Exploring Croatia : Dalmatian Coast

A week ago we took a little family trip to Croatia. It's super easy to get to from Italy (in the car)...parts of Croatia are only a couple of hours away.

The part we went to was about 7 hours away but honestly - it still blows my mind that I can drive out of one country, through another, and to another in 7 hours. I grew up in a state where if you drive for 7 hours...you are still in the same state!

We decided to rent a house in the Trogir/Marina area- about an hour from Split.

As we got close to our destination, I was super interested in the terrain. All rock + olive trees. I'd never seen anything like it, and Jimmy said it really reminded him of the time he spent in Isreal.

 

We stayed in a little apartment (pretty much all Croatia rentals are apartments) about 100 meters above a little cove. This is what it looked like walking down to the cove:

And then...BAM. Turquoise ombré waters and not another soul around. I couldn't believe it.

We LOVE the beach but we are not an elbow-to-elbow Italian beach kind of family. So this was absolutely perfect.

The water was super COLD the first night but we went swimming anyway!

The next morning we headed down to the beach again and we couldn't believe that the water was even more beautiful.

Note: Most Croatian beaches are ROCKY. Water shoes are a must. Sadie stepped on a sea urchin the first night (her shoe fell off) and it was a disaster. Jimmy had to tweeze forever and she spent most of the night and next morning vomiting and having an upset tummy. :( So if you head to Croatia good water shoes are a must.

These are the super steep stairs that led down to our little dream beach. You can't really tell how steep they are from the photo, but trust me. :) They were really fun to go down - especially with beach anticipation aiding us - but not so much fun to go UP. But my little European troupers didn't complain.

'

The next morning the owner of our apartment (such a lovely family) took us out on his boat. He drove us to Old Trogir and a small SANDY beach!

It was wonderful. Lots of snorkeling and skinny dipping.

Not really, but funny story. A LOT has changed since I moved to Europe. One of the many changes is that I no longer make my girls wear one pieces. I no longer wear a once piece. It's just not done here. And it's NOT a big deal. It is not sexualized. Just like breast feeding isn't a big deal and isn't sexualized.

You really won't see a little girl five or under (or ten or under!) wearing a top at all. Their mentality is...they don't have anything to cover, why would they wear a top?

At first I found this shocking. Now I don't. It's the way of life over here. And the girls took to it like a fish to water. Three of the four (the littles and the maniac Sadie) love it. Harper, not so much. She's my modest girl and I love her.

Cate and Lucy asked my why my top wasn't off. Ummmm?

Two nights of three we went into Trogir for dinner. Some of the best meals we've had in Europe. Truly. And y'all...Croatia is SO CHEAP. It's perfect for a family vacation.

Here are some shots I took while walking around Trogir:

Guys- this is NOT what I expected when I ordered fried fish!!!

Sponges and Lavender everywhere:

This was a wonderful trip. I recommend Croatia whole-heartedly. It was family friendly, inexpensive, and everyone was so NICE. Mostly everyone speaks English too, which was weird! But easy.

I had big plans for day trips. Split, Dubrovnik, maybe even an overnight trip to Montenegro. But nope. It was so nice where we were...we just stayed. And chilled. That's hard for me sometimes and I need a reminder to just be at times. It was perfect.

One more story...we drove through Slovenia to and from Croatia and ate lunch there both times.

Every restaurant in Slovenia either has a pig on a spit or a billboard of a pig on a spit. I had to record how the girls felt about this. Please look at Harper vs. Sadie. BAHAHAH!

Looking back at the past 2 years and looking ahead here's a little list of the travel we've done.

Places We've Been

1. Italy (obviously)

2. Germany

3. Austria

4. Switzerland

5. Liechtenstein

6. France

7. Monaco

8. Spain

9. Slovenia

10. Croatia

 

And the other places we haven't made it to:

Places We Still Want To See:

1. Hungary

2. Czech Republic

3. Malta

4. San Marino

5. Vatican City

6. Poland

7. Belgium

8. Ireland

9. Scotland

10. England

11. Greece

12. Montenegro

13. Netherlands

14. Portugal

 

Hmmm. Don't think we can make it to all of those in the next 9 months to a year, but don't think we won't try!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and reading my ramblings. I hope you have a beautiful Monday!

xoxo

S

Comments

[Kate]

The Netherlands should be number 1 iso 13! We also have nice, sandy beaches ( no urchins), and can be quite civil, and speak American English perfectly ;)

[Stephanie Howell]

They arent numbered by preference or in any particular order. ;)

[Stacey]

That's for sharing about your trips in Europe! Croatia looks beautiful. The kids will have wonderful stories to tell about living in Italy and visiting so many countries. And how cool that your baby will be born in Italy! My kids always tell me that they wish they were born in another country. That would have been hard since mom is afraid to fly! (Well, Canada and Mexico would have been possibilities!). I hope you get to visit many on your "to visit" list!

