“Where are you going for the holidays?” was the usual question in my office.
Responses would usually range from Australia and Japan to England and Italy. When I replied, “Croatia”, everyone was stunned. They muttered “Huh?” and “Wow, that’s really off the beaten path.”
“Not if you are European,” I replied tartly.
Honestly though, before I went to Croatia myself, I did not know of many friends who had been there. But I like to be among the first of my friends to chart new territories, and Croatia seems to be as good as any.
The friends who had visited Crotia were on cruise ships that docked at Dubrovnik or Split. Few have been beyond those two cities.
But Game Of Thrones gave Croatian tourism a new lease of life. Dubrovnik was used as the backdrop for King’s Landing, while Split was used for many spectacular scenes in the show involving a lot of torture and punishment, but that’s Game Of Thrones for you.
To get to Croatia from Malaysia, you need to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Zagreb, the capital city. From Zagreb, many tour companies offer an excursion to Plitvices National Park, where I went. You can also opt to self-drive from Zagreb to Plitvices because it only takes two hours.
The scenery from Zagreb to Plitvices National Park is filled with farmhouses and rolling hills. There are plenty of shops for you to stop at and buy interesting local products. The shops are very well sign-boarded.
“10km to truffles!” they warn you in English beside the road.
“5km to amazing truffles!”
And: “1km to the most amazing truffles!”
With signboards like that, you absolutely have to stop. The truffle shop sells everything from truffle soap to truffle chips.
Plitvices National Park is one of the oldest and largest national parks in the country, stretching all the way to the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tickets vary by season, costing as little as €10 (RM46) a day during the low (winter) season up to €40 (RM184) a day during the times everyone wants to enter, namely summer.
The name “plitvices” refers to shallow basins filled with water. The entire area is made from karst limestone and tufa sediments.
As a result, there are 16 terraced lakes separated by natural limestone dams and the crown jewel of European waterfalls, the Plitvices, a Unesco World Heritage Site.
It is easy to reach the waterfall through a series of zigzag steps and carefully boarded planks. There is also plenty to do around the area like hiking, boating or simply ambling along trying to spot wildlife.
You can stay in the park area or adjacent to it if you wish to spend a few days here. It can get difficult to book during the high season, though, so book early.
Inspiring scenes
From Plitvices, to get to the other major waterfall in the south, you will likely stop at Split. It is a major tourist attraction that not enough people outside Europe pay attention to. We decided to spend three nights there.
When they get to Split, many tourists immediately ask, “So where was Game Of Thrones filmed?”
Patience, I want to tell them. There are plenty of things to do and see around the old town of Split. Split is extremely historic, dating back to the Roman days. The Diocletian’s Palace is 4th century, built by the Roman emperor, Diocletian, as his retirement home.
It is also a Unesco World Heritage site composed of many Roman-style buildings that are now museums, tourist attractions, or cafes and ice-cream parlours.
Inside the palace grounds, you can wander through the ancient Temple of Jupiter, now called the Baptistry, or climb the Bell Tower. Tickets are usually sold separately for each attraction within. There is even an eerie basement.
Game Of Thrones was shot in this basement and used as the place where Daenerys Targaryen keeps her growing dragon brood from flying out and eating everyone. The palace itself served as the set for Meeren, where Daenerys freed the slaves.
The waterfront promenade called Riva sits immediately outside the palace. Cruise ships dock here for the day when they come to Split. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes for you to sample Croatian food where the prime dish is fish cooked in many different ways.
Another must-see place is further inland. Marjan Hill is a climb, though you can park as close to the peak as possible.
Klis Fortress sits atop the hill. You can explore the fortress grounds or walk around its perimeter. A sign on the ramparts proudly proclaims that it is where an iconic Game Of Thrones scene was shot (the one where Daenerys crucified the masters of Meeren).
About 85km south from Split is the other major National Park, Krka. I actually like Krka better than its more famous cousin, Plitvices, because there are so many “stop in your tracks” spots to take selfies in.
Krka is a maze of tiny and not so tiny waterfalls. It is almost like what you imagine paradise to be with the constant sound of happy trickling and falling water and the sight of graceful bridges over little brooks everywhere you turn.
Like Plitvices, the entire place is board-walked for 2km so that you can easily wander everywhere. If you are vertically challenged, Krka’s topography is flatter than Plitvices. I even saw a few people in wheelchairs getting around.
That is not to say you can’t veer off the boardwalks for the more difficult hikes.
Skradinski Buk is the most popular waterfall here and is composed of 17 waterfalls. It is not as tall as Plitvices but it is more magnificent in its width. Krka hosts plenty of restaurants and stalls so you can easily get a hotdog or something more substantial if you plan on staying the whole day there.
Check out the cute villages and towns around Krka before you complete your journey by driving down to Dubrovnik in the south.
