Despite the heat (40 degrees most days!!) and a summer cold trying to kill me off, we had a absolutely fantastic time in Croatia.

We stayed in Duće , which is about 30 mins (via car) or an hour (via bus) from Split. It’s nearest ‘big town’ is Omiš.

Like all trips I go on, I had a long list of activities I want to do and places that I want to see. Although, one big difference this year was that relaxing and resting were a big part of the agenda and so we scheduled in a few rest days. This meant we couldn’t get to everything on the wish list, but a couple of quiet days on the beach mixed with bobbing about in the sea was what we needed this summer.

That said, we still got a lot in and I wanted to share with you all on my ol’ blog what we got up to and what I recommend if you travel to Croatia.

Omiš

We spent quite some time in Omiš, pootling around the streets, trying out the restaurants and hanging out on the beach (aka. Having a swim stop to cool off).

This gorgeous town was brimming with European charm and character that I think we could’ve wandered around all day.

Even after a day here, we did come back later in the week for an evening to test out the local wine and beer.

Whilst we were in Omiš, we also climbed up to the Peovica Fortress which offered fantastic views over the town and the Cetina river. It is a 13th century tower and at the top, it felt like we were sort of in the mountains!

Split

This was the day when I got struck down with a cold… at first we thought it was our own stupidity of climbing up a hill (more on that shortly) during the midday heat and totally exhausting ourselves, but soon after a snotty nose revealed itself. We had a very early night after this day and a rest day on the beach the day after which revived me.

So the hill. Yes, I was ill but I still do not recommend hiking at midday in summer in Croatia.

Not heeding our own advice, once we arrived in Split we climbed up through Marjan Forest Park to Telegrin Peak.

Telegrin Peak is absolutely the best way to see the city, from here you can see the beautiful coastline, Split’s old town, and Diocletian Palace. It was a fabulous view spot and I’m so pleased we survived the journey up!

On the way back down, we collapsed in the most beautiful restaurant called Teraca Vidilica for the most refreshing glass of Coca-Cola I’ve ever had! I think we spent about an hour recovering in here … but there are certainly worst places to sit down, the restaurant had spectacular views over Split — perhaps we didn’t need to climb the hill after all (just kidding the views at Telegrin Peak are well worth the climb).

Refuelled on Coca-Cola, we wandered around the old town and the remnants of Diocletian Palace which are very central in Split, in fact, you can actually walk through what I guess we’d call an underpass that is still the original part of the Palace.  Sadly we missed the last tour up the Bell Tower (although I’m not so sure that I would’ve had enough energy to climb all those steps!).  

Rafting the Cetina River

Recommended by our brilliant Airbnb host, we booked a morning of rating with a company called Cetina Raft.

They picked us up from our accommodation and drove us round the bendiest roads to our start destination.

The water in this river was the clearest water I’ve ever seen. You could see the rocks at the bottom, the plants, and the fish. It was an absolute privilege to spend our day here.

We rafted down several rapids, played on a rope swing, had multiple swim stops to cool off, explored a cave, drank from a waterfall, and even jumped from a height (that was much higher than I had anticipated!!)

I think that this was the highlight of the trip for both Will and I. If you fancy it, I highly recommend rafting and using the company Cetina Raft, they were great.

We had a short nap after this and then headed back into Omiš for some evening drinkies.

Those were the main excursions that we did whilst we were away, we also hired a paddleboard on one of our beach ‘rest’ days which was really fun.

Other than embracing our inner child by playing catch in the sea and messing around, I read quite a lot sat on the beach, I read the novel Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan, and Atomic Habits by James Clear. I also had some naps.

We saw some epic sunsets whilst we were away, two of which were from Shooko Beach Bar in Duće which was our favourite dinner and drinks place from the trip. I still can’t get over how beautiful it was here!

Duće was a great central point for all our activities so I would totally recommend it if you are tyring to work out where to stay in Croatia. I also want to quickly share the link to our Airbnb host, she was fantastic: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/users/show/58577592

So there we are. I’m not feeling the holiday blues too much yet. I have a few trips coming up over the next couple of months so maybe that’s keeping the blues at bay. My next trip is back to an old favourite of mine: Dartmoor. Myself and my friend Amy are planning a hike and wild camp, I’m very excited!

Thanks for reading!