[Kimber-Leigh]

i loved reading this…and your pictures are beautiful! (and i'm glad to know about sea urchins now!) i think y'all have done such a great job of traveling all over--can't wait to see what your last year holds for you--especially with that sweet new baby on the way!

[Suzy Gray]

I've always wanted to add that to a European trip since that's my dad's nationality. Growing up in Baltimore no one even knew what Croatian was so I just said Yugoslavian. Now it's a country again. Thanks for sharing your travels. Can't wait to see the new baby!!! I knew you couldn't stop at 4 lol

[Becky]

Sounds fabulous. Love the pictures. Best of luck getting to as many places on your list. Any clues to where you might be stationed next?

[April Jaehn]

If you haven't picked up "The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared" DO IT! NOW! you will love it. I laughed so hard and just shook my head at times, but I couldn't put it down.
Also, Budapest is magnificient and the history is heartbreaking. You don't want to miss it. We are stationed in Hungary and I can't begin to tell you how incredible an experience it has been! If you want a longer trip hit Krakow, Auschwitz, Prague, then Budapest for an amazing vacation! : )april

[Linda E]

Sounds like a wonderful vacation! Thanks for sharing your adventure!

[Marianne]

My family is from Croatia and we have visited many times. Love the pictures - brings back such great memories. I'll be going next summer and can't wait. Thanks for sharing.

[kelly purkey]

Gorgeous!

[ClareB]

Either put UK or add Wales and N. Ireland please! Both beautiful places and worth a visit :) x

[betsy]

We have family that live just where you visited. Why have I not visited them yet?!

[Brenda]

Love the pictures, definitely on my bucket list now. You should definitely try to make it to Malta - we LOVE it!! We stayed in a secluded resort on Malta and took the ferry for one day to Gozo (it's smaller sister island) the waters are so beautiful off both islands and the churches are more ornate than the Italian ones! The Blue Grotto and Azure Window are both stunning and the little boats at both places were safe and fun!

[Maya]

Must say that Jimmy is right, those view really remind the north area of Israel.
Your pictures are beautiful, wish you all more great memories.

[Jetty]

What a great bucketlist, since i live in the Netherlands i love reading about your adventures. Some of the places are going to be on my bucketlist also. The Netherlands is worth a visit and like i always say, don't go only to Amsterdam. I live in the north of the Netherland, in Groningen. It's a beautiful city and the surroundings are beautiful to. From there it's also easy to take a boat for a daytrip to Schiermonnikoog.

[Jenni Hufford]

i love your travel posts!!!! I hope you make it to Hungary- I have been there three times for mission trips and Budapest is incredible. Also, you gotta get to Greece. Stat. Santorini, hands down, is the most beautiful place i've been!

[Jo]

Hey, you've got to come to Portugal! It's so family friendly here! And I agree with you on the bikini top thing. We think that putting on a child something made for a woman is what sexualizes them. My daughter is almost ten and is only now wanting to wear the top part of her bikini. She does not wear any kind of make up, including nail polish and doesn't have her ears pierced. I get that most little girls like to play at being grown up, but I'd rather see them looking like children. They grow up so fast as it is...

[Alison]

If you're looking for random strangers' votes for where you should go next, I would vote for the Czech Republic strictly because I travel vicariously through you and your family and my youngest girl really, really wants to go to the Czech Republic. Our wonderful neighbors are from there and are basically our third set of grandparents. So if you went, we could look at your pictures and sort of feel like we did.

Seriously though, your trip photos and stories are always great. Thank you for sharing them with us all. And I'm glad Sadie didn't get too sick from that urchin. Being sick when you're not at home is always such a bummer.

[Yvonne]

Beautiful pictures! I can only imagine how "fun" those stairs would be when pregnant. (note the sarcasm). Sorry to hear Sadie got so sick. :( Not fun in the best of times but on vacation it feels that much more horrible. Thanks for sharing this trip with us! (Seriously, I don't think I would have been able to eat my dinner if that's what arrived in front of me!) :)

[Lisa Johnson]

I am BEYOND jealous that you got to drive through sLOVEnija! I lived there for 18 months as a missionary for the Mormon church. Before you leave Italy you need to make it a point to go to sLOVEnija and visit Lake Bled & Predjamski Grad (a huge castle built into the side of a mountain). :)

Thanks for sharing all of your European adventures. It lets me live vicariously through you. :)

[Shelley P]

I'd go back to Croatia in a heartbeat. Last time I was in Croatia was about 20 summers ago. I must return there soon. I'd love to go where you stayed with the small beach. Can you tell us where? Thanks.