Shannon O'Brien Travel Itineraries

The best destinations

Photo of Croatia
Photo of Croatia

The Best of Croatia

#28 best destination in the world

Map view

Plitvice - Upper and Lower Lakes, Plitvice Lakes National Park

Photo of Plitvice Lakes National Park

Walk difficulty: Moderate

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • One of the oldest and largest national parks in Croatia, due to its outstanding and picturesque series of tufa lakes, caves, connected by waterfalls
  • The park is famous for its lakes arranged in cascades
  • The lakes are located along an important transport route and have always been a meeting place of occidental and oriental cultural influences

Zlatni Rat

Photo of Zlatni Rat

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Spit of land located on the southern coast of the island of Brač
  • The landform itself is mostly composed of a white pebble beach, with a Mediterranean pine grove taking up the remainder
  • Its distinctive shape can be seen in many travel brochures, which made it one of the symbols of Croatian tourism

Dubrovnik Cathedral

Photo of Dubrovnik

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Roman Catholic cathedral built on the site of several former cathedrals, including 7th, 10th and 11th century buildings, and their 12th century successor in the Romanesque style
  • The money to build the basilica was partially contributed by the English king Richard the Lion Heart, as a votive for having survived a shipwreck near the island of Lokrum in 1192 on his return from the Third Crusade
  • Its most important object held in the treasury is the gold-plated arm, leg and skull of Saint Blaise (patron saint of Dubrovnik)

Trogir Old Town

Photo of Trogir

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Historic town and harbor on the Adriatic coast, situated on a small island
  • Trogir has 2300 years of continuous urban tradition
  • Its culture was created under the influence of the ancient Greeks, and then the Romans, and Venetians
  • The orthogonal street plan dates back to the Hellenistic period
  • Its Romanesque churches are complemented by the Renaissance and Baroque buildings from the Venetian period

Skradinski most - Skradinski Buk, Krka National Park

Photo of Krka National Park

Walk difficulty: Easy

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Krka National Park is located along the middle-lower course of the Krka River in Dalmatia
  • It was formed to protect the Krka River and is intended primarily for scientific, cultural, educational, recreational activities
  • There are also several archeological remains of unpreserved fortresses in the park's vicinity dating back to as far as Roman times

Diocletian's Palace

Photo of Diocletian's Palace

Walk difficulty: Easy

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Ancient palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, which today forms about half the old town of Split
  • While it is referred to as a "palace", the term can be misleading as the structure is massive and more resembles a large fortress: about half of it was for Diocletian's personal use, and the rest housed the military garrison
  • The complex was built in the 4th century AD, on the former capital of Dalmatia, one of the largest cities of the late empire with 60,000 people and the birthplace of Diocletian

Lokrum - Cape Bacela - Cape Skrinja

Photo of Lokrum

Walk difficulty: Easy

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Lokrum is an island in the Adriatic Sea
  • Austrian archduke (and short-lived Emperor of Mexico) Maximilian once had a holiday home on the island, and a monastery and a botanical garden survive from his era
  • On the island's highest point stands Fort Royal Castle, which was built by the French during Napoleon's occupation of Croatia, though it was later named "Maximilian's Tower" by the Austrians

Museum of Broken Relationships

Photo of Museum of Broken Relationships

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Museum in Zagreb, dedicated to failed love relationships, that includes exhibits such as personal objects left over from former lovers, accompanied by brief descriptions

Velika Paklenica - Mountain Lodge Paklenica

Photo of Paklenica

Walk difficulty: Moderate

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • The Paklenica karst river canyon is a national park, that contains two canyons, Mala (Small) and Velika (Big) Paklenica, though today there is no water flowing through Mala Paklenica
  • Near the entrance to the Velika Paklenica is an artificial tunnel complex built for Josip Broz Tito during the tension between Yugoslavia and the USSR in the late 1940s and early 1950s

Litnji Vrh, National Park Kornati

Photo of National Park Kornati

Walk difficulty: Easy

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • The Kornati archipelago is located in the northern part of Dalmatia, with 89 islands, some large, some small
  • There are no permanent settlements in Kornati, and simple houses in well-protected coves are used by mainland landowners as temporary shelters

Lovrijenac

Photo of Lovrijenac

Walk difficulty: Easy

Best time to visit: Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Fortress and theater outside of Dubrovnik, famous for its plays and importance in resisting Venetian rule
  • Early in the 11th century, the Venetians attempted to build a fort on the same spot where Fort Lovrijenac currently stands
  • If they had succeeded, they would have kept Dubrovnik under their power, but the people of the city beat them to it
  • The fort was built within just three months and from then on constantly reconstructed
  • When the Venetian ships arrived, full of materials for the construction of the fort, they were told to return to Venice