So we wanted to see for ourselves what the Plitvice lakes in Croatia were all about and as they are a three and a half hour drive direct to the Lodge, we decided to take our time over a few days, go down the coast as far as Zadar and explore around.. so this article is all about some of the secret places we found in the bit between them and the Lodge.

Where did we Go?

We chose to go in early October to avoid crowds and as the weather is still warm, but it was a little bit windy. We made our way through the green hills of Slovenia and dropped down onto Rijeka in Istria, our plan was to stay on the coastal road all the way through Dalmatia to Zadar, but for reasons that will be explained below we went up into the mountains to collect the mororway again for the final hop to Zadar on the coast for night one.. then we spent the day exploring on the way back from Zadar to Plitvice lakes where we stayed night two and visited Plitvice the next morning and drove back home from there!

So here is a scattering of just a few of the places we found in the hills and coast of Dalmatia and along the eastern Istrian seaside.. if you look at a map.. the bits between Rijeka and Zadar..

it's not all swim swim swim on the Croatian coast.. Senj, a typical harbour town, but the rocky beaches are not far..

You can reach Rijeka from the Lodge in 2 shakes of a dragon's tail or 75 mins for those who don't believe in dragons. Then the rocky coast opens up as you drive through little seaside towns and fishing villages.. your job is just to choose where to stop off for a coffee. We opted for the little seafront and lots of parking of Senj with a colourful old town just off the main promenade and a castle on the hill.

Just before Senj is Suncanik which you can get to from the Lodge in about 2 hours, but we took a bit longer as we were meandering. Here there is a big sign proclaiming the 45th parallel, which is halfway between the North pole and the Equator. Many years ago we stood half way up a volcano with one foot on either side of the Equator in Equador, so this was another quarter of the world we had conquered.. hopefully the other quarters are not in the ocean!

A more important measurement for for us on this trip was we were halfway to Zadar! So no time to stop at the castle on the hill or explore the old town, we moved on down the coast as the wind was now really rattling away. You can get quite a nasty breeze in these regions called the Burja, where Alpine winds clash with their Mediterranean cousins and cause quite a stir.

So the next thing that happened will very probably not happen to you but will serve as a cautionary tale.. the wind had whipped up so much that unbeknown to us the road we were taking futher down the coast towards Zadar was closed! The only warning was a very little sign completely in Croatian at the side of the road that we only actually spotted as we drove back and by the way with our limited Slovenian, we could only guess it said the road was closed anyway. You would have no chance!

We turned round just in time though as we saw a proper roadblock further ahead next to a little car park crammed full of cars with number plates from all over Europe.. except Croatian plates..

Can you believe it, instead of helping the tourists with kindness and travel information, the police were writing up tickets and fines for the poor trapped tourists who had "illegaly" gone down a "closed" road which wasn't actually physically closed until here. There is absolutely NO WAY they could have understood what the very small sign meant or guessed that in a country with so few decent roads, a whole artery road would just be shut like that!

We drove up into the mountains instead, feeling very sorry for our Swiss, German and French friends and wondered how enthusiastic these people would be to visit Croatia again.. now this may well be an isolated incident, but we have heard suspicious stuff and also seen for ourselves how the speed limit signs on motorways and outside towns on country roads are constantly changing with little relation to the traffic and conditions, with local police waiting to jump on unsuspecting tourists and fill the Croatian coffers with even more tourist money..

If it was all about safe driving and good habits we couldn't support it more, but it doesn't look that way.

So it all depends how you feel about this, but for us it left a very nasty taste in the mouth.. we noticed another huge difference here between Slovenia and Croatia.. so personally, we wouldn't trade all the beaches and islands in Croatia for our beautiful Green Slovenia.. but the show must go on, so on we went.. driving even more carefully and well within every new change of speed limit sign to Zadar with local people looming large in our mirrors and driving next to our bumper.. ridiculous indeed!

now these are steps anyone would want to walk down..

The shame of it all is there are really so many lovely places to stop off at by the seaside and in the hills. All along the coast there are beautiful views across the sea to the huge islands that really take Croatia to the top of the European coastal holiday list for people who just want to spend their 2 weeks doing nothing by the sea.. and there is nothing at all wrong with that.

On day two we were just driving along when we spotted a pretty sight as we drove over a river bridge, so we swung a left, drove a bit down a country lane and found ourselves on a rocky river bank with steps down to a little boat.. it was idyllic and we have every reason to believe there are lots of these little hidden places all over here.

And there are lots of beautiful river water features to be explored near Otacac.. We found the springs of the river Gacka and further downriver another little village with a row of ancient wooden mill houses sitting on top of the river. We stopped and walked around and bought local honey.. it was great!

the source of the river Gacke.. izvori Gacke

Not too far from here and the Plitvice lakes is the original Tesla museum, near a place called Gospic.. you won't find any electric cars here and come to think of it we don't remember seeing an electric car recharger in the car park either, but the original Mr Tesla came from round here and you can see stuff about his experiments with electricity in the small museum.. it will literally make your hair stand on end.. if you have any!

So what is it really all about here? We think it is all about touring, being on the move and hopping on and hopping off.. Seeing the views from high up all along the coast to the giant Croatian holiday islands sticking out of the Adriatic sea. Stopping off where you fancy for a swim and a coffee or some lunch or to explore, but maybe not having too much of a plan.

picturesque water mills between Plitvice and the coast..

We expected the sea to be beautiful here and it was, what surprised us a little was the rocky hinterland, sometimes dusty, arid and dry, elsewhere bursting with rocks and green for great views to the coast.. it is pretty much all about the long, long coast!

We found some lovely little places to return to within a daytrip from the Lodge, but we won't be coming back for longer after our 3 full days touring.. we were very happy to get back to our numerous secret places in little old Green Slovenia!