Sarah was awesome to work with.

Croatia | May 26 - Jun 3, 2026

The host was very welcoming and responsive to any questions. The location was perfect. Just outside of the palace and easy walking to everywhere.

A little farther from the Castle than we would like since we did spend most of our time in that area, but easy access to the local bus stop.

So much fun! We loved walking through the green market and then going to the fish market to pick up the local fish for our meal. Our chefs were very friendly and even gave us a little more history of the city as we walked to the cooking school to prepare our meal. They had prepared some welcome appetizers in advance for our arrival and greeted us with special local cocktail as they prepared the kitchen for our lesson. We prepared many dishes, including cleaning the fish for our meal. All the food was delicious and we enjoyed the company of another family in our group with of course some wine. The cooking school provided us with certificates, recipes and pictures of our experience.

This was one of our most favorite experiences. Our boat driver, was very communicative and greeted us upon arrival ready for a days adventure. We spent some time in Hvar walking around looking at the shops and hiked up to the fortress. We grabbed a quick sandwich and beer before heading back to the boat. From there we went towards the Pakleni Islands and found an area to drop an anchor to go for a swim and enjoy the beautiful water of the Adriatic. We continued a trip to the island of Brac. We visited a village called Milna where we enjoyed a delicious meal at Kantun. After lunch we went a a Konoba and meet a lovely family that has made wine and olive oil since 1776. We did a little wine tasting and of course left with a bottle to enjoy later. It was a fabulous day on the water and exploring the local islands.

Close to Split with the same appeal at Plitvice, but smaller. The waterfalls were beautiful and the water so clear. We also enjoyed a short hike to the river. It was so peaceful. A road less traveled from all the tourists. On our way back to town our driver took us along the coast. We stopped at an overlook on Gaj Hill home to the Black Madonna lighthouse tower with beautiful views of the sea and the city of Primosten. We enjoyed talking with our driver about the history of Croatia and his family. It was a wonderful day.

A 2 hour + drive to our first stop at a local winery/vineyard, Marlais. The vineyard sits next to a road built by Napoleon. We tasted 3 wines and some olive oil. From there we wend to an oyster farm near Ston. It is the only area in Croatia that they are allowed to grow oysters. Our guide took us to there family owned farm and shared with us some myrtle berry grappa and a little wine as he talked about his families history and their oyster business. He explained the process then shucked some fresh oysters at the end of his boat. We did a short walk around the small town of Ston which has a wall that is noted to be the 2nd longest in the world and was built to protect the salt works

There were many kayaking companies in the area. We were glad we were with what seemed like a smaller outfit. We were in a group with 4 other couples and our guide, where some other companies had 10 or more couples. We loved paddling around the outside of the castle, across the sea to way what were told was a secluded cove to swim. Unfortunately, when we got there, there were several motor boats in the area. We pulled ashore and as we got out of our kayaks several other kayak companies arrived. It was a small cove and it was packed with kayakers and swimmers. Not quite the secluded/private area that we were expecting. We left a little earlier than planned to get away from the chaos and paddled over to Lokrum island before heading back.