Sydney just got back from her walking tour of Croatia and agreed to share her experience with us! I asked Sydney about her trip, and here’s what she had to say.
The walking tour itself was three weeks. “I flew to Split through Paris, and spent four days there on my own before the group tour, and to get over the jet lag although three weeks would have been enough.” Sydney flew from Vancouver to Paris, spending four days in Paris, and then took the Croatian Airline direct to split. “It was a good airline,” shared Sydney, “older planes but everything was on time.”
The tour mostly comprised of city tours – walking about two to three hours in the a.m. and a similar amount of time in the p.m. “All of this was broken up well with periodic stops during the hikes, and water stops,” said Sydney, “the average temperature each day was about 35 degrees.”
“At around five, we were able to relax and then went out for dinner at around 7:30 or 8 each night,” said Sydney, “The pace was good, varied, and our Croatian guide from Brac was excellent. She reviewed the map for each day, and gave information on flora and fauna stops along the way. I had no idea Croatia was so rich in agriculture – olives, figs, herbs and more.”
Of course, on any trip there are some highlights that stick out in your mind, and favourite places. For Sydney, it was Trogir. “The architecture was amazing – more impressive, detailed and beautiful than any in Venice,” shared Sydney, “and I’ve been to Venice twenty-seven times over the past 50 years!”
“My other favourite thing were the local lunches we had,” said Sydney, “One was at a friend’s home in the hills on Brac, and another at a restaurant on Korchula.” Sydney shared that the men were the chefs, and they proudly cooked simple but pure foods – tomatoes, home cured hams, olives, cheese from Pag, and homemade pasta.
Sydney expressed that her previous impression of the Croatian people was wrong. After getting to know the country and the people she said, “they are honest, warm, very welcoming, are knowledgeable about the world in general, nothing is a problem for them, they are on time and very welcoming on a personal level.”
I asked Sydney to share some of the pros and cons. She’s shared a lot of pros about the area, but a couple downsides were eating far too late in the day. “Some nights we ate so late, and after 10 p.m. and you’re not hungry – it seemed very wasteful,” said Sydney, “Also, I spent the last four days alone in Dubrovnik, and that’s far too many days there – two is enough to do it all!”
Any recommendations for people looking to do a similar tour? “Just do it!” says Sydney, “and soon!”
We’d like to thank Sydney for her time and for sharing her experience with us. Happy travels!