Honeymoon in Croatia!
AHHHKKK It's finally time to share my honeymoon adventures! We chose Croatia!! This turned out to be the perfect combination of both a beachy relaxing vacation as well as an urban city atmosphere. We already knew we both loved Italy but hadn't experienced it together, many of our friends including Hannah Hudson said if you love Italy you’ll love Croatia and it’ll be less crowded!We did a mini moon directly after our wedding and left for Croatia just a few weeks later. We did this so we wouldn’t have the stress of a real big trip immediately after wedding planning. Our wedding planner friend, Elizabeth Duncan, recommended that we get in contact with Leslie Cohen, a travel agent and former wedding planner in the Washington, DC area. She did a fabulous job finding exquisite hotels for us and aligning our flights. We are both HUGE fans of luxury hotels and look for any opportunity to experience a fun and unique hotel! Matt always loves a good road trip, so we drove up the Croatian coast stopping at the towns that stuck out to us most! We visited Dalmatia, Austria and central Croatia, more specifically the towns of Dubrovnik, Ston, Krka National Forest, Split, Rovinj, plitvice National Park and Zagreb! If you get car sick easily, I would recommend you take control on the drivers seat because those winding roads can be a little much on a sensitive stomach.
Our first stop was the Hotel Villa Dubrovnik which is an exquisite luxury hotel. We took the tightest most narrow road there that is two-way but definitely should be a one way street. We were greeted with a minimalistic entrance which was essentially a handsome elevator in the sky. It was such a fun surprise and a fun way to start our adventure in Dubrovnik! The elevator takes you down to the gorgeous resort nestled on a steep cliff overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Our room was huge and featuring our very own hot tub!!!! We also had a grand view of a cliff where some people would jump into the water. It’s such a peaceful resort which we quite enjoyed. Our favorite meals in Dubrovnik were the restaurant 360, Restaurant Pjerinand Rosario. We tasted the most delicious risotto with cheese dish at the Restaurant 360 that blew our minds. We both ordered simple chicken and rice meals from Rosario which were absolutely life changing. In fact we wanted to go back for dinner that night.
I also tried an orange wine from Restaurant 360 which was delicious and quite interesting. I wasn’t able to find it anywhere else in Croatia?!? I will have to contact the restaurant to learn more about where it’s from and where I can get more! Oh and of course we made sure to treat ourselves to a scoop or two of gelato every single night. Croatians make pizza very similar to the Italians…. So we literally asked for pizza at almost every single meal. Such fresh ingredients!
One of the things that really set Dubrovnik apart from other places I had visited in the past were the yellow and red submarines floating around the sea with tourists in them! It really felt like we were in a Wes Anderson movie, which is definitely a life goal of mine to surround myself with all Wes Anderson aesthetic. On our last day we climbed the walls of the old city which was pretty neat to get to see such an amazing view of the orange rooftops, the Adriatic Sea, the locals laundry hanging on wires, and the tourists crowding the streets.
The streets and walls were incredibly crowded during the day from cruise boat traffic but during the evening it was so wonderfully quiet with a few musicians positioned in the squares to entertain patrons dining al fresco. If I were to plan a destination wedding anywhere in Croatia or anywhere in Europe, I would choose Dubrovnik…. But apparently the florals are terribly expensive because they all have to be imported. I would consider Dubrovnik and Rovinj a boating and swimming community providing fresh fish, pizza, pasta dishes and gelato!! The weather was phenomenal during our visit to Dubrovnik, the temperature got increasingly cooler throughout our trip but we enjoyed the fall weather!
TIPS & HIGHLIGHTSOur favorites from the whole trip: Rocky beaches done right - colorful submarines - restaurant Zinfindel at the Zagreb hotelDubrovnik: full of charming cafes and stunning scenery - Our hotel’s water Taxi (Villa Dubrovnik) - Laundry hanging from windows and lines - Learning about the War of 1991 from Yellina our tour guide - Submarines (yellow and red tourist submarines) - Restaurant 360 (orange wine and cheese risotto) - Weather was phenomenal - Cliff Cafe at sunset! - Lavender being sold in squares by local women - Porcupine lady dancing with a fake porcupine - Flamenco guitar man on the steps on a church playing every night - Fresh pasta and pizza - no heels or wedges because of the old towns stairs and stone walkways - Swimming in the Adriatic - Narrow roads - Banje beach - climbed the historic wall surrounding old town, the views!! - Croatian vogue wedding - ask your travel guide about wedding locations! - Cruise boats come in on Fridays and Saturdays.Split: Waterside a little touristy and inside village very unique - lots of shoes -diocletian’s palace - wedding coming out of the church, red torches and confetti - Cafes in the courtyards were so charming - pasta!! - Very friendly people - roman guards took photos with me. $10 for photo not $3 They tricked me?!? But it was worth it! Rovigne: Quiet seaside town during early October - Beautiful views - Lots of outdoor cafés. 
Oh my goodness, stumbled upon a wedding?!?
I seriously could do like 5 posts from this trip because I have SO many photos that I LOVE! Allow the above photos are front Dubrovnik and the below are from Rovigne, Split and Zagreb.
Film Lab: Indie Film Lab | Honeymoon planner: Lesley Cohen of Smart FlyerAlso featured on Wedding Sparrow!