10 reasons you’ll fall in love with Croatia!

I mean, the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but here are 10 reasons you WILL fall in love with stunning Croatia on our Travel Queen Croatia Adventure tour for women aged 25 to 59!

Small luxury group tours, adventures, travel and holidays for solo / single women in 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s with Travel Queen

10 reasons you'll fall in love with Croatia:

1. How it combines a rich variety of experiences all rolled into one amazing destination!

2. Cool medieval towns and fortresses that’ll convert even non-history fans!

3. THAT colour of the water and sailing on it!

4. A lush green countryside packed full of forests, rolling hills and waterfalls!

5. Unbelievable food with Central European, Mediterranean and Balkan influences!

6. Amazing wine you’ve never heard of but tastes incredible!

7. Celebrating the sun going down in style!

8. The friendly, proud and independent people!

9. The really long, hot and sunniest summers in Europe!

10. Feeling like you’re in the Game of Thrones (or some other stunning TV/movie set!)

1. How it combines a rich variety of experiences all rolled into one amazing destination!

One of the main reasons I fell in love with Croatia is because it has very different sides all rolled into one perfect little place, and you get to experience the best of all of them on our Croatia Adventure!

You can step back in time and explore medieval towns and fortresses, countryside tavernas and beautiful terracotta villages, dotted among rolling fields of lavender and stunning coastlines.

You can live like a queen at luxury hotels in the heart of Split’s charming palace ruins and the glamour of Hvar, with private island sailing and escorted food and wine tasting tours.

And you can switch off and immerse yourself in nature amongst stunning waterfalls and forest trails at Krka National Park and hidden beaches and coastal trails off the beaten path in Hvar. What's not to love?!

2. Cool medieval towns and fortresses that’ll convert even non-history fans!

There's just something magical about Croatia's historic old towns and fortresses that are incredibly well preserved and full of interesting stories. Our Croatia Adventure begins in the city of Split, where we stay in a heritage hotel right in the heart of the Old Town and the walls of the 1700 year old Diocletian's Palace ruin.

Exploring the mysterious maze of cobbled streets, grand entrance gates, underground cellars and elaborate central plaza and cathedral, you can't help but imagine the former Roman Emperor and all his people here in a different lifetime, in contrast to life as it is here now, buzzing with amazing little cafes, bars and restaurants! Rubbing the big toe of the 25 foot tall statue of revered bishop Gregory Nin statue for good luck is a local tradition, but watch out for those gladiators!

We also visit Hvar and Split's imposing fortresses for incredible movie-worthy battle stories, stunning panoramic views and opportunities for some pretty impressive Instagram-worthy photos!

3. THAT colour of the water... and sailing on it!

Google Croatia and you'll find endless pictures showing off the gorgeous clear blue of the Adriatic Sea. The country's long coastline, dotted with hundreds of islands, makes it the perfect place for all kinds of watersports, and no trip to Croatia would be complete without embracing the locals and many visitors' love of sailing.

Our Croatia Adventure includes a very special sailing experience exploring the coves and inlets of the stunning Pakleni Islands, on board our very own private sailboat, complete with local skipper who knows all the best spots, including a hidden little bar only accessible by boat! We set off in the afternoon to soak up the sun lounging on the deck and catch a beautiful sunset at sea on our return.

4. A lush green countryside packed full of forests, rolling hills and waterfalls!

Some hot and sunny countries can be a bit barren when it comes to greenery, but not Croatia! I took this photo above from Klis Fortress, which is a really short drive just outside the city of Split, which you can just about see in the distance before the sea. The whole area looks like this, and just an hour away from Split is the Unesco-listed Krka National Park, famous for its stunning emerald green lakes and waterfalls, with a loop of wooden trail surrounded by beautiful lush green forest.

The island of Hvar is famous for its rolling hills full of lavender fields, olive trees planted by early Greek colonists and vineyards producing some of Croatia's finest wine. You get to soak all this up on our Croatia Adventure. Heaven!

