erinandbryan

This post is a great place to start if you’re planning a beach trip to Croatia. It’s based on our 8 days on the Dalmatian Coast and includes things we did and things we wished we had done.

This itinerary allows you to fly into the international airport in Split, Croatia, island hop through Brac, Hvar, and Korcula taking ferry transfers, and fly home from the international airport in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Instead of giving you a day by day itinerary, this post describes the vibe of each location and allows you to determine how many days you spend in each. Note: If you’re traveling here from outside Europe, plan to be jetlagged your first couple of days… that’s one reason we suggest starting out in Split instead of Dubrovnik.

Highlights

• Split – Splendor of a medieval town built inside the walls of a Roman Emperor’s, Diocletian’s, Palace, a 25-foot tall bronze scuplture of a Saint Gregur, and baroque Venetian architecture
• Brac – Chill beach vibes and the most photographed beach on the Adriatic coast, Zlatni Rat ( referred to as Golden Horn Beach in English). Learn about olive oil production at an olive oil museum. You can lay out your towel on the pebbly beach for free or get served at one of the beach side bar/restaurants in a lounge or daybed.
• Hvar – If you are only going to pay for one beach club on your trip make it Beach Club Hvar. At night head over to Hula Hula Hvar. For a more relaxed experience check out President’s Beach.
• Dubrovnik – Walk the fortress walls and gave at the Baroque city and crystal blue Adriatic sea below, visit The Red Museum to learn about communist Yugoslavia (1945 to 1992 C.E.)

Based on our preferences we’d spend the most time in Brac and the least time in Split. For a week itinerary we might suggest Split (1 night), Brac (3 nights), Hvar (2 nights), Dubrovnik (1 night). Game of Thrones fans may want to take 2 nights in Dubrovnik.

Where we stayed:

• Split- Design One Hostel which is cheaper than a hotel, but more expensive than other hostels. We enjoyed our private room and public rooftop terrace
• Brac – An AirBnB guest house
• Hvar – An AirBnB guest house
• Dubrovnik – Rooms Kortizija

Where we enjoyed eating

• Split, GELATO – We took a recommendation from the podcast Extra Pack of Peanuts (EPOP) and enjoyed the gelato at Sladoledarnica Emiliana. Having once lived in Rome and eaten gelato daily for one month, I’m extremely picky about the gelato I’ll recommend. Sladoledarnica Emiliana is the only gelato I can endorse on this trip – so don’t miss out!
• Split, By the time we reached Croatia we’d been on the Aegean, Ionian, or Adriatic sea for one month and eaten a lot of 1) seafood (looking at you whole, grilled sea bream) and 2) balkan food (ćevapčići and burek). Therefore we ate less of the local food than we would have had we only been in Croatia. However, that did not stop us from enjoying local cuisine at Fife. You probably won’t have the same craving for Indian food we had, but if you do we recommend you try Rhoo which is next to Design One Hostel.
• Brac, Gogy Pizza Delivery makes great whole pizzas with lots of unique toppings and creative combinations
• Brac, Sandwiches at Arguloa fast food
• We didn’t have any standout food experiences in Hvar or Dubrovnik