This past week or so I’ve felt a little down and a little uninspired as I have been off work sick with a viral infection and what I really think I need is some sunshine. I’ve been looking through some old photographs and I am reminiscing my trip to Croatia back in 2014. I was sceptical when we booked our trip through Thomson holiday company as I had never been on a half board basis anywhere before and was unsure of the location as it wasn’t anywhere I had heard of before.
Rabac or Rabaz as the locals call it was once a very quiet fishing village but because of its beauty and crystal clear water, holiday makers soon discovered this small untouched little waterfront village.
THE HOTEL
We stayed at the Valamar Bellevue a short walk away from the main village but this was something we wanted as we were looking for a relaxing break away. The rooms were simple, clean and fairly modern with a balcony over looking the Adriatic Sea, which was simply stunning to wake up to and was sure to make both of us jump out of bed in the morning.
We were on a half board basis, so were able to enjoy breakfast and dinner here with drinks at an extra cost. We woke early and made sure we got the best seats for breakfast, sat on the veranda where the sun could warm us up nicely whilst we enjoyed a buffet style breakfast from everything like a cooked breakfast, pancakes and nutella or a light continental breakfast. The food was great and there was a good variety, however I do think that they should have changed the menu more frequently as we had the same things a couple of times during our weeks stay.
The grounds of the hotel were well kept and the pool looked clean however when I am on holiday I prefer to swim in the sea so we never stopped around the pool. There was a little jacuzzi we sat in for about half an hour but were joined by two young children who wanted to play.
THE VILLAGE
Rabac centre was around a 10-15 minute walk from the hotel along the sea front and during the day time was so hot it was sometimes too hot to handle. We spent almost everyday in the centre, sunbathing and swimming in the sea. It wasn’t particularly busy and we enjoyed the laid back feel of the village. We did have to buy a comfy bed to lie on as there aren’t any soft sand beaches and it was struggle to find anywhere ‘comfy’ to sunbathe.
There were a number of restaurants and fast food places to grab a snack for lunch but we did find that it was rather expensive for even just chips or a burger to take away so we often tried to fill up on breakfast and wait for our evening meal.
WHAT IS THERE TO DO?
If you’re looking for somewhere that has great nightlife and is really busy has lots of youngsters and bars etc. this isn’t the place for you. This is a holiday destination for those wanting to relax and unwind so there isn’t a lot of things to do. We hired bikes one day to get more of a feel for the village and we cycled to some beaches that were too far to walk to. We rented a boat for half of the day which was so much fun and I would recommend if you do visit Rabac. We jumped into the sea from the boat and had a cheeky trip to the nudist beach. We went parasailing which was a surreal experience as we were so high up we couldn’t even hear the boat engine beneath us. We enjoyed cocktails at a cool little bar along the promenade and it was just what we needed at the time. We were also a short boat trip away from Venice, Italy which we were keen to visit so we did visit Venice for the day but I would’ve much preferred a couple of nights there as I didn’t feel as though I saw enough of the city.
Have you visited Croatia recently? What were your thoughts?