5. Unbelievable food with Central European, Mediterranean and Balkan influences!

The national dish of Croatia is 'peka', a bit like a combination of a barbecue and a roast dinner, yum! A domed iron lid or 'bell' is used to cover a casserole pot, traditionally full of meat or seafood, potatoes and other vegetables, wine and olive oil, which is then buried under glowing embers in a massive outdoor oven and slow cooked for hours. The end result is pretty damn good, and these two giant pekas above were soon polished off by our group of women after a couple of hours wine tasting (see below for more) on our Croatia Adventure!

I have to say I was generally blown away by everything I ate in Croatia, and found the variety and flavours of the food really impressive. The reason for this is probably the amount of different influences from neighbouring Central Europe, Mediterranean and Balkan countries. This includes a lot of pizza and pasta and although this may be controversial, I was surprised to genuinely find these traditional Italian dishes much tastier in Croatia than in Italy!

6. Amazing wine you’ve never heard of but tastes incredible!

Now I hope when our Croatian wine expert (who leads our private wine tasting tour on our Croatia Adventure) reads this, he doesn't take offence to the unheard of part, but Croatian wine isn't something you really see in the UK. So, I was very pleasantly surprised to discover it is, in fact, amazing!

You'll have chance to try all sorts of great wine in all the bars and restaurants of course, but on this wonderful day you'll try some of the best with our Croatian wine connoisseur in the beautiful setting of a traditional, local family wine makers, tucked away in the countryside. We'll have several different whites and reds accompanied by delicious local nibbles, before heading to a beautifully rustic taverna even further into the countryside. Here we'll enjoy the national Croatian dish of 'peka' (described above), so there's plenty of delicious food to soak up all that wine!

7. Celebrating the sun going down in style!

I love Croatia's nightlife! From cool little bars and restaurants spilling out from the cobbled streets and steps of old towns, glamorous harbour fronts and sunset parties where chilled vibes turn into full on parties, there's something for everyone.

And the more livelier nightlife doesn’t take over and spoil places either. Hvar is considered Croatia's party island but its hotspots like the sunset parties at Hula Hula bar and Carpe Diem open air nightclub are tucked away for when you want them, and don't take over the whole town like in some places in Europe. In fact Carpe Diem is even on its own island a short boat ride away!

8. The friendly, proud and independent people!

All the local people I met in Croatia made me feel so welcome, in fact I hadn't been there for longer than 24 hours before I was invited to join a family on their private yacht for an afternoon sailing around a nearby island! Warm, friendly, proud of their country and keen to share it with you, is what makes Croats a pleasure to meet and one of the top reasons Croatia is so enjoyable!

These are just some of the local partners I've met and now work with to provide the accommodation and activities included in our adventure.

9. The really long, hot and sunniest summers in Europe!

Croatia is one of Europe’s sunniest spots with a whopping 12-13 hours of sunshine a day in the warmest and sunniest months, which stretch for longer than average from May right up until October, and are hottest from June to September. For years the beautiful island of Hvar, where we explore two very different parts of the island on our Croatia Adventure, has been known as the sunniest Croatian island, as well as the sunniest place in Europe!

10. Feeling like you’re in the Game of Thrones (or some other stunning TV/movie set!)

On our Croatia Adventure we explore 3 different locations on Croatia's stunning Dalmatian coastline including the medieval city of Split, the beautiful island of Brac and its Golden Horn beach, and the stunning, lively harbour town on the beautiful island of Hvar.

The whole tour is packed full of stunning sights and if you're a Game of Thrones fan you'll be in your element, with scenes filmed at Klis Fortress and the underground cellars of Diocletian's Palace in Split.

A good way to get a feel for what to expect on this and any of our tours, other than reading the full itinerary, What's Included and FAQs, is to read the reviews and watch the videos from women who've been to Croatia and other tours with Travel Queen and loved it. They all booked on without knowing anybody else and this was their first time doing this kind of group tour, an adventure in itself. The dates of our next tours are on our Croatia Adventure tour overview page.

I really hope you decide to join us on our adventure in Croatia, I know you'll fall in love with it just as I have :-).

Thanks for reading,

Mel x