After a week on the Italian Lakes followed by a frantic 48 hours in Venice we kept on moving south and headed over the Slovenian border. Our original plan was to spend a few days on the Slovenian coast but we were caught in the most horrendous thunder and hail storm and we struggled to find a suitable campsite. Instead, we decided to head for the Northern coast line of Croatia - on the Istrian Peninsula. So what was campervan life like on the lakes and beaches of Croatia?
Camping Valkanela
Wild camping is forbidden in Croatia and whilst there are aires to stay at, they are all around €20 a night with no facilities. We spent our first 3 nights at Camping Valkanela which we found through the ACSI App at a cost of €21 a night plus a tourist tax. It was a huge site - the reviews on google said it was like a small town - they were not wrong! Normally we would stay away from bigger places but it was great, the facilities were excellent with 13 toilet and shower blocks!! There were also several bars and cafes dotted around the site and a supermarket. You truly would not need to leave the place unless you wanted to go sight seeing. The swimming pool was enormous and modern with a toddlers area - there are also several sports courts to keep teenagers and active adults amused.
The torrential storm that we drove through in Slovenia followed us and our first afternoon on the campsite was spent watching the thunder and lightening from the van with a cup of tea. But that cleared away as quick as it arrived and we were treated to a beautiful sunset across the bay.
Something I had forgotten from our previous visit is that the Croatian coastline mainly consists of rocky, pebbly beaches and the seabed is littered with sea urchins. It made getting in and out of the water pretty tricky and hard going on our feet - luckily I had flip flops to wear but Richard just toughed it out! But once in the sea, it is deliciously cool and the waters are crystal clear.
We had a really lazy few days at the campsite bar a short cycle ride into the local town of Vrsar. There is a lovely little harbour with some impressive yachts moored up. There was also a really cute little cat village, complete with several minature lodges and a dining hall!! Sadly, when we went past, all the cats must have been checking out what they could scrounge from the restaurants on the sea front.
Camping Polari and Rovinj
At this point we had originally planned to drive much further down the coast to the Island of Krk for a few nights, but following reccomendations from a few people, we decided to stay on the Istrian coast and headed only half an hour south to a campsite just below the quaint port of Rovinj.
Unbeliveably, Camping Polari was even bigger than Valkanela with over 1600 pitches!! It is owned by the same company and in many ways was built on the same blueprint. Many of the shower blocks were new or recently refurbished and there seemed to be full time cleaners in charge of each block - it was almost like a competition of who had the most well looked after facilities - they were spotless.
Another bargain using our ACSI card at €23 a night, the receptionist said our pitch without ACSI would be €46 and in high season it was €130!! A NIGHT!! We chose to stay in the free camping area where you could choose your own spot with no fixed pitches. We found a quiet little corner
If we were still teachers this would have completely priced us out of a visit to the Croatian coast as when we checked online, many of the campsites were between €50-100 a night at peak season.
In theory, the town of Rovinj is a 5km walk from the campsite. So we put on our walking shoes, packed a picnic and our swimmers and set off. 2.79km later, we had not yet reached the edge of the campsite where the 5km starts from and we decided to take the picturesque coastal path through the Golden Park Forest. This meant that we finally arrived in Rovinj 10km later!!
It was worth the walk though as the scenery along the way was stunning. We explored a derelict hotel and averted our eyes as we walked past the naturist beach.
Rovinj was stunning. We approched the town from the south past the yachting marina where there were some of the biggest boats I have ever seen! From here you can see the church tower perched above the brightly coloured buildings of the quaint town. It was bustling with tourist from all corners of the world and we enjoyed exploring the side streets and alleyways with their little boutique shops and restaurants.
On the walk back, with temperatures reaching about 27 degrees, we stopped for a dip in the sea and a little siesta in the shade for an hour. We also managed a cold beer stop - much needed by this point as we had hiked nearly 20km by then!
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Having enjoyed almost a week by the coast, we needed to make a decision - visit one more area on the coast and then go inland to the Plitvice on Monday or head inland on Thursday as the weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday was pretty awful. We decided to go earlier as we were rtying to avoid a weekend - which proved to be a great decision.
The national park has been on our bucket list for years and after doing our research, it is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in Croatia. A top tip from fellow travellers was to book one of the earliest time slots and be there for 7am as this would put us ahead of the crowds and also enable us to hike and explore out of the mid day heat.
What an amazing place it was! It was absolutely beautiful. We chose to do the 18km hike around all the lakes so that we didnt miss anything. There are a few options available - including a scenic bus route through the forest or a ferry across the lake between the the 2 bigger waterfall areas. We did take a ferry ride which was lovely and it gave us a chance to rest our weary legs in the shade.
At €40 per person and €15 parking costs it was not a cheap trip but it was totally worth it and we would thoroughly recommend a visit if you are touring down to Croatia.
We stayed at the Plitvice holiday resort which was another great campsite. I was really tempted by the tree house chalets - they were beautiful. Definitely an option if you have flown into explore the area with a hire car.
So that was our 8 nights in Croatia. It feels like we have been on quite a luxurious holiday rather than just travelling as we have had to use campsites. We have loved every minute and cant wait to come back again - maybe to explore the coast further south, I would like to get to Dubrovnik one day.
We have found Croatia considerably more expensive than on our last trip in 2019 when we were still paying in Croatian Kuna's.
We have released our first couple of vlogs for our 2024 European road trip which can be found using the links below
Next up we are travelling back over the border to explore the mountains, rivers and lakes of Slovenia for a week.
Hope you have all had a great week
Jackie and Richard
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