The best places to visit in Croatia, and the right place to start from
Croatia is a country of contrasts: in a single day you can walk Roman streets, climb a mountain and swim in some of the clearest sea in Europe. If you are planning a holiday in Dalmatia, these are the places to put on your list.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
A UNESCO World Heritage site: sixteen lakes linked by wooden walkways and waterfalls, remarkable at any time of year.
Zadar old town and the Sea Organ
The city whose sunset Alfred Hitchcock called the most beautiful in the world. Walk the Kalelarga, visit the church of St Donatus and listen to the Sea Organ, played by the waves.
Šibenik old town
A town with two UNESCO monuments, the Cathedral of St James and St Nicholas Fortress, and stone lanes that are a pleasure to walk.
The canyon of the Zrmanje
Monumental rock and emerald water. The canyon is at its best from the sea, by speedboat through the Novigrad Sea.
Paklenica and Krka national parks
The waterfalls of Krka suit an easy day in nature. Paklenica offers mountain views, hiking trails and world-famous climbing walls directly above the coast.
Calma as your base
The hardest part of seeing all this is the logistics: how to visit everything without packing a suitcase every other day. The answer is one good base, where after a day out you return to a private jacuzzi and a heated pool.
Villa Calma I and Villa Calma II in Starigrad Paklenica are about fifteen minutes from the A1 motorway at Maslenica, so every one of these places is a day trip.
Paklenica National Park: a few minutes.
The Zrmanje and Maslenica: about 15 minutes.
Zadar: about 45 minutes.
Krka National Park and Šibenik: about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Plitvice Lakes: about 1 hour 30 minutes.
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