I spent a lot of time traipsing through Croatia in August.
My grandmother and uncle live there, some of my fondest childhood memories are there and – beaches, duh. Can’t ignore the incredible variety of beaches in Croatia. The beginning of my Croatia odyssey was in the south, and you can read all about that experience in: three days in Dubrovnik.
But this post is about the rest of Croatia, the part that doesn’t have thousands of tourists being annoying and squished. This post is about the amazing experiences in Pula, Opatija and Crikvenica.
Opatija
This was the place I spent the least amount of time in, but, I really hope to come back one day. My mother insisted that I had to experience this small city for myself and I’m truly grateful I did. It’s gorgeous!
Palm trees, beaches and old buildings. It looks very posh and I was happy it wasn’t super busy towards the end of August. I loved the few hours I got to wander around Opatija. Make sure to hit the beach and eat some delicious ice cream.
Pula
I had been to Pula before, most recently in 2015 while traveling with my two best friends through Europe. My grandmother lives in this city, so that was always my reason to visit it.
On this occasion, yes, my grandmother was there but I had another reason to visit. This was my chance to finally attend Dimensions Festival! Imagine attending a concert in a 2,000 year old Roman Coliseum? Exactly. It’s unimaginable. I was lucky to have chosen 2019 as the year to attend because it would be the last time held in Pula. For 2020 it looks like they’re moving the three-day festival over to Tisno, Croatia. No more big concert in the Coliseum.
I did not attend the full three days of the festival and instead chose to just go to the opening concert. Can’t say I knew any of the performers or much of their music, but Anderson Paak sure kicked ass up there. Incredible performance and an incredible atmosphere inside such an old structure.
Pula is FULL of old structures. The Coliseum is obviously the most popular one, but if you take a walk around the center of the city you see many remnants of the Roman Empire.
Crikvenica
This is my absolute favourite city in Croatia from when I was younger and after this trip – it stays at the top of the list. I love Crikvenica. It has everything you want in life for a happy existence.
Beaches
Ice Cream
Ice Cream
Some more Ice Cream
Seafood Pizza
Did I mention, Ice Cream?
You get the point. I swear Crikvenica has more places to eat ice cream than it has actual inhabitants. The downtown is bustling with people, events and all kinds of food to eat. The beach stretches super long and for me, it was really close to my uncles place. I could walk six minutes downhill and be on a beautiful beach.
If you have time to make it to Crikvenica, you should go. You won’t regret having an awesome time in this city.
I also wanted to make sure to give a special shout out to the Limski Kanal area, in Croatia. If you want to take a quick detour from Pula to go eat some of the best mussels ever, go over to that little area. If I may give some sound advice, PLEASE DO NOT TYPE ‘Limski Kanal’ INTO YOUR GPS. I made this mistake and we ended up driving through a bush that lead to more bush and we had to escape it super awkwardly. Instead, type in ‘Restaurant Fjord‘ which will take you to an amazing restaurant where you can eat mussels BY THE KILO!
Visit Croatia outside of Dubrovnik. It has a lot to offer and some really kind locals as well. Make sure you have their currency on hand as all of the places we went to eat did NOT take Euros (yet).
Sretno 🙂
- Mirna