Croatian Coast Itinerary (+ Budapest too)

During summer of 2018, my girlfriends and I traveled to Hungary and Croatia on an incredible trip of a lifetime. Years later, we continue to talk about this trip, crack inside jokes from the experience (“you’re absolute baben!”), and also hand over our amazing itinerary to others who want to experience the magic that is Croatia. We have since traveled to other countries together, but this trip still takes the cake…

I accidentally deleted my google doc that had all the details of the trip, but luckily my friend Emily had a copy. Publishing it here for easy sharing.

Day 1

Fly into Budapest

We stayed at an Airbnb downtown near the river and synagogue. It was a perfect location and everything we wanted to do was within walking distance (a few miles) from here.

The coffee in Budapest is top notch. We enjoyed trying lots of different coffees and cafes as we walked around town.
Lunch spot: Karavan. It consists of an outdoor row of food trailers, trucks, picnic tables, music and colorful decor. We all ordered different items so that we could share and try each others food. (We also went back at night to get dessert!)
Simplea Kart is a famous ruins bar that is fun. Go early because the line gets insane. We went for a drink around 8pm before our dinner reservation, and when we left at 9 there was a super long line.
Walked around the Synagogue - it is the second largest in the world.
Walked down to the river for a beautiful sunset. Lots to see and watch here.

Day 2

Budapest full day

The Baths: We chose to go to the Gellert Baths because we thought they were the prettiest and offered everything we wanted. Bring flip flops! It is about $20 to go for the full day. We explored the baths for about 2-3 hours and met lots of people. There is also a wave pool which is so fun for kids (as well as us childlike adults who insist on playing in the waves for at least an hour.)

Shoes along the Danube River: This is a memorial to the Hungarian victims of the Holocaust. Very moving and beautiful memorial.

Furnicular up to the top of the castle: Allows you to see the entire city from the highest point. Beautiful at sunset.

Dinner at Mazel Tov: A beautiful restaurant - you feel as though you are outside even when inside. Great drinks, amazing hummus platters. We loved it so much. I believe a friend gave us a recommendation for this spot, and so we must pass it on.

Day 3

Travel to Rovinj, Croatia

We woke up early and took an uber to the train station to board a 6 hour train ride to Zagrab. Upon arrival, we walked into the city center and they were having a beautiful flower / music festival with food so hung out there for a bit before we grabbed another uber to take us to our rental car.

We then drove 2 hours to Rovinj. (Note: the gas stations in Croatia are top notch. They are so clean, beautiful, serve excellent fresh sandwiches. We were blown away and still talk about the gas stations of Croatia.)

We arrived around 4pm, got settled into our Airbnb and then walked down to the water to swim. It was absolutely stunning, remote and quiet. Rovinj is a small town (no cars allowed so you park outside the town and walk to your apartment). I thought Rovinj was the most beautiful and quaint. Amazing restaurants that sit at the oceans edge. Spectacular. Years later and I still dream about Rovinj.

Day 4

Rovinj full day

We woke up, explored the village’s outdoor market. Got coffee along the water. (They were shooting a really cute espresso commercial where we were.) Then changed and set up our spots along the rocky ocean to catch some sun for the day.

We swam and sunbathed for several hours, got some snacks and brought them back to our Airbnb for some appetizers and wine to enjoy while showering / getting ready for the night.

Our favorite bar was called Mediterreano (Aperol Spritz for the win!) Great drinks and incredible views. Make sure to watch the sun set over the Adriatic ocean as much as you can. Sigh.

Day 5

Hike the Plitvice Lakes National Park

Woke up at 6am and hit the road by 7am. 2-3 hour drive to the National Park for a full day of walking and exploring the falls.

They don’t allow swimming here... (big let down for me personally.) But the water is a stunning aqua green and looks straight out of National Geographic. I would suggest bringing snacks and maybe pack your own lunch.

Also we were here in late May and it was VERY CROWDED… so go early. We were lucky that it was early in the season or else i don’t know if I would have been able to handle it. We stayed at a hostel this night about an hour away - very cute!

Day 6

Travel to Hvar / Explore Hvar

Woke up at 6am to drive 2 hours to Split, return the car and catch the 1 hour high speed ferry to Hvar. We stayed at the Hotel Park and thought it was amazing. The complimentary breakfast is INCREDIBLE and authentic, everything in a beautiful garden. The hotel is located right in the city center and easily accessible to everything. You’ll want to stay in the city center/old village.

We walked 20 min to Falko for amazing salads and smoothies. This was my absolutely favorite spot to eat while we were in Croatia. Hammocks, cute bar and overlooks the ocean. We were a group of healthy girls: always looking for fresh veggies, fruit, hummus plates, olives, etc so we loved it here. We rented beach chairs along the water at the beach clubs and enjoyed people watching, a little dancing/drinking and a lot of swimming / taking photos of ourselves.

At night we made a reservation at Black Pepper. The owner is a local and the food was insanely good. It’s a little more expensive but the atmosphere is beautiful and quaint. The owner came out to chat with us for a good 45 min after our meal and bring us complimentary desserts on the house. How he had so much time to chat? Who knows. We were a bunch of cute American girls and he was intrigued.

Day 7

Hvar full day

After breakfast, we took a 5 minute water taxi to another island Jerolim. The beach was beautiful and water was perfectly calm for swimming, snorkeling etc. We rented comfortable beach chairs for cheap. Topless if you want it.

Around 3pm, when we had enough sun we took the water taxi back to Hvar, stopped by Falko for iced teas, did some shopping in town and retreated to our Airbnb to shower.

Oh shopping tip - if you pay in cash, they will often give you a retail item for 10% off.

That night we went to Dalmatinos for dinner. The food was tasty but we thought the atmosphere could have been better. We then went outside to Lola for another drink and people were having fun dancing in the streets, dancing etc.

Day 8

Hvar full day - leave for Dubrovnik

On our last day in Hvar we got breakfast and some walking around. We did some shopping, got ice cream and changed before our 6pm ferry to Dubrovnik. The ferry was around 3.5 hours. A lot of restaurants don’t serve food from 2-6 so be aware.

We stayed in an Airbnb near the old city of Dubrovnik. Be prepared to walk lots of flights of stairs (potentially) carrying your luggage! However, once you get to the top - the views are amazing. The old city apartments are on hills and not easily accessible by car.

Day 9

Full day Dubrovnik

We woke up and went right down into the old city to explore, sit and sip coffees, get gelato and shop. We went to Buza Bar early (around 10am) and children were jumping off the rocky ledges into the water, so of course - we did too! This was a beautiful highlight of the trip.

We then walked 10 min up the road to Hotel Argentina and snuck into the pool area. Its a pool that overlooks the ocean and you can swim in either - jump into the pool, jump into the ocean! It has amazing views of the castle and wide open sea. The hotel is fancy and amazing! (Clearly we were mermaids this entire trip and spent about 75% of our time physically in the ocean.)

That night we went to Lani for dinner. Not as cute as Rovinj or Hvar - but still very nice. Finally, we walked around for Gelato, grabbed another drink in the old city and went back to our Airbnb.

Day 10

Travel home - sadness and tears!

LONG TRAVEL DAY! We had a long layover in Munich so we got $25 passes to the Hilton to use the pool and gym and showers. A nice way to pass the time. Luckily when we got home, summer was just kicking off in Boston and so we had the rest of the season to look forward to at home.