Croatia Summer Van Life – How to Travel on a Budget (No Wild Camping!) – Euro Trip Pt 13

This week, our self-built campervan brings us to the incredible coast of Croatia and the beautiful Istria peninsula! We’re exploring the charming Venetian-influenced town of Rovinj, where the tiny, winding streets lead up to a church with a lovely view across the Adriatic sea.

We’ll also take our very first swim in the crystal-clear, blue waters before heading to the incredible island of Krk! Join us here as we explore the town of Krk and a secret, off-grid campground we found with private access to a secluded bay.

Get ready for some serious Croatia van life inspiration and ideas for your own Croatia summer road trip on a budget. We hope this will help you find those hidden gems and unforgettable moments on the road!

Welcome to ‘SevenGrandVan’!

We’re Jack, Laura and Frank, and we have moved into our DIY self converted campervan (Citroen Relay) to embrace full time vanlife. After a three month adventure in 2024 to France, Spain and Portugal, we realised that we needed to see more of the world, and vanlife was the perfect way to do it.

And so began our year long plan to make it happen. We quit our long term, corporate jobs and went through the process of renting our house so we could begin our dream of motorhome travel in Europe.

We finally packed up our belongings, moved into our van, and began our road trip in March 2025. We began in Scotland, and then made our way to Europe and Scandinavia.

Subscribe to follow our journey as we hit the road, and leave us like or comment if you enjoy our vlogs! We’ll be sharing our recommendations for dog friendly travel, the best places for van life in Europe, leisurely walks, beautiful scenery, delicious food, running, cycling and charming towns and cities to explore.

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @SevenGrandVan for daily updates and behind the scenes content.

