A few months ago we got a message from my friend Jon, « we go to Croatia early June to climb, do you want to join ? ». We were still relentlessly trying to find powder in the Alps for what has been one of the worse winters in years. Summer activities were really not in our books so we blindly trusted Jon and jumped in.
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Getting there !
Fast forward and back home in Alsace (FR), driving down to Croatia from my parents’ place means roughly 1000km, crossing 4 borders and quite few hours of driving. We decided to leave earlier than needed so we could take our time and climb on the way there. After going quickly through Germany, Austria was our first stop for climbing (expect another post). Sadly the weather turned bad after 2 days so we decided to drive on. Our next stops were then of a touristic matter in Slovenia and in the north of Croatia. If you’re tempted to drive down for holidays, going through Germany, Austria and Slovenia is a good option as it’s motorway almost all the way down. For those with more time available, the B-roads are mostly good until Rijeka. From there to Paklenica, you can either pick the motorway or the coastal road. The later offers a beautiful scenery as you’re driving between the mountains, the sea and the islands.
If you’re coming by plane, your best option is Zadar which is only 1h from Starigrad/Paklenica park. Ryanair and few other Airlines have direct flights to Zadar , check the airport website for more info.
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Where to sleep ?
So far we only had to go in a camping once in Austria due to a week of snowfall that didn’t allow our solar panel to work. Croatia, in the same manner than Slovenia don’t seem to like vans or campers. Most if not all parkings in the country are pay-parkings and forbidden to campers. Unless you are bold enough to chance it on one of those car parks, this will push you to pick a camping on the road while traveling but also once at your final destination. Luckily there are many campings in Starigrad, for every budget. We ended up in National Park campsite as it was the nearest from Jon and Emma’s accommodation. The facilities are really nice and the campsite is right on the beach, expect to pay around 20€ per night. Many other campsites exist in Starigrad, some really near the Park but few have a website which makes it hard to plan ahead. If you’re on a budget the campsite you need probably won’t have a website so aim for Starigrad and walk around to see what is available. For those traveling by plane the safest option is the classic AirBnB. Here again plenty of options, our friends paid 30€ per night which is quite reasonable for a quality apartment.
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So what’s the crag like?
First off you will have to get your guide book, latest edition is fresh from last winter. On top of being really clear it provides some insight about the type of protections you should bring if the equipment is not complete. Once you head to the Park you will have to buy your entrance ticket for the National park of Paklenica. 7€ for the day, 20€ for 5 days usable over 7 days, 50€ for a season pass. If you drive to the Park you will also have to pay 1€40 for parking. Vans/campers are not allowed to sleep on the parking but are allowed to park for the day. To pay for a national park was strange for me but it is the way things are done in Croatia. The National park is a bit of a Disney Land for outdoorsy people. Sport routes everywhere with less than 5min approach, multipitch, trad climbing, multi day hiking, souvenir shop, ice cream, café, you name it ! It seems that for the moment mostly Germans and Austrians come here but due to the quality of the rock, the amount of routes and the practicality of having all your climbing sorted in one spot, this place may become more and more popular. As for any popular limestone crag the ugly face of polished rock is starting to show its face, in particular on the easiest grades along the main trail. Sport routes are mostly well equipped, a majority of bolts, few resin bolts as well. The limestone here is highly sculpted and full of features, expect to encounter pockets, holes, flakes, columns, cannelures and cracks, sometimes all in the same route. While being there only the first week of June, temperatures were already around 30°. The valley of Paklenica is quite deep and makes it easy to find climbs in the shade, the near constant breeze helps too. For us climbing in the middle of the day didn’t seem too adequate so snorkeling in the morning and climbing after 3pm was our preferred strategy. With the long summer days that usually meant finishing to climb after 8pm which was enough time to get rid of our skin and energy !
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On the rest days
Starigrad itself proved to be nice during our off climbing time. The sea front is agreeable, and the sea offers a good way to cool down but also to get entertained. We spent a good amount of time snorkeling and even ended up with a nice collection of sea shells and oursins. If you decide to go for a dip, be aware that the sea floor is rocks and pebbles and in places oursins so look where you put your feet.
The old Zadar city is built inside fortified walls. Expect to see some buildings, ancient Roman vestiges, and an impressive Cathedral. On the top of the fortified wall you can find « The Garden », this raw food bar offers really interesting food for reasonable prices, that proved to be a good discovery for me.
Our last rest day was spent visiting Manita peć cave in the Nationa park. The hike to the cave should take you a bit more than 1h and offers a nice view on the rest of the National Park. Once up there you will have to get a ticket (3€) to do the visit of the cave with a guide. The cave offers beautiful rock formation reminding me a lot of the shapes seen in Icefalls. A big plus (for me at least) was also the temperature, it has an average of 10° all year round !
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Conclusion
Did we like Paklenica national park ? Yes we did. At first having to pay for everything was a bit off putting as we need to mind our budget to keep traveling. But once you put things back in context, food is cheap enough, the entry price isn’t bad on multi days pass and you can find cheaper camping than what we took. On a normal holiday that wouldn’t have bothered us as much. Keep in mind that you get some amazing climbing possibilities on excellent rock, all in the same spot, with the sea right beside. There are other crags around as well, not in the Park but in the same book, those would be perfect if you’re staying more than 7 days and don’t want to spend more.
More info on the National Park website
Mountain Experience 