My plans for my upcoming long journey around Europe include a tour of Croatia’s coastal villages and islands using ferries and buses. This will be my fourth trip there so I’m aware of how charming and historic these islands are. Some of them were settled by Greeks as early as 500 BC. Croatia was controlled by the Venetians for hundreds of years and their imprint can be seen in the architecture of even the smallest village.

Here’s a map of Croatia which shows its peculiar shape and its long northern Adriatic coastline. It’s been my dream for several years to spend weeks traveling from North to South along the coast of Croatia using the ferry system. Previously, when I tried to plan such a trip using the popular online ferry booking sites I couldn’t seem to find the connections I needed in the northern part of the country. Then I read this blog entry and discovered just how easily and inexpensively this could be done.

The ferry system linking the islands to one another and to the mainland is much more extensive than my earlier web search revealed and the cost is very low. In addition I’ve discovered that buses are a readily-available source of transportation which is helpful because railroads rare on the Croatian coast. I’m using AirBnB and other apartment booking sites to arrange my stays. I’ll be there in June so I’m not getting the lowest rates but I’m also not paying peak season July and August prices. I’m not going to Split or Dubrovnik because my previous visits there were disappointing: too many tourists and recently prices have become astronomical. Instead I’ll visit Istria, a triangular peninsula in the north of the country and several islands in the Adriatic. I’m really excited about these plans. Stick with me and my blog until June for frequent reports!

The photo at the top of this page was taken from the deck of the magnificent Royal Clipper upon entering Rovinj, Croatia

Resources:

This is a very helpful site for those interested in Croatia – even if you won’t be going there soon: http://www.chasingthedonkey.com/

This is the link to the post I found that convinced me to find a way to make my Croatia dream trip happen – and made it easy too! http://www.chasingthedonkey.com/how-to-create-your-dream-croatia-island-hopping-itinerary/

And this is the blog of the couple who wrote the guest blog entry on Chasing the Donkey that inspired me. http://forgetsomeday.com/travel/croatia/

One of the most helpful sites for complete information about travel to Croatia is http://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/. It includes extensive information about using ferries and buses there. (http://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/index.php/travelling-around-croatia/bus-travel-in-croatia/)