The true owner of the Adriatic Sea is Croatia. Hundreds of kilometers of coastline, a thousand islands - here it is, a happy sea country. There the sky is eternally blue and the sea is bluer than the sky, there the cliffs are overgrown with pines, there moonfish swim and palm-lined promenades rustle in the wind. There in the mountains the broom blooms, and the mountains are reflected in the sea, and seagulls cry over the sea. When the bora wind blows, from the peaks you can see a thousand Croatian islands, and beyond them - the distant coast of Italy.
This is a good place - the Mediterranean. On one side it has Nice, on the other - Rome, in the middle floats the sardine of Sardinia. You step over the Italian boot - and you find yourself in the Adriatic. And such blue, aquamarine green, such ghostliness and transparency of everything above and below, such scatterings of islands and mountain peaks open up to the eye, that all that remains is to enjoy life and soar, soar in the blue glow of the sea and sky.
Croatia is the happy owner of the Adriatic coast: its inverted comma stretches along the sea for 800 km. If you describe Croatia in two words, they would be 'very beautiful', 'very tasty' and 'very soulful'. For the sea off its coast is crystal clear, the landscapes are breathtaking, the people are friendly, the cuisine is Italian, the food is excellent, the towns are pleasant, the cathedrals are ancient, the monuments are historical, the architecture is Venetian, and the nature is pristine.
Under the ancient Romans, everything was simple. Croatia was divided into two provinces: on the sea lay Dalmatia, inland behind the mountains - Pannonia. Now the coastal part of Croatia is divided into several regions called 'županije'. From the side of Italy follow the Istrian peninsula, Lika, and long, long Dalmatia. And then separately comes Dubrovnik with its surroundings. Guidebooks and travel agencies often simplify the picture: they divide the coast into Istria and Dalmatia. Somewhere inland there is also the capital city of Zagreb and the Plitvice Lakes, but who cares about the inland if the aquamarine Adriatic is splashing nearby!
Our compatriots first of all mastered Istria, unjustly neglecting Dalmatia. This is because the flight to Pula is shorter and cheaper than to Split or Dubrovnik. However, Dalmatia is worth visiting. It hides countless treasures - ancient temples and tiny beaches in deep bays.
Adriatic Insomnia
In Dalmatia there are many places inhabited by tourists. They are on the mainland and on the islands. The most partying and sleepless are Dubrovnik and Split, the islands of Brač and Hvar. However, in summer all of Dalmatia holds festivals day and night.
Adriatic Mountains
In Croatia there are other amazing cities built on coastal islets. For example, Primošten. There are no bridges, only a causeway. But octopuses can be caught even from the shore. The Adriatic off the coast of Croatia is so clean and transparent that the seabed is visible at a depth of 50 m. At the piers, ropes sway in the depths like seaweed, and boats do not hide their bottoms. Under the boats lazy fish swim, octopuses stare from the bottom, and the black spines of sea urchins stick out on the rocks.
From Primošten to Dubrovnik stretch the Dinaric Mountains, now rushing into the sky with gray rocky peaks, now calming their ardor and pretending to be hills. There life goes on, staid and unhurried. In small villages women wear black and tie headscarves, children ride on antediluvian carousels. Around, pastures and vineyards green. When the bora wind blows, from here you can see all thousand Croatian islands.
The highest part of the mountains is located exactly between Dubrovnik and Split, forming the Makarska Riviera. The peak of Biokovo protects the Riviera from the cold wind, forming a luxurious frame for luxurious coastal landscapes.