Captivating Croatia

I cannot believe that it is almost a month since we returned from Croatia! It feels like it was just yesterday that we booked our flights and started planning, but yes, we are well and truly back to reality. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing a few of the highlights from our trip, as well as few tips for those of you considering Travel from Cape Town to Croatia.

Cape Town to Croatia

Barring the challenging logistics getting from Cape Town to Croatia, it is by far my favourite destination yet. The natural beauty alone has me yearning for a return trip. It was everything a holiday is meant to be. I came back relaxed, with a tan and spring in my step. Honestly, I did not want to leave, but all good things must come to an end.

First, things first. Below I have detailed what Travel Documents you need, as well as everything entailed in Getting There.

Travel Documents

South Africans travelling to Croatia require a valid passport. Your passport must be valid for at least three months beyond the intended duration of stay and needs to contain at least two blank pages. As well as a passport, minors {anyone under the age of 18 years old} also require an Unabridged Birth Certificate.

You are also required to apply for a visa to enter Croatia. The Croatian Visa application was a somewhat tedious process, but I don’t think any visa applications are straightforward. For more details about the Croatian Visa Requirements and process visit the VFS.Global Website. If you are planning to visit other EU countries, then a multiple entry Schengen Visa is potentially a better and quicker option.

If you plan to hire a car and self-drive, while you are in Croatia, then an International Drivers Licence is also necessary. It is super simple to get one, as long as you have a valid drivers licence. I got mine from Travel Experience, located in Cavendish Square in Claremont.

Travel Tip:

It is also important to note that Croatia borders with Bosnia. A fact which can cause an issue if you need to pass through the border. We were advised against taking this route to get to Split, as Bosnian officials can be a bit sticky if you do not have the necessary documents.

Getting There

There are no direct flights from Cape Town to Croatia, which means connecting flights and extended travel time. I managed to book, what I considered, the best possible travel route, for a reasonably affordable price.

Something that I feel I need to mention is that I used Travel Start to book our flights, which in retrospect, would have been easier to book directly with Turkish Airlines. We had a few hiccups checking in and selecting seats, which I think could have been easily avoided, had we booked directly with the airline.

Our long-haul flight, which took approximately 11 hours, was Cape Town to Istanbul, with Turkish Airlines. Turkey has become a major worldwide hub, with flights streaming in from all over the globe, resulting in cheaper and more frequent flights. The negative for me is that the airport is always chaotic, not ideal if you do not like crowds.

At least our layover in Istanbul was pretty short, only 2 hours which meant in no time at all we were on a flight to Zagreb. The trip was only 2 hours, and the sparkling new airport in Zagreb was deserted. A welcome reprieve from the maddening crowds! Zagreb, however, was not our final destination. There was one last stretch to Dubrovnik, and we would finally be poolside sipping cocktails.

The flight to Dubrovnik with Croatian Airlines was super short – only 1 Hour. At this point, the fact we were actually on holiday began to sink in. After collecting our luggage, we made our way to the exit to meet our Shuttle Service to Sun Gardens Dubrovnik.

Travel Tip:

June/July is summer and high-season in Croatia which means temperatures sore, and the crowds are crazy. By booking your trip in September or October, you can avoid the “silly” season. Travel to Croatia during months means that flights and accommodation cheaper, the weather is more temperate, and it is not as frenetic as high-season.

Our Travel Itinerary

I am not going to go into too much detail about where we stayed now, but I thought I would give you a brief overview. As it was our first time visiting Croatia, we were keen to ease into it and not attempt too much.

Our first destination was Dubrovnik, which is one of the most popular tourist’s destinations in the Mediterranean Sea. The city can be bustling, even in mid-season, with cruise liners still streaming in. With this in mind, we decided to find accommodation outside the city centre. For the first five nights of our holiday, we stayed at Sun Gardens Dubrovnik.

After Dubrovnik, we travelled to Brac Island via ferry, which was a slight change from our original plan. Brac is the largest island of the central Dalmatian group of islands. It is also the third largest among the Adriatic islands. Our stay on Brac Island was my favourite part of the holiday!

We spent the last two nights back in Dubrovnik, in a charming town called Cavtat. But, as I said more about where we stayed, and what we did in the next few posts.

Croatia is definitely at the top of my list of return destinations. Not everything was sunshine and rainbows, but on the whole, the positive far outweighed the negative. On a return trip, there are things I would do differently. Some things I would do again and some I wouldn’t. I guess that is what travelling is all about, remaining open minded and learning from experiences, good and bad.

Travel Tip:

Something to keep in mind is although the local currency, the Kuna, is 2.17 to the Rand, the cost of living is high and geared towards tourists. Everything is rather expensive, especially food and alcohol.

If there is anything you would like to know in more detail, about our Travel from Cape Town to Croatia, please leave a comment below or email [email protected].

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