Traveling from Split to Dubrovnik “Croatian island hopping”

This trip crept up on Harriet (@talesofpeck) and I, as we had been super busy on the lead up to it. So far 2018 has been a busy year for us – doing as much as we can do traveling-wise and fitting in loads of work, as well as attending weddings and everything else that needs to be done at this time in life. But anyway – this is about Croatia and what a great trip it’s been!

We got on the road early to get a flight from Bristol to Split (Croatia) at 6:55am. 

Split, Croatia

Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia

Arriving in Split was easy and getting from the airport was a usual sketchy taxi trying to grift you from the get-go. But we arrived at our Airbnb minutes from Old Town Split about noon and headed straight out for some lunch.

We were only in Split for the night so wanted to use the afternoon to check it out.

I was instantly drawn to the narrow streets and blue skies for my first shot in Split

The bell tower in Split old town

Caught a sun flair shot whilst practicing and made it even more dramatic in Adobe Lightroom afterwards

I’d taken some pictures of this fountain earlier in the day and walking back from dinner I saw a child playing in the fountain and snapped away

Hvar, Croatia

Hvar is a port and resort town on the Croatian island of Hvar

We got the ferry to Hvar for some chilled beach life and sunsets…

Sunsets in Hvar are great in September, golden hour seemed like a golden two or three hours and I took full advantage. Flare shots are the insta-travelers dream, so I tuned in the skills I needed with the GH5.

Golden hour in Hvar

We ended up on a sunset boat trip put on by Hvar Adventure which was amazing. I really enjoyed being on the sail boat and it gave me some ideas for future trips. 

Sea plane with long lens 

The following day Harriet and I walked off a heavy head and ended up spending the afternoon in a beach bar. This is where I was lucky enough to see a sea fire fighting plane practicing right in front of us. I took the opportunity and grabbed the long telephoto lens and was really happy with the results.

Korcula, Croatia

Korcula is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea

After a few cocktails and sunsets in Hvar we were back on the ferry to Korčula. We seemed to luck-out again with our third Airbnb of the the trip and got picked up from the ferry port. As soon as we got off the ferry we were greeted by Paulina from Korčula Waterfront Accommodations. She was a world of knowledge about the island, telling us everything we needed to know and offering us some extra tours that she puts on for her guests. We walked into town to a restaurant that Paulina had booked us in to. It was one of her favourites and highly recommend restaurants – it didn’t disappoint! She also offered to lend us some bikes for the following day which I was keen for, as it had been a few days since I’d had a pedal.

Love the colour from the evening – the light that just kept giving

We went to a sword dance one night and it was very hard to get the lighting right… These were shot at over 30,000 iso

Wine tour

The following day Paulina had put on a wine tasting trip for us and some other guests. The tour was not just wine tasting, it was packed with facts and history about the island and finished at a fisherman’s bbq in Lumbarda. The fisherman’s bbq happens once a week and I would definitely go again. I wish I took photos of the food but I was too busy stuffing my face. 

I wanted to try and get some interesting scenic shots this day so I was looking out for some interesting framing options. I also got the telephoto lens back out as I really loved playing with it a few days earlier in Hvar.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is a city in southern Croatia fronting the Adriatic Sea. It’s known for its distinctive Old Town, encircled with massive stone walls completed in the 16th century

The following morning consisted of an early rise, then a lift into town from Paulina where we had our final briefing of important information for the next stage of our trip. We said our goodbyes, grabbing a quick breakfast and then back in the queue for the ferry to Dubrovnik.

We hopped off the ferry and on to the bus to the old town. This bus was packed and in hindsight we should have got a coffee and chilled for half an hour but we got there anyway and were soon trekking into old town to meet our last Airbnb host, Marko. The accommodation was a nice little place, not far from the main street and overlooking the wall.

I knew when I got there I wanted to get some night shots of the town but had a lot of stuff to see, so I was excited to what new experiences were around each corner. I managed to get a few great shots from around town and from our walk around the wall. We headed on to the wall as late as we could to get as close to Golden Hour as possible. It was closing at 6pm but we were there until past 7pm and no one asked us to leave, so that was a win, getting some great light for further shots and I even grabbed a cheeky time lapse near the end while we enjoyed a juice in the evening sun.

We had another great dinner near our place which seemed to be the spot for food in town, then we decided to head to an amazing gelato place for dessert while I got some more night shots from around town.

Well that’s it! A great trip traveling the coast of Croatia and would recommend it to anyone. I took some great shots, made some new friends and saw lots of culture. My only regret is not sending the drone up, but that’s for another trip maybe…

For all the travel info make sure you read Harriet’s blog – she is the brains of the operation and the best travel buddy around.

Cheers Croatia

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