Split, Croatia

We were off to our final destination, Split, at 8 am by mini bus via the the Plitvice Lakes.

We had a brief pit stop and I managed to get locked on the bus because I had my head down writing the blog. Steve came back with my coffee and found me stuck in the bus. It was hilarious. The tour guide came back to find me in the bus and was a little shocked. All I had to do to get out was press the red button. I saw the button but thought it might have been the alarm. 🤣 Very funny!!!

On the way we stopped at Rastoke. It is a picturesque small town (30 houses)with waterfalls cascading all through it. The traditional wooden houses are built around the waterfalls and over some waterfalls. Originally Rastoke was a milling town using the waterfalls to power the milling machines. Now it is a tourist destination with the Korana River very popular for kayaking and whitewater rafting in summer.

Next stop was the very beautiful Plitvice National Park. It is the oldest and largest national park in Croatia.

There are cascading waterfalls everywhere through gorgeous forests and canyons.

It is a chain of 16 pristine turquoise coloured lakes, joined by waterfalls with a limestone canyon.

An electric boat links the 12 upper lakes with the 4 lower lakes. It was a winding tour of waterfalls, lakes, forests and finishing with a rocky canyon.

The tour through the park was around 4 hours. We took one of the electric boats and a bus to reach as much of the park as possible.

After the lakes we stopped for lunch at a traditional Croatian restaurant. Croatia is known for its meat. This restaurant did pork and lamb on a spit. We had to try both! The pork won but no crackling!?? We also had dessert. The area was well known for its basa cheese. Basa cheese is made from the milk of the Busa cow and is a creamy soft cheese like cottage cheese. So the Gratinate pancakes with the basa cheese was highly recommended. They are rolled pancakes filled with the basa cheese and then baked, with plum jam on the side. They were awesome!!

After lunch we changed buses for the transfer to Split. It was a great way to travel to Split because we could do the Plitvice Lakes tour on the way which meant we didn’t have to do it from Split. The bus we took to Split was a Plitvice Lakes tour from Split. So it was perfect!

It was a very long day! We arrived in Split at 8pm. We were met by our Airbnb host and walked to our accommodation which was 5 minutes away.

We had an apartment in the old Diocletian Palace. There were 75 steps to the 5th floor. Steve was a bit hot and tired after lugging two suitcases up. It was amazing! We had a roof top balcony with a spectacular 270 degree view of Split. It was very special and a great way to finish our trip.

There was a nice bottle of bubbles in the fridge for us so we sat on the roof top and enjoyed the view and the bubbles.

The next day we had an island hopping tour with a visit to the Blue Cave.

We met the boat at 7.30. It was a small speed boat which we assumed was taking us to transfer to another bigger boat. Once on the boat the driver told us that it would be 1and a half hours to our first stop and then he stepped on the accelerator and off we went. Not exactly what we were expecting! It was 7.30 am and we were going hell for leather at 25 knots. It was windy and freezing and when we went across the open water it was choppy and rough. For an hour and a half!! I was very thankful that I bought my puffer jacket!! I was writing the TripAdvisor review as we bumped our way across the Adriatic Sea. 😂

Our first stop was the town Komizo on the island Vis. It was a stop to warm up! I also had a wet bum because the seat was wet in the boat. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day and I could get warm and dry my butt! We had a coffee to warm up and tried a cheese burek. It was yum!

The town was beautiful and we were told that Mama Mia was filmed there.

After Komizo we had another speedy ride over to the island Biševo to visit the Blue Cave. We transferred to a smaller boat and motored a short distance to the cave.

The entrance to the cave very small so we had to duck down.

And wow!!! It was magical inside. It was blue!

We had quite a bit of time in the cave because it wasn’t peak tourist season. I’d heard of people waiting 2 hours to get in for 5 minutes. We had at least 10 minutes.

It was once only accessible by diving until they made an entrance big enough for a small boat using dynamite. The driver of the boat lived on the island of Vis and used to have parties in the cave when he was a teenager. The colour of the water changes according to the time during the day. I can’t imagine it being any more beautiful!!

After the Blue Cave Tony, our driver, took us around to show us some other sights. Because the islands are limestone there were many other caves, holes and beaches between rocks.

Next stop was The Blue Lagoon on the island of Budikovac. Again a beautiful spot! It was a lovely sunny day so we had to go for a swim in the Adriatic. I wasn’t too keen but had to swim in the Adriatic!! The beach wasn’t sand. It has big pebbles which weren’t to good for the feet!

There was a bar so a corona was a must.

And there were donkeys. One donkey decided he’d come and say hi to everyone. Of course he was on to the tourists! Tourists have food. The donkey got lucky and found a bag of pretzels. It was hilarious!! He picked up the bag and the pretzels went everywhere but he was a happy donkey.

The people who owned the pretzels weren’t so happy. 🤣 He’d trodden on all of their stuff. He ate all those pretzels and went looking for more! And went back to the same people!! So funny.

Our final island was Hvar. We had a few hours to have lunch and explore.

Hvar was a lovely and relaxed island. We had lunch and then walked up to the fort for the amazing view.

Then it was an hour of wind and a rough bumpy ride back to Split. It wasn’t quite as cold as 7.30 am. The cold bumpy ride there and back was definitely worth it. It was an awesome day.

We had some dinner and watched the sunset and then went back to enjoy our roof top.

Maybe a little too much? It ended up being a very late night.

The next day we had a walking tour at 10am. Once again we learned about the rich history of Split.

The apartment we were staying in was part of a palace built for the Roman Emporer Diocletian at the turn of the 4th century AD.

The tour took us through the areas of the palace showing how it changed through time, who had lived there and how the city was trying to restore it. Our apartment was on the western corner tower.

The amazing thing about the palace today is how people live in the palace.

There are also many small hotels and lots of shops and a big market in the middle.

After the tour we went and did some shopping and then went to lunch.

We had a lovely view but the lunch wasn’t as good.

We shared a hamburger that was like a frozen patty and some chips that were soggy and cold. They’d been sitting there for hours! So we moved on to another restaurant. It was really hot so we found a restaurant with a breeze.

We had an awesome pizza for dinner and went back to our apartment with plans of sitting outside with some nibbles and wine to enjoy our last evening in Split. We were so tired from the night before and we had an early start so we ended up packing and going to bed early.

Split was a great place to end our Europe holiday. All good things must come to an end. The whole trip was an amazing experience of different countries and their culture. We definitely expanded our knowledge and waistlines!!