Dalmatia extends from Zadar in the north to the southern border, so if your are traveling from anywhere in the north to Dubrovnik, as we did in June, 2003, you will travel through Dalmatia. The scenery is varied, from the high barren Dinaric Alps in the east to the coast and islands in the west.

We traveled south along the coast, stopping at several camping spots along the way. The coast is dotted with small villages and thankfully, very little major development with high rise hotels. The beaches, though rocky, are exceedingly popular, both among the tourists as well as the locals.

The weather was unusually warm while we were there, so we found the beaches to be crowded on the weekends and late afternoons. Much of the coast is totally undeveloped like the stretch south of Markarska shown in the photo.

The campgrounds are usually near the beach and near towns or villages. The photo above left is the early morning view from our campground near Trogir. The water was crystal clear and warm, making for a wonderful refreshing swim after a day of travel. Because the beaches are not sandy, there are often concrete extensions into the water to allow easy access without having to walk over the pebbly bottom which is tough on tender feet. There is almost always a promenade along the beach, allowing access to the nearby village for restaurants and markets. We found most campgrounds to have their own market which was quite convenient for those of us who don’t have space to carry food along. Almost all markets, whether in the campground or in town, opened quite early in the morning (usually opening between 6 and 7 am) so we could buy our fresh bread, yogurt and juice first thing in the morning.

There are islands along most of the coast and therefore the water is relatively smooth, especially in the morning and evening. The photo above was taken in Pakostane where there are numerous small islands off the coast.  In town you can get a boat excursion to the nearby Kornat islands, a Croatian national park.

As we walked around the villages it was obvious that earlier tourism booms had been disastrously ended with the fighting in the 90’s. Restaurants, hotels, and shops now stand unused, simply deteriorating from disuse. However, with tourism now on the rise again, people are busy building again and signs of prosperity are visible. Almost all communities have many houses displaying signs for “Sobe, Rooms, Zimmer, Camere” for the visiting tourists. Camping signs often refer to the space in someone’s front yard. Everyone is trying to get some of the tourist Kuna. Almost all the yards have a large garden with tomatoes, beans, eggplant, peppers, potatoes, and fruit trees. The local markets tend to be a conglomeration of all this produce which we often enjoyed. One of our stops on the way south was in the city of Split where the Roman emperor Diocletian had his retirement palace built from 295 to 305 AD.  After his death, the great stone palace continued to be used as a retreat by Roman rulers. In the 7th century residents from the nearby colony of of Salona fled to Split and barricaded themselves behind the high palace walls, where their descendants live to this day. Amazingly, much of the original palace is still intact.

When you walk into the Peristyle, a large, colonnaded square, the Roman architecture is immediately obvious. The vestibule (above, left) at the end of the colonnade is quite imposing as is the cathedral with its neo-Romanesque tower (above, right). Below the vestibule, several shops are now operating in the cool environment of the excavated basement halls.  In the harbor area in front of the palace, there are cafes galore, but only one restaurant that we could find. Evidently the people here do a lot more drinking than they do eating!

Tired from all the walking about, Jim stopped for a short rest on one of the many sarcophagi surrounding the cathedral (left).

In southern Dalmatia, there are several large populated islands such as Hvar and Korčula. The national ferry line Jardrolinija as well as many local ferries provide access to and from, as well as between the islands.   Returning north from Dubrovnik, we hopped a local ferry to Korčula, then caught the Jardrolinija ferry from Korčula to Split (a 5½ hours journey which gave us a restful afternoon).  The photo below is of the town of Korčula on the mountainous Korčula island. As we wended our way through the islands, we caught a great view of the town of Hvar. As you can see from the photo below, left, the original defensive walls are still intact all the way up the hill to the upper fortress. It is also a popular harbor for the numerous sail boats enjoying the coast. In amongst the islands, there is not a lot of wind, so it was pretty much bathtub sailing. However, we expect that outside the islands you would have a decent wind.

And of course along the coast, you always have the opportunity of catching a dramatic sunset, depending on the conditions (below).

Heading northward, we left the coast at Split and pointed our way northeastward toward Zagreb. To our pleasant surprise, the road was in good condition and for the first day of our journey to the Plitvička Jezera, we were at 2000 feet elevation, which gave us some relief from the heat. The area was mountainous, with low scrub brush nearer the coast giving way to wooded areas further inland. There were large areas of little or no population along the way. In one area, just south of the town of Knin, we traveled through an area obviously hit hard by the recent fighting. In many places, bombed-out shells of homes were grim reminders of the lost lives and shattered dreams. Entire communities were now ghost towns. It was a sad reminder of the ethnic troubles, but we hope that is now on the mend and people can start rebuilding their lives.

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