Saturday 18 April 2020

Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro : List of Blog posts

In September/October 2019 we had a trip to Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro. 

I took lots of photos and notes along the way and have compiled a small subset of them into a number of blog posts as a reminder of our fantastic trip and to provide information that may be of use to others in planning trips to this area of the world.

The many blog posts are as follows:
  1. Arriving in Zagreb
  2. Arriving in Slovenia
  3. Lake Bohinj, Mount Vogel, Lake Bled, and a wander up to the castle in Ljubljana 
  4. Postojna Caves, Lipica Stud Farm and a Wine Tasting
  5. Wandering around Ljubljana
  6. Arriving in Istria, Croatia
  7. Bale and Pula
  8. Motovun and Poreč
  9. Exploring Rovinj on a rainy day
  10. Driving to the Plitvice Lakes & Slunj / Rastoke
  11. Plitvice Lakes
  12. Zadar
  13. Nin and Pag
  14. Split
  15. Trogir
  16. Korčula town
  17. Pupnatska Luka, Vela Luka, Vela Spila and Pupnat
  18. Račišće and Lumbarda
  19. Čara, Brna, Gršćica and Žrnovski Banja
  20. Dubrovnik
  21. Walking up Mount Srđ 
  22. Lapad
  23. Mostar
  24. Sarajevo
  25. Driving to Kotor
  26. Kotor and St John Fortress
  27. Lake Skadar National Park and Budva
  28. Tivat
  29. Back to Croatia before flying out & Cavtat

Back to Croatia before flying out & Cavtat

We were originally intending to drive from Kotor in Montenegro on the day of our travel to the Dubrovnik airport in Croatia, but decided to change plans to destress our final day by spending our final night at Cavtat near the Dubrovnik airport.

After our drive around the bay of Kotor the border crossing wasn't far away and we had a quick crossing into Croatia and were very shortly thereafter at Cavtat.

Cavtat was a nice relaxing location and being only about 5 mins drive from the airport was great.

That concludes our 5 week holiday :-)

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Tivat

We did a daytrip around the coast from Kotor on narrow roads big enough for 1.5 cars in parts to Tivat. We were surprised to find that the coastline is super modern. 


There was also a coffee shop, Kafeterija, which did Chemex coffee which we had and really enjoyed the soft nature of. 

We had lunch at Buffalo and my sandwich was a whole ciabatta loaf! I managed to get through almost half. 

Next... Back to Croatia before flying out & Cavtat

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Driving to the Plitvice Lakes & Slunj / Rastoke

We drove to the Plitvice Lakes area from Rovinj on some quite narrow roads which were particularly painful when stuck behind a very slow vehicle for a long distance with no opportunities to overtake. 

While in the area we took the opportunity to see Slunj / Rastoke which is known for having waterfalls super close to houses and in some cases going under them. 

For dinner I had what in New Zealand would be considered an undersized trout at Plitvicka Sedra. 

Next... Plitvice Lakes

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Lake Skadar National Park and Budva

On one of our days in Montenegro we went for a drive to Lake Skadar National Park and Budva. Budva has a small old town that we found didn't have the same charm as Kotor. 

Lake Skadar National Park is overrun by people selling boat rides with prices that seemed to differ a lot for very similar trips. 

We opted to just have lunch instead of heading out on the lake. For lunch I decided to try the deep fried pancakes which I will not be rushing out to try again. 

Next... Tivat

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Kotor and St John Fortress

I walked up to the St John Fortress at Kotor in the morning. It was great walking up in the shade before the heat of the day set in. Apparently there are 1355 steps (where the steps still exist!) and it only took me about 40 mins to get up including lots of photo stops. It was very picturesque the whole way up and down. The entry fee for the walls walk was 8 Euro. There were also a number of cats on the walk.

In the afternoon we went for a wander along the waterfront and had lunch and a coffee. 

Next... Lake Skadar National Park and Budva

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Driving to Kotor

We drove from Sarajevo to Kotor in Montenegro. It was a very scenic trip (albeit my photos here are all from Montenegro and a small snapshot of the beauty) with a stop for goulash for lunch at Restoran Pečenjara Stara Kuča Old House.

For our first evening in Kotor we wandered into the beautiful Old Town. 

Next... Kotor and St John Fortress 

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here

Sarajevo

The drive from Mostar to Sarajevo is very scenic. 

Once checked in at our accommodation in Sarajevo we went for a wander. Straight outside our hotel was the Latin Bridge which is an Ottoman bridge, of which the northern end of the bridge was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, which triggered World War I. 

Out next stop was lunch at Ćevabžinica Željo where we had Ćevapčići. 

Around the corner we came across the Sebilj fountain which is an Ottoman-style wooden fountain built in 1753 and has no shortage of pigeons around it. 

Wandering through the streets was enjoyable and we found the vast majority of people around to be locals. 

The fruit and vege at the market looked fantastic. 

Shortly thereafter we saw the Eternal flame which is a memorial to the military and civilian victims of the Second World War in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

For dinner we had a superb meal at Žara iz duvara - The Singing Nettle. Jane wrote some awesome words about this one: "And another meal!  Oh my word, this was amazing. A husband & wife ( I'm assuming!) run restaurant - they are the only staff! In a little back alley in Sarajevo. We started with Nettle doughnuts with hummus - both items were an absolute treat; for mains I had the chicken breaded with sesame and flax seed - a dish I'll be attempting to recreate at home. This was served with garlic and nettle pesto. Simon had the daily speciality - beef in sauce! (very limited English, but so very friendly and warmly welcoming). We had a seasonal salad made of perfectly dressed and seasoned cabbage, amazing tomatoes (at last!!!) and lovely fresh crunchy cucumber. Outstanding meal. We wanted to share the nettle cheesecake for dessert, but alas we were utterly full. We may yet return tomorrow. I'm not even joking on that"

On Day 2 we continued walking around Sarajevo, including ventures to some parks, along the river, the Festina Lente Bridge, up to the Sky Lounge on top of the Marriott Hotel and more Bosnian coffee.

In the afternoon I went for a walk up to the abandoned Winter Olympics 1984 Bobsleigh Track and continued on to the top of the mountain. It was quite a steep climb up with the route I took. On the way I came across some abandoned buildings and some lovely scenery. 

On the way down it was sunset.

Next... Driving to Kotor

A full list of all blog posts from this trip can be found here