Croatia Awaits

Africa was closed, so we turned left and made it legally and safely, mainly by ferries, from Spain to Croatia.

Just a quick orientation, the Dalmation region is bottom left, a narrow strip of coast, the Istrian region is further north, and the eastern leg, which contains the capital Zaragreb is the inland side of Croatia. To the North is Slovenia, the route in from Italy. The East side is Serbia / Bosnia, and to the South Montenegro and Albania, which eventually leads to Greece. The country is on the Adriatic sea and has a chain of islands running alongside the mainland, being the peaks of the xxx alps, which extend into the sea. Italy is to the West seawards.

The coast is steeped in history, being occupied by the ancient Romans, the Ancient Greeks and then the Venetians and Austrian in their heydays. There are 10 UNESCO sites, eight of which are accessible by day trips from Split, which is a good base, for either land or sea/island expeditions. From Split to Dubrovnik is around 300 km (190 miles) so an afternoons drive. You could easily drive top to bottom in a day. There are also a couple of inland national parks, we have yet to visit, and highly recommended. The sea is azure, and crystal clear, the impressive mountains always in view. The weather is cold in winter, and extremely hot in summer, and my experience of this part of the world, is that spring and autumn will only last for a week or two between the two prevalent seasons.