I’m a bit behind on writing about the final leg of our Croatia/Bosnia trip, as very soon after we got back we hopped back on a plane for our home visit to Seattle (where we currently are)! So, I’m catching up on the end of our time in Croatia, which was probably my favorite part of the trip overall! I promise to blog about our home visit too (which has been so wonderful!), but first things first!

Since we were flying in and out of Dubrovnik, we decided to begin and end our trip in and near Dubrovnik, with our Bosnia-Herzegovina adventure sandwiched in between. This felt right because we got to do more structured city touring for the first half of the trip and then finish up, when we knew we’d be more tired, with beaches and simply chilling out. Plus, since Sarajevo and Mostar were so intense, it was really nice to return to the spectacular natural beauty and relaxation of the Dalmatian coast.

There are over 1,000 islands off the coast of Croatia (some are teeny tiny), so there are a multitude of choices when it comes to seeking out a Croatian island experience. It was hard to know where to begin! And in fact I had no idea there were so many and that many people make a whole vacation out of island hopping, either in their own boats or via ferry, much like you might imagine doing in the Greek isles. We decided to focus on just one or two islands, so we chose Korcula and then Orebic (which is a town technically not on an island but rather on a peninsula connected to the mainland, but feels very “island like” and offers the same types of beaches).

We took a beautiful ferry ride to the island of Korcula, where the town of Korcula rises up out of the water with its red roofs and fortifications. It is often referred to as a “mini Dubrovnik” as it has a similar, though less dramatic, appearance. The town’s claim to fame is that it is supposedly the birth place of Marco Polo. His true origins are a bit unclear — and since he was Italian it might seem strange that his birthplace is in present day Croatia, but it was ruled by Venice back in those days — and apparently there is fairly good evidence to back up the claim that Korcula was his place of birth (I’m not sure what that evidence is, but that’s what I read 😀). We had a nice dinner in the town of Korcula one of the evenings and strolled through the medieval streets
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On the island of Korcula, we stayed in a house in a little village called Lumbarda. It was a short walk to the beach and had a wonderful terrace underneath a grape arbor to look out at the sea. We woke up to the sound of roosters and the church bells each morning. A nice stroll along a paved path led to a few cafes and restaurants and a small harbor with boats. There were also vineyards/small wineries all around the island — one was a short walk from the house, so we walked over there one afternoon for a tasting. The farmer literally popped out of the field to come give us a taste of the wines he makes (from the grapes grown in said field). The pace of life on the islands was just so slow and leisurely in a lovely way!

After a few days on Korcula, we took the short ferry ride back to the town of Orebic, which is on the Peljesac Peninsula. The peninsula is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land, so it isn’t an actual island and is often overlooked as a place to “island hop,” but is in fact a really great place that’s not yet spoilt by tourists and still offers the beautiful beaches that the islands do. A few other things that the Peljesac Peninsula has going for it:

1. Amazing seafood! The town of Ston on the peninsula is famous for its mussels and oysters, and we had a delicious seafood lunch with fresh products right from the waters outside the restaurant! Ston also has the longest fortified wall in Europe that snakes along the hillside.
2. A bazillion vineyards and wineries! As you drive all along the peninsula, you pass loads of small little farms selling homegrown wines and you can stop for free tastings. It seems like it might have been similar to what Napa was like 40 or 50 years ago before it became a full-fledged wine country destination.
3. Pristine beaches. The Peljesac peninsula (and especially the town of Orebic where we stayed) has beautiful blue water and a combo of sand and rock beaches. It was so nice to relax on the beach and dip in the refreshing water.

In Orebic we stayed in an air B and B apartment. The hosts were very warm and brought us bottle after bottle of their homemade wine, as well as cherries from their cherry tree. The only stressful part was they took our passports to make copies (which is pretty standard in hotels or apartment stays) but they didn’t bring them back to us for a few days. So we had some brief panic that our identities were being stolen and/or we wouldn’t be able to leave the country (meanwhile, we were being plied with endless bottles of wine…), but luckily they gave them back just in time and all was good. Though if we had to be stuck anywhere, southern Croatia would be a pretty sweet spot 😊

We absolutely loved our time in Croatia and the Balkans! It was so beautiful, delicious food, really interesting history, and warm welcoming people. I could definitely see going back again, and I’d highly recommend it for a wonderful vacation!