Zadar is an underrated gem located along the Dalmatian Coast, along the Adriatic Sea. Founded by Liburnians in the 9th century BC, Zadar is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. With historic architecture, monuments and Roman ruins, wonderful sunsets, unique art installations, and no cars, Zadar’s Old Town makes for a perfect home base to explore this lovely city, the region, and its amazing national parks.
We had never even heard of Zadar when we were looking for spring break options for our trip in 2018. I was late in planning when we pulled the trigger on some plane tickets to London. Knowing London was just a jumping-off point for another destination, we begin exploring the options. It’s amazing how you can get incredibly cheap flights (from $30) across Europe once you’re on the continent. Using Ryan Air, we considered destinations such as Malta and Greece before quickly zeroing in on Croatia, a place we’d been wanting to visit for the last two decades. We decided on flying into Zadar and then traveling north to a finale in Venice and flying out of Venice back to London.
Here’s our itinerary for the 10-day trip:
Friday, Mar 30: Flight left MSP at 5:41 pm
Saturday, Mar 31: Arrive at London Heathrow, explore London, flight to Zadar, pick up car
Sunday, Apr 1: Explore Zadar and catch up on sleep, Easter today
Monday, Apr 2: Krka National Park, Sibenik, back to Zadar for p.m.
Tuesday, Apr 3: Plitvice National Park, stay in Novi Vidolski for the night
Wednesday, Apr 4: Explore Pula, stay in Rovinj
Thursday, Apr 5: Day trip to fortified hill town Motovun, stay in Rovinj, drop off the car
Friday, Apr 6: Bus to Venice, explore Venice
Saturday, Apr 7: More Venice time
Sunday, Apr 8: Flight to London, meet London friends at the pub
Monday, Apr 9: Flight back to MSP
When we are talking about Zadar, we’re really talking about Zadar’s Old Town as the newer part of the city is fairly uninteresting compared to the beautiful richly historical area. A footbridge from the mainland brings you to the Old Town peninsula. The historic fortifications are a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once you understand the turbulent history of this city (and Croatia in general), you will be amazed that so many historic structures still exist. From the Romans in 3rd century BC to the Venetian control starting in the 9th century, to Turkish attacks in 15th century, Austrian troops and the Italians again after WW1, to German troops in WW2 and Serbian bombing in the 1990s, Zadar has struggled to find peace. The last 25 years have been calm, as Croatia has gained a strong tourism reputation. Dubrovnik in the south tip of Croatia was one of the filming locations for Game of Thrones, and fans flock there.
We stayed at an Airbnb in Zadar near the footbridge called Gradski most, which connects to the Old Town. We had a roof deck that had amazing views of the Old Town. (see the first photo on this post for the actual view!) This was a great choice for us, as we had easy access to our car and could do day trips from Zadar and explore Zadar at night.
When crossing the footbridge and first walking through the town gates at the Bridge Gate, we were immediately struck by the fact that the walls and streets are all made of the same cream-colored marble. The highly polished stones at our feet were a reminder of how many people had passed on these streets before us.
There are many sights to explore in the Old Town and we took our time wandering around the peninsula without an agenda. Peoples Square was our first stop, just a few blocks from the Bridge Gate. Surrounded by a church and historic buildings, this square is full of outdoor dining and seating.
Queen Jelena Madijevka Park is an 1800’s public park built on top of the old fortifications. Climb to the top to get an overview of the surrounding city. The Land Gate, built in 1543 is adjacent to the park, as well as a marina.
Take your pick from Roman, Byzantine, or Venetian architecture because Zadar has them all. The Church of St. Donatus is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia. It was built on the Roman Forum, with marble from the ruins. We couldn’t get inside the church, but we did enjoy exploring this area of the city at night and dusk. There’s some interesting modern infill architecture in this area, as Zadar was heavily bombed in WW2.
Zadar is known for its beautiful sunsets. When Alfred Hitchcock visited the city in 1964, he said “Zadar has the most beautiful sunset in the world, more beautiful than the one in Key West in Florida, applauded at every evening.” The walkways lining the Adriatic on the west side of the Old Town are filled with people as the sun gets low in the sky.
Monument to the Sun is a unique art installation located on the northwest corner of the city, where the Adriatic meets Zadar. Designed by Croatian architect Nikola Basic, this artwork is a 22-meter circular installation in the paving that gathers the power of the sun during the day and comes alive at dusk when the lights start dancing. The large disk is a magnet for people as it invites participation with children and adults alike dancing around trying to anticipate the lights.
