A Family Summer Holiday to Croatia

Flying to Croatia

Our last hurrah before I had my second baby was a family summer holiday to Croatia with Dave’s mum, sister and her husband to the Dalmation Coast.

Dave and I have visited Croatia a few times before but never to this area. We’d always heard great things about it so we thought it would be a good opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.

Flying when Pregnant

I’d had to get a ‘fit to fly’ letter from my GP as I was flying after 28 weeks of pregnancy (with a single pregnancy you can fly up until you are 36 weeks pregnant). Rules do differ on different airlines, for multiple pregnancies and with complicated pregnancies. This cost me £40 (!) but it was reassuring to have it despite not getting asked to show it!

The flights themselves were fine, I was very conscious about wearing DVT socks (I picked a pair of these up at the airport during my first pregnancy). They are excellent at stopping any swelling or discomfort. I also tried to move around as much as possible during the flight and drink plenty of fluids. 

Accommodation

I was around 31 weeks pregnant at the time and feeling HUUUUGE so I really appreciated the gorgeous villa we had booked. This was especially nice as it was very hot and the sea breezes up at the villa were a bit of a lifesaver.

Dave’s sister and husband had the ensuite bedroom downstairs, Dave’s mum had the big ensuite upstairs and Dave and I took the two double rooms which shared a bathroom away from the others. Due to my gargantuan size I slept in with our daughter who had a blow up bed. We felt this was better than her sleeping in a proper bed as she was only out of a cot by a month or so and the risk of her falling off a proper bed was quite high – she was two and a half on this holiday. Dave had the other bedroom and we shared the bathroom and a big balcony. 

The Villa was simply beautiful. Exquisitely decorated and not even a spot of dust (it helped that cleaners came in every other day). The outside space was large with 2 seating areas and a spacious pool area.

The only negative to the pool was that it was super deep, even for me, and being pregnant I really struggled with not being able to touch the ground. Our 2 and a half year old fortunately didn’t care and was happy bobbing about with her arm bands on.

There was an outdoor kitchen (which we didn’t really use other than for the mens beer!) and plenty of grass areas to run around on. The villa was up a steep, bumpy driveway but the reward was worth it – it was undoubtedly the most beautiful view we’ve ever had from a villa. Worth every penny.

Exploring the Dalmation Coast

It was much hotter than we’d expected so our day trips out were a bit tough (mostly for me) but both Split and Trogir are worth the effort with gorgeous little old towns. 

The main issue we had on this family summer holiday to Croatia, was getting down to the beach, firstly because they were super super busy and secondly because they tended to be down steep roads with poor parking (perhaps out of season it’d be ok but in July it definitely wasn’t).

Our daughter was still quite young and definitely needed a pushchair and I was quite immobile and permanently hot so we made a few attempts but quickly decided that staying at our villa pool was much more preferable. 

We also ate in every evening (the other members of the party decided to go out on a couple of nights). However, we enjoyed having a chef come in one night (we often find that villas can arrange this for you) and creating nice relaxed dinners on the other nights. The great thing about traveling with a group of you means you’ve got company every night to play games, chat and listen to music. As much as Dave and I enjoy travelling as our own little unit it is nice once in a while to have some company! 

Summary

Having now seen the south (Dubrovnik), the north (Zagreb) and the middle (the region surrounding Split) I can safely say I don’t think you can go far wrong with Croatia. It’s a beautiful country with some of the most breathtaking scenery we’ve ever seen.

For another villa holiday with extended family, check out this blog about our trip to Sicily 🙂