Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve written anything! I’m not even sure how I’m going to get everything we did over the last few days into a post. Will just have to see how we go…
Budapest to Split
On Friday night we got on an overnight bus in Budapest that was headed for Split in Croatia. We had planned to catch an overnight train but Eurail hadn’t listed it as a train that needed reservation and by the time we realised we needed to book it, it was too late. We’ve found that Eurail doesn’t always have the best information available and sometimes you have to check local rail websites.
The bus ride was fine though. We had fairly comfy seats and (despite the online reviews) we got there on time. We arrived in Split at about 9:30am and it was absolute chaos there. The town was super busy with thousands of people trying to join their cruises!
We had a 4-day sail booked from Split to Croatia. It seems strange to say, but we were really looking forward to a holiday in the middle of our holiday! We are having an amazing time travelling around, but there is so much thought that has to go into everything we do and figuring out what to do each day. Being on a boat where someone else makes the decisions was something we were really looking forward to!
We wandered around the markets in Split because we needed to buy a few things for the cruise. We grabbed a coffee first, then found a towel for me, a floaty (shaped like a pineapple!), and a mask and snorkel. We thought things were going to be fairly cheap but unfortunately they weren’t! They know what the tourists want.
We didn’t need to search very hard for our boat because Jordan & Tristin found it first. There are heaps of boats in the port and your one might not be right by the wharf. We had to walk over about 5 boats to get to ours!
On boarding the boat we were shown to our room which was on the middle deck of the boat. The room had our bed, some storage space, and our own bathroom! There was also aircon in the room which was amazing because it was pretty hot outside.
We eventually gathered with all our new friends for the journey and got the run down on what was happening over the next few days. Up first, because apparently it was a party boat, we were all given a shot. Not my usual choice for a drink at 11am, but oh well. It tasted ok.
Day One: Split to Makarska
We were off! We sat down for lunch and we were on our way. Even though it’s GoCroatia Sail, there wasn’t a single sail in sight. The engines were running and we were chugging our way down the Croatian coast.
Lunch was a three course meal every day starting with soup. It always seemed too hot for soup, but it was nice. We had a chef on board who was cooking food for nearly 40 people including the crew every meal. He had a tiny kitchen and he always had a cigarette in one hand. He didn’t speak much English and the only way I can describe him is “he’s such a vibe”. While cooking he wears white clothes with a white bandanna wrapped around his head. When he’s not cooking, he’s in full black with a black bandanna and sunglasses. Such a chill guy.
After lunch we had our first swim stop of the trip which was more than welcomed! It was very hot so it was great to get into the cold water. I even jumped off the top of the boat which resulted in my brains being flushed with salt water.
We continued to sail until just before sunrise when we arrived at Makarska which is a small town on the coast of Croatia. We were going to be docked there for the night so we headed onto the island and found somewhere to eat some food for dinner! Lunch & breakfast are provided as part of the cost on the boat, but we have to find our own dinner.
There was a big food market and we found a kebab place. The kebabs were massive and pretty good! It wasn’t really that cheap and we were starting to realise that Croatia is actually quite expensive. From talking to others (including our guide), it seems like prices have gone up significantly over the past couple of years.
The sunset was pretty amazing. It was like a red orb in the sky because of the haziness. We sat and had our dinner on the stoney beach before heading back to the boat.
The people on our boat were 6 of us Kiwis, a bunch of Aussies, a few British, and about 6 European. We were surprised how many from our end of the Pacific there were! The Aussies (well, one in particular) were disappointed at our lack of alcohol consumption and our decision to get an early night after being on an overnight bus the night before. Even the other two Kiwis weren’t that keen for a big night!
A group of them from the boat were off to the Rave in a Cave for the evening. We checked it out a bit earlier and it looked pretty cool. It was a cave that they’ve built a club into. You can sit on tables set out on the stoney beach and order your drinks from the bar in the cave. Apparently the dancing doesn’t start until about 11:30 and we were sound asleep by then!
Day Two: Makarska to Šipanska Luka
The next morning most of our boat-mates were feeling a little worse for wear after a late night. The boat starts sailing at about 6am and there is not a lot of chance of sleeping through the engine noise if you don’t have earplugs. Most of them didn’t make it to breakfast though!
At this point I think I was starting to feel a little bit old and after asking around I realised that a lot of the Aussie crew were 19-23! The others who went to bed at around midnight were more our age.
Sunday included a stop off at an island called Mljet. A section of the island is national park with an amazing saltwater lake. Miriam & I decided to hire some push bikes and cycle around the lake, but by the time we had hired our bikes and paid for the national park, we didn’t have quite the hour and a half that we needed. Some of the others go e-bikes but they were quite a bit more expensive!
We cycled about halfway down the lake and got to see the island in the middle which has a monastery built on it. We then went back the same way and had a swim in a little river which goes between the larger lake and a smaller one. There is a really strong current in the river which runs under a bridge so everyone was having fun floating through the current.
