Istrian Adventure: Vanlife on Croatia's Beautiful Coastline

[@motorroamingaround]

Wow guys. Croatia looks fantastic and those campsites are just beautiful. Can’t wait to see your video of Plitvice National Park. Keep safe. Irvine & Karen.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Plitvice was beautiful ♥️

[@annajeram9251]

What fabulous, enormous campsites!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Not our usual choice but we really enjoyed our time there as a bit of a treat 😊🚐

[@FrugalMrB]

Looks like you took the Yorkshire weather with you at the start! 🌧️ The Croatian coast looked beautiful - looking forward to seeing your adventures in the National Park.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

The Yorkshire weather keeps making an appearance 🤣 but it was a lovely area and we actually had great weather after the first afternoon 🚐😊

[@joannecoomer103]

I loved this video. The vibe was soooo relaxing. From the music to the scenery. Even your casual walks to the nearby town. Thanks for sharing!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thankyou - it was certainly a fab area to visit and explore. The hikes along the coastline were stunning 🤩

[@eunicef1]

Gonna have to move that up a few spots on my wishlist. Thanks.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We really enjoyed our time in Croatia and the istrian coast was great as it is easier to get to on a roadtrip - we were going to go to Krk but decided to save on the drive time and stay there instead 🚐

[@susanharkema2888]

I swear you guys are aging backwards in early retirement! I'm looking forward to that, I hope. We launch our new lives in 9 weeks!!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

You’ll be counting down the days soon - we certainly feel healthier with all the fresh air and less stress 😊

[@MaxCumming]

Wow lovely video in Croatia. Such a great channel we love watching your adventures, have the best time ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you for watching 😊 we really liked Croatia and would visit the istrian coast line again 🚐

[@ITbod]

Great video. Enjoyed the cooking segment…thanks both..

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you 😊

[@vandahopwood1305]

Brings back some lovely memories ty. We were there in 2019. Just as a side note, a J in Europe is mostly pronounced as a Y xx

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

😊 yes we have been asking some of the very friendly people that we meet how go pronounce some of the common places and words

[@alanbenham4139]

A super VLOG as always. Thank you.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - the Istrian Peninsula was lovely 🚐

[@alannorman1773]

Wow! Thank you, happy memories of gorgeous Croatia and Rovinj. Just lovely. I wish we had more time there but school holidays and work holidays meant a fairly brief visit. Note to self, must go back. Thanks again and safe travels ❤❤.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It was certainly a beautiful area and we didn’t feel like we needed to go further south as we had planned for this trip as there was plenty to do and we enjoyed just chilling out 🚐

[@Mikeandtheboys]

It all looks amazing

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you ☺️

[@janehutchinson9999]

Looks like you had a lovely relaxing time. Looking forward to your visit to the National Park, thanks for sharing 😀

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It was like being on a mini holiday break in the middle of our travels if that makes sense! A beautiful area to visit 🚐

[@TrudiHodges]

We went to Plitvice last year and it was amazing. Enjoy.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It was absolutely stunning! It felt other worldly at times. It was also very busy!

[@joannesaunderson4506]

Gorgeous adventure. Living vicariously through you. Great inspo. Thanks ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Ah thank you - there are so many lovely places out there to visit and explore - we are enjoying our freedom travelling while we can 🚐😊

[@juliafawcett1543]

Lovely vlog, all the info you share is so useful, thank you.. looks like you're settling into a relaxing trip and enjoying it in the moment after many years of working world. ❤

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Many thanks Julia. It does take a bit of time to get back into slow travel, but we are feeling really relaxed now. The biggest issue is that there are so many beautiful places to visit, how do you choose and how do you give enough time to each beautiful place. It's a nice problem to have😉 Thanks for the comment👍

[@jillchew-tetlaw3388]

