From Plitvice To The Wonders Of Šibenik

The time will soon come when we run out of superlatives for this country, such is its propensity to thrill, surprise and charm. 

Day 9, and we leave Mukinje, Plitvice and our host Kristina with heavy heart and head westwards towards the Adriatic and the Dalmatian coast. The lush and dramatic Lake District scenery soon gives way to a spectacular mountainside drive as our road perches on a ledge way above the land below, dropping eventually to the outskirts of Zadar. From here the E8 turns south, now hugging the beautiful coastline for a different type of incredible scenery. 

We pause for lunch at the ridiculously quaint seaside town of Pirovac, straight away deciding that we must return here, such is its charm: until, that is, we reach our next destination of Šibenik, and, not for the first time on this trip, our jaws drop in awe. Šibenik is more than stunning, it’s…..yep, that’s the point where we run out of superlatives. It’s just….wow.

Šibenik is in a spectacular natural setting. When we first look out across the sea, we think we are looking at two of the nearest islands just across the water; but study of the map reveals that in fact it is two headlands, curling in pincer-style, with a narrow gap between. This gap is St Anthony’s Channel, and is the only route out to the open sea from here. Beyond this, we can see untold numbers of islands, many in the Kornati archipelago… there are in fact no fewer 249 islands in the waters close to Šibenik. 

And Šibenik itself is a lovely place. Like Split, the old town is a maze of tiny streets and alley ways, charming little piazzas, a welcoming seafront, but with, in addition, a cathedral which is an architectural masterpiece and, most dominant of all, four fortresses which between them define and shape the city’s history. 

St Michael’s Fortress sits at the highest point of the old town, indeed Šibenik grew around its presence, a second fortress sits beyond the outermost headland at the entrance to the Channel, and two more on hilltops approaching the city from land-side. Legend has it that the people of Šibenik, having failed to obtain defence funding from their Venetian rulers and fearing imminent invasion, built these two fortresses with their own hands, and stone hewn from the hillside, in just 58 days. Such was their success that the small band of townsfolk were able to defend their city against 25,000 invading Ottomans just a few weeks later.

Perhaps equally remarkable is the fact that in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, St Michael’s Fortress was still robust enough to be used once again to fend off attack, as Šibenik was the scene of some fierce fighting. It’s crazy to think, as you watch young parents enjoying family time at the waterfront here, that these same thirty-somethings actually endured a childhood amid ruthless warfare, right here in this now peaceful city.

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Modern day Šibenik is both beautiful and charming: much more modest than Split but with all the delightful characteristics of the Dalmatian coastline. It also climbs very steeply up from the seafront: there is plenty of unavoidable step climbing here!

We take a boat trip out through the Channel to the fortress, and to a tunnel through the cliff built to hide German warships in WW2; the two entrances are nicknamed “Hitler’s Eyes” by the locals. This trip gives us our first dip in the Adriatic, our first taste of the sea since Koh Lanta in February.

A phrase often seen in travel books is “hidden gem”. We can’t think of a better way to describe the lovely city of Šibenik. And now, as we prepare to leave Šibenik and head to our next destination, we are asking ourselves one big question. Is all of Croatia this beautiful, or have we just got lucky so far?