I was invited by Jet2 Holidays to experience their offering to Croatia alongside the Croatian Tourist Board.
Did you know you can Jet2 flights to Split (from Stansted) can get you to Croatia in just 2 hours? We flew in their Boeing 737 which felt surprisingly roomy with clever space saving designs and spill free coffee cup holders. Even the overhead luggage compartments were spacious and I had no trouble stashing away my camera bag safely.
Our trip was organised by Jet2holidays with a four night stay at Hotel Le Meridien Lav. More about the hotel at the end of the post.
I was invited along with several other travel bloggers to experience Split and Central Dalmatia as a destination for food, families, culture and historical heritage. After just four days I would certainly agree that it ticks all those boxes.
Staying at the Le Meridian Split means you are just a 20 mins drive (avoid the morning rush though, as there is one road in and out and it can get quite clogged) into the centre of Split.
It’s definitely worth a visit to Diocletian's Palace, built around 295-305 AD, the Emperor Diocletian built it as his retirement home and the palace basement remains 33% intact and is protected by UNESCO. The remaining architecture is an incredible reminder of what the Roman’s created and achieved.
If you are a Game of Thrones fan (I haven’t seen it yet!) the room in the image below was featured in the series, apparently 7 days of filming produced 7 seconds of screen time! So you may have missed it!
After exploring the Palace we headed back into the sunshine and climbed the 100 steps for views of Split - there is a cafe at the top if you need a rest but the views are well worth the effort.
The following day we took the ferry from Split to Supetar, to the island of Brac. It’s about an hour, views and the crossing are pretty and pleasant, get seats if you can on deck but under cover as it gets really hot.
We headed to Vidova Gora, the highest island peak on the Adriatic which gives you gorgeous views and a panoramic glimpse of Golden Cape Beach in Bol. Which in bright sunshine is the most glorious turquoise and golden colours. This beach is insta famous and many a drone video has been shot (much closer than from this peak).
We did drive down and surprisingly, as from the peak it looks quite quiet and secluded it’s actually a busy, well set up beach location with numerous food & drink huts, sun loungers and facilities. I will mention that the beach is stony as from above that golden hue looks like dreamy sand. However none of that really detracts from it being a great place to spend the day. The water was warm, clear and clean. And there is iced coffee on tap!
The next stop was an absolute highlight for me The Olive Oil Musuem in Skrip. They began production in 1864 and continued until 1963 when new technologies meant this way of working was no longer cost effective. In 2013 the family restored the old oilery and opened it as a musuem. The tour is succinct, interactive and interesting and is followed by a tasting menu of all things olive oil in the mezzanine above. You can choose your level of menu from basic to banquet but think fresh tasty tomatoes, beautiful breads, olive oil tapenades, fig and orange jams, cheeses and cold cuts.
For Lunch we sampled Brac’s star ingredient, Lamb, cooked traditionally on an open fire. We ate at Kopacina, an open air restaurant which had really friendly service and a good all round menu. We saw lots of families dining here. I tried the lamb it reminded me of Kelftico, the Greek lamb shank dish although this one differed in that it was different cuts of the lamb as well.
Whilst waiting for the ferry back to Split…
As this post is becoming incredibly long, I will add the rest of the trip in a separately including a visit to Solin, Klis and Trogir. Plus all the food! If you can’t wait there’s a food reel here, with all the restaurant details.
I’ll finish by mentioning Hotel Le Meriden Lav that was part of this package holiday to Croatia. It’s a vast, open plan, spacious hotel set on it’s own private beach. With a heated indoor pool as well as out door pool with an infinity feel edge. There are sunloungers on the beach and cabana’s around (although you do have to pay a separate day rate for those). The buffet breakfast is vast, from an abundance of fresh fruit, cereals, hot food, meats, salads and an on-hand omelette station where your order is cooked whilst you wait.
There’s a kids club, we had a look but it was closed when had a chance to visit but peeking through the windows it looked well equipped, fun and friendly, there is a playground and 6 tennis courts! It’s a child friendly hotel but very subtle in it’s approach to this. There are numerous restaurants within and around the hotel. The pizza we had was particularly good as was the sushi. Cocktails were great!
Check in is 2pm | Check out is Noon.
Le Meridian was a fantastic hotel option but Jet2 has a whole array of Split hotels that you may also want to check out and I can’t recommend Jet2 Holidays as your go to for luxury holidays, I felt so looked after and loved this trip!
I was invited by Jet2 Holidays to experience their luxury holiday package to Croatia