Croatia, island by island.
Which boat actually goes inside the Blue Cave. Whether Krka beats Plitvice on a hot day. What a speedboat seat costs out of Split. Every tour in Croatia, reviewed and priced.
The Dalmatian days everyone books first.
A cave that turns the water electric, two national parks people argue about, a walled city that doubled as King’s Landing, and sea kayaks under the ramparts. These are the days the rest of a Croatian trip gets built around.
What everyone books on the Adriatic.
The full Croatia list →Waterfalls, cave boats and island runs take the top of the list every season. Here is what each day actually involves, and what it costs.
1
Krka Waterfalls Trip with Boat Cruise and Swimming
Review of Split’s Krka Waterfalls and Primošten day trip, with river cruise, guided park walk, beach time, practical tips, and value advice.
From · $31
Read our review →
2
Blue Cave Small-Group Boat Tour from Dubrovnik
from $84
3
Krka Waterfalls, Food & Wine Tasting Tour
from $45
4
Full-Day Dubrovnik Elaphite Islands Cruise with Lunch and Drinks
from $78
5
Blue cave, Mamma Mia and Hvar, 5 islands speedboat tour
from $111
6
Krka Waterfalls, Food & Wine Tasting Tour
from $44
7
Split/Trogir: Blue Cave, Mamma Mia, Hvar and 5 Island Tour
from $109
8
Epic Game of Thrones Tour + Lokrum & Saver Option
from $25
The Blue Cave: it depends which harbour you leave from.
All Blue Cave tours →
The cave itself is one low opening on Biševo and twenty minutes inside. Everything else — how long the day runs, how many islands you get, how much you pay — is decided by the port you sail from.
Split or Trogir, five islands deep
Out past Šolta at speed, into the cave when the queue clears, then Stiniva, the Mamma Mia church on Vis and a swim stop at Hvar before the run home.
From Hvar, with the Pakleni swim
Hvar sits closest to Biševo of any town with a harbour, so the boat spends its morning at the cave and its afternoon anchored off the Pakleni islets.
Dubrovnik’s own blue and green caves
Dubrovnik is too far south for Biševo, so its boats run the blue and green caves off Koločep and Lopud instead — a morning, not a marathon.
Dubrovnik holds more in one day than the walls suggest.
Two kilometres of rampart, a cable car, an island monastery and a sea-level kayak route that only makes sense from the water. The best hours are before ten and after six, and both sell out first.
What a day on the Adriatic actually costs.
Three brackets, from the cost of a harbourside lunch to a private skipper for the day. The whole catalogue sits inside them.
Old town walks, wall tickets, tuk-tuk loops and the short harbour boats.
The staple days: Krka and Plitvice with entry, group island runs, wine afternoons.
Private skippers, small-group speedboats and the full five-island cave days.
Split is the door to every island worth a day.
A Roman emperor’s retirement palace with a city grown inside it, and a harbour where the speedboats leave at eight. Nowhere else on the coast puts so many islands inside a single return trip.
Istria eats like Italy and charges like Croatia.
The northern peninsula keeps its own kitchen: truffles out of the Motovun woods, olive oil pressed within sight of the sea, malvazija poured in hill towns above Poreč. Pula still has its Roman amphitheatre, and the dolphins off Vrsar are genuinely there.
- 1Arena Entrance Ticketfrom $11
- 2Kamenjak 5h boat trip with lunch & drinks on Sandra Boatfrom $54
- 3Full-Day Boat Tour of the Medulin Archipelago from Medulinfrom $54
What Dalmatia and Istria keep for themselves.
Islands and old towns repeat all the way down the coast. A limestone canyon behind Omiš, an oyster bay on Pelješac and a truffle wood in the Istrian interior do not.
The Cetina Canyon
The Cetina cuts a limestone gorge straight down to the sea at Omiš, and the last twelve kilometres are gentle enough to raft in a morning. The water runs cold even in August because it comes out of the karst, the cliff jumps are optional, and the whole thing finishes close enough to Split for a late lunch.
