Road trips
I like road trips. Back in the uni days, I liked to do road trips here and there now and then when there was a break. The very first one as an active driver was in Tasmania, Australia. I hadn’t had much driving experience then. That week of intensive driving in an unfamiliar environment kind of pushed me a little outside my comfort zone to become a real-world driver. That was before the era of GPS and Google Map and driving in a new territory required more careful planning and studying of the map beforehand. I’d done several road trips in different countries since then. I’d always wanted to do a road trip with campervan but hadn’t had a chance yet, so I was quite excited when planning this trip.
It was an European trip last summer. The idea was to first go to Zagreb to visit the capital of Croatia. We would then pick up a campervan there and have the motor home for the next few days en route to Split before returning it there. Surprisingly, as we were researching where to book a campervan, the best offer we found was not in Croatia but this place in Slovenia. They would drive over the campervan for us to pick up in Zagreb and fly over to Split to pick it back up from us. The overall price was still much cheaper than the ones we found in Croatia.
Zagreb: The capital of Croatia
As usual, I did a walking tour in Zagreb to learn a bit about the history of the city and the country. Croatia was part of Yugoslavia and was in constant conflict with the neighbouring countries. It’s not only until recently they started to have some stability. The history aside, personally, I didn’t find Zagreb itself very exciting. There was not much going on so a day was enough for us. According to the tour guide, since Croatia is such a elongated country, the different parts of it bring in very different things. From skiing up in the mountains to sunbathing in the beautiful beaches along the long coastline all within easy reach. That’s essentially why I was interested in a road trip here.
The campervan
We met up with the driver to pick up our campervan at the train station. She drove the vehicle from Slovenia for us and was going to take a bus back to Slovenia. It was well-equipped motor home that could fit four people. There was a kitchenette with a gas stove, a small fridge, a shower and a chemical toilet. After a basic introduction of the vehicle, the driver left for her bus and we were on the road.
After picking up the campervan, we started our road trip driving towards the coast. It was my first time driving such a big vehicle so it took a bit of getting used to. Things got easier as we were out of the city. We first stopped by at a supermarket along the way to stock up for our food supplies. We had booked campsites for the next few days and had a BBQ, a camping table and chairs rented with the campervan.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the largest national parks in Croatia. It is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage register and a very popular tourist destination. A simple internet search of the national park will give you more than plenty of stunning pictures. To avoid disappointment, we had booked our admission tickets in advance. The first campsite we booked was close to the national park with a shuttle bus going there, so we could visit the national park without moving our camper van.
There are several recommended routes in the national park of various lengths, ranging from 2-3 hours to 6-8 hours. It is not compulsory to follow one of those routes, but they are good suggestions. You can follow the one you like or plan your own depending on the time you have. We planned a whole day there so chose to follow one of the longer routes for the most part. The shorter routes are part of the longer ones and cover the main sites. As such, you see all the tourists including the ones who are only there for a quick visit. It’s an understandable popular but the number of tourists kind of took away the enjoyment a little in a supposedly peaceful national park. The beautiful nature there was undeniably stunning though. After we passed the part of the route that overlapped with the shorter ones, there was a clear drop in the number of tourists and we were able to enjoy the nature a bit more then.
Beach holiday
We continued our drive towards the coast after the national park visit. After all, Croatia is known for its long coastline. The next campsite we booked, Belvedere, was right at the coast with its own beach. It was meant to be a few nice days of beach vacation. The campsite has all the facilities you need, from toilets and showers to shops and restaurants. It was also a very busy campsite and the beach was full of people. Croatia is clearly a popular summer destination.
We spent a few days in the beach with some water activities. I tried a bit of jet-ski and paddle boarding. It was my first time for both of them. I managed to get around with the jet-ski a little but failed spectacularly with paddle boarding. I couldn’t even count the number of times I fell into the water. There was also a boat from the beach that would take you to Trogir, which was a city about 30 min away by boat. We spent half a day to visit the city as part of our time there. It was quite a cute little city at the coast with a castle and some shops for tourists.
Split
After spending a few days at the beach, Split was our next stop. We drove to Split airport to return the campervan before going into the city. Split is the second largest city of Croatia. It’s a nice city at the coast and very popular in summer when I was there. The city centre and the old town of Split is just right next to the coast and it’s quite easy to walk around. There are historical sites with plenty of shops and restaurants to cater for travellers. The Bacvice Beach is an easy walk from the city centre if you want to relax at a beach for half a day.
Split is also one of the filming locations of Game of Thrones (GOT). There is a GOT museum and also GOT tours running in the city. I’m not a GOT fan myself but they could be interesting for fans of the series.
Afterthoughts
Croatia is a very beautiful country. From the stunning view of the national parks to the long coastline and nice beaches, the country has plenty to offer. It’s also not an expensive country to travel compared to many western European countries. I can see why it’s a popular destination for summer vacation. For Geocachers, try looking at the map of the caches in the city and see what they’ve done. We finished our time in Croatia on a ferry departing from Split to Italy. In contrast, the summer this year has been much less exciting due to COVID-19. I can only hope that we can rid this pandemic very soon.
Are you a fan of road trips? Have you been to Croatia? How did you like it?
CAREX 
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