Arrivederci Italia

Today was our final day in Italy - for now - and, fittingly, it was a pretty anticlimactic end to what had been an incredible few weeks. We started with a 9 am bus to the airport, followed by a one-hour flight to Naples, a six-hour layover, and then another one-hour flight to Split in Croatia.

And just like that, Italy was over and the next phase of the trip had begun: the Balkans.

I’ve heard endlessly good things about the Balkans, so I’m really keen to see what all the hype is about. Croatia is obviously going to be a bit of a different experience, with most of our plans revolving around beaches, swimming and drinking. We’ve already done a fair bit of partying during the trip, but I suspect it will only get worse from here out.

The main things I’m hoping to tick off are the three-cave tour that Melissa and Mum recommended, as well as wandering through the old towns and parks around the various places we visit. We arrived in Split fairly late and walked to our hostel to check in. From the moment we arrived, I could tell it was going to be one of the nicest hostels we had stayed in so far. It was clean, spacious and well set up, and the ladies at reception were incredibly helpful.

After we finish Split and Hvar, Jack will be heading over to Spain most likely, and I continue my journey through the Balkans on my own. That being said, Neve could join me for a hiking trip through Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo. If that works out, it could fit almost perfectly with the route I’ve started putting together.

My rough plan is to travel south along the Croatian coastline, potentially visiting Dubrovnik and Ston, before continuing through Montenegro and Albania. From there, I’d track back north through the mountain regions towards Slovenia. Along the way, I’d also like to fit in Sarajevo, Plitvice Lakes National Park and Zagreb. And if I somehow manage to find a few spare days, I might even squeeze in a couple of days in Corfu. Let’s see if it works out.

That all sounds like a lot, but it’s only really possible because I’ve managed to build up a few spare days by getting ahead of schedule in Italy. The downside is that I’ve had to sacrifice the southeast of Italy, which I would have liked to see, but I think the extra time could be better spent exploring some of these other parts of Europe.

For now, though, the Italian chapter is over.

Croatia next.Read more