Croatia is the perfect place to travel with your family. This country is full of hiking towns, accommodations for children with playgrounds and there are many ways to explore beautiful nature. Give your children a fun history lesson among the Roman ruins of Istria or go traditional fishing on the Dalmatian islands. From Split to Dubrovnik, from national parks to beaches, here's where to go and what to do. We will help you start planning as easily as possible your new advanture.
Planning Your Family Trip to Croatia
Traveling with kids can be one of life’s most rewarding, hilarious, and occasionally frustrating experiences. What’s more, for families with packed work and school schedules, it can be their best chance of spending quality time together while gaining new experiences that the youngest members will look back on forever. But making it all go smoothly can take some planning and ingenuity.
Here are Croatia’s best kid-friendly destinations and activities, plus travel tips to get you started on planning the perfect family vacation.
Tips for family vacation in Dubrovnik
All generations will surely like Dubrovnik! Its old town is for pedestrians only, and along its gleaming main street are hidden secret staircases and inaccessible alleys that children can explore with ice cream in hand.
Book with us a guided tour for the whole family that can help you bring to life stories about the city and its architecture. Kids will love the view of the city, the harbor and the people below.
If you want to raise them even higher, take the cable car to Srđ hill and have them point to the parts of the wall they just walked on. Once at the top, you will be just a few minutes walk from the Honey Valley, a farm and a zoo where children meet horses, donkeys and sheep.
If you find an unexpectedly gray day, visit the Maritime Museum, where they can learn about exploring the sea through old maps, ship models, steering wheels and navigation tours or in a small aquarium inside the Fortress of St. John, home of eels, octopuses, seahorses and starfish.
To avoid the summer crowds and heat, head to the island of Lokrum. Take your children for a stroll through the 19th-century botanical gardens, explore a Benedictine monastery or spot wild peacocks roaming the lush jungle-like surroundings, or bathe on beaches that aren’t so crowded with land crowds.
See our rich offer of villas in Dubrovnik and its surroundings
Tips for family vacation in Split
If you are in Split for at least one day, it is almost inevitable to visit Diocletian's Palace. This 4th century palace built by the Roman emperor is an exciting labyrinth of alleys and passages, opening onto busy squares and leading to centuries-old buildings where hotels, shops and restaurants still operate today. In other words, it is the perfect place to take even the youngest ones to explore, learn and enjoy.
Source: TZ Split
Just an hour's drive from Split, in the town of Makarska is Biokovo, the highest mountain in Croatia and the perfect place for a day trip out of town. Be sure to make sure your kids have good sneakers or hiking boots and pack picnic food on top. If you want to stay only in Split, a great idea is a half-day trip to Marjan Park, right in front of the city center, is another place where children can enjoy the excellent open space, run freely, play on the playground. Climb to its high point Telegrin for a panoramic view of Split.
Source: TZ Makarska
The entire Makarska Riviera and Split have a large number of beaches where you can cool off, relax in the sun while children build sand castles and swim.
See our rich offer of villas in Split and its surroundings, and if you are more interested in Makarska, click here.
Tips for family vacation on Dalmatian Islands
We are a country with a thousand islands. Why?
Source: TZ Hvar
The Adriatic Sea is relatively shallow and warm, so our coast is indented, which means that we have a lot of islands, islets, bays and cliffs. The Dalmatian islands are really beautiful and exciting. If you have children, the islands will be especially tempting. For example, Vis can be reached by a day trip from Makarska or Split, and on top of it is the small island of Biševo, home of the Blue Cave.
The cave is named after the ethereal blue tone that is created when the sun's rays illuminate it through the underwater, and can only be visited by boat.
Although known for its luxury hotels and nightlife, Hvar offers plenty of opportunities to relax on the pebble beaches that are considered to be among the most beautiful in the world. Rent a sailboat or catamaran to the Pakleni islands, for easy scuba diving in crystal clear waters, where children may even be able to spot a fish they have seen in one of the many Croatian aquariums.
Children will be enchanted by the island fields of lavender and olive groves, as well as coastal villages such as Jelsa and Vrboska, which are perfect for fishing and getting to know our culture.
With its charming, pedestrianized old town and plenty of easy walks or bike rides through the less passable inner forests, Korcula is perhaps one of the best and easiest of the Dalmatian islands to visit with children. With your small boat, find your favorite beach, teach your kids fishing, and then prepare the fish on the boat for you as part of a delicious lunch with a great view. If time doesn’t serve you, don’t worry. Visit the Marco Polo Museum, where children can learn about a researcher they have certainly learned and read about at school and who was reportedly born in Korcula.
See our rich offer of villas in Dalmatian islands and its surroundings
Tips for family vacation in National Parks
For children and adults who like to stay outdoors, nothing can compare to Croatia's magnificent national parks, which are spacious, abundant and in many cases far less crowded than parks of similar growth in other parts of Europe. The most popular is, of course, the Plitvice Lakes National Park; a landscape of lakes and waterfalls interspersed with safe wooden promenades perfect for viewing and photographing. Although the park does not allow swimming, the coast is not far away, so there are plenty of beaches to enjoy after your visit.
If you are looking for equally beautiful lakes and waterfalls where you can actually swim, then the Krka National Park is ideal for you with waterfalls that flow into swimming holes where you can cool off. The monastery is located on a small island Visovac which you can visit by boat.
Croatia is a very peaceful and safe country with inhabitants who are kind and hospitable. Whatever city or place you visit with your family, you won’t regret it. So much is available to explore in just a few hours by car. On the same day you can swim and sunbathe on the beach, climb to the very top of the mountain and enjoy the most beautiful view, see the sights in any Dalmatian town rich in historical heritage, taste delicious traditional food, visit museums, amusement parks and much more!
Leave the care of organizing one-day trips to us. The Croatia Tours team carefully selects and creates excursions that will provide you with an unforgettable experience and bring the culture of the population closer.
You can see our tour offer here.
Contact us for help because we are always there for you!
Yours, Croatia Tours team