Split to Sibenik Croatia
After our short visit in Split Croatia, we continued our road trip to Sibenik Croatia, where we stayed for 2 nights. We continued our journey to Sibenik Coratia via the A1 motorway without any problem. The car’s GPS system plus google map helped us tremendously in this Croatia road trip. Hence, don’t leave home without subscribing to an international roaming service from your home country. You could also purchase one when you touched down in Croatia. As we did not use the local SIM card, we can’t really comment on the quality of their service. However, the telecommunication network in Croatia is rather reliable. We did not encounter any data transmission issues or connection breakdown during our 6 days stay in Croatia.
For this Croatia road trip, we greatly depended on Michelin route planner, google map and tripadvisor. The directions and instructions provided are very reliable. All you need to do is to type in the starting point and destination, and the system will generate the options available for you. By planning beforehand, you can roughly know what you will expect on the day of your actual road trip.
Background information of Sibenik Croatia
Šibenik, is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. It is also the third-largest city in the historic region of Dalmatia. Unlike other cities along the Adriatic coast, which were established by Greeks, Illyrians and Romans, Šibenik Croatia was founded by Croats. The whole city is made up of stones. Stone buildings, stone stairways, rock cliffs, cobbled streets and stone arches. In Sibenik Croatia, you get to see the sea, the sun and the stone. A very unique combination unlike any other cities in Croatia.
Sibenik is often overlooked by tourists. It seems to be less popular compared to Dubrovnik and Split. The atmosphere in Sibenik is a completely opposite of Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is crowded and noisy, whereas Sibenik is more laid back and relaxing. That being said, it does not mean that Sibenik is a boring place and you should just forget about visiting this place. On the contrary, you should not miss out this gem as it is a place with UNESCO fortresses, fine dining, 5 star Sibenik hotels and the beautiful Krka National park nearby.
6 things you must do in and around Sibenik Croatia
1. Visit the Cathedral of St. James
The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik Croatia, built completely out of stone, is a definitely must see when in Sibenik. It was built over 100 years period from 1431-1535. The structural characteristics of the Cathedral of St James in Šibenik made it a unique and outstanding building in which Gothic and Renaissance forms have been successfully blended. It is no wonder this building is a Sibenik UNESCO Heritage Site.
2. Visit the Four magnificent Fortresses of Sibenik Croatia
Šibenik, also known as the “city of fortresses”, was an important military and political centre due to its specific location. The fortresses of Šibenik, St Michael, St John, St Nicholas and Fortress Barone played a key role in defending the town from Turkish invaders during the 15th, 16th and 17th century.
St Michael Fortress
St. Michael’s Fortress is a medieval fort situated on a steep hill above the old historic centre of the city. The walls and structure of this fortress dates back to the 15th and 16th century. Due to damages over the centuries, this fortress was the first to be restored and was completed in 2014. The most interesting part about this fortress is that it houses a 1,000 plus seat outdoor venue for concert and theatre performances in the Summer.
Tickets are required to enter this fortress. Daily ticket price is 50 kn for adults and 30 kn for children (under 5 years – free entrance) and the ticket is valid for visiting the fortress of St Michael as well as the Barone fortress.
St John Fortress
St. John’s fortress, named after a medieval church dedicated to St. John the baptist, is an early modern fortress in Šibenik, Croatia, situated atop a hill north of the city’s historical center. The fortress, together with the adjacent Barone Fortress, was built during the Cretan War and successfully repelled consecutive Ottoman attacks in 1646 and 1647. In 2014, St. John’s fortress was used as a historical backdrop for scenes from the series Game of Thrones.
The walk to St John fortress from Baron Fortress, shown below, took us about 10-15 minutes. However, as this fortress is now undergoing restoration, venturing into it is at your own risk.
Fortress Barone
Fortress Barone, connected to St. John’s Fortress, was built by the people of Šibenik in 1646. Built in less than 2 months under the supervision of Baron von Degenfeld, commander of defense of Šibeni, hence the name Fortress Barone. Just like St. Michael’s fortress, this fortress underwent a major restoration and was opened to the public in 2016.
You can learn a lot about the history of Sibenik from the multimedia content available in the museum. After much walking, you can relax at the cafe situated in the fortress. There is also a shop selling authentic souvenirs should you be interested.
