Beautiful, stunning, gorgeous Croatia

After my first taste of Europe in the summer (Bonjour France) i wanted more! Stu and i try to stick to a rule of going to countries we haven't been to but this is proving to be a little tricky here in Europe because he has been almost everywhere i want to go! In my search for a place in Europe with sunshine, water, sunshine, where Stu hasn't been, sunshine, visa friendly to me and sunshine, I stumbled upon Croatia. I was immediately won over by the photos of beautiful coastlines, over 300 days of sunshine a year and the fact that Croatia has relaxed it's visa requirements for the summer, allowing people with Schengen resident permits in without needing a visa which i would ordinarily need having a SA passport.

After some research we decided on the island of Hvar and i managed to find a gorgeous, reasonably priced apartment with the most amazing view of Hvar Town (the website does not do the apartment justice). So with flights booked and research done on exactly how to get from Split airport to the port of Hvar we were off!

For those interested, the quickest and easiest way to get to Hvar from Split is:

• As soon as you walk out of the airport there is a Croatian Airlines bus which takes you to the port of Split for Kn 30 each
• The bus drops you off directly outside the ticket booth where you buy your ticket to Hvar on the Catamaran at Kn 47 each (the tickets can't be prebooked or bought online, so get there early, they do sell out)
• During the summer there are only 2 catamarans a day... 11:30 and 15:00, so try plan your flights to get you there a few hours before those times or you'll have to spend a night in Split.
• While you are waiting on your catamaran take a walk through the old town of Split... it's amazing

Some of the old town of Split

As soon as we disembarked from the catamaran we were hit by the beauty of Hvar... a port jam packed with Superyachts, a riviera lined with bars and cafes and gorgeous, sunkissed people everywhere. Even more stunning was the view from our apartment... we both just sat and stared out over the beautiful, little port town.

The view by day from our apartment

The view by night... i just can't get enough of it

Our 3 full days were filled with a Sea kayaking trip to the Paklinski Islands, where we did some snorkelling amongst the superyachts and had lunch at a quaint restaurant on the water in a small cove. It was tough on the arms and legs but a great experience. Laying in the sun with a book and beer on a secluded pebble beach about a mile outside of Hvar Town... stunning. Sailing from Hvar to the island of Vis, where we snorkelled in the Green cave and had a wonderful homecooked meal on board the yacht. It was a fantastic day spent at sea with the wind in our hair :)

Our mode of transport for the day mored outside the Green cave

Both Stu and i were very reluctant to board the catamaran back to Split, Hvar is a beautiful island with stunning weather, friendly people (mostly) and the sight of all those Superyachts is just amazing. Some of them can be chartered for as much as €500 000 per week... maybe in my next life ;)

Hmmm... which one to chose ;)

More photos :)