From above, you might even think you were in Switzerland. It’s characterized by lush rolling hills, farmhouses dotting the landscape, and the smell of blazing fireplaces. It’s here, a stone’s throw from Slovenia, that you’ll find the tiny but bustling village of Duga Resa. Duga Resa: The Real Croatiaīetween coastal and inland Croatia, the country narrows to a pinch. Get away from the crowds and you’ll discover that Croatia is one of the last bastions of authentic, unmarred southern Europe.īelow are three of my top picks for experiencing Croatia like a local. Croatia off the beaten path is easily even less than half the price, and more than double the charm! But housing, food, and transportation is still half the price of Italy and other major Mediterranean destinations-and it’s equally, if not more charming. In January of this year, Croatia’s official currency became the euro. So much of the country that lies outside of the humming metropolises is spilling over with natural beauty (like the Plitvice lakes), good food (Istrian extra virgin olive oil is otherworldly), and the friendliest people (tied with the Greeks). It was during our third stint in Dubrovnik that we decided we needed to get out more. Evidently, we were not the only people that had woken up to the possibilities of Croatia. They were beaming and bustling in all their sunshiney glory. Our first ventures were to the touristy centers, Dubrovnik, Spilt, and Zagreb. So we looked at a map, saw Croatia’s enormous coastline, looked up the upcoming weather forecast (warmer than Italy), and most importantly, the Airbnb prices (less than half the price of every place we had been thus far). After COVID lockdowns, I was sure of only one thing: sunnier climes were calling.Īfter my partner Andrew (a lovely Scot I convinced to hang out with me for life) and I traveled to all the classics- Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy-we were running low on money and even lower on our EU visas. I’m an American, but I lived in the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2021. Sitting across the Adriatic Sea from Italy’s east coast, Croatia has historic maritime ties to colonial Venice, and even deeper roots in the Roman Empire (the Roman Emperor Diocletian retired in the Croatian city of Split).Īfter traveling for almost two years across the sunny parts of Europe, Croatia remains one of my top travel destinations. It slingshots around Bosnia and Herzegovina and taunts its landlocked neighbors, Hungary and Serbia, by claiming ample lush inland to complement its sweeping coast. Old, cobbled roads bake under the ever-glowing sun locals ooze a sense of peace with their place in the world.īut Croatia is much more than its coastline. With over 1,100 miles of coastline along the eastern Adriatic, and an archipelago of thousands of islands (1,246, to be exact), Croatia feels entirely Mediterranean. And the more I explore this country, the more enigmatic it becomes… There was a certain stony austereness that came to mind.īut I’ll happily admit I’ve never been more wrong about a place than Croatia. A few years ago, I would’ve lumped Croatia in with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, and Slovenia-eastern European countries with recent Soviet pasts and struggles for independence.
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