[redbaron91]

Reading up on Croatia for the past few months, I was dying to see what all the fuss was about and it lived up to all the hype and expectations!!!

Driving along the shear rocky cliffs and hills abutting wonderfully azure and turquoise water, Croatia surprised me due to very interesting sceneries, combined with its culture and history, moderate prices and decent food. But it's mostly the geography which makes Croatia so interesting.
It's a mountainous country with plenty of interesting spots and geological features and a very cool and long coast with bays and islands. The beautiful terrains that range from lush waterfall filled enclaves to the island-speckled coastline along the Adriatic Sea truly were as beautiful as everything I’ve heard. Plenty of photo opportunities everywhere.



Also, being a follower of Game of Thrones series, me and my better half was excited to take our own walking tour in city of Dubrovnik. I won’t bore you guys with photo comparisons with actual filmed location and movie/series stills, more over one can get it easily by googling.

During planning stage of the trip, I chose Zagreb (Capital city of Croatia) as the place to stay, and from there, drive to places like Plitvice national park, Split & Dubrovnik. Later few of my colleagues recommended starting off from another city-Zadar. Reason being, for 4 days of drive, Zadar is the much like a center point to all other places. Moreover Zadar is a beautiful and small coastal city, which can be covered easily on same day of arrival.
Thus the places to visit were finalized as Zadar-Plitvice national park– Dubrovnik.

Initially I was bit unsure if I should drive all the way to cities of Croatia from Stuttgart, but when I found a very good deal for air tickets, I went for it. So no travel fatigue and time saving. And to drive around Croatia, I booked a car from SIXT car rentals, which worked out to be good deal.

Day 0 – Stuttgart – Frankfurt Hahn-Zadar.

When checked for the route and way to reach Frankfurt Hahn airport, it threw up quite a lot of surprises and dilemmas. Surprises for not having proper rail/Bus connectivity to Hahn airport from Frankfurt main station or Frankfurt flughafen (Airport-station) in a country like Germany and dilemma on how to reach there on time.

Hahn airport was previously a frontline US air base during the cold war (old bunkers can still be seen on the sides of runway), and later the government developed it as civilian airport. Unfortunately, it is at the brink of facing bankruptcy due to low passenger and cargo movements. There have been several reports on takeover by private companies including from China, or redeveloping it as a business center.

Currently Ryanair is the major carrier operating from Hahn airport, and they fly at really cheap rates. Believe it or not, there are flights as cheap as 10E!!

Our flight was at 09:10 in the morning, and we’ve to travel from Stuttgart to Hahn airport via Frankfurt main station. The scheduled shuttle bus operated from Frankfurt main station to Hahn airport was at odd hours in the early morning, and thus we decided to rent a car for our to-and-fro journey.

Onward journey was with a Opel Astra – 1.4L, 100PS, combi wagen with 5-speed manual box, and the return was with Merc’s A180 with 7-Speed DCT.


Our partner for the first leg of journey.

Started off from Stuttgart at 8:30PM on previous night, drove for around 3.5 hrs with stoppage for dinner & fueling, and reached Hahn airport at midnight. This gave us ample time to take a good nap before the flight.Done the usual processes at the airport and we were cleared to fly soon after.


The birdie taxied for boarding. A Boeing 737-800.


The flight route crossing the majestic alps.

Over the tiny islands of Croatia, before landing.


After a short flight of 1 hour 20 minutes, we landed at the airport of Zadar.


Quite like Hahn airport, Zadar also had a small, simple airport. After the passport clearance and stamping, near the arrival gates, I exchanged some Euros with the local currency “Croatian Kuna”. As per my online research, most of the shops in Croatia accept Euros, but it will made by a conversion rate that they offer. I exchanged at a rate of 7.5 Kuna for 1 Euro.

Headed straight to car rental office to pick our next car for upcoming 3 days.
I had reserved a Renault Capture earlier via online, but it was not available at that moment and they offered me its big brother – Kadjar dci.


Based on Renault-Nissan Alliance’s CMF platform, which shares with Nissan Qashqai.



Interestingly, our car was a “Bose edition”, which comes equipped with 1 centrefill speaker on dash board, 6 speakers around the cabin, 1 digital amplifier beneath the passenger seat, and a subwoofer in the boot.


After driving for around 12kms from airport, we finally reached our apartment booked via Airbnb. It was a sea facing apartment with a small balcony.


The room was quite cozy and nice for 2 people. The host was kind enough to explain us the local attractions with a map.
After light refreshment, we headed out to explore the city. I will let the pictures talk about the places around Zadar.


Bay area near sea, where private boats are docked.


Tourist boat ride for a 30 minutes trip along the coast.


Old city streets are paved with smooth marble tiles.


