Croatian Road trip - Dubrovnik to Split & Mostar
We knew when we got to Dubrovnik, that at some point this month we wanted to rent a car to explore more of Croatia. We had multiple people tell us we needed to visit Split, so we decided to book an Airbnb and make the 3 hour drive north!
Day 1
Once we arrived at our Airbnb, which I will link because our host Peter was just the best! We had a whole plan of what we THOUGHT we were going to do, but after talking with Peter for a little bit we switched everything up - and I am so glad we did! That evening after getting settled, we walked down to the Split boardwalk and were greeted by the most stunning sunset. What a welcome! We snapped some photos, walked around, and then grabbed dinner before heading back to our Airbnb.
Day 2
The next day, per our hosts recommendation, we bought a ferry ticket to Brac! We drove down to the ferry, drove our car onto the ferry, and then left the car to walk up to the open deck to enjoy the views on the 50 minute ride over! The ferry had public bathrooms, indoor and outdoor seating, and even a place to buy a cup of coffee. As we were getting closer to shore, we walked back to the car, buckled the girls in and headed to find some lunch!
We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant in town, before beginning our drive to the beach! Colin had seen some photos of Zlatni Rat (aka Golden Horn Beach) online, and knew it was a place we needed to visit. On the way there, we took a small detour though after seeing signs for Vidova Gora / Lookout Point on the highest part of the island. I am so glad we stopped! The view was incredible and we even got to see the beach from up above.
I would imagine in the summer that Golden Horn Beach is FULL of tourists. There were lots of places to park, but of course it being November when we visited we had the place mostly to ourselves. As we were walking down the the beach, there were a bunch of food kiosks that were closed, but again during the summer this would be such a fun place to hang out - with lots of places to eat and hangout closeby!
We enjoyed letting the girls play in the clear water and sand, while watching the sunset over the ocean. It was such a unique beach, the way it juts out from the main island, and we loved getting to watch the sunset before booking it back across the island to catch our ferry back to Split.
Day 3
The next day, we thought about making the drive out to Plitvice or Krka National Park, but our host said if we only had a day - both of those stops would require a lot of driving and not enough exploring. After thinking about it, and feeling tired ourselves, we decided to instead start the drive south towards Dubrovnik - but make a night stop in Mostar, Bosnia! We weren’t sure we’d get to see Mostar, but it had been on my list to visit so I am so thankful we made the call that we did!
The drive there was easy and after passing through customs we made our first stop at Kravica Waterfalls! There is a large parking lot where you can park and walk down a few flights of stairs to reach the bottom, or you can pay to drive down! Since it was off season and there weren’t many people at all, we opted to drive. The waterfalls were much bigger than I expected! We got to explore and ended up letting the girls even jump in the shallow parts of the water, which they enjoyed very much. If you want a paddle boat ride around the falls, make sure you have 5 Euros cash on you. There’s even a cafe/bar at the bottom!
That night we made it to Mostar. We stayed at Hotel Mepas which we chose because it was in a mall and would make dinner/ any free time we had really easy! The hotel was so nice, and I would totally recommend a room here if you find yourself in Mostar for a night or two. One thing to note about Bosnia is that smoking inside is still very much a thing. In the summer, I’m sure you would notice this less as you are outside much more but we for sure noticed in inside the mall and restaurants we ate at. Not really anything you can do about it other than choose to sit outside if it bothers you - but just something to note!
Day 4
Our last morning we started off meeting with a new friend, another Live Anywhere Participant, before exploring more of Mostar. We headed to the Stari Most Bridge, also known as Old Bridge, and it was stunning. The original bridge actually stood for for over 400 years before being destroyed in the Bosnian War. When they decided to rebuild the bridge, they wanted to replicate the original as best they could so they used all local materials including hiring scuba divers to dive into the river and collect stones that had been left from the explosion. The care that went into rebuilding such an iconic bridge is just amazing & added to the beauty of it all!
The Neretva River running through Mostar, and under the bridge, is so stunning. I decided to read up on it a little more and learned it comes from high up in the Dinaric Alps and is composed of glacier runoff - which is what gives it that blueish green color people are so drawn to!
After grabbing lunch, we hit the road to get back to Dubrovnik by dinner. Though our plans changed from our original itinerary, we loved getting to see more of Croatia and experience Bosnia during our time here this month. If you get a chance to visit either Split or Mostar - you won’t be disappointed!