Croatia was a country that came into my radar a few years ago, but I honestly never thought I would get the chance to go there. When I started traveling it quickly became top of my list for places to visit. Once arriving in Croatia I was speechless, completely enamored by the beauty I was seeing. This trip was also my trial run for flying standby on a European airline and I can’t wait to do it again.

Route:

I flew into Frankfurt, Germany and connected on Lufthansa into Zadar. This was about $68.

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Coming back since I started from Split, I flew out in the afternoon to Munich via Lufthansa. I had to get a hostel in Munich for my morning departure back to the states. This was about $51, $15 train to and from city and $25 hostel stay.

SPU-MUC-PHL-ORD

Zadar.

I would recommend visiting this city as a day trip, though it is incredibly beautiful it is very small and I plowed through all the tourist spots in short amount of time. My favorite moment in this city was seeing the sun set the evening I got in. It made me fall in love with the country so quick.

When I arrived to the airport I decided to take an Uber from the airport to the city center which cost about $23. I stayed in a 10 bed hostel room for about $12 a night. It might have been off season because there were no other people staying in the room the night I was there.

Above the photo of the dog on the boat was one of the first things I saw. The owner was on the boat playing music while the dog lounged and it was so cute and calming, so authentic i absolutely loved it.

Split.

Next stop on my Croatia trip was Split. I used a service called Flixbus to get me from one city to the next. Depending on what time you leave the bus prices change. I left around 11 AM and the price was around $14. My hostel was a 12 bed room for $13 a night.

Split is one of the other major coastal cities in Croatia. The city is close to a few islands, such as Hvar, which can be accessed by a boat. Game of Thrones scenes were filmed in the nearby areas and there are day trips that can be done from Split to see a few of the spots.

If you have read any of my other destination guides or watched my travel vlogs you will know you need to climb any tower when traveling because the view is worth it. The Saint Domnius Tower has breathtaking views though stone pillars.

If you are ready to really get steps in and hike make your way to Prva Vidilica Na Marjanu. On the West side of the city you can climb the hill and overlook the coast for a different view than the tower.