The Church of St. Donatus and the bell tower. Charges 15Kuna to the top of the tower.




View from top of the tower.


The brilliant turquoise Adriatic Sea.

One of the major attractions of Zadar – The Sea Organ. Rather than a visual attraction, it’s an acoustic attraction. It plays the random sound of an organ by the way of sea waves interacts with the tubes located beneath the marble steps.

Another attraction right next to Sea organ is the “The Greetings to the Sun”.
It is a large circle shaped glass panel placed on the same level of the stone paved water front of Sea Organ. It’s filled with photo-voltaic panel, which absorbs light energy, and transforms into light show during night.



Sunset at Zadar, from the spot of Sea organ.

After strolling through the old city, and having a light dinner, we went back to our apartment to end the day’s journey.

Day – 01 – Zadar – Dubrovnik

Distance covered one way – 385Kms
Total travel time – Approximately 7 hours.

We took the coastal highway (D8-Adriatic Coastal road), for its scenic drive. Other route was via a toll road (E65) which may save your time by around 30-60 minutes and costs 180 Kuna one way.

The D8 is very scenic throughout, but the traffic is little horrendous in few places, because of 2-sided traffic and narrow roads. Maximum speed limit allowed on these roads was 80-100Kmph.


Windy two way roads along the coast.


The usual scene along the route to Dubrovnik.




The Trsteno Arboretum, just before Dubrovnik. It has a summer palace, and vast garden which dates back to early 15th century.


Trsteno Arboretum was used for fliming of Game of thrones, popularly know as the set for Red Keep's palace Garden of King's landing.

Thanks to few pre-research about the visiting place, it helped me to find the parking lot just 1Km before the old city center of Dubrovnik. Charges at 30Kn/hr.

After taking a light lunch, we kicked off our walking tour around the city.


Entrance to Pile gate and the starting point of the long city walls.


Bokar fort - Walking along side the seaside walls, you will reach this fort.
This fort act as defense to the entry to the city in ancient times. Built in early 15th century by Florentine architect - Michelozzi.





Another GOT filming location...


View of city walls from St.Lawerence fort just outside the city walls, also know as Dubrovnik's Gibraltar. This place used to shoot the scenes from Red keep in GOT.



Part 2 will be continued shortly..

[redbaron91]

St. Lawrence Fortress seen from City walls.


Majestic view of Adriatic sea from the Fortress.


Overlooking the thousands of golden and burnt orange rooftops, the brilliant turquoise Adriatic Sea and small islands dotting the horizon.


The orange top city is filled with very old buildings even back to 500 years.


..another view


Along the path on city walls.




Looks like old cannon balls!!


..another view of city walls


Harbour at Kings landing. Ferries to near by island Lokrum starts here.


Top of city walls, and Lokrum Island on the far end.


Minceta tower, build in early 14th century. The highest point in the city.It a prominent defensive point facing the inland and it is a symbol of Republic of Dubrovnik.

..to be continued.

[redbaron91]

Day 02 - Zadar to Plitvice National Park

Distance - 150Kms (one way)
Drive time - 3 hours


En route to Plitvice.




Velebit mountains of Croatia

Plitvice is the largest national parks among all in Croatia. It's also a UNESCO World heritage site.


This national park is famous for it's lakes arranged in cascades, forming numerous water falls as small as few meters to 80 meters high. The entire region is a result of thousand years of aqua-scaping done my river, algea, moss, bacterias etc. There are naturally formed dams that separates each lakes which are called as Travertine barriers.

Entrance fee is 15E per person, and it is open from 8AM to 4PM.

To explore the park, one can choose several paths indicated in the map at the entrance, each one covers around 4Kms to 18kms trails.



Layout of lakes.


Walking path along the lake barriers.


Picturesque in every nook and corner.


One of the many water fall in the park.


A random shot


..another one.


Water flowing through the mossy cascades


Flowing down from the upper lakes


As seen through Suplajara caves


Top view of the lakes




Crystal clear water.










Highest waterfall in the park.


Winter is coming....

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

When checked for the route and way to reach Frankfurt Hahn airport, it threw up quite a lot of surprises and dilemmas. Surprises for not having proper rail/Bus connectivity to Hahn airport from Frankfurt main station or Frankfurt flughafen (Airport-station) in a country like Germany and dilemma on how to reach there on time.

Started off from Stuttgart at 8:30PM on previous night, drove for around 3.5 hrs with stoppage for dinner & fueling, and reached Hahn airport at midnight.

Lovely pictures !

Quick question, so how did you manage travel to and from Frankfurt Hahn ?
Picked up car in Stuttgart - drop car in Hahn - fly to Zadar ? On return picked up car in Hahn- drop car in Stuttgart? Do the car rentals have pick up and drop at Hahn airport ?

