On the third day of visiting Croatia we decided in the evening to jump in the car and do the 40 minute trip to Pag Island – an island known predominantly for people visiting Novalja and Zrce beach. It’s a party destination really with some of the best nightlife in Croatia, playing host to the famous summertime Hideout Festival.

The nightlife, however, wasn’t the reason for our trip to the Island of Pag. Instead, we went for the sheer beauty.

We crossed the bridge into Pag Island with the mountains on our right and the ocean on our left. It was just stunning. And as we turned inland, heading towards Velo Blato, a nature reserve, we had to stop by the side of the road and take in the breathtaking views.

It was still warm and gloriously tranquil. The only sounds we could hear were the buzz of crickets in the brush and the clinking of bells hanging from the sheep’s collars. I’ve never felt anything so peaceful.

We had a minor mishap where Emily trod in poop twice at the nature reserve, but thankfully there was a lot of water to wash off her flip flops!

Visiting Croatia – Pag Town

We drove through the empty country roads towards Pag Town, barely seeing a soul. When we got there, we all suddenly felt immediate regret. Like where the heck were we? It was a ghost town. But since we’d made the trip, we decided to park and get out of the car and head down a few side streets towards the square. It was there where we found lots of locals.

So, this is where everyone was hiding!

We decided to stop at one of the little cafes in the square and have some drinks.

It was lovely to sit and watch people there. Life seemed so much slower and a lot more easygoing. You could tell that, in the evenings, this square was always full of energy.

We walked on a bit further to find the harbour. There were lots of boats, cute bars and ice cream shops, and an amazing sunset to watch.

The ice-cream and sunset were the highlights for me.

Visiting Croatia – Dugi Otok

The next day we planned to take the ferry from Zadar to the Croatian Island of Dugi Otok. It was scheduled to leave at 11am, so we made it down to the port at about 10:45. It was about 200Kn (~£23) for the car and us each way, and when we’d paid for our ticket, we queued up to board the boat.

And we sat there for an hour.

I don’t know if you’re aware of how anxious I get, but this was a situation which sent me through a loop. No one was moving, there was no one in the car in front. We were soooo very late! “Were we in the right queue?” “I’m sure she said queue 8!” “We were definitely here at the right time!”

When we eventually did realise we were in the right place and then started to board, I was glad to get out of the car and relax on the ferry with a coffee and ice-cream. The journey took about an hour and a half.

Once the ferry had docked, we hit the roads with some amazing music from the 00’s blaring from the car speakers, and we headed off to Sakarun Beach.

I didn’t realise how remote this beach was. There wasn’t even a proper road for it, just a stony, dirt track. I missed the turning for it at first and sailed north, ending up in Veli Rat. There wasn’t much at all in Veli Rat, just villas. We were getting pretty hungry, but couldn’t find anywhere that sold food. Remembering that there was a cafe near Sakarun beach, we went slowly back the other way to try to find the road again.

The ocean was beautiful, and we were the only ones there, so that was amazing! The only issue was that the beach was covered in this dried reed/seaweed stuff, but you can see it in the photos. Where it’s black under the water, this is where the reeds were growing.

We managed to find a nice bit of sand to pop our towels down and sit for a while.

By the time we decided to leave Sakarun beach, we were starving and the cafe we thought was nearby was shut, so we headed back to the port to find some food. Sadly we couldn’t find anywhere whatsoever that sold something to eat – not even a shop. We drove to another nearby village, but again there was no one about and nowhere to buy anything.

We really didn’t expect this and had to wait until the boat left at 6pm before we could eat onboard – another healthy meal of ice cream. Hah!

Note: Take a packed lunch with you if you go island hopping!

Visiting Croatia – The Last Moments

After we’d got home and had changed, we went out for pizza at Mamma Mia Zadar. It was a cute Italian restaurant which had spaces to sit outside (and we did, but we forgot you could smoke in public areas out there so that was a bit annoying) and we ordered pizzas, pasta and a couple of beers.

Despite asking not to have olives, I somehow ended up with them, but it was okay, I just picked them off. It was a really nicely cooked pizza. There was a bit of a mess up with trying to pay, but the staff were lovely and offered us free honey liqueur shots for the hassle. It was a nice atmosphere there; I’d go again!

The next morning we packed our things into the car, ready for our flight home that afternoon, but before we made our way to the airport we decided to have a wander around the town again, get something to eat, and also pop back into Art Kavana to have another cake (I know we’re terrible!)

We ended up having lunch at Snack Cafe Mario, and sadly this turned out to be one of the most awful eating experiences of my entire life! It really was shocking. We recorded our reaction after everything happened and, if you want to, you can watch the video below. I was okay when we recorded the video, but about 30 mins later I had about 4 anxiety attacks, leaving me in a horrible state all the journey home.

It was a real shame because the rest of the holiday was fantastic, and the people we met along the way were amazing and kind.

The experience at Snack Cafe Mario (by Queen Jelena Park) put an awful dampener on our time in Zadar. It’s so interesting how one bad situation can affect a hundred good ones. We really tried not to be bothered about it, but we’d just never been spoken to like that in our lives.

Visiting Croatia – Concluding Thoughts

All in all, we had a FANTASTIC holiday! It was incredibly cheap, the weather was amazing, the food was delicious, the (majority of the) people were awesome, and there were some wonderful things to see and do.

Day 1 was spent touring the city

Day 2 was spent in beautiful Krka National Park

Day 3 was spent having fun and eating A LOT!

Day 4 was spent touring the Croatian Islands.

I would definitely recommend visiting Croatia, specifically Zadar, and if you need any help on planning your holiday there, check out my post on how best to do that.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing all the things we got up to in Zadar! Thanks for joining us on the journey!

Love,