Tips you won’t find in any other guide: BACKPACKING CROATIA
Croatia – probably one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Small and so diverse, with 1244 islands (islets, stacks and reefs) and stunningly beautiful scenery, coolest festivals and art scene, mmm food and awesome weather, guys, this is where you wanna be this summer. Forget the most popular European destinations. Try something new.
INTRO
With 6278km of stunning coastline and already mentioned 1244 islands, this relatively small country of only 56.5k square kilometers of territory offers 31k square kilometers of coastal waters for diving and swimming, which is pretty impressive (as the country occupies the largest part of the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea).
The weather is awesome – especially along the coast – summers are usually pretty hot and sunny and as you move inland temperatures tend to drop slightly – so if amazing weather is your number one priority for choosing your next backpacking destination (duh!), you definitely won’t be disappointed.
Watch out though, summers sometimes can really get incredibly hot. Like really really hot, so check out the temperatures before arriving, or make plans for spring and early fall – which is also probably the best time to avoid the tourism chaos that happens every July and August all along the coast.
It’s like – if you wanna see Dubrovnik in August – brace yourself for cruise ships and 10,000 passengers in a single day, clogging the pedestrian-only streets. And then add to the picture a XYZ number of tourists coming to Dubrovnik by plane or cars… It can get messy, trust me…
Tips you probably won’t find in any other backpacking guide to Croatia:
STREET-ART
Street-art tour made by professionals: take an unforgettable walk around Zagreb and discover why there is so much buzz about this cool & artistic place.
Or check out Zen Opuzen Street-Art Festival annually held in early July in the town of Opuzen, southern Croatia – a cool festival that gives a chance to folks to express themselves through arts and culture; works on protecting the rich natural and historical heritage; gathers young and talented artists from various fields of art from other parts of Croatia and beyond – to share their vision on the walls or in the streets making the whole town to become basically an open gallery so that both the residents and guests can enjoy all the murals, graffiti and sculptures all year round.
FESTIVALS
Hippie. Indie. Alternative.
Mystic Mountain is a small, cozy and intimate psychedelic gathering located in the Camp Velebit, Baške Oštarije, Velebit Nature Park, Croatia, special in many ways. It’s not a non stop party site, but a magical place where things are balanced and where guests really open their ways to their true Self; enjoy and celebrate life in a healthy way.
Location: Velebit Nature Park
Or
Presenting all of the bass music and promoting sound system culture, Seasplash has been more than a decade a real treat for all reggae, dub, drum’n’bass, dancehall, ska, and other related electronic music lovers.
Location: Martinska, Šibenik, Croatia
Or
As we develop and emancipate, our spirit evolves. In gamma edition we are celebrating personal and collective transformation through the symbol of Venus: she who sacrificed innocence for wisdom and returned from the underworld rebirthed. Freemental is an attitude: to grow we have to face our darkness and sacrifice old patterns.
Location: Tarej, Island Cres, Croatia
WEIRD AND UNIQUE MUSEUMS
There are lots of really cool museums all over Croatia, but if you’re visiting Zagreb, these two you just have to check out:
Perfect itinerary for relationship experts, ex-lovers, people definitely ready to move on; magicians, illusionists, brainiacs and folks looking for something completely different and unique.
SHOPPING
An innovative space that combines art, music and fashion; providing an eclectic mix of urban elegance and contemporary coolness plus 3 really cool stores in Zagreb where you can buy vinyl records:
TRANSPORTATION
The best budget travel transportation option for Croatia. GetByBus works domestically and internationally and quite often on their Sale page you’ll find unbelievably cheap offers of getting to Croatia and moving around the country. At the moment of writing this, there’s an early bird ticket offer from Munich to Zagreb for only 10 euro or Vienna to Zagreb for 9 euro, for example…
