Strategy: We stayed 2 nights on average in every location, that way we had 1 full day and one half day to see each place.
Mode of transport: flixbus, Uber and rented cars (could be done by bus only, depending on where you’ll be coming from of course)
Budget: we paid about 25 Euros/night for accommodation and about 20 Euros for a meal for the two of us.
Activities: Visiting museums,
Sightseeing
Swimming
Tips for Croatia:
Have cash on you, many places in Croatia don’t accept cards.
There are a lot of apartments in Croatia on booking.com and some of those will charge a cleaning fee of up to 20 Euros. This cleaning fee is only added to the price you are expecting to pay for the room at the very last stage of the booking process and you’ll only see it at the bottom left corner of the page. Sadly, if you’re not very careful (it’s also happened to us), you might end up paying double of what you wanted to for your accommodation. This is a thread created by people who got charged a 'cleaning fee' when making a booking on booking.com
Don’t order chicken dishes if you’re on a budget. We’ve done it and the meat was chewy and not fresh. Order seafood or a veggie dish instead if you’re eating at a restaurant where the dishes cost up to about 80 kuna (these could be considered budget restaurants). If you can afford to pay more for a meal, meat will be much fresher.
One of the nicer dinners we had in Croatia:
You’ll see many people looking into trash cans on the streets. They are not all homeless and looking for scraps, they mostly search for plastic bottles. They get a few lipa (cents) from the recycling centre if they return those bottles. To make their job easier, put your empty plastic bottles next to the trash can.
Try the Croatian Rakija. It’s their special alcohol, most places offer different types and flavours.
Extra tips for travel in general:
Eat your biggest meal of the day in a restaurant (that was lunch for us, for you that might be dinner). You can buy food for your other meals at a local shop and have it in your apartment or even on the beach. We had muesli with yoghurt most days for breakfast and rice cakes with ham, cheese and vegetables for dinner. You can save a lot by not having every single meal at a restaurant. In Croatia most accommodation will have a kettle and some basic cutlery so you can have your morning coffee in your room too.
Don’t order drinks with your meal if you’re eating in a restaurant, carry water with you instead. Drinks add up and make your order much more expensive. And you might not have even been thirsty to begin with!
When you take out cash from an ATM, don’t let it do the currency conversion for you, your bank’s conversion rate will be a lot better. (especially if you use a cash-card or Revolut). Use ATMs of big banks, those are always cheaper.
Stop No 1: Zagreb
Accommodation: Room Kokot
We spent 2 nights in Zagreb, arriving by Flixbus at the Autobusni Kolodvor (bus station) late in the evening.
Activities in Zagreb:
- Join the free walking tour . You’ll learn about Croatia, and the city itself a lot from the tour guide. It takes place twice a day and is about 2.5 hours long.
- Visit the unique Museum of Broken Relationships. Here you’ll find anything starting from teddy bears to love letter, shoes and toy cars, all of which come with a story of a relationship and its end. It’s a lot of reading if you want to go through all the stories, so you might not end up doing that but there are some really interesting ones. This museum is the most visited in Zagreb and it’s open until 10:30pm so you have the full day to turn up there.
- Go to Dolac Market. It’s in the very centre of the city and its big, unique umbrellas make it very easy to spot. You’ll find local fresh and dried fruits here and have your morning coffee at one of the stalls close by. We bought some fresh and dried figs, which are very common in Croatia and they were amazing!
- Have lunch/dinner at Nokturno. This restaurant is just off Dolac market and their food is amazing and reasonably priced.
- Walk around and enjoy the atmosphere of the city. Tkalciceva street was our favorite here, it’s a bustling place lined with restaurants and cafes, full of locals and tourists alike.
Stop No 2: Rovinj (and a bit of Rijeka)
Mode of transportation: Rented car. We rented a car in Zagreb at Novacar
They are located in the building of Sheraton Hotel, very easy to find. We booked the car on their website ahead of time and paid about 17 Euros/day for it. This company will suit you if you want to return the car in a different location to where you got it from (they charge 50 Euros extra if you want to do that). They have offices in most bigger cities in Croatia, you can choose to return the car in any of those.
The drive to Rovinj was quite long (3 hours) so we decided to make a stop for lunch in Rijeka. We walked around the centre
and the promenade.
We had lunch in Conca D’oro restaurant on the main walking street. The food was very tasty here and well presented.
Accommodation in Rovinj: Apartment Sanja
Activities in Rovinj:
- Walking in the old town: Rovinj’s old town is amazing.
We loved wondering it’s medieval tangle of tight streets and alleys that pass under archways all covered with white cobblestones, its bustling market and promenade. It’s also mostly car and motorbike free.
There is a huge cathedral on top of the hill in the middle of the town with a beautiful view.
- Beaches in Rovinj: The natural park Punta Corrente is a boot-shaped peninsula south of Rovinj. It has several beaches, just walk around the coast and find one you’ll like. We hang out at Punta Corrente Bar, they had sun beds you can use if you buy a drink. The water was a bit too cold for a swim (only like 23 degrees), but I managed to dip into it a little bit.
The other beach we checked out was Val de Lesso beach with Beach Bar Rovinj. We didn’t like this beach as much because it was all covered with concrete. It’s is located to the north of the old town.
Both beaches are walking distance from the centre (about 15-20 minutes).
Stop No 3: Pula
Pula is just a 40 min drive from Rovinj. We still had the rented car so we drove there.
Accommodation: we rented a whole apartment through Airbnb for about £20/night and we loved te place.
Activities in Pula
- Right when you get into Pula, even before you get into the old town, you’ll see the Amphitheatre.
It’s a huge structure built in AD81 and a great place for pictures. You do need to pay an entry fee of £6 to get in, but walking around it can be just as good.
- Wander the old town. The best way to enter it is through the Arch of the Sergii, which is the main gateway into the historic centre. The Arch of Segrii has been guarding the town for more than 2,000 years.
In the historic centre you’ll come across the Roman Temple, which is located on the main square.
Make sure to walk up the stairs and look inside it, you’ll see some creepy looking stuffed figurines sitting opposite the altar.
All the streets in Pula are cobblestoned. We loved walking around there and getting lost in the maze of its little streets.
- Have a beach day at Verudela. It’s a small peninsula near the town of Pula with a big resort on it, but they’ll let you in even if you’re not staying at one of their hotels. (and you can park for free there).
Beaches are mainly concrete, but the water is clear and you can work on your tan here.
This was the first week of our two week trip through Croatia. Watch out for the next part, we'll post it in the next few days!
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