Another beautiful coastal drive through hairpin roads to the seaside port town of Makarska, known for its Makarska Riviera beaches and seafront promenade, all backed by the rugged east towers of the Biokovo mountains. Using the navigation skills of my intrepid copilot Joyce, we landed precisely at our hotel destination, a penthouse-style apartment with a harbour view and a small $120.00/night price tag.
We took the ferry for a day trip to the Island of Hvar and then a bus to Hvar Town, a beautiful summer seaside resort town. Highlights of the town include its 13th-century walls, a hilltop fortress and a main square anchored by the Renaissance-era Hvar Cathedral.
We stayed on Route 8, which is a secondary, non-tolled coastal route, and continued to be impressed with how nice and well-marked the roads are—until you get to Split. It was another of those “Amazing Race” experiences we’ve had so far, where it is so easy to get to the town but next to impossible to find the hotel. We found the road our apartment was located on, as we had in previous towns, but in this case, the whole building where our apartment was located was covered in scaffolding, so the address and hotel were not visible.
Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and lies on the Dalmatian Coast, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, and is linked to the Adriatic Islands and the Apennine Peninsula.
Split is home to Diocletian’s Palace, built for the Roman emperor in AD 305, and has existed in some form through the Byzantine period, through the Venetian period and the Napoleonic Wars, through World War II to present.
We toured the palace during the day, but it was walking through the narrow streets at night that was truly a magical experience.
We stopped in Trogir en route to Split. The town was highly recommended by Tony at Villa Diana, and it was a stop well worth it. We spent about two hours wandering within the walled, orthogonal street plan of the old town and stopped for a very delicious lunch of grilled grouper, squid, sardines and mussels.
Trogir sits on the Adriatic coast, and its old town is known for its mix of Renaissance, Baroque and Romanesque buildings. In the 3rd century BC, Tragurion was founded by Greek colonists from the island of Vis, and it developed into a major port until the Roman period. In 1997, the historic centre of Trogir was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites for its Venetian architecture. Needless to say, very interesting and full of remarkable and well-preserved history.