I can’t get my head around you saying you are not on holiday. To me, any trip in the van especially abroad would be a holiday. I’m loving your videos, keep them coming and continue to enjoy your travels. The forecast for the Dales/Lakes is to be a little drier next week so we are heading to our static caravan.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It’s a mind game - if we are on ‘holiday’ then it’s an excuse to have a few drinks and extra treats 🤣 we are going away with our kids and lots of family on holiday later in the year. If we are just living our lives travelling we try to keep to the same budget and eating habits that we would at home 😊 have a great time in the Lakes - the weather has got to buck up soon - we can’t have another summer like last July and august 😬🚐

[@nickwotherspoon01]

Just back two weeks ago from the Istrian coast in our old Motorhome, so loved your video - stayed on a campsite (Porton Biondi) much closer to Rovinj - which was definitely our favourite town! Also stopped near Izola (Slovenia) Porec, Motovun, Pula and Vodnjan (for the Olive Oil!) before heading back north to explore inland Slovenia. Plitvice Lakes is just on another level! - enjoy! Looking forward to the video.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We have spent 10 days in Slovenia around Kranjska Gora and the soca river which has been my favourite part of the trip so far 🚐 its beautiful ♥️

[@nickwotherspoon01]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust - Usually our first stop after driving through Austria - The Stellplatz at the Planica ski-jump centre is excellent value. We are in to WW1 history, so Soca valley another must! Stayed near Soca and visited one of the fortresses (Hermann) and WW1 trenches as well as the river gorge - Did you come over the Vrsic pass? Quite an experience and the Russian chapel another must see!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@nickwotherspoon8768 we have done both Soca and the planika camp which we stumbled on by chance a few years ago - the bunkers and look out points were very interesting and unexpected up there! Richard loves the history of it all. The tunnel system was interesting by the Soca river - our campsite was really close to there 🚐

[@F70100]

Heading down to that area in September. Camping Valalta for us; we like to pack light 😂.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Pretty sure you will love it. September is meant to have it all- warm temperatures and the crowds will have dispersed.👍 Thanks for the comment.

[@janetbowen7854]

Stunning, I hope your awning survived the storm. Amazing campsites, can't imagine paying 130 Euros in high season for the pitch you had in June, looking forward to the National Park. Venice looks amazing, congratulations on your budget trip without missing out 😀🇮🇹❤️🚐 xxx

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

The awning is great in the rain bar the odd puddle it makes - it’s the wind that causes chaos 🚐🌧️😎

[@janetbowen7854]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust same with ours, we have a Fiamma wind out awning, we're obsessed with wind and rain, so much so, it hasn't had much use this year 😕 xx

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

@janetbowen7854 we have only used ours a couple of times on this trip as it doesn’t seem worth the effort if we are only there a night or 2! But it is handy in the rain as it gives us more dry space 😊

[@janetbowen7854]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust we're off for 4 nights on one campsite in the New Forest soon, as it can be windy there, we've decided to take our driveway awning which will withstand wind and give us sheltered outside space, we only use it for a 3-4 night stay in one venue, attaches to the Fiamma, we only use it once or twice a year so we need to watch the KZbin video to remind us how to put it up efficiently 😃

[@nikkihateley3905]

We are booked in at Polari in July/August and can’t wait after seeing your review. We are taking our caravan and it looks like our bikes will definitely get used. The kids are really looking forward to the long cycle into rovinj 😂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We really enjoyed our time on camping Polari - it is HUGE. As we said when we walked to Rovinj it was 2.8km to the edge of the campsite as we were on the free camping pitches at the far end. We biked everywhere on the site! Take swimming shoes as the beaches are very rocky to get in - there are also sea urchins on the sea floor occasionally. Rovinj was beautiful and if you cycle along the coast line through the golden gate park there are loads of little swimming coves and cafes. Have a great time 🚐

[@nikkihateley3905]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust we are really looking forward to it. Thank you for all your helpful tips, will add beach shoes to our list 👍🏻 we are really enjoying your adventures.