We returned to the boat and to get back on, we had to cross 9 other boats first! It was the longest walk that we had to do to get to our boat. It’s always interesting to see what the other boats are like though! Some of them are just private vessels. There must be some kind of agreement to dock at a port or something.
Once back on the boat we continued to Šipanska Luka. This is a small island that doesn’t have much for dinner options. The majority are extremely expensive. So as an alternative the boat put on a BBQ that we paid extra for. The BBQ was €20 each so we assume that it was cheaper than eating on the island! The food was amazing though so I reckon it was worth it!
The evening was a fairly quiet one for the rest of the boat compared to the night before. Miriam, Jordan, Tristin & I all went for a walk around the port area of the island and Jordan, Tristin & Miriam went for a swim. I didn’t really feel like a swim at that time of night, although it was still quite warm!
Overnight I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep because there were power issues at the port. This meant that our aircon switched off at about 1am and didn’t come back on until 7am when the crew fixed it. It also meant that the huge private launch docked next to us kept their engine running all night which was loud. They also didn’t turn off any of their lights on the deck so it was shining into our room!
Day Three: Šipanska Luka to Dubrovnik
In the morning we started cruising a little later because we weren’t far from our destination. We cruised into the harbour near Dubrovnik and anchored in a place where we could swim for a couple of hours. I lay back in our inflatable pineapple and enjoyed some sun! Probably too much…
We eventually docked and were just the second boat this time! Miriam & I had paid to do a historical walking tour of Dubrovnik. We had asked if we could cancel because I wasn’t feeling too great (I now know it was the beginnings of a cold) but they wouldn’t let us because it’s high season. We are glad we went ahead with it anyway because it was actually very interesting!
Dubrovnik has been rebuilt about 2 times. First was an earthquake in the 1700s which destroyed almost everything except for a church. Second time was after the war in the early 90s when most of the city was bombed. Because the city is a UNESCO world heritage site, they had tried to protect it during the war. They placed white flags all over the city walls but they were ignored and the city was bombed anyway. UNESCO then rebuilt the city to how it was before the war but left behind some scars to acknowledge what had happened.
Dubrovnik was a republic built completely within city walls. The walls go from inland all the way to the coast. There are holes along the wall where you can exit and go down steps into the ocean. There is usually a bar of some kind that you can buy drinks and hang out by the ocean. It’s pretty cool!
We spent the afternoon exploring and had some food at a cheap place recommended by the guide on our boat. I still wasn’t feeling 100% so just had fries. They were great though!
We went back to the boat and spent some time with our boat-mates as they were getting hyped up to go back into Dubrovnik to a club which is set into a fortress in the city walls. I really needed to just go to bed so after sitting on the roof of the boat and having a drink with Miriam, we headed to bed.
Day Four: Dubrovnik
I was feeling a bit better in the morning. Our final day on the boat didn’t contain any sailing. We just checked out and settled up the bar tab. It was sad to be leaving because we had enjoyed such a relaxing time on the boat!
Along with Jordan & Tristin, we had accommodation booked in a place in old town Dubrovnik. We set out to find it and left our bags there while we went to explore some more. We really just walked all over the place. We found places to swim, we found places to eat, and we just enjoyed being fairly relaxed.
The major attraction is the walk around the city walls. The walk is about an hour and a half and is 250 Croatian Kuna. This is about NZ$50 each which would make it the most expensive attraction we had visited! We decided not to do it and instead Miriam found a place that we would be able to view the city from above. We climbed a long way up steps and eventually got to a viewing platform. The view was amazing! You could see all the way over the city and out to the Adriatic Sea. I’m glad we walked up all those steps!
We walked all the way back down to the other side of Dubrovnik where there is a fortress by the ocean. Dubrovnik is famous for being where Game of Thrones was filmed. Neither of us have seen Game of Thrones but it was funny to see all the tour groups being taken around the places that feature in the show. The fortress that we walked to was one of these places and there were a couple of groups checking it out.
We walked up the hill towards the fortress and there is a great view back to Dubrovnik. We then went down the side of the cliff face and got to a swimming spot where there seemed to be a lot of locals. It was a great place to cool off and have a swim! There was even a lady fishing and bringing in loads of little fish one at a time. She had a lot of patience!
In the evening we found a place to get some pizza and we took it to a spot by the sea to eat it. It was a nice way to finish off our time there. Miriam was keen to go and check out the club we had missed out on, but they had an event on which meant it was going to cost to enter. We decided to leave it and got gelato instead.
The next morning we were flying out of Dubrovnik for Athens so we had an early night ready for the next location!
The sail was our favourite part of the trip so far. We did so much and I probably haven’t included it all here! It was nice to relax and have food handed to us. Definitely recommend doing a Croatian sail if you are around that way – even if like us, you’re not party people!
Bye for now! 👋🏻
