A day in Zadar ~ Motorhoming Croatia

A day in Zadar

It’s mid May and we’re meandering along the Dalmatia coast heading for a day in Zadar. This coastal city of historic intrigue lies on the Adriatic where boating, beaches and beauty await.

We’ve come from a little further up the coast at Zaton, where we spent the night. By the time we reach Zadar, it’s mid morning and parking somewhere within walking distance is priority.

It doesn’t take long before we spot a parking area on P4N, although it’s just on the road, it’s within walking distance to the centre. It’s worth mentioning we’ve already tried a few by this stage and found roads narrow and parking full.

This time we’re in luck, there’s just one space overlooking the sea by a tiny harbour. There’s already a few motorhomes here, and it looks as if they’ve been there the night. There’s a couple of cafe’s with terraces overlooking the water and plenty of people around. It looks like as good a spot as any to park.

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Exploring Zadar

We walk from the campervan along the beach, where there’s more people socialising than we’ve seen so far this trip!

Before long, we arrive at Fosa harbour and an old stone gate entrance into the historic centre. The mighty city walls are upon us, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017.

A glimpse through the stone entrance reveals a vibrant array of streets and beautiful square.

We set about exploring this old city of Zadar and it’s quite beautiful. It’s also busy, and there’s an obvious change here to the amount of tourists around.

Another difference is the weather, finally we have sunshine and it’s warm, not hot but comfortable and the best we’ve seen so far.

A day in Zadar — Entrance route into Zadar old centre

Roman ruins and perfect promenade

Zadar has a 3000 year history, but remains of its Roman era can still be seen today. The bustling streets lead us towards the Forum and its ruins amongst the modern day square.

It’s a main thoroughfare of the city, a place to sit, watch, wonder and admire. This open area leads towards the perfect promenade, where walks beside the sea seem to be a meeting point for thought.

It’s known as Riva and it’s not just about walking, there’s fine views across the water, leafy Palm trees and plenty of places to sit.

People Square

A perfect place to take a break comes along in the atmospheric People Square. Here, we pause for coffee, amongst fine architecture, pavement cafe’s and musical interludes from street artists.

It’s a delightful place to sit and watch the world go by, sipping our coffee and enjoying some warmth in the Sun.

Here, in the historic centre there’s a really lovely feeling of being in the moment. There’s plenty of tourists, yet it’s not too crowded and there’s an authentic touch to the surroundings. In other words, we don’t feel we’re in a tourist trap, it’s actually really pleasant.

Zadar is a really lovely city, its old town oozes all the charm you’d expect from a major player on the Dalmatian coast.

On the outer walkways beyond the magnificent walls is the port and further on is the new part to the city.

We’re not venturing there at all, instead concentrating on the picturesque old part of the city.

Small but full of character

Soon, we realise that Zadar is actually quite small, but it’s full of character.

It’s nothing like some of the other tourist cities in Europe, so we find we can easily walk around in a few hours, without too much trouble.

If you want to explore the shops a little more, then a maybe allow a day, especially if it’s Summer when temperatures may dictate a break from walking around.

In mid May, it’s still quite cool, so the heat isn’t a problem for us.

Maybe in Summer, it would be an idea to combine some time on the beach with exploring the centre, either way it’s definetly worth visiting Zadar.

For now, we think we’ve seen enough and have really found our visit enjoyable, the old historic centre quite beautiful and navigating easy.

So, it’s back the way we came to the campervan before moving on further down the Dalmatia coast.