Things to do

Apart from swimming and exploring the local area by walking, what other places can you visit  within a day's travel?

If you didn't see Dubrovnik when you passed through the airport, then do spend a day there.  Because it is a very special place - a world heritage site - that parking outside the old town could be difficult in the height of the season.   For that reason, either take a bus all the way from the local main road, or take a local bus having parked quite well outside Dubrovnik. The same applies to Split where Diocletion's palace is the main attraction - although like Dubrovnik and Venice, it has these fabulous little streets packed with architectural curiosities.  Split is approximately 2 hours drive away.  Beyond Split airport is Trogir - another historic town with a cathedral and plenty of charm.

Another day trip would be to take your car on the ferry from Ploce to Trpanj on the Pelijsac Peninsula.  Then drive across to Orebic (actually there are buses which meet the ferries).  From Orebic, another ferry (20 mins) will take you across to Korcula Town   Another lovely mini- version of Dubrovnik.  The advantage of taking your car is that you can come home by another route, via Ston and Mali Ston.  Again these are charming old places, but there is a famous restaurant there which specialises in locally produced oysters (which are a very reasonable price).  You can see the oyster beds as you drive up the main road from Dubrovnik.

You can also get across to Hvar Island from Makarska.   However it takes over an hour to get to Makarska.  When you get over to Hvar, it is a very long island and will take hours to drive from one end to the other (where the old and famous town is).   It may be quicker to drive up to Split and do the ferries from there - as they are more frequent and arrive at the correct places.   Or you could start one end of Hvar and leave from the other.

Mostar is another interesting place to visit and it is only 45 minutes away.  Although they have rebuilt the famous bridge which was destroyed in the recent Yugoslav war, there are still many damaged buildings.  It is a strange mixture of medieval and modern, with a river running in a deep cutting through the middle of the town.  You can also see the famous mosque in the centre and the adjacent burial ground connected with the last fighting.  It is gradually recovering and offering facilities for tourists - such as canoeing  on the river.  There is more information about this trip on the Komarna website - http://www.komarna.co.uk/index.html.

Bosnia uses a different currency from Croatia, but it doesn't seem to matter too much.  It is useful to know that Bosnian supermarkets are open on Roman Catholic holidays and vice versa.  So you should find some food shops and cafes open.   On your way to Mostar, you could visit the Kravica waterfalls (if you can find them - as they are badly signed).  There are least 3 crossings to Bosnia in and around Metkovic.  From the border post  in Metkovic, you can also visit a Roman archaelogical site and a bird sanctuary.  Also not too far from the Kravica waterfalls is Medugorje - the place where a young girl saw a vision of the Virgin Mary.  Near the Bosnian border at Prud (go through Vid from Metkovic), there is a good restaurant where the bake their own bread and will take you for a boat ride on the river before lunch.

The advantage of visiting the popular tourist areas is that the restaurants and shops are more developed and they almost always speak English.... they don't always do in Metkovic local area.  We have collected many visiting cards from the local area and from Dubrovnik - so you will have a big choice of where to eat out.

Back to home page