Nearby the Monument to the Sun is another unique art installation by the same architect that uses the waves of the Adriatic to produce sounds. The Sea Organ is integrated into the stepped seating that descends into the water. As waves splash into the pipes and resonating cavity, a variety of sounds are produced, delighting those lingering, waiting for the sun to disappear. Check out the video above with sound on to experience the eery sound of the Sea Organ.
Zadar has some wonderful restaurants including 4Kantuna, which is a place we ate at both of our nights in Zadar because it was so delicious. Pizza, pasta, roasted meats, and fish, there were a lot of choices to make everyone in the family happy. Zadar also has a number of gelaterias that are perfect for a late-night treat, or really anytime to tell you the truth.
Cormac was obsessed with the hot dogs wrapped in pastry that could be found at the kiosk right before the footbridge. To keep him happy and content, we never passed that location without picking up this treat for him. This is what he remembers most about his time in Zadar. We just have to mention that special hot dog treat and only then can he recall his time in this city.
Zadar is an excellent home base to visit some of Croatia’s truly wonderful national parks. The national parts were the main reason we were so interested in visiting Croatia in the first place. See this post on Krka and Plitvice National Parks.
On our way back from Krka National Park, we made a quick stop in a lovely city, Šibenik, on the coast. Like many Croatian cities, Sibenik was been ruled by Venice, Byzantium, Hungary, and Italy throughout its history. During the Croatian War of Intendance (1991-95) Sibenik was attacked by the Yugoslav National Army and Serbia paramilitary troops. The battle lasted for six days and damaged numerous buildings. The city has recovered, and the damaged areas of the city have been fully restored. The central church in Šibenik, the Šibenik Cathedral of St James is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We spent a couple of hours exploring the winding streets before heading back to Zadar for the night.
Between Plitvice and Rovinj, we settled on staying at a wonderful Airbnb in Nova Vinodolski, a small town along the coast with some gorgeous views of the Adriatic. Like all of Croatia, this small village of fewer than 5,000 people, is much busier in the summer when people flock to the beaches and boats. In early April, the place was pretty quiet and sleepy, which is fine with us. We strolled around the town, the main square, and found a restaurant to have some cevapcici and local wine before heading back to our lovely Airbnb to enjoy the amazing views.
The next stops on this Croatian adventure were Pula, the site of a truly spectacular Roman Amphitheatre. another beautiful Croatian city, Rovinj, and fortified hilltown, Motovun before heading to Venice.
Extra travel tips for Croatia:
Driving
We don’t love renting a car when in Europe (we have some experiences that have mentally scarred us that you can read about in a future Portugal post), but in Croatia, the train system is less extensive than in other European countries. There are bus options, but it just wasn’t practical for our family given our short time there. The car rental process is frustratingly slow. Expect it to take 20-30 minutes per customer. With our late flight and having to wait 1.5 hours behind 3 people in the rental car line, we were very crabby by the time we finally got in our car, well after midnight.
But if you can handle the long check-in process, driving in Croatia was very easy. Great roads and easy-to-understand signage made driving in Croatia enjoyable and gave us the freedom to explore.
Tap into other’s knowledge of Croatia
I was lucky to have a dear friend who lived in Croatia while her husband was doing CIA spy stuff. She gave me some good advice on key Croatian phrases to know (most people speak English, but it’s polite to make the effort to speak their language), things to buy as souvenirs (lace, truffles), and must-try foods (cevapcici, truffle-seasoned foods, Pag cheese).
Cheap Airlines
Before committing to a bargain airline like Ryan Air, you should understand what the compromises are. This is NOT luxury travel in any way, shape, or form. It’s not just that there isn’t beverage service, you don’t even get a cushioned seat as it’s hard plastic. The boarding is chaotic, and you feel like cattle being herded. Flights might be late and they don’t really care. Don’t even think about checking a bag--- make sure to pack what you need in a carry-on bag - and make sure to check, check, and triple check the very strict maximum size and weight allowances for carry-ons. But at the end of the day, it’s really hard to complain about flights that cost $30.
Spring is really off-season
We love traveling off-season or during the shoulder season and typically avoid high season travel. Europeans love to go to the beach and have fun in the water in Croatia and the Adriatic Coast in the summer, making it very busy and crowded with those looking to party and work on tans. Spring was perfect timing for us, with few crowds (except the national parks), and the weather was wonderful. Some of the restaurants are seasonal, so there are fewer choices in the early spring, but we didn’t find this a problem. Housing was inexpensive for us, with our group of 4 being accommodated along with kitchen and living room, several bedrooms for between $65-75/ night.
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