Tips for Backpacking in Croatia 2024

Croatia isn’t a huge country like Italy or Russia but it certainly has charm. Many think that you have to have a few thousand bucks to travel and explore…. but then a backpacker would just chuckle at that and go on a trip with about a hundred euros and some change. So it’s best to be prepared as best you can when travelling various unfamiliar countries; that includes Croatia among them. Only taking the bare minimum would be a backpackers motto.
Tips for Backpacking 2024 Croatia.

Always when going on some trip you should check the weather and how far ahead or behind the time is in the place. Croatia being +1 ahead in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Beware of strong winds like “Bura” when going on high rocky mountains like Velebit. Unless you want to spend your vacation backpacking in a hospital. Make sure to pack a couple of warm clothes if you plan on visiting us during the winter as it can get a bit chilly. Whilst during the Summer time all we can advise is to drink lots and lots of fluids to stay hydrated.

There’s also several other places that are incredible to have a small detour to. Whether you’d like to travel slightly through Bosnia & Herzegovina with or without a private transfer from Split. Along with choosing a tour from Split that suits your tastes to see the nearby sights, whether those include National parks or a relaxing walking tour to save your spending budget. So you don’t need to go on anything expensive and instead can simply enjoy your backpacking journey through Croatia at a leisurely pace.

Tips for Backpacking in Croatia 2024.

• The Croatian currency is EURO (€), but that wasn’t always the case as the country had it’s own currency called “Kuna” before, which roughly had the value of 1€ = 7.53450 kuna
• The fashionable necktie was invented in Croatia. So if you’re looking for an authentic one this is the place to get one.
• Croatia experiences 2715 hours of sunshine, that’s more than Sydney Australia.
• Croatia has been the filming location of the popular hit TV series Game of Thrones, “King’s landing” being shot in Dubrovnik and Split’s Diocletian palace.
• Nikola Tesla the famous futurist and inventor was born in the small village of “Smiljan” which is located in Croatia. Smiljan being a Serbian village during Austrian rule.
• Croatia is home to the world’s smallest town, “Hum”.
• During the construction of Diocletian Palace, the emperor imported marble from both Italy & Greece, whilst Sphinxes were imported all the way from Egypt; one of them being seen in Peristil square
• The pen you use in everyday life was invented in Croatia, earlier iteration being named “Penkala”

Backpacking is a peculiar thing, people going to far out countries exploring with just a backpack on. But it isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Because here are some handy tips to have a great time exploring Croatia. It’s all a matter of grabbing the essentials and going off on the journey to expand your horizons!

Tips for Backpacking in Croatia 2022.
If you just came to Croatia with a bus, ferry, train, private transfer or even airplane. Chances are that you are quite lost. But don’t fret because as you’ll soon experience for yourself how nice Croatians are. Generally as soon as they see a lost looking tourist; they’ll try to give directions and offer a place to stay in their apartment or room.

After you settle yourself into a hostel, apartment or any other accommodation it’s time to go explore. The centre of Croatia’s capital Zagreb is widely acclaimed to be less expensive than the towns and islands of the adriatic coast. First thing that most people will notice about Zagreb is how massive it is. Trams being one of the most efficient ways of getting around this large city that will cost you just a couple of euro’s for a daily ticket; even less for one ride.

Now that you have your tram ticket it’s time to visit a couple of famous museums like “The museum of illusions” or if you enjoy silly things “The museum of broken relationships”. Which has a couple of…..”strange” items to say the least. Zagreb has a large city square and a famous church with a slanted mozaic checkered roof, “The church of St. Marko”. The church having plenty of people taking pictures and hanging around in front of it. 🙂

If you came to Croatia you won’t make a mistake of visiting “Plitvice Lakes“. The UNESCO protected nature preserve “Plitvice lakes” is one of the oldest and the largest national parks in Croatia. 16 surface lakes being observed that provide a stunning view during the winter when the lakes freeze over whilst snow decorates the outskirts. So when you take a moment to appreciate the beauty it’s time to move on with some sort of transfer over to Split… but not before stopping by the town Šibenik to rest up on our journey.

Šibenik is a lovely coast line town but not many people, even the locals in Croatia notice it. But that doesn’t mean this hidden gem of a town can’t make your time phenomenal with “Klapa’s” (Small groups singing together) accentuating the spirit of this cozy town that will leave a lasting impression hopefully. You know the city is beautiful when Venice and Turkish invaders tried to seize this lovely town a long time ago, several times at that.

