Croatia had been on our list for years, and 2024 was finally the summer we made it happen. The plan was simple on paper: start inland with the famous waterfalls, settle into a home base on the Dalmatian coast, and finish with a few days in Dubrovnik. In practice it turned into boat days, gelato evenings, rope swings over clear water, a Michelin dinner, and—on our very last big sightseeing day—a storm that sent us scrambling for ponchos. Here's how it all unfolded, more or less in the order our camera saw it.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
We started where the green is. Plitvice is all turquoise pools, travertine terraces, and curtains of water spilling over mossy rock, and the early-morning light made our first establishing shots look almost mythical.
The real magic, though, is walking the boardwalks. We hiked the lake trails as a family—our little one in a blue sun shirt and cap leading the way (or being led, depending on the moment), with Grandpa setting the pace up ahead, backpack on. Dad kept cool in a light sun hoodie and sling bag while the cascades roared just off the planks. If you're traveling with a kid, the boardwalk routes are a gift: water on both sides, plenty to point at, and no real climbing required.
Evenings were for slowing down. Back at our lodging , the boys hunkered down over a magnetic gold-and-silver chess set in the common area—exactly the kind of low-key downtime that keeps everyone sane on a long trip.
Home base: Makarska & Tučepi
- Makarska → Tučepi — 9 min (6 km)
- Tučepi → Ledi Boat Rental — 12 min (6 km)
- Ledi Boat Rental → Nugal Beach — 4 min (2 km)
Total driving: 25 min · Open this route in Google Maps
From the lakes we made our way to the coast and settled into the Makarska – Tučepi area for the heart of the trip. Our apartment had the view you hope for: the Adriatic out front, the Biokovo mountains rising to the side, and a balcony made for sunset drinks and a drying rack of swimsuits. After hot beach days, reclining up there with a cold drink as the sun dropped over the sea became a nightly ritual.
The town came alive in the evenings. We wandered residential streets in the warm dusk light, found gelato on a stone plaza (a giant vanilla cone, gone embarrassingly fast), browsed an outdoor photo exhibition of underwater prints along an old stone wall, and let the kids chase each other across the church plaza under café umbrellas while the bell tower threw long shadows.
One day we rented a boat through Ledi Boat Rental right in Makarska. Pulling out of that packed marina with two boys in orange and teal rash guards, the waterfront and mountains shrinking behind us, was a highlight.
We anchored in a quiet cove for swimming and snorkeling—crystal-clear water over a rocky seabed, a red float toy bobbing near the shore, and a sailboat moored against the pines. There were even rope swings hung from trees over the shallows, the classic Adriatic beach-bar setup that kids will happily repeat a hundred times.
We also hiked down to Nugal Beach, a pebble cove you reach on foot via a rocky trail. Our little Pikachu-bucket-hat explorer led the descent to a busy beach tucked beneath dramatic cliffs—rainbow beach ball in hand, goggles on, mom wading in close behind.
For one grown-up evening, we treated ourselves to a Michelin-listed restaurant in Tučepi. The terrace faced straight into the setting sun, with white-linen tables and a glass of crisp white wine. The plates were the kind you remember—an oyster with herb garnish served on a bowl of smooth pebbles, the sea right there beyond the railing.
A coastal evening and the road south
- Nugal Beach → Pelješac Bridge — 1 hr 13 min (78 km)
Total driving: 1 hr 13 min · Open this route in Google Maps
Before Dubrovnik we had one more easy coastal evening: a square with a tall bell tower and a statue, café tables crowded with beer and wine glasses, and the boys climbing worn stone steps hand in hand through the warm night. We squeezed in a golden-hour sea swim too, the whole family bobbing in calm water as the light went amber.
