It was my first time in Croatia and I fell in love with its people, nature, food and culture. My stay in Croatia was amazing and it surprised me in many ways. Today, I want to share with you my picture-perfect spot in Croatia (I have also written a more general article on Croatia, here).
Town
Where is this perfect spot? It’s Nin, not far away from Zadar and around a 2-hour drive from Split. It’s a small town, partially an island, with an archaeological museum and a salt museum. There are pubs, restaurants, bakeries and shops. You can also hire bikes. If you’re after fresh bread or fruit & veg, I would recommend going even more locally and buying from the stalls by the road. They have fresh products, often from their own gardens and orchards which are definitely cheaper than in supermarkets.
Beach
There are mountains behind the sea, healing mud, a calm sea shore, sand and a beach café. Perfect! The beach is quite long, but narrow. I trust that in July and August it can be quite crowded, but in September it was perfectly comfortable. The sea is warm and shallow (perfect for the children) and I couldn’t stop admiring the view of the mountains. Mud baths are also great fun: you can feel the excitement when you touch and play with the mud (by the way, the mud is apparently beneficial for your body & skin)!
Campsite
The campsite is fantastic, because you have a private route to the beach and beautiful views from the site all day long. The campsite has varying reviews on Google, but we had a very good deal and enjoyed our stay there (so no complaints here!). The campsite is relatively small, simple and clean. It has toilets and shower rooms (please see below my recipe for the quickest shower ever!) and Internet (but only in the reception area). The only thing I thought was lacking were picnic tables, as most campers come in their own cars or a camper-vans so it isn’t necessary to provide them. And we couldn’t get a gas canister to cook our meals, as the majority of travellers bring them in their cars! Apart from that, we enjoyed our stay at Ninska Laguna Camping!
A recipe for the QUICKEST shower ever!
The shower rooms don’t have doors, but a wall on one side, so it makes showering (or rather un-dressing) a bit tricky. You need to pay for hot water. Undress, place everything strategically, your shampoo, towel & clothes. Insert coins and quickly shampoo your hair, wash body and rinse, rinse, rinse! Hot water gone. Now the pleasure (or necessity) of finishing off rinsing with cold water. Dry your hair & body, put clothes on. Done! (I think it took longer to write about than to actually take the shower!)
Weather
The weather surprised us the most. Perhaps because of the mountains, we had a whole range of weather: from beautiful blue-sky to light rain, heavy rain, downpours and storms. Fortunately, most of the extreme weather happened at night, but one day we had to stay in our tent for 6 hours because of the storms. One piece of advice: explore the nearby areas, as sometimes a 20-minute drive away may mean a beautiful and sunny day!
What is your favourite spot in Croatia? Please share your recommendations in the comments below.
Written by Kinga Macalla