Honeymoon tips for Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro
March 17, 2008 Accommodation, Unusual vacation ideas 4 CommentsRecently a friend of mine asked me for some ideas on how to spend a great honeymoon along the eastern Adriatic. I let my thoughts stew for a while, and here’s what I came up with.
It’s a list of a couple different kinds of honeymoons you can have in the Adriatic region. I know that for a lot of people, a honeymoon is supposed to feature sun, sand, and sea. But I’m not much of a “sit in the sun on the beach” guy myself, so I dreamed up some other fantastic trips you could take, too–and any of these would be amazing, whether you’re on your honeymoon or not.
The classic sun, sand, and sea: This combination is almost comically easy to achieve anywhere along the Adriatic. But here are a few ways to narrow down your choices. The islands of Hvar and Brac are generally considered to be two of the sunniest (in terms of total hours of sunshine per year) on the Croatian coast. The next thing you have to know is that most Adriatic beaches are either rocky or pebbly. But you can find some great golden stretches of sand, too. Here’s a list of some of Croatia’s best beaches. Baska on the island of Krk is an oft-cited favorite, as is Paradise beach (”Rajska plaza” in Croatian) on the island of Rab. Perhaps the most famous, and most spectacular, beach in the entire Adriatic is Zlatni Rat, near Bol, on Brac:
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Sail the seas: A lot of people like to take cruises for their honeymoon. Not only is that easy to do along the eastern Adriatic, but this is one of the world’s most beautiful areas for sailing. So why not go all out and charter a boat? If you know how to sail, you can do it all for yourself. If you don’t, you can hire a captain. In any case, spending a couple days out there on those turquoise waters makes for an absolutely idyllic holiday. This site is a good place to start for finding a cruise or chartering a boat.
Get away from it all: If you’ve got your own boat, you can pretty easily get out to some of the less visited, but no less lovely islands of the Croatian archipelago. You can do it with public ferries, though, too. And though the greatest hits of Hvar, Korcula, and Dubrovnik are fantastic, almost everybody goes there. If you want to get away from the crowds, consider spending some time on quiet, beautiful Mljet island, part of which is protected as a national park. Or head to outlying Vis island, with a couple historic towns and the nearby, magical blue grotto. I’d also recommend rugged Cres island for those who like their landscapes a bit wilder.
Really get away from it all: If romantic solitude is what you’re after, though, the slam dunk would be renting a lighthouse. There are several you can choose from, and nearly all of them are spectacularly located. See my earlier post for more information on this idea, which is one of my own personal Adriatic dream vacations.
Commune with nature: If you’re like me, and your idea of a good time isn’t so much lying on a beach as it is tramping around mountains, there are some wonderful options along the Adriatic. I’d suggest making a circuit of a couple of Croatia’s top national parks. Get some good hiking in at Sjeverni Velebit national park near the old pirate town of Senj. Then head inland to the famous Plitvice Lakes national park. Be warned that this park is firmly on the tourist bus trail. So though it’s beautiful and worth seeing, the best bet for hiking is in the early morning or late afternoon–otherwise you’ll be sharing the trails with hundreds of elderly German tourists (and trust me, I’m speaking from looong experience on this point). If your knees are ready for more, round everything off with some great mountain scenery at Paklenica national park further south. That’s one of the things I love most about Croatia: amazing mountains right next to breathtaking seas!
Living the rustic life: Some of my favorite places to stay in Europe are agriturismos–they’re often farmhouses out in the countryside, and they offer a great way to unwind, eat well, and see some sights as part of the bargain. The agriturismo scene isn’t extensively developed in the eastern Adriatic yet, but I do have some suggestions. First, find a good agriturismo in Istria and you can’t go wrong. From your homebase, you’d be able to explore interesting seaside towns like Piran, Rovinj, Pula and Opatija, as well as those remarkable inland Istrian hill towns like Motovun or Groznjan. You can even spend some time with the Istrian natural wonders of the Lim Canal, Mt. Ucka, and of course the wines and truffles! This is a good place to start looking for an agriturismo in Croatia. As a second option, I adore the Soca Valley in Slovenia. You can go hiking in the Julian Alps in the morning, head to a Croatian beach for an afternoon swim, then pop over to Italy for a great dinner. The Soca Valley really is one of the planet’s most wonderful spots. Here is one agriturismo option in the valley, and here’s another. To whet your appetite, here’s a picture of the first place:
Living the high life: If rusticity, the outdoors, or a lighthouse aren’t your style, and on your honeymoon you just want to be pampered, well then, I’ve got the solution for you. Get a suite at Sveti Stefan, the resort island off the Montenegrin coast. It’s an entire historic village that’s been transformed into a top-end pleasure playground. If it’s been good enough for Sophia Loren, Claudia Schiffer, and Silvio Berlusconi, then hopefully it will be good enough for you.
Jeanne Oliver has another list of Croatia-specific honeymoon ideas, some similar to, some different from mine. If you have any other tips, let us hear them in the comments!