Then came the drive south, crossing the long cable-stayed Pelješac Bridge under a clear blue sky—a genuinely scenic road-trip leg toward Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik
- Pelješac Bridge → Stradun — 1 hr 10 min (77 km)
- Stradun → St. Blaise's Church — 0 min (0 km)
- St. Blaise's Church → Franciscan Monastery — 3 min (1 km)
- Franciscan Monastery → Dubrovnik City Walls — 8 min (3 km)
Total driving: 1 hr 21 min · Open this route in Google Maps
Dubrovnik announced itself the way it always does: that unmistakable walled Old Town and harbour seen from above. Our base here had a vine-shaded terrace looking out to the green island of Lokrum, boats drifting past.
We balanced sightseeing with swimming. There was rocky-cove swimming with a metal ladder into the sea, coastal trails beside dry-stone walls, and plenty of time wandering the Stradun, the polished limestone main street lined with café umbrellas. We saw the Baroque facade of St. Blaise's Church, ducked into the Franciscan Monastery with its peaceful cloister garden, palm-shaded fountain, and Romanesque arcades, and studied old paintings of the city in the museum displays.
The big-ticket walk, of course, is the city walls. We circled the ramparts with their views over the red roofs, past old cannons and bastions looking out to sea—and that's when the weather turned. The wind picked up hard, hair flying, storm clouds rolling in dark over a suddenly choppy sea.
The downpour caught us in disposable ponchos, weaving through wet alleys with the umbrella-toting crowds. We did what every family does in a storm: found an indoor activity—a natural history museum, complete with a case of pinned iridescent beetles that, surprisingly, held everyone's attention.
We closed the trip the way we'd spent most of it: in the water. One last golden-hour swim at a busy pebble beach, mountains behind, a white yacht moored offshore, the whole family floating together watching the sun melt into the sea.
Tips for families
- Drives are deliberately short. We plan road days around the small passenger: 6 of the 8 legs on this trip are 30 minutes or less, and the longest single hop is 1 hr 13 min (Nugal Beach → Pelješac Bridge).
- Plitvice's boardwalks are stroller-and-kid friendly—flat, scenic, and endlessly interesting, but watch little ones near unfenced edges.
- Base yourself on the coast (we loved the Makarska–Tučepi area) for sea-and-mountain views and easy access to beaches, boats, and quiet coves.
- Rent a boat for a day—anchoring in a clear cove for swimming and snorkeling was our kid's favorite.
- Embrace evening town time: gelato, plaza games, and night strolls suit the heat far better than midday sightseeing.
- Pack ponchos and have an indoor backup (a museum, a cloister). Dalmatian weather can flip from blazing sun to storm fast.
- Goggles, rash guards, and a beach ball earn their place in the bag every single day.
Budget notes — peak season, fair prices
Every trip gets a spreadsheet, and the numbers stay in the family — but here's where the money went, in proportions, because Croatia in August surprised us.
- Getting there was over a third of the entire trip. Peak-August transatlantic fares. There's no trick to this one beyond booking early or flying awkward routes.
- Lodging was the pleasant surprise. Two weeks on the Adriatic in high season, kept reasonable by booking apartments over hotels — and by a home exchange with our friend Milan, who stayed at our place in Leadville while we had his in Makarska. The swap is honestly why Makarska made the itinerary at all, and it changes the math of a long trip. If you can swing an exchange, do it.
- Cash is still king in Croatia. Konoba dinners, parking machines, market stalls — our cash spending ran nearly as large as our entire card food bill. Plan for regular ATM runs with a no-fee card.
- The car costs more than the rental. The headline rental rate ended up well under half of what the car actually cost once fuel, tolls, ferries, and parking were counted. Budget for the whole iceberg.
- Food was genuinely fair. A family konoba dinner in August cost less than a middling hotel dinner in the Alps, and Studenac groceries kept beach days cheap.
The per-day math is the headline: nominally, peak-season Croatia cost us less per day than Iceland in 2021 or Slovenia in 2022 — and those trips were priced in pre-inflation dollars. Once you're past the airfare, Croatia is real value.
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