Crossing Germany, Czech Republic and Austria on my way to Greece, I had a three week stay in Croatia – from island hopping to sightseeing in cities such as Zagreb and Dubrovnik.
Of course, I did not miss out on a short detour to the inlands on my way from Krk to Zadar to explore the famous Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Oh wow – what a beauty and a totally different world right in the middle of Europe. But let me tell you all about this very special place.
It was the beginning of March 2018, and you can possibly imagine how much I was looking forward to get out of the cold in Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. My route took me from Graz over to Zagreb – Hello Croatia! Wait a second – snow?! Yep, that was pretty much of a surprise. The inland of Croatia just got hit by a winter storm with over 1 meter of new, fresh bright white snow. And I was right in the middle of it – on Summer tires.
Snow in Croatia – what a surprise!
So I decided to quickly drive over to the coastal line, where the weather got much milder with temperatures between 10 and even 18 degrees Celsius. Istria and the islands Cres and Krk were definitely my route highlights followed by Plitvice Lakes and further along the beautiful coastal route with my final destination Dubrovnik.
Overall, I spent three weeks in Croatia with almost 15 hours on the road making distance on my way to Greece with over 1.000 kilometers.
Here is my super scenic route in detail:
Slovenia might not be the country you would first pick to travel to if you looked at the map of places you should explore in Europe. I also discovered Slovenia not being my final travel destination, but as a go trough route on the way from Germany to Croatia. Such an unexpected surprise! Because this might be one of the most underestimated countries I have ever been to and it’s definitely worth a trip. Here is my route in detail:
Route in Slovenia