- 1Cetina River: Rafting and Cliff Jumping Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 1,774 reviews
- 2Split/Omiš: Cetina River Rafting with Cliff Jump & Swimming★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,258 reviews
- 3Cetina River Rafting with Cliff Jumping Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 997 reviews
The Oyster Beds
The channel between Pelješac and the mainland is fed by fresh water rising through the seabed, which is why Ston oysters taste the way they do. Boats run out to the racks, shuck them over the side and pour a glass of Pelješac red beside them. The bay is also where Europe’s second-longest defensive wall runs down to the salt pans.
- 1Dubrovnik Guided Group Tour with Ston Oyster tasting from Split & Trogir★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 538 reviews
- 2Oyster, Mussles, and Wine Tasting Tour in Ston★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 77 reviews
- 3Oyster farm experience / Private day trip from Dubrovnik★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 29 reviews
The Istrian Truffle
The oak woods along the Mirna river hold both white and black truffles, and the white season from September turns the hill villages busy. A hunt is a dog, a hillside and an hour of walking; the good ones end at a kitchen table with fuži pasta and the day’s find grated over it.
- 1Truffle hunting & cooking tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 257 reviews
- 2Truffle hunting adventure★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 173 reviews
- 3Paladini: Truffle Hunting Tour with 3-Course Tasting Menu★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 102 reviews
When the bura shuts the boats down, head inland.
The bura falls off the Velebit without much warning and closes harbours from Zadar to Makarska; a red flag at the marina means no island day. The answers are all on land: stone quarters that were built for weather, a cellar on Pelješac, an interior museum, a canyon that does not care about swell.
- 1Krka Waterfalls, Food & Wine Tasting Tourfrom $45
- 2Krka Waterfalls, Food & Wine Tasting Tourfrom $44
- 3Old Town Walking Tourfrom $23
The Croatian tickets that run out before you land.
Most of the coast can be arranged from a harbourside desk the night before. These four cannot — they run on timed entry, daily caps and a sea that closes without asking.
- 01City Walls Early Morning or Sunset Walking TourThe rampart opens early and the cruise arrivals are up there by ten. The quiet slot is the first one, and it is the first to go.
- 02Plitvice Lakes Guided Day Tour with TicketsSummer entry to the lakes runs on timed tickets with a daily cap. Morning slots disappear weeks ahead of the date.
- 03Blue Cave Small-Group Boat Tour from DubrovnikOne boat at a time goes through the opening, so the day runs on numbered entry slots — and swell closes the cave with no notice at all.
- 04Biokovo Skywalk Entry Ticket with TransfersThe mountain road takes a limited number of vehicles a day on timed entry. Turning up in August without one means turning around.
The Adriatic is best after the day boats go home.
Every evening trip on the coast →
Sea Kayaking&Snorkelling Guided Day/Sunset Tours
Read our review →
City Walls Early Morning or Sunset Walking Tour
Read our review →The coast road, Pula to Dubrovnik.
KvarnerBy harbour — where you are sleeping
Dubrovnik153 tours
Split188 tours
Istria67 tours
Zadar55 tours
Zagreb41 tours
Hvar17 tours
Makarska Riviera15 tours- Every base on the coast →
By experience — water, stone or table?
Just added along the Adriatic.
Everything just added →
Dubrovnik Highlights & Game of Thrones Locations Tour
Read our review →
Private Wine Tour from Zagreb: Two Local Wineries & Samobor
Read our review →
Painting party at Art Bottega – Paint & Wine Studio in Zagreb
Read our review →
Private Sibenik Walking Historical Morning or Evening Tour
Read our review →
Wine & more Tour , private guided wine tour from POREC, UMAG ,Istria
Read our review →
Buje: Authentic Istrian family farm, guided walk, foods & wine
Read our review →
