Croatia in 7 Days
A week in Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik
In June 2019, I hopped on a 10 hour bus in Prague and rode through the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, to Zagreb, Croatia with three of my friends. Over the course of a week(ish) we spent 2 nights in Zagreb, 3 nights in Split, and 2 nights in Dubrovnik.
First things first: Zagreb. This capital city wasn’t necessarily on any of our lists, but with buses and scheduling it ended up making sense for us to spend a full day here. I’d read some differing opinions on Zagreb, but I figured it’s a capital city so it has to have enough going on to entertain us for one full day. Well…apparently the bustling capital empties out in summer as everyone and their mother heads to the coast. I don’t blame them; Zagreb was hot, muggy, rainy, and pretty empty. We did find some places to entertain ourselves. The Museum of Broken Relationships is cute and a good way to spend an hour or so. The cutest street we found was Ul. Ivana Tkalcica where we ate a lot of our meals! I can highly recommend El Greco for Greek food and Cremme for dessert or a sweet snack. I didn’t have a chance to try Agava but it’s supposed to be amazing (a little fancy I think). Also, one street over, there’s a few craft beer places like Tolkein House and Craft Room that have gained a pretty good reputation. My number 1 Zagreb tip: everything is closed on Sundays.
Other Zagreb things I didn’t have a chance to try either because of rain or because it was closed Sundays: Garderoba concept store, Maksimir Park (zoo, classic park), Jarun Park (swimming).
This is a somewhat iconic church near Zagreb’s cute street. While we were standing outside of it a large group of Croatian people in traditional dress surrounded us and started singing and it was really weird. That’s really my only comment about this church.
From Zagreb we caught a bus to Split. The bus actually has you transfer just outside of Split so that the main bus can continue on to Dubrovnik. Just be prepared for this because I was NOT and I forgot my Hydroflask on the first bus and was devastated at every beach the rest of the week. Also they make you transfer in the middle of nowhere so don’t freak out and remember to grab all your shit.
We stayed in Airbnbs in each city and our one is Split was just east of the Old Town area, but easily walkable. I’d recommend that option as Old Town in summer is always loud and packed. The first full day we walked to Plaza Bacvice, a beach without much beach, but lots of day beads. We all rented beds for the day for about $10 each, which I recommend. It was beautiful and there were waiters to order food and drinks from.
Let me be honest, I did not have a great culinary experience in Croatia. I failed to find a single satisfying meal, but boy did I try. I LOVE seafood and I was looking forward to being in a country with such a long coastline, but nothing really delivered. I ate a lot of mediocre calamari, we all got pizza at least twice, pasta was always an option, but for some reason it seemed that every menu in Split and Dubrovnik was the same (possibly a leftover trait from communism—it’s a thing—or we just never got far enough from the touristy areas). So I wouldn’t necessarily jump at recommending the places I ate at, but can confirm I didn’t get food poisoning from the following in Split: Bepa!, Zinfandel, and Bokeria.
HOWEVER, Split has a very fun drinking scene and I recommend the following: Charlie’s Bar, La Linea, and Academia Club Ghetto. Our second full day we made a bit of a mistake. We tried to walk to a different beach and failed to realize we’d be hitting a bit of a hill and that it was further than we thought. We did end up at a great place though called Joe’s Beach Lounge & Bar at Kasjuni Beach. Pricier than the first day, but really nice. Split/Croatia beach tip: Croatian beaches are not sand, they are rock. Come prepared—many people wear water shoes lol.
At Joe’s in Split, dreaming of my missing Hydroflask
We took a very early bus from Split to Dubrovnik to maximize time in Dubrovnik. This bus ride was extremely beautiful: it went along cliffs above lakes, along coastline, through some hills and mountains, but it was a bit sickening. The air was only working on half the bus and the winding roads were nauseating. Also it only stopped once and it was in Bosnia & Herzegovina which is on a different currency than Croatia so I couldn’t buy anything at the shop!
Dubrovnik just one month after the series finale of Game of Thrones probably wasn’t the greatest time to go, but I think Dubrovnik is just going to continue to attract tourists in coming years. It makes sense, it is a beautiful place with enough culture and history with a mix of beaches and luxury to feel like a holiday. Personally, I wasn’t traveling rich so it was so-so. We didn’t go up to the city wall because the ticket was ridiculously expensive ($30 to walk around a wall) and it was honestly too hot to enjoy spending over an hour in the sun without a chance of shade.
Again, I don’t super recommend any of the restaurants I tried, but my favorite establishment was Bar Buda, which is a bar set inside the Old City wall. It can be a little hard to find, but it has all these cool little terraces set all the way down the wall to the bottom where there’s a swimming platform. I don’t think they do food, only drinks, but it is a great spot for sunset. The beach we went swimming at during the full day was not really a beach, but some rocks just outside Old Town. If you look up the Lazareti landmark we swam right under there: great views of the Old City walls and a nice swimming area. Literally won’t recommend a single place we ate, but I heard Gradska Kavana is good and has nice views. There are also a few Michelin star places in Dubrovnik if that’s your vibe! Dubrovnik tip: Old Town is way more peaceful and cooler (in temperature) at night and just as pretty! A lot of people visiting Dubrovnik are on cruises so it fills up during the day and really empties at night.
Sunset from Bar Buda in Dubrovnik’s Old Town wall