Hrvatska (Croatia) - Old Cities and Castles and Lots of History

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In April/May 2022 I made a tour of the Balkans. The tour was organized by Zagreb Tours. It was originally planned for April 2020 but had to be postponed. They conducted the tour without extra cost in 2022. The organization was outstanding. I had two guides, each driving me for about half of the tour. Everything worked like clockwork. During the tour I wanted to put more emphasis on bird watching than originally planned. Both guides went out of their way to research bird watching sites during the tour and added visits to many bird watching sites.

Itinerary

I flew into Zagreb from a 3-week trip through Greece. My guide was waiting for me and took me into Zagreb to my hotel, where I stayed for three nights.

The next day I did a city tour of Zagreb with my two guides. One guide would be with me till Dubrovnik for my visit to Hrvatska (Croatia), Slovenija (Slovenia), and Bosna i Hercegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The second guide would pick me up in Dubrovnik for the second part of my Balkan tour through Црна Гора, Crna Gora (Montenegro), Shqipëri (Albania), Македонија (North Macedonia), България (Bulgaria), and Србија (Serbia).

The next day we visited several sites around Zagreb, including Veliki Tabor and Kumrovec. At the end we went bird watching at the Ornithological Station Savica in Zagreb. After the third night in Zagreb we drove to Slovenia for three days.

Coming back from Slovenia we drove to Opatja for two nights. The full day was spent touring the Istria peninsula. We visited Lovran, Hum, Motovun, and Rovinj.

After the second night in Opatja we headed east to Plitvice. It was a great drive through the mountains on unpaved roads. We saw deer and three foxes. It was fun.

From Plitvice we headed for Bosna i Hercegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) for one night in Sarajevo.

Coming back from Bosnia, we drove northwest to Split, where we stayed for two nights. I went on a city tour of Split with a local guide. Split with the Palace of Diocletian is fantastic. The Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The next day we explored Trogir, another nice Old Town. The Historic City of Trogir also is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From Split we drove to Dubrovnik for two nights, a scenic drive along the Dalmatian coast. In Dubrovnik the second guide picked me up for a tour of Old Town Dubrovnik, another interesting Old Town. The Old City of Dubrovnik is another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From Dubrovnik we headed for Црна Гора, Crna Gora (Montenegro) for the continuation of my Balkan tour.

Observations

Croatia is a very clean country. Driving is disciplined. People seem to be friendly.

There is a lot of history in Croatia, I enjoyed seeing lots of interesting places. Like in Slovenia, but unlike Albania, everything is very well preserved and restored

Food and drink are not very expensive, the food was generally very good.

Croatia is well worth a visit, it has a lot to offer.

Following are links to various pages with pictures:

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.