Split, Omis and Brac, Croatia

I had travelled to Croatia once before, to the city of Dubrovnik and absolutely loved it.  So,  I thought I'd see where in Croatia we could get a flight to, from Newcastle Airport.  The destination of Split was the only place there were flights to and although the name didn't sound appealing, the photos and the reviews I read were excellent.


Podstrana

We stayed at The Residence right next to the prestigious Le Meridian Lav, just a 15 minutes bus ride out of Split.  For a surcharge you can use the pool and spa facilities of the Meridian and watch the sun set in their infinity pool.  We had a few great meals at their rooftop restaurant and visited nearly every night for their fantastic cocktails.

If your a millionaire with a sunseeker, there is a marina at the Meridien for you to dock and there are some nice bars and restaurants here too.

Split

Split is the second largest city in Croatia and was once the home to Roman Emporor Diocletian who built his palace here in 300AD.  The palace has to be the no.1 sight to see in Split as it is now a UNESCO World Heritage sight.  The area is beautifully lit at night so make sure you visit both night and day.  There are some great restaurants and the street atmosphere is very friendly and relaxed. 

There are many museums and art galleries to keep you entertained including that of Ivan Mestrovic, Croatia's most renowned modern sculptor.  One of his creations, the statue of Grgur Ninski is located just outside the city walls - rubbing the toe of this 10th century towering bishop is said to bring good luck!

Omis

One of the days we decided to take the bus in the opposite direction to Split and ended up in the town of Omis, a town on the mouth of the Cetina River, surrounded by massive gorges.

One of the things you won't miss here are adverts for Rafting on the Cetina River.  We booked ourselves on a trip for the following day and for those who love active holidays this really must not be missed, we had a fantastic time and it was certainly one of the highlights of our trip. 

This really is a beautiful town with lots of history, including a Pirate one!  I'd recommend a trek up the steps of the fortress for the impressive views you will find at the top. 

Island of Brac, Croatia

We took the ferry from the port of Split over to Supertar on Brac in search of the herb fed lamb we were told about by the waiter the night before.  Brac doesn't have much grass so the sheep there feed on sage and rosemary.  We hired a little car from the port on arrival and off we went exploring.  The island is very small so you can easily tour the whole area in a day.

Another interesting fact we learnt about Brac is that it's famous for its white stone.  I was surprised to hear the stone that built The White House was sourced from here and so was the stone for Diocletian palace in Split and the Arc de Triomphe in France.

One of our stops was Zlatni Rat beach, which has to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe.  For Kite and Windsurf fans this beach has a perfect landscape, we sat captivated by the kitesurfers for a few hours

Our search the the herb fed lamb took us to the village of Dol.  The road to the village comes to a dead end and there we found a lovely, very rustic old family owned restaurant.  The lamb was fantastic but unfortunately it wasn't just us who had an appetite for lamb... we were attacked by wasps who decided to create a flight path to our table.  We tried everything to divert them from electric fans, giving them their own "scrap plate", to murder but still they came, flying off with chunks twice their size!  So needless to say that kind of spoilt our experience but I suppose highlights how good the lamb was.  To top off our evening a reasonably large snake passed our table and scared my fella to death.

We had a great time on Brac, when we return to Croatia i am definitely going to plan island hopping into the itinerary.

an interesting little boat in Supertar's port

Supertar by night