Croatia

Trogir to Dubrovnik – 8 Days Sailing

From Munich, we had two, 10-hour days of travel, by trains and buses through Germany, Austria, Slovenia and the stunning Croatian coast. We broke up the journey with one night in Rijeka in southern Croatia, before reaching Trogir where our 8 day sailing trip with Intrepid Travel was to depart.

We stayed a night in Trogir before the trip began which gave us time to explore the quaint old town. We then met our skipper (Juelle from Finland), and the 4 other people in our group (Edwina, Clodagh and Ian from Ireland, and Sarah from America) before heading out to the marina and our first yacht, a 35 foot catamaran.

From Trogir we sailed to the first island, Brac via Split (on the mainland). The weather was sadly quite cold with a little rain. We had around three hours in Split, enough time for a decent look around and a coffee!

First night on the first boat

Beautiful buildings in Split’s old town

Haters being overruled

Stari Grad on the Island of Hvar

Shower after swimming

Happy hour on the boat

Stari Grad on the Island of Hvar

Action shot – casting off

On the way to Hvar town

Swimming time on the way to the Island of Hvar

The next day the weather was good and warm enough for swimming on the way two our second island, Hvar. We spent the night at Stari Grad, a nice little port town where we had a great local dinner amid a torrential downpour!

The next day we motored around the corner to Hvar Town itself. Hvar was such a pretty place. We had plenty of time to explore. We also headed for a swim where we got chatting to a local 82 year old man called Charlie, who was fishing by snorkel and net as he does every afternoon. He spoke great English and was proud to show us his catch, techniques, little boat, and ended up taking Danielle out as he headed out fishing again!

Walking near Hvar Town

Ian meets our new friend, Charlie

Charlie’s first catch – not so impressive..

Danielle with Charlie, 82 years old

Danielle joins Charlie on his next expedition

Boats are bobbing, Hvar Old Town by night

Near Hvar Town

Next we headed to Korcula on the second yacht (a 45 foot monohull) which we swapped at Hvar. Korcula had a great and very picturesque old town by the marina. The weather was cool but clear again with glorious sunshine.

More sailing the next day as we sailed to Mljet, mooring in a very quiet and small bay/town. We had plenty of time in the afternoon to hike over to the other side of the island at the National Park. It was really relaxing and pretty walking by the bays.

Swimming time on the way to the Island Korcula

Swimming time on the way to the Island of Korcula

Smooth sailing on the way to the Island of Korcula

Sailing toward Mljet

Beautiful Mljet

Beautiful morning on the Island of Mljet (our boat is the middle one)

Sailing toward Mljet

Near Ston

Below deck

Saying goodbye to our new friends (and the boat!)

For the last night on the boat we stayed by the town of Ston on the mainland before we said goodbye and headed for Dubrovnik. Sailing the Croatian islands was a great experience, we definitely recommend it if you get the chance!

Where we went on the sailing trip with Intrepid Travel

Dubrovnik

We got rid of our sea legs in Dubrovnik by walking the impressive city walls, built between the 13th and 16th centuries. The views from the walls are amazing (even though unfortunately for us it had turned cloudy). We also visited a war photography museum which was really fascinating, and sorted out a hire car for the next 5 days or so as we got ready to leave Croatia. Dubrovnik, though now incredibly touristy was beautiful.