St Nicholas Fortress
St. Nicholas fortress is located at the entrance to the St. Ante canal and was built in the mid-16th century to defend against attacks from the sea. On all sides, it is surrounded by the Adriatic sea, and only a very narrow path linked it with the mainland. It is regarded as the UNESCO Heritage site since 2017.
Tourists are currently not allowed to enter the fortress, but only explore it from outside, as it is currently being reconstructed. The reconstruction should be finished till the end of 2018. We did not visit this fortress as climbing 3 fortresses in the span of 3 hours took a toll on us.
3. Visit Krka National Park
Krka National Park is situated about 17km northeast of the city of Šibenik. We drove our rented car to a place called Lozova and parked our car in the free parking area. The entrance is clearly signposted along all approaching roads, the main one of which is the A1 expressway.
There are officially 5 entrances to Krka National Park
- Skradin (Skradinski Buk) – April – October
- Lozovac (Skradinski Buk) – Whole year
- Roški Slap – Whole year
- Burnum / Puljane – Whole year
- Kistanje (Krka Monastery) – Whole year
We took the 2nd option as it is said to be the easiest since we drove there. From Lozovac, there are shuttle buses bringing us straight to Skradinski Buk which is the most famous spot inside the national park. If you are coming from Skradin, you will need to take a 30 minutes boat ride to Skradinski Buk. As we had only a few hours in Krka, we did not visit the other 3 areas mentioned above.
We basically spent about 3 hours around the Skradinski Buk area. Walking over the well maintained wooden trails, you can experience the entire beauty of Skradinski buk waterfalls and untouched Mediterranean vegetation with its specific wildlife. From April to October, swimming is allowed at the lower parts of the waterfall.
4. Visit Skradin Croatia
Skradin is a small Mediterranean town about 19.4km from Sibenik Croatia. It is one of the entry points to Krka National Park.
After we have finished exploring Krka, we drove to Skradin to have a look since we were very close to the vicinity. We were glad we did as it is a picturesque town with narrow paved streets, passages and stairs. It contains houses dating from the 18th and 19th century which are stuccoed in the manner typical for Venice and areas under her influence. Skradin is a laid back, quiet and beautiful place. No wonder Bill gates fell in love with this place when he visited in the summer.
The most beautiful view of Skradin extends from the belvedere and the bridge situated on motorway A1, en route towards Split.
If you have the time, which we did not, you should explore the area more as it has rich history, stunning scenery, quality cuisine and wine.
5. Sibenik Town Hall
The Sibenik town hall is situated in the central town square. This Renaissance building was built between 1533 and 1546. This town hall was completely destroyed in December 1943 during the attack of the allied air forces. It was restored in its original form after the war. The beautifully city hall now houses the Vijećnica café-restaurant for tourists to have a cuppa after a long day touring this magnificent town.
6. Eat at Sibenik restaurant Konoba Nostalgija
Honestly speaking, I did not enjoy the food in Croatia until I ate at this Sibenik restaurant. This restaurant in Sibenik serves traditional Croatian meal to perfection. You won’t regret going, I guarantee.
This place is rather small and caters mainly to groups of 4. When we were there, we were almost being turned down because we were a group of 5. The staff was kind enough to quickly set up a table inside the restaurant just to accommodate us. By the time we were seated, the restaurant was filled up within minutes. Luckily, we came 5 minutes earlier than the rest. Phew!!!
“A picture is worth a thousand words”. Just look at the pictures and you will know how good the foods were. That meal was the best meal in Croatia.
Apartment Jany
The apartment we stayed for 2 nights in Sibenik was Apartment Jany. We chose to stay at an apartment in Sibenik rather than the Sibenik hotel because apartments are more quiet and personal. The lady owner, Jany, told us the husband built the apartment himself. Very nicely built and has a fantastic seaview from the balcony. This apartment comes with a kitchen and a washing machine. We were very glad the apartment owner provided the washing machine. We could wash our clothes for the next 2 days as well as all those dirty clothes accumulated while in Dubrovnik. For this Croatia trip, we did not pack that many clothes because we thought the weather would be cooling. It turned out to be false and was very hot. We had to change clothes everyday and thus the washing machine was a big plus! Apartment Jany is just 6 minutes away from Banj beach on foot and the UNESCO-listed St. Jacob Cathedral is 650 m away.
Have you decided where to go for your next Summer vacation? Why not visit Sibenik! Sibenik in July and August is wonderful. Sibenik weather in July and August is around 29-32 degrees. Don’t forget your swimming suits!