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We’ve made it to the incredible coast of Croatia. We’re revealing our secret to van life here as we take you on a road trip from the beautiful town of Ravine to the incredible island of Kirk. Welcome to Seven Grand Van. Hello. Hello, little sweetie. Frank would not be very happy. He’d be fuming, wouldn’t he? Oh, you’re very cute. Are you here for dinner? Good morning from Croatia. We arrived here, well, we entered Croatia yesterday afternoon. We arrived at this park up at about 6 PM last night. Um, and there’s a lovely host called Zora, and this is basically her garden. And there’s space for like five or six campers, tents, whatever you have. Um, she doesn’t charge for it. There’s obviously no services here, but yeah, we arrived at 6 p.m. yesterday along with some other people that just arrived. and um she invited us down to the garden um for a beer and we sat around talking to all these great people for quite a few hours, didn’t we? Yeah, it was so good. And um yeah, so we’ve decided we’re going to stay here today because Laura’s working. Um and I have got the job of servicing the van today and the only tools I’ve got adjustable spanner. Uh so hopefully it works. And I bought a €2 washing up bowl for draining the oil. And um yeah, I’m going to empty the old oil back into the uh containers and then um dispose of it in the correct place when I can. Um so yeah, it’s uh really cool little place in the mountains. Engine’s running just warming up the oil. See? Yeah. You happy? Perfect place to stay for a work day. It’s absolutely phenomenal. Yeah. Happy days. Van is serviced. Well, just an oil and filter and didn’t manage. Didn’t spill a drop of oil, which is great. So, I’m happy with that. Good to go for another 10,000 miles. But yeah, I just wanted to capture this beautiful sunshine here. And it’s quite a nice breeze as well cuz we’re up in up in the mountains. So, it’s lovely. [Music] [Music] Ouch. Hello. Where are we? Robin Robin. Um I think it’s pronounced Robin and it’s like a uh Croatian fishing town. Um beautiful old town and then a church on the top of the hill. Um, so we’re going to walk through the sheets of the old town and yeah, we’re going to walk up to the old church for the views and then hopefully go for a little dip in the sea. We found like a spot where you can go in off the rocks. Bakery stop complete. What have you got? A cheese roll. Like a cheese sausage roll. Cheese sausage roll. Yeah, I guess. [Music] Good. Is it cheese and onion or just cheese? Not cheese onion. It’s like a a mild cheese. This is the street with all of the artists and and galleries and shops with handmade and locade things. Not only did we buy cheese pastries, we bought a little strudel. Apple strudel good. [Music] We’ve reached the church of St. Euphimia, the top of the hill. Splendid. Let’s go look at that view. Come on. There’s a lot of people visiting this church because of a famous fact. It’s very hot at the top of here. So, you can come in here for a bit of a cool down. Wow. [Music] So relaxing. [Music] We are heading for a little spot down here. A little dip. Yeah. There he is. Dreamy. [Music] So, what happened? So, what happened was we was jumping in off the rock, having a lovely time, then we decided we’re going to walk back to the van, get back to the town, and I suddenly realize my watch is gone. So, I go and find my iPhone, go find my watch, and it’s in the sea. So, we walk out. There was a guy like next to us that was like snorkeling with his flippers up and he’s dived in, brought the watch back. What did he say? He was like, “Oh, yes, no problem. I find I will find.” Yeah. He went down once, saw it, and then he came back up and he was like, “Yes.” And then, yeah, watch back. Yippee. So, we have moved on from Ravine and we’ve made it to a little sort of rocky beach. um which we saw a parker on park for night and also on the EU Roots guide that I bought before we came. Um yeah, no space for us at the actual parking point, but and it was probably a bit tight for our van. This will probably only good for small vans, but um we found a little spot, didn’t we, by the beach bar, wandered on up and yeah, bit rocky here, so you definitely need your shoes. But here’s here we are. And the water is so clear. You can see right down to your feet. Need to uh purchase uh some goggles and a snorkel maybe. Yeah, we’re in the market for some goggles so we can see down below. Or maybe I might not want to see down below. I might get scared. Anyway, time for crisps. Tonight’s Parker is in an olive olive oil farm. Olive oil farm. Olive oil, honey, wine. Just like a small family run. He doesn’t sell it anywhere else apart from in his own little pack. We just bought this bottle of extra virgin olive oil. Looks great. Yep. Cost of €10. There we go. We can stay a couple more nights, explore the beaches here. And um also I wanted just to add when we were in Rubin Bourbin today um we parked in like a bus camper van parking um area which cost us €10 and it was about a 20 minute 20 25m minute walk to the busy area. Um which is good actually but it’s you could stay but it’s no good for staying really for us. Very exposed and no shade or and there was a place to empty your gray waste. Yeah. And there was toilets there. So, yeah. But nowhere to do your toilet. No. Or fill up with fresh. Yeah. But we can uh we’ve done that on the way. And then we can get some water here. So, we’re all good. That’s us for tonight. What’s for dinner? Cheesy pastry. No. We’ve got a salad with beetroot, butter beans. Yep. Um, tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, carrot, spring onion, lettuce, and a couple of slices of I think it’s corn type bread. Yeah. With with extra virgin olive oil from the campsite. Yeah. And just to say this is proof that we don’t survive on cheesy pastry. But we have got red wine. Yeah. Weekend, isn’t there? Absolutely. Born up a tea and see you tomorrow. Another sunny day in Croatia. LJ sat out. What the hell? LJ, you look different. Closer. You look different this morning. LJ has some friends. Hello. They’re getting nearer. There’s not