CROATIA

We went for like 10-12 days in late August / early September which is the end of their high season.  They get a lot Europeans (specifically Italians) in peak season.

We only had somewhere to stay the first nights in Dubrovnik but then figured things out along the way.  We kept our plans fairly loose in case we wanted to stay somewhere longer or move on.

DUBROVNIK:

We stayed at an AirBnb in Old Town which was convenient but also slightly off the beaten path

Lokrum - Island off of Dubrovnik that is pretty amazing!  Easy ferry ride over (like 20 minutes max), there's a few restaurants, some awesome cliff jumping (do it!), AND a nude beach (do it!).  In general, the beaches there are NOT sandy like you would expect.  The "beaches" are big rocks, so you find somewhere that's flat and pop a squat.

Buza Bar - There are two of those and they are on the OUTSIDE of the Old Town wall and built into the cliffs.  SUPER awesome for sunset and the beers are DIRT CHEAP.  

Old Town - Think Times Square but medival style.  It can get VERY crowded during the day.  Great restaurants tucked down all of the side streets.

KORCULA:

We took a bus and then a ferry to Korcula which was lovely.  The landscape of Croatia is quite beautiful so the bus ride was quite nice.  

I can’t remember the name of where we stayed, but it was in town but out of “Old Town” (which is similar to Old Town in Dubrovnik but much smaller, quieter and local).

We rented to motor boat one day and spent the afternoon on the ocean, swimming, etc.  It was awesome.  

It’s very cute and charming and a lot less crowded.

HVAR:

Ferry from Korcula to Hvar.

So I went in to Hvar thinking it wasn't going to be my favorite because I heard it was the party island / the Mykonos of Croatia. It was TOTALLY my favorite! It's the most fun. We did SO much people watching and it's GOOOOOD!  We were there just as their "season" was ending so it was a little crowded but it was fun.  

One day we rented Vespas and tooled around the WHOLE island and it was incredible.  Passed through olive groves, lavender fields, the most charming towns and some of the coastal towns on the other side of the island (Stari Grad and Jelsa).  I would DEFINITELY recommend this!

We stayed at an AirBnb just up the hill from the main part of town.

You can also do a short very ride to Jerolim (similar to Lokrum).  There's another nude beach and one restaurant there.  GREAT day trip.

Tons of restaurants and shopping.  Walk down all of those side streets

Aperol Spritz is the drink of Croatia - I think I drank a whole keg of them.

SPLIT:

Split is interesting.  Of all the places we went it was my least favorite, BUT I still liked it.  It's a weird mix of Old Town and a modern city.  Again, tons of restaurants and shopping.  There's a GREAT National Park called Krka that you can get to via car in like an hour, its super cool!  There isn't much in the way of beach there....there's a long "wall" with bars and restaurants on it and people throw down towels and hop in.  It's kinda weird, but it's fun and it's very local.

Our last night we stayed in a little seaside town just south of Dubrovnik that was fairly close to the airport as we had a very early flight back.  It was quite charming.

The one thing I wished we’d done is go further south to Montenegro…it looks amazing but we ran out of time.

In general, if you're a history person or Game of Thrones person (they shot there), then you're gonna be in heaven!  There'a a lot!