CROATIA WITH MILLY KEERS

NAME: Milly Keers

WHAT DO YOU DO: Publicist

SOCIALS: @millykeers1

LIVING: Sydney, Australia

SPLIT

Split was one of my favourite place in Europe - filled with organic supermarkets and rustic bakeries and surrounded by lush national parks and secluded swimming spots. There's barely any cars, so you can explore the whole town on foot, getting lost inside the maze of cobbled alley ways and white stone buildings and monuments. There is such a healthy and wholesome vibe to Split that comes to life at night with street dancing and tiny bars that spill out over the streets.

Find an organic, wood-fired bakery and try one of their cherry strudels.

The restaurants all serve fresh seafood, mostly sourced from the giant fish market in the centre of town however they can be quite pricey.

We got noodles two nights in a row from a take-away noodle shop on the water on the harbour side, back towards the markets because it was so delicious and cheap!

Random but there is a supermarket in the center of town that sells chilli hummus and elderflower spritzers that we literally lived off the entire time we were there.

DO

The national parks that surround Split are completely untouched and absolutely divine, ask for directions and you walk out of town, through the parks by foot or on bikes before reaching the crystal blue waters that wrap around the island. There are large flat rocks to lie on so pack a picnic and spend the morning out there.

In my opinion this beats all the beaches around Split that are overflowing with tourists. We went out there every morning for a swim and only once shared a section of the water with a group of 50 year old women in the nude.

Explore the markets on the outside of the town - they are nothing too special but a fun thing to do

Krka National Park - this is a MUST, the waterfalls are divine. It is a bit of an effort to get there, you will need a whole day to do this. From memory we got a bus from Split and then bought boat tickets that took you directly to the waterfalls.

Take food because everything is expensive and the supermarkets are SO GOOD in Split. Go early to reserve a spot on the rocks or on the grass and set up your things because as the day goes on the crowds start pouring. Explore around the waterfalls and walk up the sides because the most beautiful swimming holes are here (not sure if you're allowed to swim here but no one was monitoring this).

Islands

Split itself is a beautiful town and probably my favourite place in Croatia. Surprisingly, while Croatia is a huge tourist destination, Split seemed to be a start and end point for people going on different Island tours (Contiki/sail Croatia) so I didn't find is as touristy and overcrowded as the Islands. In saying this, the islands are beautiful and definitely worth exploring.

Hvar This was my favourite Island - it's smaller, less to do but the water is heaven during the day and I thought the night life was the best night I had in Croatia (this doesn't say much about the island, I just had a fun night)

Dubrovnik Beautiful yes, however I felt like I was in a theme park. The entire island is overflowing with tourists and everywhere you turn you are being harassed to join a Game of Thrones tour. The town does have it's beauty but you feel like you are walking around the set of Game of Thrones. There are beautiful to spots to swim around the island, where you can find rocks or pontoons to jump from.