Family travel blog. How to travel with kids around the world.
Our route:
Munich (DE) – Opatija (HR) – Makarska (HR) – Kotor (ME) – Zabljak (ME) – Petrovac (ME) – Cavtat (HR) – Split (HR) – Plitvice Lakes (HR) – Munich (DE)
3200 km Balkan trip with 8 months old baby through 5 countries if you are not rich is POSSIBLE. We cooked for 3 of us, we carried tea and coffee in thermos and food with us, we were buying fresh food at local markets, we made laundry, we stayed in small cozy places with local people. And still we had an amazing time, visited even more than we planned, and rested so much. Before we had Zosia many told us that with a baby traveling (don’t confuse with vacation on the beach in one place) is not possible. Well it is :-) We hope next time we meet more couples with a small baby on the road :-)
When to go:
We decided to make our trip between May and June. We wanted to check out the most popular tourist spots though at the same time avoid crowds and unbearable heat that is here in summer. It turned out to be a great choice. Though at the beginning we had to put long sleeves in northern Croatia and fight with the wind 80km per hour in Makarska for one day, we got more than enough sun and heat in Montenegro and on the way back through Croatian coast. If we had decided to go in summer, it would have been really exhausting for Zosia. Main tourist attractions like Dubrovnik, Kotor, Plitvice Lakes etc. had many visitors anyway, still it was far less than in the middle of high season. One more plus, we had a luxury to enjoy sunsets on almost empty beaches.
How to go:
We decided to go by car. It would have been impossible to see all we wanted if we had chosen another mean of transportation. And as we were traveling by car it was easier to pack (still a challenge as it was our first trip with Zosia and we really didn’t have an experience with packing with a baby) and we could save time on waiting for public transport or hitch hiking. We could make stops when we want and adjust the trip plan to the needs of our daughter. There are of course some disadvantages. Highway tolls in Croatia, vignettes in Slovenia and Austria and additional payment for tunnels in Austria. We really felt like we were robbed. If you are planning to go with a bigger kid, the 1-2 hour longer drive through roads free of charge is a really good option. As our daughter was not so thrilled about driving at all, we had to get as fast as we could from point A to B. And this costs (though seriously Croatia, THAT much? :) ).
Makarska, Makarska Riviera. Croatia with kids. Family travel guide Makarska is a small town (with around 15 thousand inhabitants) on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, located at the foot of the Biokovo mountain range, between Spit and Dubrovnik. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Croatian coast and it’s known for […]
Budva, Montenegro with kids. Things to do in Budva. Balkans Budva, located on the Adriatic Sea, is one of the major sea resorts in Montenegro. We heard that during summer it is full with tourists. But as we made our first Balkan trip with our 8 months old daughter in May and June, we were […]
One day in Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, called “pearl of the Adriatic”, is probably one of the most popular destinations in Croatia. If you ask someone who hasn’t been in Croatia yet, to pick one place where she/he would like to go, you would probably hear the answer: Dubrovnik. We are usually suspicious when it comes to […]
The 295 km long Adriatic coastline in Montenegro with cities such as Bar, Budva, Sveti Stefan and Ulcinj (already more oriental in character due to its location close to the Albanian border) is definitely very tempting for anyone looking for nice beaches and warm sea. We heard a lot about it and decided to check […]
Žabljak and the heart of Durmitor aka “Dario… it’s ok, it’s no problem” Durmitor lies in the northwestern part of Montenegro. It is both the name for a massif as well as for a national park. The massif has 48 peaks above 2000m and the highest of them is Bobotov Kuk, 2522 meters. But our […]
Before we knew what exactly to see in Montenegro, we had been already sure that we want to visit Ostrog Monastery that is dedicated to St Basil of Ostrog (Sveti Vasilije Ostroški). Apart from its picturesque location, the monastery is as well one of the most spiritual centers for all Orthodox Christians in Montenegro. The […]
From Bay of Kotor to the heart of Durmitor About roads of Montenegro we can write a whole book 🙂 It’s true that they are more steep and curvy than the roads you probably know, but as long you keep driving the main ones you don’t have to worry about anything. The main roads are […]
The Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska), 28km long and surrounded by two massifs of the Dinaric Alps (the Orjen and the Lovcen), is definitely the most amazing bay of the Adriatic Sea we’ve seen. The history of inhabitants of the bay goes back to antiquity. The most popular places among tourists are the well preserved […]
Why so far: Questions we often heard were: Why Montenegro? Why so far?… Well, why not? The idea to travel to Montenegro we had a few years before our trip. We usually buy either used books or the ones on sale. This time among whole bunch of thrillers I found a tour guide through Montenegro […]
While picking our places to stay we had to take into consideration how far they are from each other. There are really many beautiful places on the Adriatic coastline, which do not have a touristic standard ( Makarska is very popular, especially among Poles). However, as we were going before the high season, we didn’t […]
We started in Munich and through Austria and Slovenia we got to the northern Croatian Adriatic coast. Our first destination was Opatija. It is a small town close to Rijeka. One the most popular tourist attraction is Lungo Mare, a 12 km long seaside promenade from Lovran to Preluka. The promenade links many historic buildings […]