Emily: Ferries in Croatia… Eat your heart out inter-islander fans!! We arrived on board after travelling or waiting for the whole day, sticky and clammy and not really looking forward to our overnight trip. My mood immediately changed when I found a clean hot shower with soap ready for us to use – I was straight in there!! We had an interesting dinner on the ferry where we nearly ordered off the children’s menu, the Vegetarian antipasto consisted of ham wrapped in egg plant, and bacon and ricotta pie. We both slept on the floor in our sleeping bags which wasn’t too bad at all!
Arrived 7am, put our bags in a locker and ate yummy chocolate pastries mmmmmm!
Split is a gorgeous town, buzzing with tourists but not too crowded. It has a great promenade along the water right next to the port where huge numerous ferries come and go all day. Countless restaurants, cafes, gelato and pizza stalls line the narrow white marble streets inside the Diocletian Palace ( right by the waterfront) and the shopping is awesome! Lots of small fashions boutiques, shoe and bag shops every block, and of course the larger franchise stores if required. The atmosphere was so relaxed, it was so nice to stroll through the old town by the water front, and the market ( bought white shell earrings and big hat for our up-coming cruise) which sold everything from cheese, meat, clothes, jewellery, fresh fruit and veg.
Our hostel was only a 5min walk from the waterfront, we bought a cheap twin room for two nights and were stoked when we found out we not only had our own cable TV and computer, but also a disco ball and changing coloured lights, activated by a large switch on the wall saying DISCO! Haha random but fun!
We made it out Solin by local bus to see some Roman ruins dating back to 78BC. It was quiet and pretty with lots of wild flowers around although the neighbourhood was quite industrial. The amphitheatre was pretty cool, and with unrestricted access could walk anywhere including on the ruins.
Inside the palace we found a cute cafe down a narrow street where their stools are made from egg cartons and they have free wifi and good coffee!

After a huge catch-up sleep we caught a bus to Trogir the following morning. It’s an absolutely stunning wee town with the main part on a small island connected to the mainland by two small bridges on either side. It’s set inside medieval walls, and we actually arrived on the first day of a medieval festival! All the locals were dressed up in medieval clothes, with old fashions merry-go-rounds ( baskets hanging by rope from two spinning planks) and
We had a yummy lunch of fresh bread and local prachetto (a welcome change from pizza) and Croatian donuts – deep fried balls of dough covered in chocolate YUM! The luxurious boats the lined the town made us a bit envious, so much money around!
There’s an old church in town ( actually in every town!) and we paid to climb the bell tower which although was a bit dodgey feeling like the metal steps built into the side of the concrete were abou to give way, the view from the top was worth it – Croatia is a gem! Aqua clear water, terra cotta roofs all around, large green hill and white cliffs. No wonder its a tourist destination.
With Scott’s NZ Mr Vintage t-shirts we were quickly spotted by a kiwi couple in their 50’s who had just finished a bike-cruise around the Southern Croatian islands, where they were dropped off at one end of the island and biked to the other end and be picked up by their boat – similar to Jen and Kev’s trip last year. Over a gin and tonic, we found out we had lots in common with them as they live in Whitianga and she worked as a practice nurse at the local GP also, and they had lots of helpful hints for our trip!
That night there was a cultural show on the promenade with Croatian dancing and singing which was interesting, then we headed home ready for our cruise the next day -yeah!!!