Mljet is Croatia’s greenest island situated in the Adriatic Sea. It’s still unspoiled and not many tourists go there. It’s the perfect escape from the tourist crowds invading Dubrovnik’s old city. You can board the Nona Ana catamaran in Dubrovnik that takes you to Sobra and Polace. The duration of the trip to Polace is about 1,5 hours.

What to do at Mljet island?

From Polace you can visit the National Park where the salt lakes are situated and the little island of Saint Mary (yup, an island within an island, how cool is that?!).

At Pristaniste you can take a boat to the small island Saint Mary where you find the property of Diocese of Dubrovnik. The complex consists of a Benedictine monastery and a church from the 12th century. It is one of the most important monuments of Romanesque culture in Croatia. What I find pretty strange and interesting is its cemetary. Because the soil is so hard, they dug the graves standing up in stead of laying down and they kept reusing the holes. That way hundreds of bodies were burried here on a very small surface.

Renting a bike costs 40 kuna per hour. Riding around the lakes under the pine trees really takes your mind of things. You can enjoy the view of the blue and green lakes while a pleasant breeze blows through your hair.

You can take a swim in the salt lakes which is really refreshing. If you don’t like swimming you can also rent a kayak to enjoy the water.

The national park also has quite some hiking trails. But the trail I hiked was so overgrown by trees that at a certain moment I couldn’t see the path anymore and I had to return. I was told that the season just started and that maybe that was the reason why the park wasn’t ready yet.

On the island you can also rent a car and drive around the island that takes about 98km².

Interesting fact

Our guide told us that the island of Malta through history got confused with Mljet. The Maltese dog probably doesn’t come from Malta but from Mljet. Also the cave where the beautiful nymph Calypso kept Odysseus as a “prisoner of love” for seven years is probably the cave at Mljet and not the one at Gozo, Malta.

Amico Tours

I visited Mljet with Amico Tours. They offer a guided tour in small groups (up to 10 persons). I was lucky no other people booked the tour so I got a private tour with a super nice guide named Nana. She was super passionate about history and art and could tell so much about the island’s history and culture. I loved it! I strongly recommend the tour, even though the park’s organisation isn’t perfect yet. Nana is still working on perfectioning the tour, so it will only get better!