The Lake is about three-and-a-half hours away from Split, mostly through winding roads up and downs hills and mountains with spectacular views of vast expanse of Croatian mountainside - an tableau far more impressive in scale and beauty than I imagined. It was a tough drive, mainly due to me being on little sleep after we were up until 5AM at Vanilla Club the day before. We made one pit-stop on the drive, to the random town of Neoric, in the middle of nowhere. We stopped there because we thought there was a cafe to get breakfast. It wasn't, it was a cafe that was mostly a bar, filled with the town locals in this random place. They didn't have food. The nearest restaurant they said was in a town a good 20 minutes away. They did have coffee, they were all mostly already drinking at 11AM on a Saturday. You got the feeling that most of the town was in that bar.
We finally reached Lake Plitvice around 2PM. They have a few different walking tour options, ranging from 3-8 hours (the higher gets you a tour of the entire Lake area). We picked a three hour option, and I think it was mostly perfect. The walking tour is well maintained, with alternating paths of wooden planks over and around lakes, and dirt paths up and down little hills. Each area gives you incredible views of lakes, waterfalls, forests, and expanse of Croatian beauty:
Lake Plitvice is in the middle of nowhere, but its quality more than establishes itself as a central destination in the tour of Croatia. The Lake also seemed to be the catalyst for everything going on in that region, including a host of roadside house-turned-restaurants that dot Highway 1 leading away from the Lake.
Lake Plitvice is a fascinating place, that combines the blue turquoise, pristine waters of the Caribbean, with the picturesque waterfalls of the rainforests, with the trees and forestation surrounding the lakes reminescent of Lake Louise and Banff National Park in Canada. Truly a mesmerizing combination.