Spike

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Lovely pictures !

Quick question, so how did you manage travel to and from Frankfurt Hahn ?
Picked up car in Stuttgart - drop car in Hahn - fly to Zadar ? On return picked up car in Hahn- drop car in Stuttgart? Do the car rentals have pick up and drop at Hahn airport ?

Spike

I had to book 2 cars for the to and fro trips between Hahn airport and Stuttgart.
SixT offers pick up and drop in different locations. So that was more convenient for me. That means 2 cars for the up and down trips, each for 24 hours booking. As per the executive at SixT, there is no hourly billing.

There are ways to reach Hahn by bus. Few private shuttle bus operates from Frankfurt Hbf and Frankfurt flughafen to Hahn. But timings are mostly odd and non-convenient.

[ampere]

Awesome Snaps!

But more importantly how was it driving the Kadjar?

[shankar.balan]

Truly a fairy tale land.
Lovely photos and nice write up.
Enjoyed reading this travelogue and will look forward to going there one day.

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by ampere

Awesome Snaps!

But more importantly how was it driving the Kadjar?

Thanks Ampere.

Comparing to Duster, it's nice and spacious inside-out. From driver seat, it gave a butchy stance, overlooking the bonnet curves. Through-out the drive in Croatia, I had to tackle windy roads and few up-hills, where the body roll was bothering some times. IMO, Duster handles this considerably better. On straight motorways, it was a pleasant ride. It scores high for comfortable drive.

The vehicle was fully loaded versions with blind spot assist, lane assist, and 6 Airbags, TPMS, ECO start-stop, cruise control, Panoramic sunroof (Dead slow in operating).

And it was highly fuel efficient, returned close to 22Kmpl as per MID

Detailed review & pics are on the way

[mr.sinha]

Lovely travelogue redbaron. Enjoyed the photos, especially those of Plitvice. I had travelled there during the winter, so the sceneries are quite different.
While driving to Dubrovnik, you would have passed briefly through Bosnia and Herzegovina too. Were there border checkposts you had to drive through?

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by mr.sinha

Lovely travelogue redbaron. Enjoyed the photos, especially those of Plitvice. I had travelled there during the winter, so the sceneries are quite different.
While driving to Dubrovnik, you would have passed briefly through Bosnia and Herzegovina too. Were there border checkposts you had to drive through?

Thanks Mr.Sinha.
In winter I think it would be all snow covered, and frozen water falls. That will be quite amazing to see.

Yes, I had to pass through Bosnia & Herzegovina for 10Kms before re-entering to Croatia. There are 2 light border control stations at both ends and for multi entry schengen Visa holders, there will be an entry and exit stamp.

I missed to snap it while on the way, and I missed to mention it here.
Thanks for your reminder

[G-2]

Wow!! Really beautiful redbaron91...didn't know Croatia had so much to offer. Especially enjoyed the Plitvice National Park pictures...breathtaking!! :-)

Just curious, the pictures tend to suggest a less visited holiday spot. Is that true or were there huge crowds like most touristy destinations? And when did you visit Croatia?

Thank you

[rohan.xj]

Lovely travelogue, will definitely help plan for our trip!

Quick Q: How was your experience on Ryanair. I have only heard horror stories about their service and have therefore avoided. is it at par/below par when compared to the likes of Indio/Jet?

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by G-2

Wow!! Really beautiful redbaron91...didn't know Croatia had so much to offer. Especially enjoyed the Plitvice National Park pictures...breathtaking!! :-)

Just curious, the pictures tend to suggest a less visited holiday spot. Is that true or were there huge crowds like most touristy destinations? And when did you visit Croatia?

Thank you

Pictures were cleverly taken..

All the places I visited was less crowded, except Dubrovnik.
The national park is one of the main tourist spot in whole of Croatia, so naturally there was a moderate in-flow of tourists. That doesn't mean you will have to wait and walk slowly on the narrow walking path along the lakes.

And I visited during last week of October, which was an off-season due to onset of Winter. May be during Summer & Spring, it will be more crowded.

[redbaron91]

Originally Posted by rohan.xj

Lovely travelogue, will definitely help plan for our trip!

Quick Q: How was your experience on Ryanair. I have only heard horror stories about their service and have therefore avoided. is it at par/below par when compared to the likes of Indio/Jet?

I was pretty much satisfied about the their service at this kind of price point, almost par with the likes of Indigo.
Everything comes at a price once you are in the aircraft, even the water!!!

Only the way to reach airport (Frankfurt Hahn) created few issues in the last minute, apart from that all were fine.

[neelpulse]

Great pictures and awesome travelogue. Will bookmark for future.

One question - how much did the car rental cost per day?