much grass there. Sure. I can hear them eating it. It’s like chicken run. Wonder if there’s any fresh eggs. Well, that’ be nice. Good morning. We have just had a nice cup of tea, sat out in the farm. Um, and now we’re just going to get ready and we’re planning a nice beach day today. Um, we found a spot about 15 minute drive from Patrick’s farm cuz we’re going to come back here tonight. It’s free. And yeah, back down to the beach. Looks good for jumping in. Um, and we’ll be hopefully going out for some lunch cuz I’ve already eyed up and beach bar. Um, just treating ourselves to a little lunch out and a chilled beach day. Got to be done, isn’t it? Oh, yeah. I can’t wait. We’re going to be jumping in off the rocks. Can’t wait to jump in the water and cool down cuz it’s like Well, what’s the time? Don’t know what time it is. Half eight. Half 8 and it’s 20. Yeah, just under 30°. So, takes a bit of getting used to. Yeah, we’re acclimatizing, but it’s good. It feels like holiday. Yeah. Okay, see you then. LJ’s practicing belly flops. practicing your belly flop. That was good. Wasn’t that Was it a bad shot? No. Your legs Your legs kind of scorpioned a bit. Oh, [Applause] [Music] I need those. Got an apple tea. Good morning. So, today is a new day and we spent another night at Patrick’s farm last night. Had a very good sleep and today we are heading for the island of Kirk and uh we’re planning to do a little tour. Um stopping off at some towns and some beaches and we’re going to then head back over to the mainland to hopefully find a park up for the night because believe it or not the campsites are priced around 70 to 100 plus euros per night for two people or one camper van um on the island and I just think that is insane. So we won’t be paying that. Um, unfortunately wild camping is banned in Croatia, so it is a bit of a risk to do that. Um, we’re also going to make a little stop off at a decathlon to purchase some snorkels, uh, which is where we’re heading now. So hopefully today will feature some snorkeling, too. And we’re really looking forward to it. This guy’s going to get very dead arm. Always melting, probably. Yeah. Right. We got gear on. Hi, mate. [Music] Ouch. Where are we? We’re in the town of Kirk, K R K. And um it’s known for its old church, not church, castle. And um I think there’s like uh city walls. Um and then we’re probably going to try and find some water to go in as well. And an ice cream stop. Oh, and an ice cream. We haven’t had ice cream yet. No, we have another way. Yeah, it looks pretty. It looks very pretty. Let’s see how much it is. What have you found? I was just looking at the ice cream. So many nice streets. I thought it was worth mentioning. It’s Saturday and it was absolute carnage getting here. It was, wasn’t it? Getting on the island. Yeah, cuz there’s one bridge across and uh Well, actually, it was more carnage leaving. Yeah, it was probably like at least an hour queue to get over the other side. Yeah. And um yeah, just you know, bit stressful for me in the uh heat trying to park when it’s busy. It’s never easy when you’re under pressure like that in the heat. No. So many nice looking restaurants. Yeah. Looks good. We’ll have to have some food out at some point, won’t we? Yeah. Not like we didn’t do it yesterday. No, but you know what I mean. Like a an evening meal. Yeah, that would be so nice. We’ll find the right spot, I think. Ice by a beach. Beach as well. Wow. Holy moly. Oh, brother. Look at that. I don’t even know if the camera will see it like that, but that is flipping beautiful. Oh my god. Need to get down there. Down there. Get in the water. Found the castle. What have we got then? Oh, that’s a map. That’s a map of the island we’re on. Show them where we are. Huh? Yeah. This is where we test Jack’s knowledge. Yes. Kirk. Kirk. Kirk. Should we have a look in the castle? Let’s go to the castle, brother. You have to pay. We can have a little peer in, can we? It’s pretty old. Pretty warm in here. Sun trap. Holy moly. Yeah, that’s one. Cool. We’re wondering whether cuz tonight we’ve organized a um what was it? A home stay. Yeah. So, we’re wondering what the name of the uh guy’s going to be. So far, we’ve had Patrick and Zora. Zora. Yeah. We’ve only stayed on home stays in Croatia so far. Yeah. And it’s been great. Yeah. Sensational. very welcoming and yeah, hospitable and cheaper. Yes, that’s the key thing. [Applause] [Laughter] This is a shout out to on the road with Johnny and Kate cuz you got this in our head recently. [Music] [Music] Yeah, that’s a good one. [Music] Ice cream secured. Raphaela for you and Snickers for me. Any good? So, we made it to our campsite for the night. We’re uh on someone’s land who they’ve made like a sort of like a makeshift campsite. It is a campsite. the the pictures are all leveled out and um the good thing is it’s cheap for Croatia which is €30 a night and we’re a 4minute walk from the beach which is from what I’ve read semi like secluded [Applause] There’s our pitch all cozy. Got our candles to get rid of the monores and the wasps. Yeah. And teas are cooking. And just down that road is the beach. It’s coming down a bit now, isn’t it? It is a hill. Yeah, it is cooling down if you can say that. Nice spot, though. Very nice. So, we have made it to our next park up. We’ve had a really chilled day today. Um we stayed at the spot that we showed you uh just before this. um wandered on down to the beach, short walk, and the be the beautiful beach was entirely all to ourselves this morning and then gradually more and more people arrived over the clifftops and boats pulled in. So, yeah, we headed off at lunchtime and then we’ve driven a couple of hours back to the mainland and we’re now um up in the mountains where it’s a bit cooler and um at a lovely homeay. So, I’ll show you that now. So that’s it from us on our first week in Croatia. Um we will be planning to head further south for next video next week. Um bit more beach content and we will be going to a bear sanctuary. Yes. And uh probably a gorge or a canyon for some more dips and jumping in. So we’ll catch you then. See you next week. Don’t forget to subscribe.