Croatia
4th Day- Dubrovnik
Budva- Kotor -Dubrovnik
Distance: 100 km
“Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik” George Bernard Show
We left Kotor City and passed by ferryboat to Kamenary. In two hours we arrived in Dubrovnik, an immaculately 13th century fortified city. Being the most popular touristic attraction in Croatia, the city is very crowded during the estival season. It took us some time to find a convenient accomodation but it was perfect in the end. We reserved 2 days for Dubrovnik as we wanted to see more from the Renaissance, Gothic and Baroque architecture of the so called Venice’s rival.
The Clock Tower St. Vlaho Cathedral
Once we entered the old Dubrovnik through the Pile Gate we were amased by the marbled pedestrian boulevards and by the 15 th century Onofrio Fountain. We entered the Franciscan monastery dating from the 1300s, admired the clock tower into Luza Square, Sponza Palace, Rector’s Palace and the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin.
5th Day- Dubrovnik
Finally a day with no rush. We spent a lot of time on the beach, swimming, looking for the fishes and sea urchins. The evening was reserved again for the old fortress.
Grgur Ninski Statue Diocletian’s tricycle :)
6th Day- Split
Distance (Dubrovnik-Split-Starigrad Paklenica):382 km
As we had many destinations we wanted to reach we left Dubrovnik and continued our trip towards Split, the second largest city in Croatia. Here we visited the famous Diocletian Palace with its Roman walls, imperial quarters
and mausoleum, the church and the nice harbour. It ended with a wallow in the sea. We slept in Paklenica.
7th Day- Paklenica National Park
We started the sunny day with treking in the Paklenica National Park. Our route included Paklenica mills, Velika Paklenica Canyon, Anića kuk rock, Lugarnica forest cottage and Paklenica Mountain Hut. It was an easy 2 hours route which revealed us many of the place’s beauties. Paklenica is the most popular climbing area in Croatia in consequence we tried few beautiful routes which were near the parking and the entrance in the park. An almost 30 metres route gave me some flutters but the rope of 60 metres proved to match perfectly in the end .
Paklenica was the destination i enjoyed the most and for sure if i will return in Croatia will be again on my list. It is a picturesque place where one might combine mountains and climbing with swiming in the sea.
8 th Day- Plitvice lakes
Distance (Starigrad Paklenica-Plitvicka jezera): 425 km
We left Paklenika in the morning and went to the famous Plitvice lakes. A costy entrance fee allowed us to step into the paradise of turqoise and deepest green lakes and karst water streams.There were several options for hiking lettered from A, B, C etc that ranged from 2 to 8 hours. We chose the H letter, a 6 hour route which encompass hiking, boat and bus tour. We admired the 12 lakes interconnected by streams and waterfalls cascading through forests and luxury vegetation .Wooden path, bridges and maps guided us through the interest points such us beautiful lakes, caves and streams. We saw many trots and wild ducks which were very friendly with the tourist. In the end we concluded that although it was expensive it worthed all the money.
We slept in a village close to Krk Island.
9 th Day- Krk and Zagreb
Distance: 599 km
We started our day by visiting Krk historical centre including the Frankopan Castle, Krk Cathedral,Old Town Hall, town walls and streets. We swam in Baska, the most beautiful beach in the whole trip and we ate sea food and ice cream on a beautiful sunny weather. We said goodbye to the sea and started our journey towards home.
As the way back home passed to Zagreb, we stopped for 2 hours in the beautiful croatian capital.We have time to see the Zagreb Cathedral, Burza Square, Ban Jelacic Square and the Main Railway Station.
We slept in Beograd.
10 th Day Beograd- Bucharest
Distance: 615 km
The last day was spent only in the car, on the way back home (Beograd-Drobeta Turnu Severin-Craiova-Pitesti-Bucharest)
Total distance- over 3500 km.
