Wellness and Spa Weekend

Hello world!

We are in Krapinske toplice!! We are visiting perfect place for relaxation, wellness and amazing gourmet experience, Villa Magdalena.

How to get from Split to Villa Magdalena?

We took A1 highway from Split and had 5 hour drive to Croatian Zagorje. Krapinske Toplice are just 45 km from Zagreb.

Villa Magdalena has 6 apartments and 18 double rooms. Our room was simply wonderful and bed was super comfortable! Room had balcony with view of mountain Medvednica and hydro massage bathtub, in the living room, with chromo therapy and spring thermal water. Mindblowing!

On Villa’s top floor is a wellness oasis with heated indoor pool, whirlpool, saunas, showers, heating seats, balcony with deck chairs and a gym.

Hotel also offers massages and we gladly booked 4, well 2 each :). Our review is simple: Book as many massages as you can afford! Getting a massage, with calm and relaxing music in background you can easily free yourself from everyday stress, refresh your body and find a moment for yourself.

Last, but not least, Hotel restaurant was real gastro experience. Their professional, young, staff was flawless. We had half board; breakfast and dinner included in our accommodation price. We booked Wellness romance package, but you can choose from several other packages they offer.

We are back next Monday with new island experience.

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She is in love with Plitvice waterfall!

Hello World!

For you who didn’t recognize it, we are in Plitvice National Park, one of the most beautiful National Park in Europe and Maya is in love with it!

Plitvice National Park, in Croatia, is known for its 16 lakes, waterfalls, canyons and streams, which makes it perfect gateway from crowded cities. If you are planing trip soon, here are some information that might help you organize it!

PARKING

We drove to Plitvice NP with a car, therefore we needed a parking. Car parking costs 7HRK (1EUR) per hour. There are 2 Main entrances to the park and each have parking. We arrived from Rastoke and road led us to Entrance 1.

ENTRANCE PLAN

Plitvice NP is logistically divided into the Upper Lakes and the Lower Lakes. Entrance 1 is closest to the Lower Lakes, Entrance 2 is slightly closer to the Upper Lakes. The most exciting and worth visiting place in Plitvice National Park is The Big waterfall. If you are in a hurry it is better to park at Entrance 1, from which there is a direct path to Big waterfall. That is exactly what we did, as we came around noon to the park.

ENTRANCE FEE

PLITVICE PARK HIGHLIGHTS

Like mentioned before, the most exciting place in Plitvice National Park is The Big waterfall, but that is just the beginning of the park story.

Šupljara underground cave is slippery, so be careful, but it is also art of nature.

Near Lake Gradinsko is a series of spectacular waterfalls.

Lake Kozjak is the park’s largest lake.

Lake Prošćansko has perfect Instargam reflection ;).

Park has variety of trails, all linked by the trains and boats. If you have time walk, instead of jumping on to train, nature is spectacular!

TIP: Be aware that swimming is forbidden.

FOOD

There are few places where you can buy food and drinks in Plitvice National Park, but we read that food is expensive there so we carried our own food with us. You can organize a nice picnic with an amazing view to the lakes!

TIP: bring plenty of water, or try water from the stream 🙂

ACCOMMODATION

If you are planing to stay in area you can either find some apartments or hotels in nearby villages.

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Magical watermill village Rastoke

Hello world! Ready for more adventure?

After our Castle adventure in Karlovac county, we drove close to Slunj city and spent night in lovely Restaurant Rooms Pino. We booked double bed room with balcony for very affordable price (approx. 300 HRK). They also have restaurant within object, so we had both dinner and breakfast there.

Rastoke watermill village

First thing in a morning we drove to Rastoke watermill village. We parked on main road, right before village bridge, on a public parking (fee approx. 1 EUR per hour). Right there, you can see Rastoke beauty!

Slunjčica flows into the Korana River across cascades creating waterfalls of different size – MIND BLOWING, we know! Rastoke are often called Plitvice’s little sister, but they are so much more than that!

We spent only half day in Rastoke, but would recommend you to take entire day! Etno village is small itself, but it is a place you can get lost in.  They have tavern, mill, textile house, museum, fishpond and meadow with a totem in the middle. The waterfalls in Rastoke were named after the mill owners, and the most famous ones are Buk, Hrvoje and Fairy Hair (local: Vilina kosa). But our favorite in village was hidden cave bellow waterfall.

Don’t forget to stop in some of the cutest restaurants and try some homemade specialties.

We are going to Plitvice National Park next, since we are in neighborhood :). Don’t forget to follow our adventures on our social network:

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Castles of Croatia

Hello world! How are you?

We are doing pretty good since spring arrived in Croatia, there are plenty of sunny days to travel around this beautiful country. This time road took us to Karlovac and we decided to explore castles around it.

Dubovac castle

First stop is Dubovac castle! It is castle from 13th century and it overlooks city of Karlovac. It was once owned by famous Croatian counts and dukes, including Frankopan and Zrinski family. Nowadays, most of castle is under renovation, but there is restaurant inside where you can try and enjoy local cuisine. Don’t miss small lake (on a side of the castle) and the great view point (in front of castle).

We easily found Dubovac castle on GPS, but for next ones we had to use “ask the locals” method. There are almost none markings on the road, so follow directions for cities castles are located in.

Ozalj castle

That leads us to city of Ozalj and Ozalj castle. Castle is located on a cliff above the Kupa River. Once, it was the joint castle of the Croatian noble families Frankopan and Zrinski, which has great historical value. There is small entrance fee for Castle and Museum (approx. 4 EUR per person). We wandered for a while around the Castle’s courtyard, but didn’t enter the museum. The views of Kupa river from castle are amazing!

Ozalj Power Plant

Near Ozalj castle, you can also see Ozalj Hydroelectric Power Plant, which is the second oldest hydroelectric power plant in Croatia. Ozalj Power Plant looks breathtaking and you can easily say it was our third “castle” in Karlovac county :).

Ribnik Old town Castle

Last spot, of our trip, was city of Ribnik and Castle Old town (local: Stari grad). Old town Ribnik castle is feudal lowland castle with circular courtyard and the only ‘water castle’ or island’s town, in Croatia. Old town Ribnik was used for filming several historical films. Unfortunately, castle is not open for visitors, which is such a shame. We used our Mavic drone to see what is inside.

We are staying in this region and visiting Rastoke watermill village next! If you are planing to explore this region more, like we did, there are affordable places to sleep in Karlovac.

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See you in Rastoke next week!