After a good night’s rest, falling asleep to the waves and the occasional “Klapa” we move on to Split.
Split, settled in the region of Dalmatia. Split has been a popular tourist destination providing a plethora of sights to see (that won’t make a dent in your wallet). If you are looking for a place to stay there are plenty of accommodations ranging from Villa’s, Hotels, Apartments, hostels, etc.

But for a backpacker the most affordable would be hostels, we recommend Design Hostel Golly & Bossy for it’s modern charm and decoration, located in the Diocletian palace. But generally the further away from the center of town you are, the cheaper the prices are.
(For a more detailed blog post about Split and the surrounding trips and tours click here)

The forest hill Marjan, a nature preserve protected by law offers a great relaxing time to walk, hike and cycle, you can easily rent a bicycle at the very entrance to the hill, it also offers a great view over the whole town at the “First lookout“.

After you hike and explore the forest you surely could use a place to eat in one of Croatia’s numerous restaurants that provide all kinds of delicacies, sea food being the main specialty of the Adriatic coast with it’s wide variety of fish and oysters that only cost around 10 euro (So no worries for a heart attack when you get the bill).

There’s also a few other notable things to sight see after you had your food. Whether it’s your first time exploring a new city or simply re-visiting a place you already visited. A few smaller monuments and nifty statues are scattered throughout the cities that aren’t as grande as some of the most well known ones. So make the most out of your backpacking adventure across new unfamiliar territory, we’re positive you’ll find something that keeps you going throughout.

Tips for Backpacking in Croatia 2024
One hidden gem of Croatia would be it’s food. Ranging from sea food, smoked delicacies and wide array of dough-y treats will leave a blissful smile on your lips. And the places that you can get the most delicious and reasonably priced local food would be in “Konoba’s”. Old vintage style restaurants that really give a nice relaxing ambient whilst you enjoy your food.

A couple of food Croatia has to offer, make no mistake it is delicious, truly heaven for your taste buds:

• Peka: A method of cooking a piece of lamb, veal or octopus using ash. The meat is usually slow cooked two to two and a half hours by this method which leaves the meat tender and juicy; a true dalmatian way of cooking.
• Ćevapi: Čevapi are one of those foods that you can grab on the go or sit down in a restaurant and enjoy. Taste the rolled up minced meat heaven in a bun called “Lepinja” filled with Aivar and Onions to accentuate the taste of the meat. Highly recommend you try them in a restaurant, Konoba or even a fast food place.
• Fritule: (My personal favourite) soft small balls of deep fried dough that just melt in your mouth. Mostly sold during festivities like Christmas in the famous “Little houses” that decorate the prominence of towns.
• Pašticada: a stewed beef dish cooked in special sauce, popular in Croatia. It is often called Dalmatinska pašticada because it originates in Dalmatia. It requires long and meticulous preparation: first, the meat is pierced and stuffed with garlic, cloves, carrot and bacon, then salted and marinated in vinegar overnight.

After you’ve seen the adriatic coastline and visited a couple of popular islands like Hvar (The so called party town), Brač, Vis. It’s time to pack up your belongings and souvenirs before heading back home , hopefully feeling richer from the experience you had. But this is just the first adventure to Croatia you’ve had. Now that you know the intricacies of the country you’ll have an easier time getting around it, whether it be taking a transfer from one place or going on a tour like the full inclusive Krka small group tour that provides everything already included in the price. Along with the fact backpacking across unfamiliar countries can be a difficult but well worthwhile task; especially when you consider how many countries there are in the world that you could explore by simply backpacking through them at a cheap price.

Either way getting around as a backpacker in Croatia isn’t that hard with the help of locals offering places to stay. Along with food being cheap and at the same time delicious. Transfers, even the private ones having reasonable prices for the service they offer won’t leave you feeling disappointed. And hey, if you are willing to explore places that cost a little bit of euros there’s always the nature preserve “Plitvice Lakes” and “Krka Waterfalls“. The parks offering stunning views and amazing photography shots that will last forever. So you can keep a little bit of Croatia with you even back home. 🙂

It’s important to enjoy the most out of your vacations, whether that be a country you never visited before or one that you’ve been a hundred times at. Backpacking might not be for everyone, but the freedom of choosing where to go makes the experience so well loved by many that do it. So the next time you see yourself or someone with just a large backpack on; there’s a fair chance that they have experienced more of the world in a month/year than most of us our entire lives. Whether it is their first time going on such a long trek or their dozenth.

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Picture taken from Pixabay

Tips for Backpacking in Croatia 2024