[@rojoontour]

Thanks for sharing this video, what a nice report, it also brings us ideas to visit Croatia one day

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It is one of those places that we think is worthy to be on everyone's bucket list. Thanks for the comment👍

[@Andrew-Dixon]

Inspirational 👍

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thank you - we really enjoyed our time in Croatia 🇭🇷

[@denisescally7090]

Well I watched that twice! Croatia looks magical. I think we’re about to start a tourism tax here in Scotland. Overtourism is definitely a thing !

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi Denise, we were only discussing this last night. We cannot fathom why most places in Europe have a tourist tax and we don't in the UK. When you do the sums for this area in Croatia the amount of funds raised for the local economy from only one campsite is quite unreal. Thanks for the comment. 👍

[@DeansGoTravelling]

I loved the dramatic weather at the start! What a fantastic campsite you chose - definitely making a note of that one 🥰 Another gorgeous video. I've noticed that you somehow manage to make even the most terrible weather look beautiful, which can only mean you are really talented at this 🏆 Just one thing....what happened to the third course?!! 😂

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

It was certainly dramatic - wow the thunder and lightening was pretty scary as we were under a canopy of trees!! But I quite like the dramaticness!! Luckily we had a great week of weather after that and it was a lovely area to explore 🚐 To be honest we forgot about the donuts after drinking the aperol 🤣 we had them for breakfast 😊

[@kenbradshaw8983]

Super blog as usual. You are certainly getting your money's worth out of your van.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Thanks Ken- we try our very best😂

[@clairewilliams3549]

Ooooo, not sure I could cope with such big sites, I like empty spaces and fewer people. Will be interested to see the next video when you are heading inland. Hoping to visit Croatia / Slovenia in Sept / October.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi Claire- that's exactly what we thought as the sites were not our usual preference, but they really did surprise us. We managed to find a really quiet spot on the second campsite in the free camping zone. Options in this part of Croatia were quite limited, with seemingly the one company monopolising all of the coastal camping sites. Small, independent sites were few and far between. September and October should be a fab time to visit in terms of temperature and the ACSI system firing back up. Without the ACSI discount, the costs of the sites would have been too much for us. Thanks for the comment👍

[@christineomara4787]

Does your insurance for camper cover you fully comp in Croatia, we was told for some reason you could only get third party insurance, we want to do Croatia especially the lakes, love your vlogs, we tetired in our fifties and enjoying our travels 😊

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi yes we double checked when we rang through to name all the countries we are visiting - quite a few people have mentioned it being a problem 🚐

[@dianekelsey8910]

It looks amazing. Do you think Croatia Quitos be ok for a 7.4m Motorhome? Really enjoy tour vlogs and honesty xx

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

Hi Diane- when we were on the coast there were some pretty enormous Motorhomes that absolutely dwarfed Nelson! They were really popular with the Germans and Austrians and they didn't have any problems. They did all seem to keep the vans static and use bikes/mopeds/electric scooters to get around. When it comes to the small coastal towns, we didn't dare take Nelson into their narrow streets and used our bikes. The main road network is very good. 👍 Thanks for the comment.

[@charcro]

Croatia looks amazing. Did you pre book your campsites? We are planning a trip over to Europe this week. Can't wait!

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We haven’t prebooked anywhere except lake bled a couple of days before as we knew that was busy (and they were turning people away when we got there) Croatia was lovely and the campsites excellent value using ACSI until the end of June but wow the campsites get expensive there in high season!! Have fun on your trip 🚐

[@charcro]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust Thanks so much!

[@wanderingsofalanandcaz]

The sites looked good. What dates does the low season finish and the asci card discounts end?

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

This year both Valkanela and Polari have the discount running until 28th June and from 1st September again for Valkanela

[@wanderingsofalanandcaz]

@@earlyretirementwanderlust Thanks guys.

[@jeffnewbery7376]

My Croatian is non-existent. Can you get by with English? Also, do you still plan on Slovenia? Both are high on my list and I am curious to see what you discover.

[@earlyretirementwanderlust]

We got by with English - embarrassingly all the staff speak English to communicate with all nationalities! We are in Slovenia now and it is stunning - so much so we have spent 8 days and counting 😊🚐⛰️