Balkan Roadtrip 12 days itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Zagreb airport and group transfer to Plitvice Lakes National park (approx 2.5h drive). After arrival, check in to the hotel. Introduction and short briefing of the tour, dinner and ice breaker evening in one of the nearby restaurants with the local delicacies.
Places:
PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK
Day 2: Whole day exploration of the fantastic NP Plitvice Lakes. In the morning we will visit the lower part of the park with it's high and small waterfalls and caves, and we will take a boat ride to the upper and the most beautiful part of the park. On the way we will climb to a hill with the best view on one of the most picturesque waterfalls in Croatia. We will have a chance to have a lunch inside the National Park. In the late afternoon the park funicular car will take us back to the entrance, where we will wait for the sunset at one of the viewpoints over the big waterfalls and enjoy the view. Dinner in one of the nearby restaurants.
Places:
PLITVICE NATIONAL PARK
Day 3: Sunrise session at one of the hidden small viewpoints above the Plitvice National Park. After breakfast we leave Plitvice and follow the road down south towards the Adriatic sea. On the way, we will make a detour to the land of Winnetou. We will stop at the picturesque Zrmanja Canyon on a famous photo spot.. In the late afternoon we arrive to one of the classic dalmatian towns - Zadar. We check in at the hotel and explore the area around main square. We wait for the sunset and blue hour in this area. Then we visit the narrow streets of the old town for dinner.
Places:
ZRMANJA
ZADAR
Day 4: After breakfast we make an exploration of Zadar town and catch some street photography opportunities. Zadar is a bustling city and in the morning, the streets are crowded with the locals and tourists. After the walk we proceed with our travel along the beautiful Adriatic Coast towards the town of Šibenik. Before the town we stop at the local, family owned vineyard for the wine tasting of quality and delicious Dalmatian wines. After refreshment in the winery, we will continue towards the capital of Dalmatia, Split. After arrival and check in, we will visit the ancient and roman center of the town, have a blue hour photo session and dinner time.
Places:
ŠIBENIK (Winetasting)
SPLIT
Day 5: Sunrise session at one of the elevated locations of Split for the view of Split town. We return to the hotel for a quick breakfast. In Split harbour we enter the ferry which will take us to the magical island of Hvar. We drive to the hotel in the town center and have some free time for possible swimming or relaxing time. Before the sunset we walk up to the town fortress with an amazing view on the old town. After dark, we descend to the town for the dinner.
Places:
SPLIT
HVAR
Day 6: Early morning wake up, breakfast and we wave farewell to the island of Hvar and Adriatic sea as the ferry takes us back to the mainland. We leave the coast for awhile and drive inland towards the border with Bosnia Herzegovina. We follow the fields with watermelons and agrumes, irigation systems of river of Neretva and stop at viewpoint above the fascinating small town of Počitelj. First glimpse of the islamic world on our tour. After Počitelj we continue our tour to Mostar, one of the best Ottoman towns in the Balkans. We check in at the hotel and explore the old town with bazaar. Evening photo session of the famous Ottoman bridge over the Neretva river. The old bridge is from the 16th century. It was destroyed during the Balkan wars in 1993 and restored in 2004. After the photography session we find something to eat in town.
Places:
POČITELJ
MOSTAR
Day 7: Sunrise on one of the viewpoints of the old bridge in town. We continue our road trip towards Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. On the way, we cross the high Dinaric mountains and follow the river valley. We will take a side way up to the mountains to one of the best preserved Balkan villages of Lukomir. We take a stroll in the old traditional village, enjoy the views of the nearby pastures and mountains and talk with the shepherds. In the late afternoon we arrive to Sarajevo. The capital of Bosnia has a long and interesting history. Evening stroll at Baščaršija (Turkish old town), visit of some important sights and a photo session. For the dinner, we can try the famous Sarajevo's "čevapčiči" and for the hedonists, we can find some nargilas in the hidden square.
Places:
LUKOMIR
SARAJEVO
Day 8: Sunrise session at one of the elevated locations above Sarajevo. We leave the charming town and start to drive towards the Montenegrin mountains. Scenic drive takes us to the border between the countries, but then we drive high up on a local road to the mountains. We enter the National park of Durmitor. We are surrounded with high peaks of Bobotov Kuk, mt. Prutaš and others. We stop at several photo stops on the way for the amazing landscape views. The center of the Durmitor area is a small town of Žabljak. We check in at the hotel, and walk to the Black lake for the evening photo session. On the way, we find a place, where we can try some Montenegrin specialities.
Places:
DURMITOR NP
ŽABLJAK
Day 9: At dawn we drive back to the Durmitor NP and wait for sunrise surrounded by the mountains. We return to Žabljak for breakfast and leave Durmitor. We drive via Nikšič towards the Montenegrin coast. As we drive down to the deep bay of Kotor we stop at the town of Perast, where we will enjoy the scenic view. This place is a popular scenery for the local filmmakers and is often shown in various movies and shows. But tonight we stay in Kotor, which is a very popular medieval town at the end of the Kotor bay. We can follow the steep staircase all the way up to the old fortress for the best view over the small town and bay. After return, we find a place for the dinner.
Places:
PERAST
KOTOR
Day 10: Late morning wake up. After breakfast we slowly leave the Montenegro. Near the town of Herceg-Novi we cross the border back to Croatia. From there it is not far to reach Dubrovnik. We go directly to the center of the Pearl of Adriatic. Walking on the city walls, enjoying the polished rocks on Stradun and exploring some streets behind the scenes for some good photographic opportunities. For our last blue hour session we drive on the viewpoint above the town. As we wave goodbye we have another dinner in a family own place in the nearby village. We hope that the images, you take are satisfying and the tour will bring you nice memories.
Places:
DUBROVNIK
