Our Trip to Croatia Part II: Two if By Land

I tried condensing our entire trip to Croatia into one blog post, but it ended up being entirely too long! If you haven’t read Our Trip to Croatia Part 1: Two if By Sea, then please hop over to that blog post to see pictures from our Croatian cruise!

Pre Cruise: A Few Days in Hvar

We bookended our week-long Croatian cruise with hotel stays. The first hotel, LaBranda Senses Resort, was on the island of Hvar. The trip getting from Pittsburgh to Hvar took around 28 hours; think trains, planes, and automobiles (and ferries!)

LaBranda Senses Resort is a lovely family retreat right on the water. While it was tempting to take a swim and just relax every day at this resort, much of our time was actually spent visiting the neighboring towns of Vrboska and Jelsa. Here we tasted local wines, dined by the sea, ate charcuterie, talked with the locals, and enjoyed the fresh catch of the day. What’s best, there is a paved walking path from LaBranda Senses Resort through Vrboska and all the way to Jelsa. Round trip was 6 miles. One of our days was spent running the path in between the cities, and stopping at each to soak in the scene. There was also reassurance that, if we ran out of steam, we could hop a small boat for $15 and have it take us back to our resort.

We also spent a full day on Hvar visiting wineries. Barry rented a scooter and zipped around to a few of the best on the island!

Here are a few of our favorite moments from our time on Hvar…

Cell snaps above and below; howdy, Croatia!

The turquoise water and rocky coastline around the resort.

Cell snap. One of the patios of our resort at night.

Cell snap. The jogging path from our resort through Vrboska and Jelsa. The fauna is so unique!

The town of Vrboska
Vrboska is a little town that is a mile’s journey away from LaBranda Senses Resort along the paved walking path. It is a quiet town, but ironically has a good night-life scene.

Our first day, we happened upon this tiny winery in Vrboska named Konoba Nikola Vrboska. The woman who greeted us didn’t speak a word of English, so she kindly found someone else who could guide us through their selections. This winery had some of our favorite wines from the entire trip! They also make a liquor that is like grappa, and it is delicious! We bought some bottles of wine and also the cherry and herbal liquors.

“Sandy Beach.” One of the few beaches on Hvar that is mostly sand and not rock, and it lies along the walking path in between Vrboska and Jelsa.

Jelsa
Jelsa is a larger town than Vrboska, and it is a three mile’s journey from LaBranda Senses Resort along the paved walking path. It is very family friendly, with playgrounds and parks amidst the town.

Eating the catch of the day in Jelsa, courtesy of the restaurant Me and Mrs. Jones

We also visited two wineries in Jelsa, Vina Tomić, and pictured above, Duboković Wines.

The three different soil types from the vineyards of Vina Tomić.

A map to show you the relation of our resort to Vrboska and Jelsa, noting the Sandy Beach in between.

A Winery with a View
We had to take a scooter to get to Lacman Family Winery; it was up on top of a mountain that overlooked the ocean.

The next few pictures are from Lacman Family Winery

We had a guided wine tour, complete with lemon/mint water to complement the fantastic selections of wine and local charcuterie.

Post Cruise: A Few Days in Split

Our cruise ended in Split, and rather than immediately making the long trip back to Pittsburgh, we decided to stay a few more days in Split and also take an excursion to Krka Falls. Here are a few images from that time!