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June 2017, Zadar – Croatia 

Dated 3000 years ago, inhabited before the Romans settled on the Dalmatian coast, having the first coffeshop opened in 1730, Zadar is a city with an old soul.

You can feel the ancient vibes right in the middle of the Old Town, when you’ll stumble upon the Roman Forum.

But getting lost through the narrow streets, here comes the surprise: it seems that roman ruins sprout randomly everywhere you go.

Talking about an old soul? Yes, but with young heart and lungs.

Nowadays, the heart of Zadar is a 22-meter diameter circle made of 300 multi-layered glass plates, charging its batteries during the day, and unleashing the energy when the night falls.

Couldn’t be named better than Greeting to the Sun!

And this is not all.

My favorite spot is the incredible Sea Organ, something like steps leading into the sea, with 35 pipes hidden underneath. So every time water and air are flowing in, a new sound is pushed to the surface.

I will always picture this as the city breathing. You could spend here the whole night, listening to the orchestra of nature.

What else besides the Old Town? Oh, but we came for the beach.

Imagine we were driving for 6 days, with only a minimum of sleep hours a night, taking in as much as we could from every city on the travel route. So the first thing to do in Zadar was running for the narrow coastal beach. That worked perfectly fine for the first day.

But before we leave, let’s have a taste of something more exotic: Ninska Laguna.

Well worth it: easy 15 min. drive from Zadar, plenty of space to park the car and nobody on the beach.

Later on, 2 happy humans were melting in the sun: soft golden sand beneath, a surreal water going from grey, to green and dark blue far in the distance, overlooking the mountains. It isn’t called Queen’s beach for nothing!

Let’s see what Split has for us!

You can find here our summer cross-country roadtrip itinerary: costs&map included.

Happy travels and stay safe!