A Road Trip Along Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, Home to Vineyards, Oyster Farms, and Sleepy Island Detours

The mere point out of Croatia conjures up illustrations or photos of crystalline blue waters, orange-roofed historic cities, and languid days used island hopping. But traversing the country’s coastline by auto, specially for the duration of shoulder year, can be just as spectacular. A push together the southern Dalmatian Coast will deliver you to delights typically missed by the masses: household-operate wineries on extraordinary sloping hills, oyster farms nestled in silent turquoise bays, generations-outdated villages, and safeguarded lakes and rivers that are fantastic for paddleboarding, windsurfing, and kayaking.

Now, with a new bridge uniting northern and southern Croatia, it is achievable to see these highlights in 1 seamless highway vacation from Dubrovnik to Split. The Pelješac Bridge, which opened in July 2022 as a single of the most significant European Union-funded jobs in background, makes it possible for motorists to finally bypass a slim strip of Bosnian coastline that earlier demanded inconvenient (and sometimes prolonged) border checks. For Croatians, the opening of this new composition marks a historic milestone. And for tourists, it usually means simpler highway entry to Croatia’s unsung—and often much less crowded—rural highlights.

“It’s opening up regions that ended up formerly unidentified and variety of hidden from the map,” says Zrinka Marinovic, community relations manager for Adriatic Luxurious Resorts, a collection of unbiased luxurious resorts in and around Dubrovnik, exactly where she grew up. “In the previous, Neretva Valley was not extremely obtainable because we did not have the bridge. You experienced to cross the Bosnian border to get to it and the relaxation of Croatia.”